.......

Can you post the output of the following commands?

The above is on the old laptop. The new laptop has the same output for iptables -L

[pedroski@fangshan ~]$ ssh localhost
The authenticity of host 'localhost (127.0.0.1)' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is 96:29:b7:d5:11:1c:c1:1a:14:64:e0:92:0d:20:de:d0.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? y
Please type 'yes' or 'no': yes
Warning: Permanently added 'localhost' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.
pedroski@localhost's password:
Permission denied, please try again.
pedroski@localhost's password:
[pedroski@fangshan ~]$

This output is all from the old machine:
[pedroski@fangshan ~]$ ifconfig
em1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:23:54:6C:1A:E8
inet6 addr: fe80::223:54ff:fe6c:1ae8/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:19600 errors:0 dropped:1 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:10674 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:5680467 (5.4 MiB) TX bytes:2430245 (2.3 MiB)
Interrupt:41

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:17872 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:17872 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:6556091 (6.2 MiB) TX bytes:6556091 (6.2 MiB)

ppp0 Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
inet addr:114.222.233.148 P-t-P:114.222.232.1 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1492 Metric:1
RX packets:8708 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:9286 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:3
RX bytes:4190559 (3.9 MiB) TX bytes:2099809 (2.0 MiB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:22:43:507:95
inet addr:192.168.1.3 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::222:43ff:fe50:d795/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:392 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:87 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:50934 (49.7 KiB) TX bytes:13880 (13.5 KiB)

[pedroski@fangshan ~]$
[pedroski@fangshan ~]$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

em1 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:"ChinaNet-Qqtn"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.457 GHz Access Point: 30:87:30:24:7C:21
Bit Rate=39 Mb/s Tx-Power=16 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thrff Fragment thrff
Power Managementn
Link Quality=43/70 Signal level=-67 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:3 Invalid misc:123 Missed beacon:0

ppp0 no wireless extensions.

can you show us the output of what happens when you try from the new pc to the old pc ?

There seem to be two numbers, inet and P-t-P, I tried both:

[pedroski@fangshan ~]$ ssh pedro@180.110.99.183
ssh: connect to host 180.110.99.183 port 22: Connection refused
[pedroski@fangshan ~]$ ssh pedro@180.110.96.1
ssh: connect to host 180.110.96.1 port 22: Connection refused
[pedroski@fangshan ~]$

i just noticed your wireless card is broadcasting and has been dhcp'd an ip address... this is worth a shot:
ssh pedroski@192.168.1.3
from the new pc (to ssh into the old pc)

edit: gotta' go... we'll try again tomorrow.

where do you get this address from anyways (180.110.99.183) ?
i dont see it in any of your responses ?

I have never been able to connect to the wifi. It simply won't connect. It says it is connected, but there is never any internet access!

Thanks for your trouble.

FRom the new laptop ifconfig output. What I posted is the output from the old laptop.

Ok, now I am completely confused as of now. What connection and IP address are you using to access the internet, and what IP address connects you to your network? If it is both the same address, let me know.

Frankly, I do not know. I have a dsl router, I plug into it. I am a customer of China Telecom, I enter my user name and password in the dsl tab of 'Network connections' and connect to the internet, via a router, no problem.

From my point of view: I can connect to a computer in England, via the internet, in milliseconds, but I can't connect to a computer next to this one, which is connected to the same router. I would like to be able to do this, but I don't know how!

Think 'absolute beginner' if you will, and tell me what I should do to access my old computer from my new computer, both being attached to the same router, and the internet. Preferably in a graphical setting, not a command line cryptical way.

Gotta go to work now, but I hope you can give me some pointers!

Ehh, for me to think as an "absolute beginner" is harder than..... Well, you get the point
As far as your problem, with your two computers being on the same LAN, you just need to setup SSH servers on both computers, then issue the following:
I really hope you changed your hostnames to not reflect each other, as this will create a sh*tload of conflicts in the long run. Lastly, just verify again that port 22 is open, and ping the other computer to make sure that you can even see it on your LAN.

And FYI, I'm already at work. What now?

flush ur iptables

sudo service sshd status if it running
sudo service sshd restart

r else once agin u try these
sudo apt-get remove sshd
sudo apt-get install sshd

Ermm, I'm almost afraid to ask, but ....

How do I change the name of my computer? Or where??

And: I think I need ssh started on both computers, is that correct? Will ssh automatically then find the other computer plugged into the router? Or do I need to do something else??

And: can I somehow use a graphical interface, instead of just cryptic terminal stuff, at which I will never be any good??