Networking – How to fix this conflict between the wired and wireless network connections

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I have two working network connections: One connection is for a wired ethernet card adapter and the other is for a wireless usb adapter.

Both connections work fine when used separately, but when both are enabled, the wireless connection doesn't work.

  • The wired connection obtains its IP address via DHCP through gateway 192.168.1.1 – The DHCP range for this router is 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.149

  • The wireless connection obtains its IP address via DHCP through gateway 192.168.6.1 – The DHCP range for this router (Android phone acting as wireless hotspot) is 192.168.6.106 - 192.168.6.XXX with 8 allowed connections. (I'm also having trouble figuring out how to determine which IP addresses are reserved for DHCP when using this hotspot – here's another question I posted about this problem)

If both connections are enabled, the computer will have two separate IP addresses. For example, the wired connection will be assigned 192.168.1.101 and the wireless connection will be assigned 192.168.6.148

There isn't a direct conflict of IP address obviously, but I can't get internet access until I disable the wired connection.

Does anyone know what the problem is here and how I can fix it without having to disable and enable the wired connection every time I need to switch between the two adapters?

Best Answer

There is no easier way to do what your asking. You can be connected to both wired and wireless connections, but will only be able to get internet through one. The way you would do that is to define a static IP on the connection you want to use. This is essentially just enabling and disabling an adapter as you have been. In short, your computer needs to know exactly where it is getting internet from, if you define two sources it will either not work or prioritize a wired connection as it supports higher bandwidth.

Just give it some thought, what would having internet via wireless AND wired connections mean? You have TWO internets? You just have internet? I think the latter prevails

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