I work in a pharmacy in a hospital. The hospital has a network with their pc's on it. My pharmacy system is a stand alone system NOT on the hospitals network. If I want to get on the internet via my pharmacy system (i.e. for remote tech support from my pharmacy system provider) I have to go to my newtork settings and change the IP address, gateway, dns, etc. and then go back when I need to use my pharmacy system to fill prescriptions.

Is there a way that I can get my system to be on both networks at the same time?

I went to my Network Settings in control panel and tried to create a new connection so I would have 2 connections and just click on them as I want to switch back-and-forth, but I was unable to do so.

Thanks in advance for any help!

You need a second Network Card for the other network.

Grumpy

Put a router in.

If you put in your own router, most likely, your IT folks will neuter you. (I might be biased, I happen to be a hospital IT guy).

I agree with Grumpy, get a second NIC

And how would a router solve the problem?

Grumpy

It is one of the IT guys who is unofficially telling me to go ahead and just hook the system up to the hospital's network.

Anyway, the pharmacy system has a box that has about 8 ethernet ports. (I do not know if this is a hub or a router). What I did was take an ethernet cable plugged into the hospital's network and plugged it into this hub. Then I ran 2 ethernet cables to 2 different machines...one is the hospital network PC (for my work related emails, wholesaler ordering, etc.) and another ethernet cable going to my pharmacy system for when I need to get on the internet for tech support from my pharmacy system vendor.

I don't know if explaining it in this detail makes a difference as to what I can do, but another way of asking my initial question is this:

Can I configure my PC to have 2 different network connections (at the same time) and make one the primary and the other secondary, and just change which one I want to use?

Good on you for getting IT's advice.

The easiest/best way is still to put a second NIC into your computer. One will be configured for the hospital network, and the other for your other desired network.

BTW, most likely the 8-port box you have is a "switch", not a hub or router. Impress your coworkers with this knowledge

If you dual home your system you run the risk of exposing one network to the compromise of another. Any systems administrator worth their weight would never allow you to dual home your system. Any system that has two nics, once compromise, will compromise both networks.

There is no risk of compromise as my pharmacy system network is internal with 3 PC's and a cash register. There is no internet access, but we do have a secure T1 line for our insurance claims and credit card transactions. Our T1 provider is just a data relayer and they do NOT provide internet access.

The greatest threat is internal.

There is no risk of compromise as my pharmacy system network is internal with 3 PC's and a cash register. There is no internet access, but we do have a secure T1 line for our insurance claims and credit card transactions. Our T1 provider is just a data relayer and they do NOT provide internet access.