Hi all,

I have a question about being on multiple networks at the same time.

I have two networks at home, first I'll explain the topology of each of them.

Directly on my internet connection, behind my modem, there is a switch (which functions as a hub I guess). Behind this hub are 2 routers. Each router has a different network under it, with an own DHCP server and configuration.

I'll list the configuration I think you need, do ask more if you need any!

Network1:

Router: 10/100 SMC 7004ABR
LAN IP:192.168.2.1
DHCP range: 192.168.2.111-192.168.2.120

Network2:

Router: 10/100 Linksys WRT54GR
LAN IP:192.168.3.1
DHCP range: 192.168.3.111-192.168.3.120

Now, the linksys router has 2 wireless clients (but this is of no matter in this case I guess)
The wired router has 1 wired client (which is on a fixed ip address).

Now I have my computer, another, I didn't mention it before, which is connected on both networks with 2 nic's.

For network1 I set myself on a fixed ip 192.168.2.101, for network 2 I'm on 192.168.3.101.
The subnet masks and gateways are set correctly for each one of them.

Now I want to use internet via network1 (because on network2 the internet is slower because of the crap router), but I want to be able to view shares and share myself on both networks (windows share)

How would I accomplish that?

Thanks in advance,

LethPhaos

(P.S. the networks are functioning allright, even with me on both of them, but I don't know which one gives me internet. I can only see shares network1.)

EDIT: I'm on wired connections
EDIT2: computers on network2 CAN copy from my windows shares and I see the computers of network 1 AND 2 in my network places (except for 1 computer on network2, but this could be caused by it's firewall I guess) so that fixes one of my 2 questions. Only question remaining: which network am I using for internet, network1, network2 or both?

Another question that I came up with, is it possible to share a folder only on one of the 2 networks?

EDIT3: by dns'ing myself on irc I found out I'm using network1 for internet, as I wanted. Will I always be or will I be using the one that is first available when I boot?

cajalat

LethPhaos,

ScottGem asked me to chime in so hopefully my advice will help you.

The thing about a default route is that it is intended as a "last resort" which by definition implies "one". So having 2 "last resorts" doesn't make sense. However, when you configure multiple defaults then only the first one in the list is used. The 2nd default is never used. You don't load balance between the two.

So you can do one of two things. You can either remove the one default gateway that you don't want to use, OR you can assign metrics to each default gateway. You can uncheck the "automatic metrics" and assign a higher value for the default route that you LESS PREFER. You can check to see what the current values are by issuing "netstat -rn" and look to the far right for each of the default metrics to get an idea of what to assign. How much different each metric is doesn't matter for the default routes. Only that one is higher (or lower) than the other.

This will ensure two things. 1) that you deterministically know which default you'll be using, and b) if you disable the port (i.e. unplug) on the primary default that the 2nd default will now start to work for you.

Now, regarding the local networks attached to each NIC. You will have the exact same access you had before since if again you look through your "netstat -rn" you'll see that both networks are there since you are directly connected to each of them. The default routes above have no impact on the directly connected networks.

Hope this helps.

cajalat

I think you meant 600 kilobytes and not kilobits. There is a big difference. If it were 600 kilobits per second then a 700MB transfer would take 2.65 hours to complete. You're transferring 700MB in 20 minutes which is equivalent to 4.77Mbps (i.e. 600kB not 600kb). This tells me that you're running an 802.11b wireless (or 802.11g clocked down to b-rates) which is rated for 11Mbps. The 11Mbps is actually misleading since wireless uses a variation on CDMA/CA (Carrier Detect with Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance) technology. Which is to say that it is similar to the old days of when you had half-duplex technology. So the most you'll be able to transfer in any one direction is roughly just more than half. You can do better with UDP based protocols (upwards of 7Mbps). So the best you'll get for TCP based applications is about 5.7Mbps under perfect conditions. You're getting 4.77Mbps which is not unreasonable to expect on 802.11b. If you were transferring the same file across a wired connection running at 100Mbps full duplex then assuming that your PC's/hard drives aren't a bottleneck the time it would take to transfer the file would be 56 seconds. If you run 802.11g and force it to 54Mbps then the best you'll be able to transfer the same file will be around ~210 seconds (~3.5 minutes) (remember, wireless is roughly like half-duplex).

