2 NICs

[PrOLifIC_onE]

Thanks PC_Guy. It is showing all my network traffic going through NIC#2 so far, exactly what I did not want to happen, , heh. This would have the same affect as going back to the way it was before where everything ran through the Xterasys, then the vonage router and then the cable modem....

I havent did any gaming yet with this dual NIC setup so I havent been able monitor the freuqnecy of connection issues...

What I want to do is somehow make this onboard NIC (#1) as the one being used for the internet... I don't want to have to disable NIC#2 off and on...

[carpenator]

Originally Posted by PrOLifIC_onE

Below is some of the info you requested....

Vonage Router:
IP Addresses: 192.168.15.2 +
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.15.1

Xterasys Router:
IP Addresses: 192.168.0.1 (to 128)
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.254

This helps. What is the info for your Dual Nic PC and the Wireless PCs. That is what is going to fill in the blanks. If I see that I can tell you why it is sending the traffic the way it is and hopefully give you some suggestions.

Does the Vonage router have a firewall built into it, or is it just a router? Also, do you have a firewall installed on your dual nic PC?

[PrOLifIC_onE]

Ok. The Main PC is named "Tolip" as listed in the images below... It is the PC in my sig. I have windows firewall turned on for that one. I think all my wireless PCs have the windows firewall turned off. The wireless are just a wide range of PCs on the wireless network with 128bit encryption. They are using fairly standard/average wireless pci cards (I think all are 802.11g but one might be 802.11b, regardless, all the wireless PCs work fine and are set to only auto-login to my xterasys router and then auto-obtain the IP)

Here is a crap load of info from my router admin utilities (probably too much info but oh well... )

First the VONAGE router (its a Motorola, model VT2442). My added typing is in red text in this image.



Second is the Xterasys settings. From what you said earlier, and looking at the settings, I could probably disable the DHCP on this Xterasys and provide an IP to all the wireless PC mac addresses and this might solve the issue. (allow the main PC "Tolip" to obtain an IP for the network but not access the internet...) ANYWAY Here is some info from the Xterasys admin utilities...




I have not changed any settings yet......

[carpenator]

OK. So you have one network behind the Xterasys router. The Vonage router is a seperate network as well. What is the IPconfig information on your main computer. I have a idea of what the IP Address and Subnet might say, but what is it showing for a default gateway? The default gateway tells it where to send everything that is not local. That is going to tell me why it is sending data the way it is.

If we can get a handle on the traffic routing, your set up should be pretty good for you. If you want, just go to a cmd prompt and do a ipconfig /all and that will give everything for both nics. I think with this info I should have a clear picture, of course I have been wrong before. =)

[PrOLifIC_onE]

Here you go...

[carpenator]

OK, this is what I thought I would see. If you look at the Default Gateway for each Nic you see that there is a different address, the one of the router it is connected to of course. What that is doing is giving your computer two options of which way to go, which is not always good. From what you are saying it is choosing the 192.168.0.254 path. Since by default it puts the same cost in for each drop, they both are directly connected, it goes through some tie breakers for which to use, it think because the address is 192.168.0 vs 192.168.15 that it is picking the one with the lower number, again it is not always making smart choices. It might also be the one with the lower MAC address. Ultimately, you don't want it doing these tie breakers.

The easy way to fix this. Remove the default gateway and maybe even the DNS from the settings of the 2nd Nic card. This will only give it one option to send non-local traffic thru the first Nic. The other Nic will still function fine. The Default Gateway just tells it if it is not 192.168.0 or 192.168.15 or something else I know about, who do I send it on to that will know where to send it, which is your router that has its own Default Gateway. The other option is to change the route cost of the 192.168.0 network to a higher metric so that it will only use it if it can not get to the 192.168.15. network.

If you are interested in the 2nd option, do a search on the Route command. From a CMD prompt you would use Route (Command) such as Add, Delete, etc. to change your local computers routing tables.

I hope this is being helpful and is making some sense?

[PrOLifIC_onE]

OK. So can I just change the gateway and DNS for NIC#2 to match NIC#1? Or would that interfere with accessing other shared folders in my home network?

I think you understand that I want all internet traffic going in and out NIC#1 (directly through the vonage router) but all local LAN traffic (shared folders on all my home computers) to go through NIC#2 and the Xterasys router. (of course, all the while, the wireless PCs need to access the internet via the Xterasys AND vonage routers....)

[carpenator]

You can just leave Nic 2 blank. It will just read what Nic 1 has and send it there. You can put it on Nic 2, but it would be repeated info. The computer is making the choices and just looking at what info there is to make the choice based on what is in the TCP/IP info and the routing table. Again, Default Gateway = I don't know where that IP Address lives, who should I send it to.

Kind of like if you live in a small town. The post office knows all the local zip codes. If they see one they don't know, they put it in a bin to go to the big city and let them figure it out. Your Vonage router is the next one up the food chain, so the default gateway. If you look at its default gateway, it is something up the food chain from it. It just keeps going up until something knows where to send it. That is why the big boy routers cost so much, lots to keep track of.

Go to the CMD prompt and type in Route Print and just look at it. That alone may give you a better idea of what I am talking about.

Again, let me know if I can clarify anything. I hope this is making more sense.

[PrOLifIC_onE]

Well I checked the TCP/IP properties of both cards they both autmatically obtain their IPs as well as DNS and default gateways. I tried to edit the NIC#2 properties and change the default gateway but then I couldnt connect to the interent. Then separately I changed a setting in the Xterasys router to block internet traffic for just the main PC. The main pc would not and will not switch to use NIC#1 unless I DISABLE nic#2.

I tried 'print route' but it didn't help much.

If you have specific suggestions or if I am not understanding something then please let me know.

THANKS!

[carpenator]

OK, now that is kind of confusing.

On Nic2, change it from automatic to specify for the IP address and Subnet. Put in what you currently have, but without the Gateway. Just leave the Gateway blank. Make sure you have the right Gateway on Nic1. Trying pinging your default gateway and see if it works.

If you disable Nic2, does the Internet work? If so, it might be the Windows Firewall is confused when it has two nics enabled. Try disabling the Windows Firewall and see what happens.

Under Network Connections in the Control Panel, choose Advanced from the Tool Bar and then choose Advanced Setting. Make sure Nic1 is the top Connection Device. This shouldn't make a difference for what you are doing, but it can't hurt. It could be this might mess with the Windows Firewall, I haven't worked with it in a situation like you have.

Try testing by using the tracert command. It is the same as ping, but it checks each stop. This will tell you which was it is going and where it is hanging up, in theory at least.

Why do I have a feeling that this forum is never going have any questions that are easy answers for me? <grin>