Can I have wireless network and ethernet Internet connection combined?

Byron172

Here's what I want to do:

I have a DLink wireless router and an NetComm ADSL2 modem for my internet connection. I want to connect to the internet direct through the ADSL2 modem via ethernet so that I get the best Internet speeds possible. I would like to utilise my router purely for the other PC's in the house (and the wii console) to network with each other and occasionally go on the internet.

Can I install two ethernet cards in one pc and have them perform what I am trying to achieve? Or is there another way? the ADSL2 modem only has two ports - 1 ethernet and 1 USB - and obviously I don't want to use the USB port for my internet connection as it is slower.

Any advice?

kryyst

Just connect your modem to your router then every computer to your router. Your incoming internet speeds are a fraction of what your internal network speeds are so you aren't losing any bandwidth at all by going through the router first.

The only bandwidth you are losing would be with the other computers trying to get out to the internet also. So if you want to prevent them from getting onto the internet just manually setup their tcp/ip properties and put in a non-valid gateway.

Byron172

Hi Kryyst - thanks for getting back to me. I should have mentioned that my router is only capable of 54mbps however my ADSL2 modem is (theoretically) capable of 100mbps. Now I know that I am unlikely to get that sort of speed out of it (in fact I know through speedtest.net that I don't), but even if I disable my other PC's from trying to access the internet and eating up my bandwidth - will I still get as good speed through the router?
Also, just out of interest - is it possible to have two ethernet cards installed and use both simultaneously?

kryyst

First of all your adsl modem's outside interface, that's the connection between it and your internet provider isn't running at 100mb's, it's maybe running at 5mbs. It's the inside interface between it and your router that would be a 100mb connection.

Next your router's ethernet ports will all be running at 100mb's and it's only it's wireless connection that is running at 54mbs(optimally). So any computers connected through a network cable to your router will be talking to it at 100mbs. However when they go to the internet it goes through your ADSL modem's outside interface and that connection drops down to whatever speed you are getting from your ISP (probably 5mb).

You could put two network cards into one computer and use them both - if you have all the correct hardware in place to do so. I can tell you now that you don't and it's not worth while so don't even bother looking into it. All that you would gain is a faster connection to your router, getting to the internet would still drop down to that 5mb connection.

Now you could have 2 nics in one computer connect the modem to one and then a hub to the other, then connect all the other computers to that hub. Then you'd have to turn on Internet connection sharing on your computer so the other computers could get to the internet. But again no advantage and I'll tell you why.

Your 5mb connection isn't being hammered by those other computers - unless you have something wrong with them. You aren't going to gain anything significant from dividing up your network like you are hoping. Your internet speeds aren't going to soar. You'd see a fractional increase at best.

If you want to prioritize traffic check to see if your router supports QoS (Quality of Service) you can setup rules that limit the ammount of bandwidth it would hand out to other computers. That would be more efficient then what you are currently thinking.

Byron172

Cool - yeah the main thing I needed to know was that the internet speed won't be affected if I continue to hardwire my connection to the internet via the router, the rest is insignificant for me if that is not the case.

I was only concerned about dropping internet speeds if I was to use my router. Since that's not the case I will set it up tonight and run speedtest to confirm. Thanks again for your help.

kryyst

No problem.

Byron172

Damn - I had the wireless network up and runnig a few months ago, but now I can't get it working when I wire my PC direct to the router and the router to the modem. I have tried everything I can think of but no cigar.....
I have taken my wireless PCI card out of the PC because I don't want it to connect to the Internet via wireless....
From what I can tell, the router is unable to obtain an IP address and I am unable to log into the router using the 192.168.1.1 default IP. I have tried to ping the router from a command prompt and run the Windows Diagnose and Repair tool also. The ping message is "Ping transmit failed, error code 10043" three times and "(100% loss)". "The destination address is unreachable". I have tried setting my DNS primary and secondary to automatic and also set to the configuration that I have obtained from my ISP, both with no luck (just in case it was an issue with my Internet settings). Turned off Windows firewall just in case - but still no go.....

I have downloaded the user guide for my router and followed their instructions to the letter, but hit a wall when it ciomes to logging into the router.

It isn't a problem with my ISP because connecting my PC direct to the modem gives me no troubles. So now I'm at a loss...........any suggestions?

Byron172

Just an update - I reset the router to the factory defaults and now I can log into it. I have followed the router set up guide and set up as PPPoE connection. Now I am getting Local Connection but no access to the internet. I am also able to ping the router now, no problem......
Do I need to set up my connection as dynamic perhaps, or change IP addresses for either the modem or the router so that they aren't the same? I don't want to keep fooling around with this with my limited knowledge and dig myself deeper into the crap......
Anyone know what I might be doing wrong, there seems to be a lot of info on the net but nothing is working for me. I know the router is OK cos I had the network up and running a while back.....

kryyst

If your modem is not handling the PPPoE connection and just working in bridge mode then you need to have your router set to connect to your modem over PPPoE. Then check in the router's status page and see if it's showing that it's connected to the modem and the internet. It should report back with your IP and gateway from your ISP. If it's getting that information then that connection is correct.

Next set any computers connected directly to the modem to full DHCP mode. They should then be getting all the information they need to connect to the internet. By default your router will have at least 100 DHCP addresses it'll hand out.

Now if your router isn't getting any info from the modem then your modem is likely handling the resolution and getting an IP and gateway info, essentially it's doing the routing for you. If that's the change your router to get it's information from the modem through DHCP.

Byron172

kryyst wrote:

Now if your router isn't getting any info from the modem then your modem is likely handling the resolution and getting an IP and gateway info, essentially it's doing the routing for you. If that's the change your router to get it's information from the modem through DHCP.

This is what seems to be happening.....how do I change the router to get it's information from the modem through DHCP? I realize that all routers will be slightly different but what are the basic steps.......

kryyst

Typically you log into the basic setup page for your router and there'll be a setting for it's connection and you can pick from Static, PPPoE and DHCP (plus maybe 1 other). Set it to DHCP and see if it gets a connection.

Byron172

OK - I have finally worked it out. I am posting back here in case anyone else has trouble because of IP address conflicts when setting up a wireless router.

First I reset the router to factory defaults settings. Next I went to DHCP and disabled DHCP. Next I made WAN settings Dynamic and then I went to LAN and change the IP address. Now this was the important step. I knew that the IP addresses were conflicting and I was continuously changing the last set of numbers to try to resolve the conflict when in fact it was the 3rd set of numbers that needed changing.

For example if your numbers are currently 192.168.1.1 try changing the IP address to 192.168.2.1 this is what worked for me.

kryyst

That solution is very dependent on how your network is setup and what your modem is doing. If the modem you received is a combination modem/router and working in gateway mode, then yes you need to have your internal router on a different network. If however your modem is a dumb modem or set in bridged mode and your router is handling all the PPPoE connections then changing the 3rd set of numbers is just going to change what internal network you are on and is doing something other then what your original problem was.

But anyways. In this case it's correct because your modem is handling the PPPoE connection and therefor it is the gateway for your router. So your modem is passing out an internal network of 192.168.1.1 to your wifi router. The wifi router has it's connection set to static with a gateway of 192.168.1.1 and therefore it would have to have a different internal network so you'd have it handing out a 192.168.2.x network to all your devices.

Anyhooo if it works it works yeah !

Byron172

Absolutely......and thanks for your input throughout kryyst it has been extremely concise and I really appreciate your advice. What a MASSIVE relief to finally have it all up a running again!!!!

Cheers,
B.