Can one use 2 internet connections at the same time?

Hi frns,

I have got 2 ISPs, both provide static IPs, lets call them A and B.

Now, A has a WAN through which it provides the net access.. cable from the local switch runs directly to my ethernet card.

and B provides access through an external cable modem.I use motorola Surfbaord SB1500. A cable is connected to the modem and then i get this connected to my Pc via USB.

So for the two ISPs i have made two LAN connections and i keep enabling one and disabling other to use either of them...

Now i was wondering is there any method though which i can get both working at the same time... coz right now when i try enabling both, none work...

So please tell me is it possible to use both of them at the same time.. and if yes how...

Quote:

---

So please tell me is it possible to use both of them at the same time.. and if yes how...

---

The simplest and best way, would be to hook up two PC's one on each IP.
Why would you want to confuse your poor computer by using two connections at once? That would require your computer to juggle 2 connections without any gain what so ever......kind of like trying to talk to two different people on two seperate phones at once. You wouldn't gain any speed, and the increase in bandwith would in reality be unusable due to switching slowdowns.

you're right moxnix...

what a nonsense question... think first before u ask... @mickeylittle

thanks for such a quick response...

well, yeah u are right in saying tht i would not gain any speed or bandwidth... but i dont want to use them to increase either of them...

Actually.. the connection A is a WAN as i mentioned earlier... so i can connect to all the other computers in the network through the hubs without even getting connected to the internet.. and i get and amazing transfer rate ( 2 - 9 MBps).

but now the problem is .. with the ISP B .. i have an unlimited connection... which i use to surf the net and download form net...

with ISP A the unlimited option is too expensive .. so i have taken a cheaper connection with download limit of 1 GB. And i use this mainly to share stuff on the WAN.

so if u get the picture now... can u suggest a method to use them both.

Hi Moxnix

Quote:

---

kind of like trying to talk to two different people on two seperate phones at once

---

I think that that is actually the solution :D I am absolutely no expert in this area, but I am pretty sure that I have had two connections running at once. One ASDL via an external USB modem and the other a 56.6 dial-up. I did not do it deliberately, and I haven't the 56.6 handy to try.

The two hardware devices are recognised with no problem. The two connections are quite separate, and the 56.6 uses the ISP's browser?

I suspect that the problem is that mickylittle2000 is trying to use the same cable connection? This would be rather like trying to call two different numbers on the same telephone?

just a thought :)

Hi

Not sure, whether I misunderstood something here.
Anyway, you can use both interfaces on your PC. For the setup
you describe, the route command[1,2] might be useful.
The idea is to send all traffic for the "WAN" via the "WAN"
interface, all the rest via the cable modem. Have a few more reads
regarding similar issues[3,4,5]. Note, since you have written
"made two LAN connections" I take it that you run Windows OS.

Of course, you could try to perform traffic shaping[6].
This can be nicely done on a Linux box. I am not sure,
what you have available, what are your requirements, and
how much you can do, hence I am not going into much detail,
but have a read for example here[7].


Cheers



[1] http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d...-us/route.mspx
[2] http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=140859
[3] http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=267740
[4] http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=266584
[5] http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=270026
[6] http://www.linuxguruz.com/iptables/h....4routing.html
[7] http://linux.com.lb/wiki/index.pl?no...ltiple%20Links

Quote:

---

Originally posted here by nihil


I suspect that the problem is that mickylittle2000 is trying to use the same cable connection? This would be rather like trying to call two different numbers on the same telephone?

[/B]

---

hi again...

i think u getting me wrong here... im using two seperate cables for different connections...

cable from A runs from the hub to the ethernet port directly.. (RJ45) and the cable from the ISP B comes to their switch to the cable modem at my place and from modem its connected to one the USB ports in my PC.

Now another interesting thing i observed here...

when i m connected to the ISP A there is a proper IP which i get,
but when i enable the ISP B (after disabling A) there are two IPs which i get when i do "ipconfig".

im attaching a snap shot...

also keep in mind .. both the ips are static and manually configured.

correct me if im wrong ... but i think 192.168.xx.xx is an auto generated ip by windows and at times considered as a bad ip...right?

lemme explain the whole thing...once again.

I have two internet connections from two ISPs.

the first one "A" has a technology where the internet is provided by connecting computers to a WAN. There is a small piece of s/w which they call as Broadband launcher which i have to run and put in my username and password into to get connected to the internet.

However, with this connection.. I can also connect to all the customers in my area( the whole suburb i.e, more than one building) who get their internet through the same ISP via hubs setup by different users. To do this i use DC++ ( a p2p s/w). Even if im not connected to the internet i can connect to the other users...

And this is the main purpose i use this network for rather than the internet.

Now for internet i use another connection from ISP"B". which is a all time ready connnection.. though a cable modem.. ( this one uses USB port)


so i hope the picture is clear now...
Im using Win XP Pro ..

It can be done. What you are trying to do is to set up
a multihomed host
This makes your computer into a router. I don't know if windows
has the necessary software, but it is common with Linux.
When you use your internet browser, or other client software,
you could only talk on one interface at a time, but you could
route traffic from one interface to the other, or download stuff
from one, and have a server share same stuff on the other.

Don't ask me how, though. I'm a newb on networking.
:cool:

Go with what sec_ware is saying about adding to the routing table the first two links he has given to you tell you all you need to know.

I thought it was not possible at first but a bit of research brought up this:

Windows XP Professional places no restrictions on physically multihomed computers, so you can add as many network adapters as the computer hardware can accommodate, and assign each a separate address.

As each new network adapter is installed, Windows XP Professional Plug and Play autodetects the adapter. The device driver for each adapter is installed and any internal resources are automatically configured. The network adapter is bound to the TCP/IP protocol. If the network adapter is not Plug and Play–compliant, the adapter software must be installed and configured manually using the manufacturer's instructions.

For a multihomed computer that uses multiple network adapters for physical connections to the LAN, each adapter appears as a separate adapter in the Network Connections folder.

For a system configured to support multiple network or media types, there are no restrictions for this type of configuration other than hardware and media support. The TCP/IP implementation in Windows XP Professional supports the following:

* Ethernet (Ethernet II and IEEE 802.3 SNAP encapsulation).
* Token Ring (IEEE 802.5 encapsulation).
* Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) over IP
* ATM Lane Emulation (LANE).
* Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI).
* WAN, using circuit-switched media such as ISDN and dial-up, dedicated asynchronous lines, dedicated synchronous lines such as T-Carrier, and virtual-circuit wide-area media such as X.25 and Frame Relay.

By default, each new network adapter is set for automatic TCP/IP configuration.

To manually configure IP addresses on a multihomed system

1. In Control Panel (default view), click Network and Internet Connections.
2. Click Network Connections.
3. In Network Connections, right-click the local area network connection you want to modify, and then select Properties.
4. On the General tab, in the This connection uses the following items list, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties.
5. Configure TCP/IP as described here: Configuring an IP address manually and here: Configuring IP Address and Name Resolution
6. Start at step 3 and configure the second adapter for TCP/IP.

To manually edit your routing table with XP go here and read all!!

All from the microsoft help site!
Hope it helps you!

thanks for the help nokia and rcgreen
Im going throught the articles u guys suggested...

I hope to figure out a solution..

i'll update u about the same..