SMB share only accessible with FQDN or IP address, netbiosname no longer resolves
I had been using 10.7 for the last two years, and have a Windows 7 server in the closet that I use to share files with all the Mac and Windows users in our office, of which there are equal amounts of each due to their differing roles (Accounting, Coding, Editing on FCP).  As an Apple support tech, I have seen many of my clients with odd issues as soon as they upgraded, and it made me hesitate to move to Mountain Lion; but I just purchased a new Macbook Pro, and finally wanted to see if I could resolve any upgrade issues I had in order to help future clients.

OF COURSE! The first thing that happened was my ability to connect to the Windows shares using a Netbios name was gone.  Even with the exact same settings migrating from 10.7 to 10.8, I now had to use the IP address of the server, as Mr. Rabbit above illustrated, or by installing Samba...a daunting task involving tons of Terminal commands. Not interested in overkill; I like the principle of Ockham's razor when it comes to this stuff.

I decided to take a look at what I could do with this issue, as I attempted yesterday to resolve it but couldn't figure it out.  After a night's rest (and a strong cup of joe) the answer revealed itself.  (I'm running 10.8.4, fyi.)


Open System Preferences.
Go to Network.
Highlight your Network (ethernet or wireless) and click the Advanced... button.
Select WINS from the Menu items.  Update your NETBIOS name of your Mac.
Make sure your workgroup is the same as the share you're connecting to.
Enter the IP Address of the shared resource (Windows machine).


Usually it took between 10 and 20 seconds for the network shares to resolve; now they are loading up within about 2 seconds.