Configuring Multiple IP Addresses?

It looks to me like Windows XP Pro will only allow one to configure one IP
address (including "automatic" as a choice, of course) for a wireless
connection. Is there a way around that, to specify more than one IP
configuration, for different connections? If not, is there a 3rd party
utility that will do this?

For instance--I have a wireless printer router. (I think D-Link DP311-U),
connected to a printer. I do not have a router, so it is set to ad hoc mode.
For a computer to connect to it to print, it has to connect in ad hoc mode,
but also the computer needs to have a specified IP address, very close to
the one of the printer. It will not work with the IP address set to
automatic, it has to be specified.

All my computers are laptops, and I also use them to connect to various
wi-fi networks. The IP address specified to connect ad-hoc to the printer,
definitely will not work to connect to the Internet (access point
connection, of course). For most Internet connections the automatic setting
will work, although I find for some connections it works better with a
specified address, although certainly not with the one specified for the
printer.

It is a hassle every time I wish to print with the wi-fi printer at home, to
have to manually change the IP address of the wireless connection, and later
change it back again when I wish to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi.

Is there any way to set more than one wireless connection, with different
properties, different IP specification, etc., for one wireless adapter? If
so, I haven't figured out how to do it. One can create many different
dial-up connections using the same modem, I don't understand why one cannot
do the same with one wireless adapter, create different connections using
the same wireless adapter. Is there any way to do that?

If not, I sure hope they fix that in the upcoming new version of Windows
(Vista). In the meantime, are there any work-arounds? Are there any third
party utilities that will do this-make it easy to switch between different
wireless configurations (including IP addresses) for different connections,
with the same adapter.

(I guess one solution would be to get a separate wireless adapter for the
printer, than one uses for Internet. But there really should be a way to to
this with one adapter.)

Thank you for your response.

you could use a batch file

@Echo On
netsh interface ip set address "Wireless Network Connection" static
aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd 255.255.255.000 eee.fff.ggg.hhh 1
netsh interface ip set dns "Wireless Network Connection" static
iii.jjj.kkk.lll
netsh interface ip add dns "Wireless Network Connection" sss.ttt.uuu.vvv
netsh interface ip add dns "Wireless Network Connection"
www.xxx.yyy.zzzObviously put the relevant values in theresave a file for
each connection eg cnnct1.bat cnnct2.baththphilip ashley"MS"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> It looks to me like Windows XP Pro will only allow one to configure one IP
> address (including "automatic" as a choice, of course) for a wireless
> connection. Is there a way around that, to specify more than one IP
> configuration, for different connections? If not, is there a 3rd party
> utility that will do this?
>
> For instance--I have a wireless printer router. (I think D-Link DP311-U),
> connected to a printer. I do not have a router, so it is set to ad hoc
> mode.
> For a computer to connect to it to print, it has to connect in ad hoc
> mode,
> but also the computer needs to have a specified IP address, very close to
> the one of the printer. It will not work with the IP address set to
> automatic, it has to be specified.
>
> All my computers are laptops, and I also use them to connect to various
> wi-fi networks. The IP address specified to connect ad-hoc to the printer,
> definitely will not work to connect to the Internet (access point
> connection, of course). For most Internet connections the automatic
> setting
> will work, although I find for some connections it works better with a
> specified address, although certainly not with the one specified for the
> printer.
>
> It is a hassle every time I wish to print with the wi-fi printer at home,
> to
> have to manually change the IP address of the wireless connection, and
> later
> change it back again when I wish to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi.
>
> Is there any way to set more than one wireless connection, with different
> properties, different IP specification, etc., for one wireless adapter? If
> so, I haven't figured out how to do it. One can create many different
> dial-up connections using the same modem, I don't understand why one
> cannot
> do the same with one wireless adapter, create different connections using
> the same wireless adapter. Is there any way to do that?
>
> If not, I sure hope they fix that in the upcoming new version of Windows
> (Vista). In the meantime, are there any work-arounds? Are there any third
> party utilities that will do this-make it easy to switch between different
> wireless configurations (including IP addresses) for different
> connections,
> with the same adapter.
>
> (I guess one solution would be to get a separate wireless adapter for the
> printer, than one uses for Internet. But there really should be a way to
> to
> this with one adapter.)
>
> Thank you for your response.
>
>

