Hello,
My question is along the same train of thought as what's being discussed in this thread. I, too, would like to be able to use two (or more) internet connections and/or two connections on each PC on my local network, but not for the reasons and goals discussed above.
Environment
LAN
Maximum of 5 PC's and 2 laptops as well as 1 Mac and 1 iPad. They are not usually all on the network all at the same time. The iPad, Mac, 1 laptop and 1 PC only occasionally are on the network. 3 PC's are connected almost non-stop 24/7, and one more PC and the other laptop are connected 8 - 5. So, the LAN is busier than a typical home user's network, but perhaps not quite to the level of a corporate network environment.
ISP Connections
1 2.5 Mb DSL connection from
PLDT, an ISP that is perhaps the world's worst when it comes to ISP customer service or support. The connection comes into a really cheap Chinese piece-of-crap ZyXEL modem, and then out to a Linksys E4200 Router, which is currently serving as the DHCP server for the LAN. Currently, this connection is "intermittent" as seen in the two images I've provided below. In a typical day using PLDT's currently unstable and unreliable connection, I have to reset the modem between
20 and 40 times per day, and usually several times per hour (no, I'm not kidding or exaggerating).
Actually, I had to reset my modem eight times while typing this post. Here are some examples of typical ping tests for this connection, one from today while writing this post:
This often happens when I click on links (two clicks shown here... you can tell where they are)
http://pldtscam.org/images/20120121_0908_PrintScreen_PLDT_PingTest_TwoClicks.jpg
PLDT's Idea Of A Stable Connection
http://pldtscam.org/images/20120121...ingTest_PLDTs_Idea_Of_A_Stable_Connection.jpg
1 3.0 Mb DSL connection from Globe, which comes in and connects to a Prolink H5001N combination modem and router (provided by Globe). It is has wireless capability (which I have not tested yet) and one local port, and has DHCP capacity as well, although I am not sure yet how many computers it can accommodate. This is a new connection, only recently offered in my subdivision. I'm currently testing it's stability. So far, it has crapped out on me twice for no more than 5 minutes each time.
Depending on the advice I get from the gurus on this forum about what I am about to describe below, I could use either one of these devices (the Prolink or the Linksys) as the DHCP (I would imagine that between those two, you ALL would agree that the Linksys is a "beefier" device for that purpose). However, I could also come out of either one of these devices and go into a Windows XP Pro SP3 PC before going out to the network, and have that PC serve as the DHCP server (I believe XP and even the old faithful Windows 2000 Pro has that capability by default). If I'm not mistaken, doing so would also give me the added benefit of additional security with Windows Firewall in place.
Goals
1. Possibly (Hopefully), I'd like to have my entire network to have a more stable and reliable internet access using both connections simultaneously,
but not to increase download speed, or to access a file on a source computer from two connections simultaneously, such as what is described above. I'm simply looking for the entire network to enjoy the redundancy of having more than one connection without having to go change out the connections every time an ISP craps out on me.
2. On the Mac and each client PC on the LAN, I'd like to have two NIC's. One would access the internet and not the network, the other would access the network and not the internet. If this is possible, the primary benefit I'm looking for is for the local file-sharing bandwidth to not interfere with internet bandwidth (and vice-versa, I suppose). A secondary benefit (but certainly an important one, if possible) would be the possibility of increased security of my files from being seen on the internet as a result of the internet connection not having access to the network. In this scenario, only the desktops would be set up in this way. With my laptops, I could probably have the wireless connection access the internet, and the wired connection access the network. I'm not worried about the iPad being able to do this at all,
Possibilities
First, I'm pretty sure that my desire to have two NIC's in a PC, Mac or Windows laptop doing two different things are entirely possible. I've had this discussion before (although I don't remember with whom I had it), and that person confirmed this to be the case, and even acted like it was easy to do. I just didn't get around to asking him
HOW to do it. I am by no means an expert programmer, but I can manage a few registry changes, setting properties in Network Connections, some command line functions, etc. if someone here can tell me how to do this.
Next, is the whole issue of having the network enjoy both connections simultaneously.
From what I have read in this thread, I think the following might be the best way to do this, but I'd like you gurus here to confirm this for me.
Based on what I read here, it sounds like the best way to make this happen would be to have both internet connections connect to one PC (which, in my case, would be running either Windows 2000 Pro (if that's all that's needed) or Windows XP Pro SP3, configured the way you tell me to configure it here in this thread). This machine would have to be running some kind of software that allowed multiple connections simultaneously and managed them, using them equally for the machines behind this one. From there, I could either...
- Configure this same machine to be the DHCP server, allowing it to assign IP addresses to each machine on my network. In this scenario, I'd have to have a 3rd NIC, come out of that NIC to a HUB, and from there connect to each machine. This method would eliminate the need for the Linksys router.
OR....
- Also with a 3rd NIC, come out of this PC to the Linksys router, and let the Linksys act as the DHCP server.
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So? Does any of this sound right, or am I totally off-base? If I'm right, please tell me which option is right, and more importantly, how to....
a) Configure the machine responsible for load-balancing to make this happen. Which software mentioned in this thread is the best one to use for this? What EXACT procedures, programming, etc. is involved for configuring each NIC on this machine?
b) Which of the two options I described above is best for coming out of the load-balancing PC? Is it best to use the Linksys, or bypass it?
c) What EXACT programming would be required on the client machines to cause one NIC to access the internet and not the network, and the other to access only the network and not the internet? Also, would this have the side-effect of somehow further protecting my LAN's files from the internet? If so, how?
I've seen enough from this thread and other threads on this forum to know that many of you have the training, expertise and experience to properly and completely answer this question - certainly more than anyone I've found in my area. However, as in-depth as my explanation of my problem and goals are in this post, I'm certain that the answer will require some time on your part. This being the case, I'd like to recognize to be the case, and thank you in advance for taking the time to read this, and to answer it, not only for my benefit, but for the benefit of all. Not only have I not been able to find the answer to this question elsewhere on this forum, but I haven't found it anywhere else on the internet, so you will be doing a lot of people a great service by doing so!