Laptop accessing more than one network

Hi

I'd like to be able to use my laptop, running WinXP home, to access both my home
network and the one at the (small) school where I teach.

I can get it to access either (both with internet), but when I change from one to the
other I need to go into the TCP/IP properties and change the DNS server order to get
it to work. I suspect this really has very little to do with the server order, and
more to do with the fact that it gets Windows to recognise the new network.

Both networks IP addresses, DNS servers, and gateways are set, including the WINS
server for the school network.

Is there a way to get WinXP to recoginise the change of network, without going
through the workaround that I've described above?

TIA



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Andrew Sayers wrote:
> Hi
>
> I'd like to be able to use my laptop, running WinXP home, to access
> both my home network and the one at the (small) school where I teach.
>
> I can get it to access either (both with internet), but when I change
> from one to the other I need to go into the TCP/IP properties and
> change the DNS server order to get it to work. I suspect this really
> has very little to do with the server order, and more to do with the
> fact that it gets Windows to recognise the new network.
>
> Both networks IP addresses, DNS servers, and gateways are set,
> including the WINS server for the school network.
>
> Is there a way to get WinXP to recoginise the change of network,
> without going through the workaround that I've described above?
>
> TIA

The answer is to use DHCP.

A DHCP server, typically the gateway machine on a small network, assigns IP
addresses automatically, it will also assign appropriate DNS servers etc.

MS tells you how:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p...orking/ics.asp

Luckily you can also automate the process with the wizard in control
panel/network connections, select "set up a home or small office network".

Your school's head of IT will be able to confirm the presence of a DHCP
server on the school network.

--

Alan

"Alan Walker" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Andrew Sayers wrote:
>> Hi
>>
>> I'd like to be able to use my laptop, running WinXP home, to access
>> both my home network and the one at the (small) school where I teach.
>>
<snip>
>
>The answer is to use DHCP.
>
>A DHCP server, typically the gateway machine on a small network, assigns IP
>addresses automatically, it will also assign appropriate DNS servers etc.
>
>MS tells you how:
>http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p...orking/ics.asp
>
>Luckily you can also automate the process with the wizard in control
>panel/network connections, select "set up a home or small office network".
>
>Your school's head of IT will be able to confirm the presence of a DHCP
>server on the school network.

Thanks for the reply, but I've tried this, and unfortunately it doesn't work. The
school's setup is manually configured and doesn't use DHCP. (Incidentally I've also
manually configured my home network, mostly down to the fact that I prefer to have
control of my settings).

I've tried setting different users for each network, and while this works for the
settings in IE (i.e. the proxy settings required for net access), it doesn't for the
IP addresses required for the network.

The quick and dirty workaround is to manually change the IP setup each time I change
networks (not too time consuming, but a tad kludgy). I'm really looking for a way for
this to happen automatically, possibly an add-in that would detect the IP address
range I'm plugged into and automaticaly switch the IP address etc of my laptop?


Again, TIA


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On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 23:18:23 +0000, Andrew Sayers <> wrote:

>The quick and dirty workaround is to manually change the IP setup each time I change
>networks (not too time consuming, but a tad kludgy). I'm really looking for a way for
>this to happen automatically, possibly an add-in that would detect the IP address
>range I'm plugged into and automaticaly switch the IP address etc of my laptop?

why not make your home netowrk run on the same settings as the school
- is that possible ?

as windows is just DOS really there is of couse a command line option,
http://www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/.../23652/fid/868

" netsh interface ip set address name="Ethernet Broadcom 440x 10 100
built in" source=static addr=192.168.0.4 mask=255.255.255.0"

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...sh_topnode.asp

or maybe get a tool to do it:
http://www.netswitcher.com/

Phil

Phil Thompson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 23:18:23 +0000, Andrew Sayers <> wrote:
>
>>The quick and dirty workaround is to manually change the IP setup each time I change
>>networks (not too time consuming, but a tad kludgy). I'm really looking for a way for
>>this to happen automatically, possibly an add-in that would detect the IP address
>>range I'm plugged into and automaticaly switch the IP address etc of my laptop?
>
>why not make your home netowrk run on the same settings as the school
>- is that possible ?

