Vista 32-bit Business and default gateways

Lemming

I've got a laptop connecting to a network via wifi but I need to specify a fixed default gateway (since the access point is not the network's default gateway) in order to get outside the network. I've done this, but Vista lists the two gateways (the access point and the fixed default gateway).

How do I configure my laptop's network settings to use the fixed gateway above the access point? Does anyone know?

E.g.

gateway 1.2.3.1 <---- this is the preferred gateway access point 1.2.3.2 wifi-connected devices 1.2.3.5-50

IT-Guy

Lemming wrote: »

I've got a laptop connecting to a network via wifi but I need to specify a fixed default gateway (since the access point is not the network's default gateway) in order to get outside the network. I've done this, but Vista lists the two gateways (the access point and the fixed default gateway).

How do I configure my laptop's network settings to use the fixed gateway above the access point? Does anyone know?

E.g.

gateway 1.2.3.1 <---- this is the preferred gateway access point 1.2.3.2 wifi-connected devices 1.2.3.5-50

Does your access point have it's default gateway pointing at your network's actual default gateway? If so then your configuration on the laptop should work. What model access point are you using?

Lemming

IT-Guy wrote: »

Does your access point have it's default gateway pointing at your network's actual default gateway? If so then your configuration on the laptop should work. What model access point are you using?

The access point is unable to point to this due to GUI software limitation and the manner in which the network is set up. The actual default gateway is connected into the ethernet hub on the router, not the outgoing connection - thus there's a problem specifying the default gateway for dhcp.

The router is a linksys router/ethernet/wifi box.

watty

You ONLY ever have ONE default gateway.
It's the IP of the router that connects to Internet.

Everything else has to be on same subnet.

You need one router per subnet.

Unless you are accessing the airpoint from the Internet it does not need a Gateway at all. The airpoint simply connects you to the wired LAN. As long as the WiFi Laptop and router are same subnet.

Lemming

watty wrote: »

You ONLY ever have ONE default gateway.
It's the IP of the router that connects to Internet.

Everything else has to be on same subnet.

You need one router per subnet.

Unless you are accessing the airpoint from the Internet it does not need a Gateway at all. The airpoint simply connects you to the wired LAN. As long as the WiFi Laptop and router are same subnet.

Watty, I know there is only one default gateway. That's pretty much the whole thrust of my question. Vista is capable of maintaining multiple gateway entries. What I am asking is how do I .... in vista, not pulling apart my network ... specify which gateway to use as default.

If it can't be done, then it can't be done. Suggesting or hinting that I pull apart an entire network for one laptop for a one-off that is not worth the effort is not helpful.

watty

You can only have one gateway.

disable ALL network devices except the one you connect with and you should only see one gateway.

If it's wrong you have TWO DHCP servers running on the LAN. The Access/Airpoint OR the Router can be DHCP server. You MUST have only one DHCP server per physical LAN (wired+ WiFi).

If you are on DHCP then Gateway is set by the DHCP server.
IF you use a static IP then you can leave it blank (infers some other active Network interface has access to Gateway) or fill in the real Gateway IP if no other device is the access to the gateway.

If you have only one network device active there is only one gateway.

If you have more than one network device active and actually in use (You are accessing 2 or more separate subnets) it's preferable to make all gateway entries except one be blank (Blank is only easy on Vista/Windows if using Static IP),

I suspect you are recycling a Router as a WiFi point. Some of them it's notoriously difficult to keep the DHCP server off. I have DLink where after every power cut the DHCP turns on. You have to turn DHCP server on then off as it shows as "off" in the GUI. Gnash. In the end we turned of DHCP on the Clarkconnect based Router and let the stupid Dlink box have its way about being a DHCP server.

Lemming

You are so far wide of the mark it's not even funny Watty. But thanks for not reading anything I wrote and making wild assumptions.

watty

This is all you have said

I've got a laptop connecting to a network via wifi but I need to specify a fixed default gateway (since the access point is not the network's default gateway) in order to get outside the network.

Vista and what vista reports is irrelevent. Tell us better what you are trying to do.

As I say if the PC, router to Internet and access point are on same subnet the access point is irrelevant. It they are NOT all on the same subnet, you need to change IPs or add a router.


I've read all you say. Some of it frankly makes no sense or is irrelevant.

Try explaining again your network topology. The fact you are running vista and its reports are not important to explaining what you want.

I've designed, configured and debugged multi-subnet networks with multiple gateways, bridges, routers, Token Ring, Ethernet, Fibre, multihomed servers and workstations, Multiple WiFi access points and more.

If no-one is helping you it's because you have given not enough or else unclear information.

IT-Guy

Lemming wrote: »

The access point is unable to point to this due to GUI software limitation and the manner in which the network is set up. The actual default gateway is connected into the ethernet hub on the router, not the outgoing connection - thus there's a problem specifying the default gateway for dhcp.

The router is a linksys router/ethernet/wifi box.

Can you be a bit more specific on this GUI software limitation? Are all devices on the same subnet? You should be able to point your access point at the default gateway, connect client PCs to the wireless network and depending on the access point, have them obtain their default gateway through DHCP. Can you give more detail on your network setup?

Capt'n Midnight

the TCPIP network stack in vista is supposed to be new
but for anyone using NT3.X - 2003 windows gives you the OPTION to select multiple gateways but only the first one works. It doesn't fail over to the next one like you might expect.


in Xp and earlier you could select multiple routes and assign different costs to them so it would use the lowest cost route that worked. note that typically a dialup modem got a lower cost than a gigabit NIC


if you have two NIC's and each gets a DHCP gateway address it can get messy
you could set a static IP and route for the fixed NIC , fine if you only use the PC on one network



are both on the same LAN or is one on 192.168.0.x and the other on 192.168.1.x

then try something like
route del 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.1 (or whatever the GW on the wirless is)

then do a route print to see any change s

watty

Like I said multiple gateways won't work generally.

If you really have separate interfaces on separate LANs, each with a gateway (multihomed) then indeed it makes some sense and you can maybe get it to fail over for internet access.