The horizon of any LW search does not reach the entire network. If it did each search would take far far too long & would potentially break down first. I previously used a p2p program in which each search would take up to & over 30 mins .. possibly over an hour or more. lol

http://www.gnutellaforums.com/206705-post6.html

I've heard of this issue before. Direct connect has that advantage of finding the user directly. And if that person starts downloading anything then you can browse them via the upload window to see their files.

You cannot find your own shared files in searches, a bit silly downloading from yourself, so they don't show in search results, that's the way it's designed.