Question about connecting to 2 networks simultaneously

2 Dec 2006 6:21 PM

Charlie Hoffpauir

Is it possible to connect a computer to two LANs simultaneously?

The reason I ask, is because I now have one network, a combination of
wired and wireless, that my wife and I use for local computing (calcs,
word processing, browsing the internet, email, etc) and I also use for
my Tivos, Tivo to Tivo transfers, Tivo to computer to DVD, etc. I'm
thinking if I had a separate LAN dedicated to the Tivos I'd probably
get better Tivo transfer speeds, but I still need the ability to
connect to my main computer to transfer Tivo recordings to DVD. My
main computer does have two built-in ethernet connections, and each of
them works, but I have no idea if they will both work simultaneously,
connected to separate LANs.

If it will work, can someone point me to a source indicating how to
set this up? Ideally, the Tivos could be on a wired LAN, not needed to
be connected to the internet, and the "other" computers on the
existing wired/wireless LAN with internet connectivity.
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

2 Dec 2006 7:34 PM

Jack (MVP-Networking).

Hi
A computer running WinXP Pro with two Network Cards can be set to Bridge the
two Networks.
The principle in the following.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/crawford_02april22.mspx
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/wxpbrdge.html
Jack (MVP-Networking).

Show quoteHide quote

"Charlie Hoffpauir" <inva***@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:vfg3n2pljk8843m01o638je0u8qurnljpv@4ax.com...
> Is it possible to connect a computer to two LANs simultaneously?
>
> The reason I ask, is because I now have one network, a combination of
> wired and wireless, that my wife and I use for local computing (calcs,
> word processing, browsing the internet, email, etc) and I also use for
> my Tivos, Tivo to Tivo transfers, Tivo to computer to DVD, etc. I'm
> thinking if I had a separate LAN dedicated to the Tivos I'd probably
> get better Tivo transfer speeds, but I still need the ability to
> connect to my main computer to transfer Tivo recordings to DVD. My
> main computer does have two built-in ethernet connections, and each of
> them works, but I have no idea if they will both work simultaneously,
> connected to separate LANs.
>
> If it will work, can someone point me to a source indicating how to
> set this up? Ideally, the Tivos could be on a wired LAN, not needed to
> be connected to the internet, and the "other" computers on the
> existing wired/wireless LAN with internet connectivity.
> Charlie Hoffpauir
> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

2 Dec 2006 8:04 PM

Charlie Hoffpauir

On Sat, 2 Dec 2006 14:34:52 -0500, "Jack \(MVP-Networking\)."
<J***@discussiongroup.com> wrote:

>Hi
>A computer running WinXP Pro with two Network Cards can be set to Bridge the
>two Networks.
>The principle in the following.
>http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/crawford_02april22.mspx
>http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/wxpbrdge.html
>Jack (MVP-Networking).
>

Thanks Jack. I am runnning WinXP pro on that one computer, so this
looks like just what I need.

Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

3 Dec 2006 11:17 PM

David Hettel

What is the speed of the network? How are the Tivo connected? While it's
possible to connect this way, I personally think it's unlikely you see much
difference. There not really enough info given to determine if you see
enough of a difference to make it worth the effort.

--
David Hettel

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group for everyone
to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions addressed directly to me in
E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

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Show quoteHide quote

"Charlie Hoffpauir" <inva***@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:vfg3n2pljk8843m01o638je0u8qurnljpv@4ax.com...
> Is it possible to connect a computer to two LANs simultaneously?
>
> The reason I ask, is because I now have one network, a combination of
> wired and wireless, that my wife and I use for local computing (calcs,
> word processing, browsing the internet, email, etc) and I also use for
> my Tivos, Tivo to Tivo transfers, Tivo to computer to DVD, etc. I'm
> thinking if I had a separate LAN dedicated to the Tivos I'd probably
> get better Tivo transfer speeds, but I still need the ability to
> connect to my main computer to transfer Tivo recordings to DVD. My
> main computer does have two built-in ethernet connections, and each of
> them works, but I have no idea if they will both work simultaneously,
> connected to separate LANs.
>
> If it will work, can someone point me to a source indicating how to
> set this up? Ideally, the Tivos could be on a wired LAN, not needed to
> be connected to the internet, and the "other" computers on the
> existing wired/wireless LAN with internet connectivity.
> Charlie Hoffpauir
> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

4 Dec 2006 1:01 PM

Charlie Hoffpauir

On Sun, 3 Dec 2006 18:17:03 -0500, "David Hettel" <dah***@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>What is the speed of the network? How are the Tivo connected? While it's
>possible to connect this way, I personally think it's unlikely you see much
>difference. There not really enough info given to determine if you see
>enough of a difference to make it worth the effort.

Well, the network uses a Linksys WRT54G router, and the D-Tivos are
connected by ethernet (Cat 5) so my guess is that transfer capability
is 100Kbps, but less than that due to the limitation in the Tivo. I
also have several computers connected, both wired and wireless, and
one D-Tivo wirelessly. Because I have more than 4 wired devices, I
also have a Linksys 5-port switch attached. There are severe speed
reductions if I attach any Tivo wirelessly, or if I attach one to the
switch, so all but one are attached to the router. Because I tend to
do a lot of archiving of movies to DVD, there are a lot of transfers
from Tivo to computer..... and also transfers from Tivo to Tivo (when
something is recorded on one and we want to watch that program in a
different room.)

Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/