MS wrote:

> It looks to me like Windows XP Pro will only allow one to configure
> one IP address (including "automatic" as a choice, of course) for a
> wireless connection. Is there a way around that, to specify more than
> one IP configuration, for different connections? If not, is there a
> 3rd party utility that will do this?
(snip)

You can create a second IP address/profile. Open the Network properties
applet and right-click on the LAN entry for your wireless adapter.
Left-click on its Properties. Now double-click on the entry for TCP/IP
to get its Properties. You will see an Alternate Configuration tab.
Enter what you want there. To illustrate:

My son's laptop is assigned a static IP 192.168.2.xxx at school. My
network at home uses DCHP for all machines in the 192.168.1.xxx
network. With the alternate configuration set up, there is an
approximately 30 seconds' wait at school while the machine searches for
a DHCP server; when it times out it switches over to the static IP.
Works very well.

If you have more than one network profile that needs to be set up, use
third-party network management software. Here are links to a few of the
most well-known ones:

http://www.netswitcher.com - NetSwitcher
http://www.globesoft.com/mnm_home.html - MultiNetwork Manager
http://www.mobilenetswitch.com - Mobile Net Switch

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Yes, I know that you can set an alternate IP address, I forgot to mention
that. You can also configure some factors of a particular wi-fi connection,
such as the SSID and encryption, etc. However, unfortunately, you cannot
seem to set the IP address for the connection.

I guess the idea is that if you set the alternate IP address, Windows will
automatically find out which one works for that connection. I find, however,
that that very often does not work, in my case at least. Sometimes the
alternate address is set when it should be the primary one, and vice versa.

There should be a way to manually set the IP address (including of course
the choice "automatic") for each connection. I hope that's fixed in the new
version of Windows. (If that is possible to do in XP, I'd appreciate it if
someone told me how.)

Thank you for the links to the third party utilities. I'll take a look at
them.



"Malke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> MS wrote:
>
> > It looks to me like Windows XP Pro will only allow one to configure
> > one IP address (including "automatic" as a choice, of course) for a
> > wireless connection. Is there a way around that, to specify more than
> > one IP configuration, for different connections? If not, is there a
> > 3rd party utility that will do this?
> (snip)
>
> You can create a second IP address/profile. Open the Network properties
> applet and right-click on the LAN entry for your wireless adapter.
> Left-click on its Properties. Now double-click on the entry for TCP/IP
> to get its Properties. You will see an Alternate Configuration tab.
> Enter what you want there. To illustrate:
>
> My son's laptop is assigned a static IP 192.168.2.xxx at school. My
> network at home uses DCHP for all machines in the 192.168.1.xxx
> network. With the alternate configuration set up, there is an
> approximately 30 seconds' wait at school while the machine searches for
> a DHCP server; when it times out it switches over to the static IP.
> Works very well.
>
> If you have more than one network profile that needs to be set up, use
> third-party network management software. Here are links to a few of the
> most well-known ones:
>
> http://www.netswitcher.com - NetSwitcher
> http://www.globesoft.com/mnm_home.html - MultiNetwork Manager
> http://www.mobilenetswitch.com - Mobile Net Switch
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

MS wrote:

> Yes, I know that you can set an alternate IP address, I forgot to
> mention that. You can also configure some factors of a particular
> wi-fi connection, such as the SSID and encryption, etc. However,
> unfortunately, you cannot seem to set the IP address for the
> connection.
>
> I guess the idea is that if you set the alternate IP address, Windows
> will automatically find out which one works for that connection. I
> find, however, that that very often does not work, in my case at
> least. Sometimes the alternate address is set when it should be the
> primary one, and vice versa.
>
> There should be a way to manually set the IP address (including of
> course the choice "automatic") for each connection. I hope that's
> fixed in the new version of Windows. (If that is possible to do in XP,
> I'd appreciate it if someone told me how.)
>

I don't know why you don't think you can't set the IP address manually.
As I said in my illustration, on the Alternate Configuration I have my
son's laptop manually set to 192.168.2.150 and on the regular
configuration he gets his IP address from the DHCP server on the
192.168.1.xxx subnet. However, if Alternate Configuration is too
unwieldy, then of course you should use a third-party program. Another
thing to look into is what wireless manager has come with your laptop
(if any). My IBM Thinkpad has an excellent network manager, but then of
course IBM's are optimized for business use. If your laptop didn't come
with a network connection manager or it is inadequate for your use,
then one of the third-party programs will be best.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

"Malke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I don't know why you don't think you can't set the IP address manually.

