2 NICs in 1 PC on the same network

Y

yo han

n00b
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
15
Hi all.
My girlfriend's PC is connected to a 10/100 switch which is connected to our router. The reason there's a switch is that she also has a network printer in her room.
Now I've bought a gigabit router and want to connect her computer with an extra gigabit NIC and use the 10/100 mainboard NIC for the printer. How do I configure this in XP? I would like the network printer to get an IP from the router and it would be nice if other users can still use the printer even if her PC is turned off. Is this possible?
 
Bridge the adapters.
Right click the adapter and select bridge connections.
If her machine is off you cannot access the printer.

Why not just plug the printer into the switch as before.
 
Thanks for the reply.
The reason I don't want to use the switch anymore is because it's a 10/100 switch so then it would make no sense to install a gigabit NIC.
 
get a gigabit switch to replace the 10/100 switch. They are relatively inexpensive.
 
If you want the network printer to also get an IP from the router..uplink it to the router, as well as your PCs gigabit NIC. Disable the 10/100 NIC on that computer, just keep the gigabit NIC.

If you want the PC to use the gigabit NIC to the router, and the network printer on the router, there's absolutely ZERO reason to use the 10/100 NIC on that PC. Disable it. Windows runs better on single NICs. Having a 2nd NIC (even if unplugged..but still enabled) causes Windows network browsing to slow down quite a bit, as well as added boot time due to loading more networking resources and that 2nd NIC waiting for an IP address)

You have no reason for the 2nd switch also...since you stated your router is gigabit. Put the 10/100 switch away.
 
Maybe I wasn't clear enough with my explanation in my first post. The room where the PC and printer are located has only 1 UTP connection running to the router on the other side of the house.
So to be able to use both the PC and printer on the network I have to use a switch or 2 NICs. But perhaps it's indeed better to buy a cheap gigabit switch. I was just wondering if it could be done without spending more money :)
 
yo han said:
Maybe I wasn't clear enough with my explanation in my first post. The room where the PC and printer are located has only 1 UTP connection running to the router on the other side of the house.
So to be able to use both the PC and printer on the network I have to use a switch or 2 NICs. But perhaps it's indeed better to buy a cheap gigabit switch. I was just wondering if it could be done without spending more money :)
Click to expand...

You can do this by "Bridging" your connections, which is very simple... however, if her pc is switched off, you wont be able to print.

My suggestion would be to get like a 5 port gigabit switch.
 
My suggestion is to not waste your money.

Unless your girlfriend is running a monster PC with RAID drives and such and you are doing some serious media sharing/gaming she will never realize any benefit to using a gigabit network card. The 10/100 will take care of her fine...and that printer certainly doesn't need it.

Just my .02.
 
yo han said:
Maybe I wasn't clear enough with my explanation in my first post. The room where the PC and printer are located has only 1 UTP connection running to the router on the other side of the house.
So to be able to use both the PC and printer on the network I have to use a switch or 2 NICs. But perhaps it's indeed better to buy a cheap gigabit switch. I was just wondering if it could be done without spending more money :)
Click to expand...

Ahh...sorry, I misread your post, I thought you said you had a new router with gigabit (which usually means 4x LAN ports).
 
Shadowspawn said:
Unless your girlfriend is running a monster PC with RAID drives and such and you are doing some serious media sharing/gaming she will never realize any benefit to using a gigabit network card. The 10/100 will take care of her fine...and that printer certainly doesn't need it.
Click to expand...
Well, she's a Photoshop artist working with 500+MB files which are stored on our home server. So yes, she would benefit from the gigabit connection.

YeOldeStonecat said:
Ahh...sorry, I misread your post, I thought you said you had a new router with gigabit (which usually means 4x LAN ports).
Click to expand...
You didn't misread, it's just that the new router (indeed with 4x gigabit LAN ports) is on the other side of our house :)
 
Get her a cheap (but well reviewed by users!) gigabit switch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top