Enable Internet (Wi-Fi) and Intranet (Ethernet) to work at the same time

amecily · Jan 24, 2014

I have seen a couple of threads about this, but I am so limited in my networking knowledge that I have been unable to get those solutions to work for me.

I am trying to connect to an intranet so that I can navigate to internal sites (such as Sharepoint, etc.), but I also need to be able to access my internet over a Wi-Fi connection, which is a 3G Mi-Fi.

What's currently happening is that, when I have the ethernet cable plugged in and Wi-Fi on at the same time, my internet works, but I cannot access the intranet. And it is really a huge pain to switch between the two.

My OS is Windows 7 and my network details are below (not sure what other details would be needed?):

Wireless

Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
IPv4 Address: 192.168.1.102 (preferred)
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
DNS: 192.168.1.1

Wired:

Default Gateway: 172.23.42.1
IPv4 Address: 172.23.42.165 (preferred)
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
DNS: 172.24.130.12

Please advise.

Thanks and regards,
Amy

bmwmaniac · Jan 24, 2014

If would help if you can tell me what happens when for example you are on google and you try to access a local (internal) sites. The error that you get can help get closer to the root of the issue.

amecily :

amecily · Jan 24, 2014

Hi there - it just says "Oops! Google Chrome could not find insert address here"

bmwmaniac · Jan 24, 2014

Do you mind me asking what is the address that you are putting in the Chrome address bar?

Also please open CMD (click on start and type in cmd) and try to ping the ip address 172.24.130.12 which is your local DNS. (type in "ping 172.24.130.12" and let me know what message comes up

amecily :

amecily · Jan 27, 2014

When the Wi-Fi is on, it says "Request timed out". Packets Sent = 4; Received = 0 and Lost = 4.

When I disconnect the Wi-Fi, it responds with "Reply from 172.24.130.12: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=24".

I'm not sure whether there will be any confidentiality issues if I were to post the entire URL that I am trying to access via the intranet, but it's basically sharepoint.companyname.co.za.

bill001g · Jan 27, 2014

You have a couple of issues.
First remove the default route from the intranet interface even though it is preferring the wireless anyway. You also should remove once of the DNS servers.
I suspect there is a bios setting in this machine that turns off the ethernet when the wireless is active. You should always be able to ping the default gateway on the wired interface as well as the DNS.
You could have a issue with DNS if your internal DNS server cannot resolve external addresses. A PC will only ask the first DNS server that responds to it to resolve stuff it will not try the second one if the first tells it the site does not exist it will only go to the second DNS if the first does not respond at all. There really is no solution for this other than to use a DNS server that will resolve its own addresses and ask a external server on your behalf for other addresses.

bmwmaniac · Jan 27, 2014

Try the following for me please, I want to try something;

go to network connections, right click on the wired adapter - properties -> IP V4(double click) -> advanced -> uncheck "automatic metric" and type in 1

then do the same for the wireless adapter and type in 99.

This should give the preference to the wired network, please try it out and check if this lets you connect to your intranet and to the internet at the same time.

Let me know how it goes.

amecily :

amecily · Jan 27, 2014

Thanks for this - I did actually try this method at one stage, except I used higher numbers like 500 and 2000. And it did work for a while and then it stopped working.

Weirdly, in the very beginning when I was trying to solve this issue, whenever I had the ethernet cable plugged in, it would take preference and the internet (Wi-Fi) wouldn't work. Then when I used the metric thing, both worked together for a while. Then, all of a sudden, the issue was reversed and the ethernet wouldn't work, but the internet would. I then put automatic metric back on, but the issue remained reversed. Any idea what would cause this? Sorry I didn't mention this in my original post, I didn't want to be long-winded

bmwmaniac :

bill001g · Jan 27, 2014

The metric is a router term. It is used as a tie breaker when 2 exact routes need to be selected from. So if you have 0.0.0.0 default route on 2 different interfaces the lower metric will be preferred. BUT this does not mean that a interface with a better metric always wins. The order always is the most specific route and then only if there is a tie the metric. So either a route that is entered with the route command or the subnets on the interfaces are always more specific and will be selected over the 0.0.0.0 route. Since there is no route for the same subnet on the other interface the metric will not be used.

