JSI Tip 1795. What is the Scope ID on the TCP/IP WINS tab?

The Scope ID is a character string which is appended to the NetBIOS name for all NetBIOS over TCP/IP communications. It provides a method to isolate a collection of computers that only communicate with each other.

If you logon to a domain, only a domain controller with the same Scope ID will be able to validate the logon.

Scope ID is case sensitive.

Non-NetBIOS communication, like PING, does not use the Scope ID, but a NET VIEW to a computer with a different Scope ID will result in an error 53.

See knowledge base article Q119493.