Networking Help Badly Needed

[ChuckleBrother]

Alright, the gist is like this:

1) I have a media server PC that streams media around my house
2) I have 2 networks, one is for my Teksavvy net, one for Rogers/local stuff
3) I want my server on BOTH, but only to get internet from the Teksavvy-connected network. I do not at ALL want it trying to connect to remote sources via the Rogers network

So yeah, any assistance would be nice, also if someone can suggest a capable/affordable wired network card to use that would be great(it doesn't need to blow me away, it just needs to be cheap and stable). Gigabit not a requirement as it will only manage internet. Diagram attached to help illustrate my situation

[Perineum]

Should be fairly simple.

Setup the Media Server to use TekSavvy like normal, then add a network card. Give the "new ethernet card" (now called NEC for simplicity) a static IP the same as the ones for all the computers on the Rogers network. If you do not give the NEC a Default Gateway address or a DNS (leave it blank) then it should never try and use the NEC for outbound "internet" address and instead just use the existing TekSavvy one.

You will still be able to connect to the Media Server with: \\(Static IP of NEC)\media

[ChuckleBrother]

So no default gateway will ensure that it can't use it for remote connections? Will windows be smart enough to default to the "active" internet connection?

[Perineum]

Well when trying to connect to a "real, live" IP address it will automatically want to go out via the gateway to do so.

I can't say that I've done exactly what you're doing but I'm pretty sure it's exactly how I said. Like I said, I would setup the Media Servers connection as you want it to work with Teksavvy, then add an ethernet card and add it to your LAN. Make sure you add it to your LAN as a static IP so it doesn't have the gateway address of the Rogers connection.

... should just work...

[Spblue]

Here, you don't need to buy a second NIC to do what you want. If you use an addressing scheme like this, everything should work fine.

You will need to assign a secondary IP to your NIC. Here's what you have to do :

Firstly, configure your rogers router to use 192.168.1.1 as a static IP address. Depending on the model of your router this step might be a bit different. Use 255.255.255.0 as the mask.

Then, on your PC, open the TCP/IP (IPv4) settings and select this :
IP: 192.168.1.2
Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.1.1

Click Apply.

Without leaving the TCP/IP settings, click the Advanced button.

On the IP Addresses section, you'll see the IP you've just configured. Click Add, then put in :

IP: 192.168.2.2
Mask: 255.255.255.0

Do not add a gateway, click Apply then close.

Next, give the following IP to your teksavvy router (yadda yadda about every router being different).

IP: 192.168.2.1
Mask: 255.255.255.0

Then, on you media server:

IP: 192.168.2.3
Mask: 255.255.255.0
GW: 192.168.2.1

In advanced, add this IP :

IP: 192.168.1.3
Mask: 255.255.255.0

Do not add a gateway, apply and close.

Voilà, two separate internet WAN links.

Hope that helps, if you have any question feel free to ask.

Edit: please ignore the 169 addresses in the graph below, I was typing a bit fast I think. They should read 168.

[Perineum]

That works slick but it's a lot more involved for most people.

Most people seem to have ethernet cards or a motherboard with 2 of them already and for the most part the configuring only had to be done to one device - the Media Server.

That's the reason I specified 2 ethernet cards.

[Spblue]

Originally Posted by Perineum

That works slick but it's a lot more involved for most people.

Most people seem to have ethernet cards or a motherboard with 2 of them already and for the most part the configuring only had to be done to one device - the Media Server.

That's the reason I specified 2 ethernet cards.

Yeah but I figured that if he was asking which NIC to buy, he didn't have a spare lying around. Plus, he's already got a perfectly good switch with plenty of ports, so he might as well use that .

[ChuckleBrother]

Interesting, I will give it a try once my Teksavvy net gets installed. Thanks!

Edit: Is there any way without doing static IPs? I really hate hate hate static IPs in a home environment and have quite a few friends who use my network(as far as I can tell my router has no options for doing both DHCP and static together).

Edit 2: Nvm I think I got it, is "Alternate Configuration" the setting I want?

[Spblue]

There is nothing preventing you from leaving DHCP on, but you can only run it from one router. Pick the one you want your friends to use and disable the other. You will need to use static on your server and PC, and set the DHCP range to exclude your statics (ex: from 192.168.1.10 to 192.168.1.100). This way your friends will access the network fine.

With two NIC on the server, you could run everything on DHCP but the server's interface connected to your internal network. With everything plugged into one switch, you have to leave your PC on static as well (well actually you *can* do static + dhcp on Windows, but it's a terrible hack not for the faint of heart).

[Perineum]

You can do static and DHCP together.

Your router runs the DHCP server, and if you select "obtain an IP automatically" then it will ask the DHCP server for an IP. The DHCP server will typically assign IPs from a pool of about 50 or 100. You want to set the Media Server up with a static IP on your LAN side as the DHCP server will give out the gateway IP as well, which you don't want.

You can have all the machines in your house run as static IP, and then still have your DHCP server running on either of your routers for when your friends come over. That's what I have here.

Edit: I'm talking about my version, not Spblue's