browsing network neighborhood without broadcasting?

[Laszlo Vecsey]

Hi,

Is it possible to browse the network neighborhood without sending netbios
packets to the broadcast address? I would imagine it could be done by
manually specifying a central wins server on the lan -- is that the case?

Specifically my concern is that dialup users (without an access filter to
restrict broadcasts) will flood the network with broadcasts, affecting
latency sensitive applications.

I wonder if it would be possible for the server (having knowledge of when
a user signs on) could send an announcment to them informing them of the
IP address of the wins/master server, eliminating the need for them to
even configure an address in the network control panel of windows. Thus a
broadcasted packet would never be sent. Is anything like that available in
the smb protocol, is this approach even needed? 

- lv