DSL modem help...

mwall05

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Jul 11, 2013
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I have 2 DSl lines, one I use and one I don't. We have 5 computers on our network, one is used as our main upload server. Our connection speed sits at about 1mb/s, which is awful because I do a lot of downlaoding/uploading of very large image files for editing. I was wondering if there is any way to connect our main upload PC to the second DSL line so it isn't sharing bandwidth with the other 4 computers without losing communications between it and the rest of them. (I need to be able to share files back and forth between all 5 computers.) Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
Solution
HOLD IT PLEASE! Putting it on the DSL is a BAD idea based on what your saying here:

"We have 5 computers on our network, one is used as our main upload server. Our connection speed sits at about 1mb/s, which is awful because I do a lot of downlaoding/uploading of very large image files for editing. "

Your comment "connection speed sits at about 1mb/s" I am guessing your meaning Internet connection correct? That has nothing to do with you sitting in your chair, and trying to access the upload server by the closet in the same office (you said it is on the same network, i.e. is sitting in the same physical space as the other 4 computers).

First if you have the 5 computers on the network all in your office/house, are they all...
Yes, this can certainly be done. There are two solutions which I can think of, either of which will be equally viable.

The first solution:

Get your hands on a dual WAN router. This will allow you to connect both DSL modems to the same router and does not require you to make any changes to your local network topology. The only thing that you will have to do is configure the router to use one of the WAN uplinks for your upload server, and the other WAN uplink for the rest of them.

The second solution:

If your upload server has two NICs, you can connect one of them to your normal LAN, and the other to the second DSL modem. If your server does not have two NICs, buy a cheap one for $10 and install it in an unused PCIe slot.

After doing this you will have to configure the network stack on the upload server to use the second NIC's gateway as its default route rather than the first NIC's gateway as its default route. If all goes well, you should be able to access your local network (presumably something along the lines of 192.168.0.0/16) through the first NIC, and everything else (0.0.0.0/32) over the second.

EDIT: note about the second option. The upload server will have two routes to the internet, one through each NIC. It must be configured to use the second one by default. This does not prevent an application from using the wrong NIC if it doesn't want to obey the operating system's defaults.
 
HOLD IT PLEASE! Putting it on the DSL is a BAD idea based on what your saying here:

"We have 5 computers on our network, one is used as our main upload server. Our connection speed sits at about 1mb/s, which is awful because I do a lot of downlaoding/uploading of very large image files for editing. "

Your comment "connection speed sits at about 1mb/s" I am guessing your meaning Internet connection correct? That has nothing to do with you sitting in your chair, and trying to access the upload server by the closet in the same office (you said it is on the same network, i.e. is sitting in the same physical space as the other 4 computers).

First if you have the 5 computers on the network all in your office/house, are they all connected? Wireless? Wired?

If the server is wireless make it a wired connection unless your running 802.11ac . A wired connection is normally 1Gbps between that connection and any other 'connections' on the router (no Internet involved here). The other 4 computers can be wireless if you wish (maxing out at 400Mbps on N with no one else doing 'anything' through the router) but you may wish to put the primary workstation (the one your editing very large image files from) also Wired. So it can communicate to/from the server at 1Gbps.

Now if the other '3' computers are for other uses (people Youtubing etc.) you can enable QoS (Quality of Service) on those computers and the router. Then setup the router Priority that ImageWorkstation / Server have the 1st priority over everything else. Even with them both on 1Gbps connections, if the other 3 computers are demanding to all watch the new episode of First Blood on NetFlix from the Internet, that will still impact your 1Gbps connections as they pass through the router.

Best if you specified if your using FTP to the server or what software / how your uploading / downloading to/from the server.

This gets me back to the next segment, your trying to have a 'Network', that means file sharing, print sharing, etc. If your doing the "one is used as our main upload server" as a off the shelf Window 7 PC, then it won't be designed specifically to work as a file server, and be doing all sorts of other things which can also effect your Upload/Download. If you have need of a Server, then you need Windows Server, either 2008 or 2003 or setup a simple (much cheaper) Linux Box with FTP serving. You don't need to create a 'Domain' perse, where each person needs to validate authentication to access a computer or network resources, but your heading in that direction already since you want to know 'who did WHAT!!! to the image files when?!??!?!' and have some level of control and authorization (don't want Becky's Cuz who surfed Porn on her computer to infect the 'server'). You might want to reassess what your currently doing, and what you plan to affect you over the next 24 months (hire three more people and boom you are going to severly impact productivity for numerous reason).
 
Solution


how do i configure the second NIC to be used specifically for uploading with windows 8? I'm having trouble finding information online. :\
 


All of the computers are hard wired to the main DSL router. So the speeds I'm seeing are about as good as they're going to get with what I have. I wish going out and buying a dedicated server was an option, but unfortunately it isn't. 🙁
 


When two valid routes to the same location exist (in this case 0.0.0.0/32), Windows uses an appropriately named value called "metric" to determine which one to use. Devices with a lower metric are preferred. If you want one NIC to be preferred over the other (which you do), follow these instructions below.

Open "Network and Sharing Center"

go to "Change Adapter Setttings"

Find your LAN adapter (the one that you don't want to use for uploading)

Right-click and select Properties

Scroll down to "Internet Protocol Version 4" and select it

Select Properties

Select Advanced

uncheck "Automatic Metric" and enter an arbitrarily high value such as 200.

Repeat with the other NIC that you want to use for uploading and enter an arbitrarily low value such as 100.

That should do it. You may want to reboot to make sure that the network stack is properly refreshed.
 


Thanks, I'll give it a try this week!
 


As I said then the problem won't be resolved but will WORSEN trying to use the Internet. The issue is your trying to achieve business results while using default generic consumer level standards. If your PC-PC (disconnect the DSL line) is stuck low then the router is the problem for both efficiency and use. The first solution is to setup QoS (see my post) which will put in order the data based on priority, so the PC to the Server work has the highest but checking email from Yahoo has the lowest. The data will improve but it may not be enough as your seeking near realtime services amongst your needs (appropriate for business class).

Then the solution becomes two fold 1) if this is a ISP (your DSL provider) provided equipment you need to adjust (and yes is more expensive) to a business class equipment and line. This will add more services, better equipment, etc. because it is set for the critical nature of your business needs. 2) get your own DSL Router for BUISNESS class OR add a Smart Business Class switch. Again it would still need to be configured for QoS and tweaked, this is where professionals are hired for a few hours to do this sort of work and provide the solution because your hitting a point that requires you to at least be CompTIA A+ certified if not Network+ certified to understand all the technical aspects to make the tech work to your business goals.