We have 2 desktop PCs running Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3.
They are networked together with ethernet cables using the built in networking cards via a Dell PowerConnect 2716 gigabit ethernet switch. Nothing else apart from the 2 PCs is connected to the switch.
In our previous location a DSL modem also connected to the switch, and this was plugged in to our landline, giving the PCs internet access via the switch.
However we are currently in temporary accommodation in the basement of a shared office, and are unable to connect to the office's router/hub other than wirelessly.
The PCs (Dell OptiPlex 755s) don't have built in wireless, so we've connected a TP-LINK TL-WN725N 150Mbps Wireless N Nano USB Adapter to the first PC, and this gives us wireless internet access, connecting to the office's router/hub, but normally only if we unplug the ethernet cable from the back of the first PC.
Essentially what is happening is that when the cable is plugged in, the PC (wrongly) assumes that it should try to go online via the switch and not via the wireless adapter, resulting in no internet access, and error messages in Outlook 2007 (which we use for email) & in Google Chrome (which we use for accessing the web).
Someone else had a similar problem - see here:
questionhub dot com slash YahooAnswers slash 20081204172938AAGSPXI
and the only coherent answer (answer 6) enabled me to figure out what was going on.
The answer suggests running the Network Setup Wizard, telling the PC to use the wireless adapter for internet, not the wired network.
Doing this only partially works. If we restart the PCs for example (we have to at least every morning as we're required to shut them down every evening before we leave) and the ethernet cable is plugged in, the PC always switches back to trying to access the internet via the switch, not the USB adapter.
The only way to ensure the PC accesses the internet via the USB adapter is to unplug the ethernet cable, and then run the Network Setup Wizard, but doing so means we can't share files between the PCs via the switch (which we need to) and the 2nd PC can't run our job management software (as it needs to connect to the server applet running on the first PC to do so).
Also, running the Network Setup Wizard is infuriating, forcing the user through a series of patronising, condescending questions (treating the user as though they're an idiot, as with all "wizards") yet also giving overly complex options to choose from, none of which apply in our situation, and not giving an option to manually select the appropriate setup. It's breathtakingly badly designed from a Human Computer Interface perspective. Typical Microsoft.
Anyway, surely there must be a way to manually tell the PC to always use the USB adapter for internet access, even if it detects the ethernet cable, and even after a restart, while still maintaining the wired network?
To change the default printer, you go Start -> Control Panel -> Printers and Faxes, then right click on the appropriate printer, and then click on "Set as Default Printer". The selected printer remains the default forever, even after a restart, no matter how many other printers are connected and are in use.
Why isn't internet access controlled like this?
If anyone has any solutions to this it would be greatly appreciated. If it means changing some obscure setting(s) via editing the Registry then so be it.
(Finally, please don't reply at all if your reply is going to be in the vein of the first 5 answers to the question on questionhub.com. As reply 6 said, "What a knuckleheaded, down-thumbed, bunch of Answers!" Couldn't have put it better myself. Suggestions along the lines of "why don't you do such & such instead?" suggesting we change our set up completely, buy new equipment, or similar aren't helpful at all. They just infuriate. We've no money to buy anything, and we're guests in the shared office. We're lucky they're letting us connect to their internet at all.)
Many thanks.
They are networked together with ethernet cables using the built in networking cards via a Dell PowerConnect 2716 gigabit ethernet switch. Nothing else apart from the 2 PCs is connected to the switch.
In our previous location a DSL modem also connected to the switch, and this was plugged in to our landline, giving the PCs internet access via the switch.
However we are currently in temporary accommodation in the basement of a shared office, and are unable to connect to the office's router/hub other than wirelessly.
The PCs (Dell OptiPlex 755s) don't have built in wireless, so we've connected a TP-LINK TL-WN725N 150Mbps Wireless N Nano USB Adapter to the first PC, and this gives us wireless internet access, connecting to the office's router/hub, but normally only if we unplug the ethernet cable from the back of the first PC.
Essentially what is happening is that when the cable is plugged in, the PC (wrongly) assumes that it should try to go online via the switch and not via the wireless adapter, resulting in no internet access, and error messages in Outlook 2007 (which we use for email) & in Google Chrome (which we use for accessing the web).
Someone else had a similar problem - see here:
questionhub dot com slash YahooAnswers slash 20081204172938AAGSPXI
and the only coherent answer (answer 6) enabled me to figure out what was going on.
The answer suggests running the Network Setup Wizard, telling the PC to use the wireless adapter for internet, not the wired network.
Doing this only partially works. If we restart the PCs for example (we have to at least every morning as we're required to shut them down every evening before we leave) and the ethernet cable is plugged in, the PC always switches back to trying to access the internet via the switch, not the USB adapter.
The only way to ensure the PC accesses the internet via the USB adapter is to unplug the ethernet cable, and then run the Network Setup Wizard, but doing so means we can't share files between the PCs via the switch (which we need to) and the 2nd PC can't run our job management software (as it needs to connect to the server applet running on the first PC to do so).
Also, running the Network Setup Wizard is infuriating, forcing the user through a series of patronising, condescending questions (treating the user as though they're an idiot, as with all "wizards") yet also giving overly complex options to choose from, none of which apply in our situation, and not giving an option to manually select the appropriate setup. It's breathtakingly badly designed from a Human Computer Interface perspective. Typical Microsoft.
Anyway, surely there must be a way to manually tell the PC to always use the USB adapter for internet access, even if it detects the ethernet cable, and even after a restart, while still maintaining the wired network?
To change the default printer, you go Start -> Control Panel -> Printers and Faxes, then right click on the appropriate printer, and then click on "Set as Default Printer". The selected printer remains the default forever, even after a restart, no matter how many other printers are connected and are in use.
Why isn't internet access controlled like this?
If anyone has any solutions to this it would be greatly appreciated. If it means changing some obscure setting(s) via editing the Registry then so be it.
(Finally, please don't reply at all if your reply is going to be in the vein of the first 5 answers to the question on questionhub.com. As reply 6 said, "What a knuckleheaded, down-thumbed, bunch of Answers!" Couldn't have put it better myself. Suggestions along the lines of "why don't you do such & such instead?" suggesting we change our set up completely, buy new equipment, or similar aren't helpful at all. They just infuriate. We've no money to buy anything, and we're guests in the shared office. We're lucky they're letting us connect to their internet at all.)
Many thanks.