if you have 2 NIC's in one PC both plugged into a NAT router, which NIC will it go through to get to the internet?

[Lifer]

what if it were 1 WiFi and 1 NIC? which interface will the PC use?

 

[amnesiac]

...the one with the biggest t!ts!!


oh, wait, wrong joke nevermind.

 

[brxndxn]

I think it's first one plugged in and connected.. at least for Windows XP it seems to be that way.

 

[kt]

It would be the one with the lowest metric number.

 

[SunnyD]

The answer is...

Both.

It all depends on which connection a particular application decides to bind to - this can be one, the other, or even both. Now, odds are, most applications will arbitrarily pick the first logical adapter, that is enumerated by Windows - which one it is, well, the only thing you can do is find out which IP address most applications are binding to (run some games, to IP checks, etc.) and then run IPCONFIG and see which MAC address and adapter that IP belongs to.

As I said, more often than not, the applications will create a socket and bind to it on the first logical adapter that is enumerated by the operating system. This enumeration usually doesn't change from boot to boot. So by finding out via the method above, you can be reasonably certain which adapter you're using.

 

[Lifer]

what do u mean when u say "logical adapter?"
do u mean the one with the lower MAC address? lower IP address?
first adapter loaded by windows?

 

[sswingle]

Originally posted by: kt
It would be the one with the lowest metric number.

kt is correct. I don't completely understand how the metric number works, but I do know that a 100 mbit NIC is going to have a lower metric than a wireless 11 or 54 mbit

 

[Lifer]

Originally posted by: pwddesign

Originally posted by: kt
It would be the one with the lowest metric number.

kt is correct. I don't completely understand how the metric number works, but I do know that a 100 mbit NIC is going to have a lower metric than a wireless 11 or 54 mbit

what's a metric number?

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Lifer

Originally posted by: pwddesign

Originally posted by: kt
It would be the one with the lowest metric number.

kt is correct. I don't completely understand how the metric number works, but I do know that a 100 mbit NIC is going to have a lower metric than a wireless 11 or 54 mbit

what's a metric number?

Here...

http://www.geocities.com/sweaty2/tweak/windows/network.html

9. Set up gateway priority if having more than one
If you are able to connect to several gateways, it is possible to prioritize in which order the gateways should be searched for a certain address.

This is done by the Metric setting which is assigned to each gateway. The gateway with lowest Metric is the first to be searched(Default Gateway). Metric is the cost of using that gateway, and it will always use the one with the lowest cost first.

This can also be used if having more than one net-connection connecting so the same Network(Subnet) and they have different gateways. Example if using a wireless NIC and a standard NIC, then one can decide if it should use go through the Wireless NIC before using the Standard NIC by giving the Wireless NIC's gateway a lower metric.

To Setup the metric go to network settings and change the Internet Connection (TCP-IP)

While the metric number does determine which interface is used by priority - there is no guarantee your wireless NIC won't be prioritised over your hardwire, depending on how the drivers are written.

 

[ToxicWaste]

If you are talking about a Win2k or WinXP box, you can set the order of the NICs. Open up the Network Connections control panel. From the Advanced menu, select Advanced Settings. From here you can prioritize the order NICs are accessed by network services. You can do it with NT 4.0 as well, I don't remember how to do it in Windows 95/98/Me, but I believe it can be done there as well. Linux too, but there are too many flavors to try and cover that...