So in your case I wouldn't say that the transfer speed is an indication of a problem. I think its normal.

Hope this helps.

Casey

LethPhaos

Thanks for the wireless network speed information calculations!

Regarding the first reply, to be sure I always use network1 for internet I would remove the default gateway in the configuration of the NIC that is connected to network2?

I tried the solution I posted above and it looks like I'm on network1 for internet, but maybe it won't be always like this if I leave both default gateways specified?

Edit: my wless is g-standard, so it does go too slow but that's because of the thick concrete walls, the connection is always bad.

cajalat

You're welcome
Removing the 2nd default for the Internet you don't want to use is the safe bet. But by changing the metrics then you can configure the network to always prefer Internet1 unless Internet1 is down (i.e. loss of link on your PC's cable and not to be confused with the ISP side of the connection to your Internet1 router) then it would use Internet2's default gw.
I agree. It will not always stay that way because all it takes is for one of your NICs to negotiate first with the router managing Internet2 and you'll end up with Internet2 as your first default. This can happen if for whatever reason the router servicing Internet1 happens to be busy and doesn't respond to the DHCP request as fast as the router servicing Internet2.
One of two things could be happening on your 802.11g. If you have a single wireless device that is associating (doesn't even have to be connected) using 802.11b (which you can on 802.11b/g devices) then everyone's speed drops automatically to 802.11b speeds (11Mbps). The other thing that could be happening is as you say if the walls are affecting your connectivity then the wireless router will throttle down in favor of better connectivity.

You could try and force only G connectivity (you should be able to specify that in the wireless router's config) and see what happens. The other thing you could do (just in case you may have overlooked it) is to boost your transmit power to max (you probably have but you never know).

You can also try to relocate (if you can) the wireless router to a different location within the room. Maybe get an extension RJ45 and power cord for it. Sometimes just shifting the location slightly will cause the signal to bounce or go through walls in your favor.

Good luck.

LethPhaos

I moved the router as close as possible to the location where the wless pc's recieve the signal, in the router configuration it is set to wireless-g only and the signal is on 100%, so it really is the concrete

As for the metrics, how do I change these, according to your explanations this really is the solution for what I need \o/

LethPhaos

I must warn everyone, never buy a Linksys WRT54GR, this screenshot shows one of the many reasons why I think it sucks bigtime.

Just had to say it somewhere

The transmission rate is on Auto but I can't switch it to forced 54mbps because of this bug...

ScottGem

I have both a Linksys Wired and Wireless router The BEFSR41 and the WRT54GS. I've been very happy with both. And I've been very impressed by Linksys tech support.

I really don't think its fair to trash a product just because you had one bad experience with it.

LethPhaos

I don't trash Linksys, I trash the wrt54gR because of it's bad firmware, If linksys would update it there would probably be no problem anymore.

But the latest firmware on the site is 1.01 and my router already has 1.04 so I can't flash it.

cajalat

You might want to save your firmware and downgrade to the 1.01 version. From reading various newsgroups it seems the 1.04 release for the 1.1 version of the hardware is not really supported by Linksys. Others report the exact same problem you're having and that the 1.01 fixed many of the issues they were having. Check out the Linksys forum for more info.

I have the WRT54GL and I absolutely love this thing. I installed a Linux based firmware on it and it gave me a TON of other options. I looked briefly to see if they have a firmware for your model but I can't seem to find it (www.dd-wrt.com).

Casey

LethPhaos

how do I backup my current firmware because I've thought of downgrading but I couldn't find a way to extract my current firmware first

EDIT: after changing the metrics of the NIC connected to network2 to "2" my internet got very slow, when I put it back on automatic everything was normal, is this normal?