Comment 21 for bug 356022

I haven't had much need for connecting to shared locations since my last post, but that has changed. Again, I found myself fighting this problem and it was proving to be a real bugger trying to connect to local shares. However, I did find the following combination to work very well for me:

1. In etc/smba/smb.conf uncomment this line and make it read:
        name resolve order = lmhosts wins bcast host
    Notice "host" is last in the order.
    I have switched from Google DNS to OpenDNS and I needed this to help resolve behind my firewall.

2. In etc/smba/smb.conf make this line read with the name of your workgroup:
        workgroup = <your workgroup name here>

3. In Firestarter (firewall config tool):
       Edit > Preferences > Advanced Options un-check "Block broadcasts from external network"
    This was key in my case. After making changes #1 & 2 above I was still have a difficult time connecting to shared locations. So then in Firestarter I added a rule to the firewall to open Samba port ranges of 137-139 and 445 and gave it my internal network range, but that didn't seem to make any difference and have since removed that rule . Only when I unchecked "Block broadcasts from external network" was I able to easily connect to local shares (initial connection may take 2 attempts sometimes).
Note: Firestarter defaults to "Block broadcasts from external network" as checked and "Block broadcasts from internal network" as un-checked. So I now have both of these un-checked.

Is this a big security risk outside of my home network?

I don't know if there is a bug with the firewall, Firestarter or I'm just flat missing something.