Thanks, yes, I suppose that would be a good option, and would save the hassle. It
still seems to be changing my setup to suit windows, which irks me slightly, but that
is really just me being obstinate.
>
>as windows is just DOS really there is of couse a command line option,
>http://www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/.../23652/fid/868

>" netsh interface ip set address name="Ethernet Broadcom 440x 10 100
>built in" source=static addr=192.168.0.4 mask=255.255.255.0"

Do these DOS settings still work under XP? I could give it a try to find out I
though.
>
<snip>

>or maybe get a tool to do it:
>http://www.netswitcher.com/

That looks interesting - thanks for that - I'll go have a look.


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You could also look at this product, which I find very useful.

http://www.mobilenetswitch.com

Chris
<Andrew Sayers> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Phil Thompson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 23:18:23 +0000, Andrew Sayers <> wrote:
> >
> >>The quick and dirty workaround is to manually change the IP setup each
time I change
> >>networks (not too time consuming, but a tad kludgy). I'm really looking
for a way for
> >>this to happen automatically, possibly an add-in that would detect the
IP address
> >>range I'm plugged into and automaticaly switch the IP address etc of my
laptop?
> >
> >why not make your home netowrk run on the same settings as the school
> >- is that possible ?
>
> Thanks, yes, I suppose that would be a good option, and would save the
hassle. It
> still seems to be changing my setup to suit windows, which irks me
slightly, but that
> is really just me being obstinate.
> >
> >as windows is just DOS really there is of couse a command line option,
> >http://www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/.../23652/fid/868
>
> >" netsh interface ip set address name="Ethernet Broadcom 440x 10 100
> >built in" source=static addr=192.168.0.4 mask=255.255.255.0"
>
> Do these DOS settings still work under XP? I could give it a try to find
out I
> though.
> >
> <snip>
>
> >or maybe get a tool to do it:
> >http://www.netswitcher.com/
>
> That looks interesting - thanks for that - I'll go have a look.
>
>
> --
> Email addy is a spam trap - Spam will go to a spammer
> Please post in the group to reply.

Andrew Sayers wrote:
> Hi
>
> I'd like to be able to use my laptop, running WinXP home, to access
> both my home network and the one at the (small) school where I teach.
>
> I can get it to access either (both with internet), but when I change
> from one to the other I need to go into the TCP/IP properties and
> change the DNS server order to get it to work. I suspect this really
> has very little to do with the server order, and more to do with the
> fact that it gets Windows to recognise the new network.
>
> Both networks IP addresses, DNS servers, and gateways are set,
> including the WINS server for the school network.
>
> Is there a way to get WinXP to recoginise the change of network,
> without going through the workaround that I've described above?
>
XP Pro lets you define more than one IP address , gateway , dns server etc
on each interface.
Can you do this in XPH?

--
Alex

"We are now up against live, hostile targets"

"So, if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad
attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch! "

www.drzoidberg.co.uk

Phil Thompson wrote:

> as windows is just DOS really there is of couse a command line option,
> http://www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/.../23652/fid/868
>
> " netsh interface ip set address name="Ethernet Broadcom 440x 10 100
> built in" source=static addr=192.168.0.4 mask=255.255.255.0"

That looks really useful, thanx:-)

Only been using Windows for about ten years, and never realised that
util existed!

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, "Phil
Thompson" (E-Mail Removed) says...
<snip>
> as windows is just DOS really there is of couse a command line option,

Actually Windows NT and its descendants are probably more closely
related to VMS than DOS.

"Dr Zoidberg" <AlexNOOOOO!!!!!!@drzoidberg.co.uk> wrote:

>Andrew Sayers wrote:
>> Hi
>>
>> I'd like to be able to use my laptop, running WinXP home, to access
>> both my home network and the one at the (small) school where I teach.
>>
>> I can get it to access either (both with internet), but when I change
>> from one to the other I need to go into the TCP/IP properties and
>> change the DNS server order to get it to work. I suspect this really
>> has very little to do with the server order, and more to do with the
>> fact that it gets Windows to recognise the new network.
>>
>> Both networks IP addresses, DNS servers, and gateways are set,
>> including the WINS server for the school network.
>>
>> Is there a way to get WinXP to recoginise the change of network,
>> without going through the workaround that I've described above?
>>
>XP Pro lets you define more than one IP address , gateway , dns server etc
>on each interface.
>Can you do this in XPH?

It appears so, but XPhome seems to ignore the settings, unless you "change" one
whilst connected to the network. Could be that XPh is set to be "under-functional" in
this respect, but I don't really know whether this is the case or not.



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