Force it to connect to internet over wireless only?

Dave Guy · May 8, 2010

I have 2 PCs, and both are connected to my wireless router for internet access.

PC #1 is running XP.
PC #2 in running W7 and it has an external hdd attached.

I want PC #1 to be able to access the external drive.

Solution #1: Just make it shared and transmit the data of the wireless LAN. This works, but it's too slow.

So I tried:
Solution #2: Run a crossover cable between the two machines. Make the IP address of one PC the default gateway of the other, and vice versa.

This actually works pretty well, except....

If you try to access the internet from PC #1, sometimes it (correctly) uses the wireless network and sometimes it (incorrectly) tries to use its new hard wire LAN, which doesn't get anywhere except to PC #2. In that case, it can't reach the internet. (I'm using Firefox.)

I just want to tell PC #1 to only use the wireless for internet access.

I'm a networking newbie, so any help you can give would be great.
Thanks!

GhislainG · May 8, 2010

If both PCs are accessing the Internet through a wireless adaptor, then make sure the LAN interface uses a different IP network address, e.g., 10.0.0.1 and 10.0.02. Then any traffic between the PCs will go through the LAN and Internet will go through the default gateway (your wireless router).

Dave Guy · May 8, 2010

I think I'm doing that. The wireless is through 192.168.1.* and the LAN is through 192.168.0.*.

Here's my ipconfig from PC #1:

C:\>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : foobar
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Eth
ernet NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0F-B0-36-ED-C2
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network
Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0E-35-7C-65-56
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.4
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
68.237.161.12
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, May 08, 2010 10:21:16 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, May 09, 2010 10:21:16 AM

GhislainG · May 8, 2010

Why do you have a default gateway on the LAN?

Dave Guy · May 8, 2010

When I use PC #1 to access the external hdd, I want it to know how to find PC #2. But is that wrong?

As I said, I'm a newb so feel free to tell me that I don't know what I'm doing.

GhislainG · May 8, 2010

Since it's on the same LAN, it should know where to find it. If you want to make absolutely sure, add it to the hosts file. The goal is to make sure that your default gateway is the wireless network.

Dave Guy · May 8, 2010

Ok, I blanked it out. So far it seems to be going to the right place for internet access. So maybe it's working. I'll keep an eye on it.

Thanks!

GhislainG · May 8, 2010

You should never have 2 default gateways.

Dave Guy · May 9, 2010

Ok, PC #1 internet works now, but when it looks at files from the external hdd, it also goes over the wireless. I want it to go over the LAN. How do I force it to do that?

GhislainG · May 9, 2010

What IP address do you get when pinging the other PC? If you get the wireless address, then add the other PC to your hosts file, e.g., foobar2 192.168.0.2.

Dave Guy · May 9, 2010

Ok, done. I added the other pc to the hosts file. Now when I'm on PC#1 and I ping PC#2, I get 192.168.0.2.

So far so good. But when I'm on PC#1 and I access the e: drive (which is the external hdd attached to PC#2), it still goes through the wireless. How do I tell Windows to go through the LAN? Do I need to re-setup the shared drive somehow?

GhislainG · May 9, 2010

Where should it go according to "route print"? If need be, add a permanent route to the other PC that forces it through the LAN.

Dave Guy · May 9, 2010

I hadn't heard of "route print" until just now. I quickly read up on it on the web.

I'm not sure how interpret the results.... 192.168.0.2 is the IP address of PC#2 (which has the external hdd).
Thanks so much for persisting with me! Anyway, here are the results:

>route PRINT 192.168.0.2
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x2 ...00 0f b0 36 ed c2 ...... Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC -
Packet Scheduler Miniport
0x3 ...00 0e 35 7c 65 56 ...... Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
- Packet Scheduler Miniport
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
None
Persistent Routes:
None

GhislainG · May 9, 2010

Use "route print" only. It will provide the complete routing info.

Dave Guy · May 9, 2010

>route PRINT
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x2 ...00 0f b0 36 ed c2 ...... Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC -
Packet Scheduler Miniport
0x3 ...00 0e 35 7c 65 56 ...... Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
- Packet Scheduler Miniport
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.4 25
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
169.254.0.0 255.255.0.0 192.168.1.4 192.168.1.4 20
192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.1 20
192.168.0.1 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 20
192.168.0.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.1 20
192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.4 192.168.1.4 25
192.168.1.4 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 25
192.168.1.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.4 192.168.1.4 25
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.1 20
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.1.4 192.168.1.4 25
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.1 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.4 192.168.1.4 1
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

GhislainG · May 9, 2010

According to your routing table, traffic to 192.168.0.0/24 goes through interface 192.168.0.1. If it goes through 192.168.1.4, then something else is not configured correctly, e.g., the drive was mapped using an IP address instead of the system name. If that's the case, then remove and redo the mapping or permanent connection. If you access it through the correct IP address like \\192.168.0.2\share_name, it can only go through that interface.

Dave Guy · May 10, 2010

"If that's the case, then remove and redo the mapping or permanent connection."

Yup, that did it. It seems to work so far. Thanks so much!

GhislainG · May 10, 2010

Glad to know you got it working.

buwish · Jul 13, 2010

Best answer selected by buwish.

Force it to connect to internet over wireless only?

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