2 NICs

**PrOLifIC_onE** · February 8th, 2007

With two nic cards in the computer, can I use one to share folders on my home network and the other solely as my internet connection? I havent added the 2nd NIC yet and it seems like it would be easy to setup but I just want to make sure I won't run into issues...

My setup is as follows. I have a vonage router between my cable modem and my Xterasys wireless router (that also has a few regular ethernet ports). My primary computer is also connected directly to my vonage router. I want to be able share folders on the primary pc with the rest of the PCs in the house but also leave the primary PC plugged directly into the vonage router.

I used to have the primary PC connected to the Xterasys router as well but I found that I had some connection issues occasionally while gaming.

Anyway. I was hoping I could leave the current internet connection alone and 'setup the home/office network' on a 2nd NIC. Will this work?

pc_guy · February 8th, 2007

It should be possible using a bridge in network properties (I think?), but...
...Can't the Vonage use the wireless router? You mentioned that the wireless router has free wired connections.

With 2 NICs, if I understand it correctly, the internet connection would be going in NIC 1 on your PC and going out on NIC 2 => router => other computers??? It's always better to use a router to "route" the traffic, insted of using your PC.

carpenator · February 8th, 2007

Yes, you can set up a computer with 2 nics and share like that. You turn you computer into a router basically. What you need to do is set up a firewall on the one nic to make it secure for Internet traffic. You can use Windows Internet Sharing and Firewall or there are some other software that you can download, I don't have any good suggestion though. If you have Linux, it is all built in, you just have to RTFM.

If you don't care about the other computer getting on the net, it is easier, just create your own private IP range. 192.168.1.x making sure that x is a different number between 1 and 254 on each computer. Make the subnet mask 255.255.255.0 and leave the gateway blank. If you route traffic through the two nic computer then it gets a bit more complicated and I would have to write something either a lot longer or shorter and more specific to what you want.

Let me know what you have and what you want to do and it can be done. A few braincells will need to be sacrificed, but it is a small price to pay for what you will reap. :)

Roger

**PrOLifIC_onE** · February 9th, 2007

Ok, well I added the 2nd NIC. I did not want to use the PC as a router. I have done that before.

Here is how it is wired (also see image below):
Cable modem to Vonage Router. Vonage Router ethernet port #1 to the main PC. Vonage Router ethernet port #2 to the Xterasys wireless router. Xterasys wireless router is connected to all the other PCs in the house via the wireless network and they all have internet access back through the Xterasys->vonage->cable modem. The Xterasys ethernet port #1 goes to the 2nd NIC in the main PC so that it is in the same workgroup on the home network (all through the Xterasys router).

This worked without a hitch. I started the main PC I could view all the shared folders on the other PCs. I actually could disable either NIC temporarily and still have internet access. If the 2nd NIC was disabled then no connection to the shared folders on the other PCs.

The only thing now is that I would like the main PC to prioritize NIC #1 (red line in image below)for internet. I do not know if it is doing that.

carpenator · February 11th, 2007

OK, I think I understand now. The diagram helps a lot. I did not realize that the Wireless computers were hooking to the Internet too. If you plugged the Vonage into the Exterasys Ethernet port then it should work just as a switch and you could talk to the first Nic, you would just loose the Firewall functions.

Since you installed the second Nic, what you have done is created two connection that I am guessing are on the same subnet, also know as a network segment. I would need to see your IP Addresses, Subnet, and Default Gateway on each to make sure, but that is what it sounds like. It thinks it is all the same cable, but you have the Xterasys blocking one part, at least that is my guess.

The way you have it set up, there is nothing wrong with it. There is just a lot of redundant pieces. You have the Vonage, which I am guessing has a Firewall in it. You have the Exterasys that I also guess has a Firewall in it. That means you have two firewalls between your wireless computers and the Internet. You have one Firewall between your wired computer and the Net, unless you unplug nic two, and then you have two as well. In a ideal setup, the Vonage would have Wireless too and you could get rid of the Xterasys and the second Nic all together.

Does any of this make sense? Let me know.

**PrOLifIC_onE** · February 11th, 2007

Yes, it would be most ideal to just have the vonage router to have wireless built-in but unfortunately that is not an option. Both routers are setup with firewalls, but I want to be able to setup the main PC as the DMZ on the vonage router if I need to for gaming purposes (in which case I will make sure my main PC has a good firewall enabled). Previously I had all the PCs running off the Xterasys Router (including the main PC). It just seems like I get less connection issues if the main PC is connected directly to the vonage router.

Right now, with my current setup and my current games, the PC runs fine but I know in the past some games with connection issues had those issues because of the routers firewall. For those games, the gaming PC being used had to be setup as the DMZ and I want to have that option in the future if needed. I want to make sure that if I do set it up as the DMZ on NIC#1 that my main PC does not try to access the internet via NIC#2. But I still want NIC#2 operational so that I can connect to the other PCs in my home network and share files as needed.

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

Jafah5150 · February 12th, 2007

Someone correct me if I'm wrong..

Unless you're using server/routing software, nic1 is where all the traffic is going through by default.

If you put your main rig in the DMZ I'd recommend: setting up passwords for file/print sharing and making a user account instead of the Admin account for gaming.

Just some thoughts, not trying to curb your thread:

The problems you're having are most likely related to using two routers(an extra hop will cause delays, config problems), I've never used an Xterasys router before but if it will let you, disable DHCP and try it as a wireless access point to see if that clears up the problems.

pc_guy · February 12th, 2007

Wouldn't this work:

Cable Modem => Router => Vonage

\=> Main PC

Vonage and main PC are connected by the router RJ45 outs, and the rest of the PC's use the wireless.

**PrOLifIC_onE** · February 12th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by pc_guy

Wouldn't this work:

Cable Modem => Router => Vonage

\=> Main PC

Vonage and main PC are connected by the router RJ45 outs, and the rest of the PC's use the wireless.

Actually the vonage router has to be directly connected to the cable modem. When I first got vonage I used 2 NICs and ran my main pc in between the vonage router and the cable modem. It worked ok, except when I did something that required all the bandwidth for a short time, then the phone line would go dead or the sound would get all distorted. My wife really got pissed when that happened and she was on the phone. It most notably happened when I had to refresh a gaming server list. So since then, vonage has been the priority router. Otherwise that would be a good option.
------
While the Xterasys wireless router is not a popular brand, it has worked great for about 2 years now. I think it is that 'extra hop' that causes some of my connection issues. They weren't bad, but enough to annoy me. Like BF2142 disconnecting about once per hour or so... With the PC connected to the vonage router I get issues much less frequently.

As long as NIC#1 is the priority for internet right now, then I think I am all set. I wonder if there is some network monitoring program out there that will allow me to monitor the traffic from both NICs?

pc_guy · February 12th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by PrOLifIC_onE

I wonder if there is some network monitoring program out there that will allow me to monitor the traffic from both NICs?

You can use Task Manager - CTRL+ALT+DEL, under networking tab it will show each NIC usage, more options can be added by going to View=>Select Columns.