Windows 7 Network setup with 2 NIC's

Scoobler

New Member
Firstly hello all,

I am having a bit of trouble setting up my home network.

I have a desktop computer which I use as an FTP server, and a web server (WAMP) this works fine and means the desktop is always on - it is only for development stuff.

I have two network cards in the computer. The first connects to a cable modem - the modem only allows one IP address - it won't work as a DHCP - it is also a dynamic IP address I use a dynamic dns server for the dev stuff!

So on the second network card I have it connected to an access point - this has 4 ports and wireless - this is just an AP so again doesn't have DHCP. I use this to allow me to connect my laptop and phone.

This setup has worked for a long time using windows XP - it took care of everything. Setting up a network would ask which connection was for the internet and which was the network.

But since upgrading to windows 7 I haven't been able to set this up to work?

Thanks in advance for any help!
 
Last edited:
Ok after some messing, I have got this kind of working.

I have my 1st NIC setup as the internet connection - it has it setup to get its IP automatically.

The second one I have set up with a manual IP address and subnet, but left the default gateway blank.

The wireless AP is setup with a SSID and routes to the static IP of the desktop.

The laptop and phone will now connect on the wireless network and the games console on the wired connection of the AP.


HOWEVER the reason I say its kind of working is, if I use the desktop to browse the web, it works flawlessly.
But when using the laptop (also a windows 7 machine, hence deciding to update the desktop) it will often fail to resolve a web address, this is almost instant as well. Like type the address, hit enter, chrome fail page as soon as you hit enter. Tell it to reload and the page will load (this happens for Firefox and IE as well). Once on the site, it normally loads fine, its mainly when going to a new URL. I'm wondering if this is due to the default gateway on the desktop and I believe windows 7 not having a built in DHCP so the network 'agrees' on IP's rather than being assigned addresses?


Thanks.
 
Sounds like you are trying to do manually, what Internet Connection Sharing should do for you almost automatically, including allowing your second NIC to do DHCP.
If you right click on your first NIC (the one that has an internet connection) and choose properties and then select the sharing tab, check the box that says " Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet Connection", then in the middle select your second NIC as the private network under "Home networking connection:" ( you may also want to click the hot link that says "Using ICS (Internet Connection Sharing (just to get a better idea of what is suppose to be going on))the second check box you can check or uncheck depending on your preferences. The settings button will allow you to select additional services running on your computer that you want others to be able to access check or leave alone as you prefer.
Now assuming you haven't configured the second NIC with static IP values you should see that it has self configured with an IP address of 192.168.137.1, that seems to work best so just work with that if possible. Now configure all clients to receive IPv4 information automatically and see if it behaves any better for you.
 
Hi Trouble,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

In NIC 1 which connects to the internet - I already have "allow other to use the connection..." ticked, and don't allow others to disable the connection. However I don't appear to have anywhere to select NIC 2 as the home network. I have set up the services running on the machine to give access to the FTP, Webserver and VNC.

I had manually set the IP to 192.168.137.1 - this kind of allowed things to work. Upon setting the IP to automatic, the NIC 2 set its self (this time) to 169.254.212.178 - The laptop lost the connection, and wouldn't pick up the connection. Strangely enough, if you watch the data tx and rx of the connection, both are going up as though the two are communicating. However even after restarting the laptop, it won't pick up a new IP - it has set its self to 169.254.116.46 with no default gateway, DHCP server or DNS server. Setting the NIC 2 on the desktop back to 192.168.137.1 (no default gateway or dns server) the laptop picks up a legitimate IP and kind of works :s

Thanks again,

Jamie.
 
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