Of course you can, but it is very unwieldy to do so, every time you change
connections.

> As I said in my illustration, on the Alternate Configuration I have my
> son's laptop manually set to 192.168.2.150 and on the regular
> configuration he gets his IP address from the DHCP server on the
> 192.168.1.xxx subnet. However, if Alternate Configuration is too
> unwieldy, then of course you should use a third-party program.

It's not a matter of being unwieldy. As I wrote, I have configured an
alternate IP configuration. The problem is--it didn't work.

You set an alternative IP setting, but (as far as I can see), there is no
way to specify which IP configuration (normal or alternate) goes with which
connection. So, Windows tries to determine itself which of the two settings
to use, when to switch from the primary to the alternate configuration, etc.
With me, that hasn't worked--it's switched to the alternate configuration
when it should be the primary one, and vice versa.

I'm glad it has worked for you, however.

It sure would be nice if the profile for a particular network would include
IP settings! I hope that is in the next Windows version!


Another
> thing to look into is what wireless manager has come with your laptop
> (if any). My IBM Thinkpad has an excellent network manager, but then of
> course IBM's are optimized for business use. If your laptop didn't come
> with a network connection manager or it is inadequate for your use,
> then one of the third-party programs will be best.
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

I don't get your reply at all, Martin.

Exchanging one piece of equipment for another doesn't do anything for the
need to connect to different ip addresses, some of which need (like the
printer router) (or work better with-like some wi-fi sports) manual
configuration, rather than DHCP.

"Martin S." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Dump the wireless access point, get a wireless router... or do just love
to
> complicate your life...
>
>
>
> "MS" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > It looks to me like Windows XP Pro will only allow one to configure one
IP
> > address (including "automatic" as a choice, of course) for a wireless
> > connection. Is there a way around that, to specify more than one IP
> > configuration, for different connections? If not, is there a 3rd party
> > utility that will do this?
> >
> > For instance--I have a wireless printer router. (I think D-Link
DP311-U),
> > connected to a printer. I do not have a router, so it is set to ad hoc
> > mode.
> > For a computer to connect to it to print, it has to connect in ad hoc
> > mode,
> > but also the computer needs to have a specified IP address, very close
to
> > the one of the printer. It will not work with the IP address set to
> > automatic, it has to be specified.
> >
> > All my computers are laptops, and I also use them to connect to various
> > wi-fi networks. The IP address specified to connect ad-hoc to the
printer,
> > definitely will not work to connect to the Internet (access point
> > connection, of course). For most Internet connections the automatic
> > setting
> > will work, although I find for some connections it works better with a
> > specified address, although certainly not with the one specified for the
> > printer.
> >
> > It is a hassle every time I wish to print with the wi-fi printer at
home,
> > to
> > have to manually change the IP address of the wireless connection, and
> > later
> > change it back again when I wish to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi.
> >
> > Is there any way to set more than one wireless connection, with
different
> > properties, different IP specification, etc., for one wireless adapter?
If
> > so, I haven't figured out how to do it. One can create many different
> > dial-up connections using the same modem, I don't understand why one
> > cannot
> > do the same with one wireless adapter, create different connections
using
> > the same wireless adapter. Is there any way to do that?
> >
> > If not, I sure hope they fix that in the upcoming new version of Windows
> > (Vista). In the meantime, are there any work-arounds? Are there any
third
> > party utilities that will do this-make it easy to switch between
different
> > wireless configurations (including IP addresses) for different
> > connections,
> > with the same adapter.
> >
> > (I guess one solution would be to get a separate wireless adapter for
the
> > printer, than one uses for Internet. But there really should be a way to
> > to
> > this with one adapter.)
> >
> > Thank you for your response.
> >
> >
>
>