2 network cards in one pc causing internet problems

[fbc]

I've got the following set up:

Wireless network << Wifi card-PC-Network card >> Modem/Router (internet)

The problem is if you turn the pc on the wifi card connects to the wireless network (which doesn't have internet access). If after that point you turn the modem/router on (used for internet access) the pc will not have 'net access. If I disable the wireless connection and restart the pc and then connect to the 'net it works fine.

So I think the pc is trying to use the wireless connection for the 'net when that connection is created before the modem/router connection. What I need to do is stop the pc from trying to use the wireless connection for 'net access regardless of what gets connected first. I've read this can be resolved by setting the gateway settings on the wireless card, but I'm a bit lost as to how to go about it...

[bone]

that's because you router has to give IP adress to your pc, and if it isn't turned on on the moment of the boot, it'll never get one

try in cmd "ipconfig /renew" and that should solve the problem as well i think

[fbc]

^ So I would have to type that whenever I decide to turn the router on and use the internet?

Ideally I'd like a solution where the wireless connection is always enabled (and thus automatically connects on start-up), but the pc knows to use the other network adaptor for internet access, without having to do anything. That way if the modem/router is turned off there's no internet access, but as soon as I turn the modem/router on I can access the internet.

[bone]

i've reread what i wrote, and it's not right, caus if you connect a running pc to the network, it automatically gets an IP, so if you turn on your router afterwards, it should give one as well

you might try with the gateway, but it's not on your wireless you should set it in, but on the card connected to your router

but then you'll have to give it a static ip as well

you can try

go to network connection, and go to the properties of the network card connected with the router. select "internet protocol (TCP/IP)" and again properties.
select the radiobutton "use the following IP address" and enter "192.168.1.5" or sth (5 can't be taken). enter "255.255.255.0" next to subnetmask and the IP address of your router next to gateway (most probably be 192.168.1.1)

and you also might set up a proxy server on the pc connected to the router. that's what i used to do when i worked like that

although i studied for it, you might wanne ask someone who realy knows what he's talking about

[chaos386]

Try bridging the two connections and see if that works.

EDIT: More info and pics.

[Z102]

You could try removing the gateway altogether in the wireless connection, and make sure the ethernet card has the modem/router as gateway. Also, make sure the wifi and the ethernet are on different networks. Also try, setting manually the IPs for both the wireless and the ethernet cards. As a last resort, you could try setting up a static route by which all Internet access is routed through the modem/router.

[fbc]

Thanks for the suggestions guys - here's the set up I've been trying:

Wireless:
Static IP: 10.0.1.2 (Base station is 10.0.1.1)
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway (empty)

Ethernet:
Static IP: 192.168.1.1 (Router is 192.168.1.254)
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.1.254

But I'm still not having much luck - it seems as though XP will try and use the most recent connection regardless - i.e. if I connect to the router first all is good, if the wireless connects first I get nothing (I can't even ping the router, I can however still ping the ethernet adaptor). If I have both the wireless and ethernet connected and disconnect the wireless XP will eventually revert to using the ethernet. So I'm not really achieving my goal is telling XP to only use the ethernet adaptor for anything outside of the wireless network range...

I also tried putting the router's address and the ethernet address in as the gateway for the wireless card, but that also didn't work (I assume that's because the wireless is still trying to find a way to those addresses via it's network).

I tried bridging the connections but I didn't get very far with that - I might give that another shot though. Will that work even though the wireless card is in infrastucture mode since it's connecting to a wireless base station? (Those instructions only mention using Adhoc mode)

As for setting up a static route or a proxy on the pc - how would I go about either of those things?

[roaming]

Set the metric on the wireless routes higher than the routes on the network interface to the Internet. This will make it check the Internet connection first for a route before going to the wireless network.