This is a long way of saying that you should always be able to ping the gateway address on each of the interfaces no matter what the metric is set to. If this does not work something else that is not "routing" is blocking it.

bmwmaniac · Jan 27, 2014

Well basically the fact that there are two default gateways confuses your browser as to which one to use. So may I suggest that you try removing the gateway of the wired connection and see if both work, or try removing the gateway from the wireless and leave gateway on the wired(although logically internet would stop working).

I'm actually out of ideas at this point but i'll keep thinking of course and now thanks to you I wont be able to sleep at night while thinking about that puzzle

If I were you i would try the metric thing to put 1 for the wired and 99 on the wireless and see if it works again hopefully permanently this time

I hope I was of any help

amecily :

ZeusGamer · Oct 26, 2014

I know this has been very long since the thread was created, but for you who would want to know, I'm connected to ethernet and wifi at the same time.....

BuddhaSkoota · Oct 26, 2014

ZeusGamer :

Of course you can have Ethernet and wifi adapters both connected and working at once, but that wasn't the point of the thread.

ZeusGamer · Oct 26, 2014

BuddhaSkoota :

But what are the advantages of connecting with both?

bill001g · Oct 27, 2014

ZeusGamer :

In this case they are different network. Maybe you missed the words "intranet" and "internet" in the first post.

vikky69 · Oct 27, 2014

ZeusGamer :

Please, tell me how you did ethernet and wifi connection in the same time!!!!

jazzar21 · Dec 12, 2014

I had a similar problem - a CCTV system on an intranet (no internet access).
I fitted a USB wireless unit and connected to a local free public wireless access point.
I then needed to delete the lan gateway (after taking a note of it) so that the lan and wireless gateways were not conflicting.
This got me onto the internet and allowed the tech guys to fix my problem.
once finished I removed the USB unit and entered the lan gateway again.
This worked ok for me- dont know if there is an easier way to do this.
Hope this is of help to others.

iani71 · Oct 15, 2015

OK, I had the same problem. This is what I did.

For the sake of the discussion:
- NetAdapter1 is the network adapter where things normally work for you
- NetAdapter2 is the network adapter that you enable and then the internet does not work

My Solution - worked for me anyway:

1) Disable NetAdapter2
2) Verify that everything works
3) Open a command prompt and type IPCONFIG /ALL
4) Make a note of the DNS entries
5) Change the properties of NetAdapter2 and set the same DNS entries as NetAdapter1
6) In the Advanced section of NetAdapter2, uncheck the automatic metric and add a value of 999
7) Enable NetAdapter2
8) Verify that everything works
9) come back here and - hopefully - tell us that it worked for you!

Tubac3 · Aug 7, 2016

Hi and thanks! This worked for me on Vista. I needed to be able to simultaneously be on my wifi network to the Internet and logged into my NVR's 10.1.1.xxx network scheme so I could have a remote technician help me out. I've been on dozens of posts, non of which worked for me until I came across this solve.

mtsanj · Mar 23, 2018

amecily :

I had similar issue; tried every suggestions online but nothing worked. Finally, I read a suggestion online and it worked instantly.
Solution: the wifii button (key) on the laptop accidently got clicked and it turned off the WiFii. Click on the Wifii key on the keyboard (next to F12 key) on Dell Laptop and got the WiFii working. Hope this helps your situation also.

mtsanj · Mar 23, 2018

I had similar issue; tried every suggestions online but nothing worked. Finally, I read a suggestion online and it worked instantly.
Solution: the wifii button (key) on the laptop accidently got clicked and it turned off the WiFii. Click on the Wifii key on the keyboard (next to F12 key) on Dell Laptop and got the WiFii working. Hope this helps your situation also.

Enable Internet (Wi-Fi) and Intranet (Ethernet) to work at the same time

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Titan

Honorable

Distinguished

Titan

Honorable

Admirable

Admirable

Admirable

Titan

Reputable

Distinguished

Reputable

Commendable

Share this page