Multiple network connections -- who wins?

[rw120555]

What happens when a PC has multiple connections to the same network or to different networks? For example, my laptop could potentially be connected to my home network 3 ways at once -- via wireless, hpna, and ethernet (I probably wouldn't do that, but it wouldn't be unusual to plug in hpna or ethernet in addition to wireless when I wanted high speed file transfers or if the wireless signal was weak).

Or, a pc could be connected to multiple networks at the same time, each of which might or might not provide access to the internet.

Is the PC smart enough to pick the fastest connection? Or does it just go with whatever was connected last? Can conflicts occur? Should I worry about disabling connections, or will it all just work out ok?

 

[mgpaulus]

I believe all the connections will be live at once. As far as who get's what traffic, that is determined differently for each protocol.

For TCP/IP, each hardware connection should get a different IP address, and traffic flow is determined by your IP routing tables
c:\ route print will show you your routing tables.

For Netbios/Netbeui/IPX/SPX, there is a binding order, and each protocol will bind to a particular adapter. You will have to go into
Network Settings to see and/or update the bindings for your protocol stacks.

As far as how it figures which one to use, I haven't a clue.

HTH

 

[rw120555]

Thanks mg. I was doing a big file transfer the other day, and it looked like both the ethernet and wireless connections were being used. I closed wireless and the transfer seemed to go faster. I'm sure you are right that all connections are live, and mostly I'm wondering if that is a potential problem or not. RW

 

[spidey07]

THe direct mode does indeed bypass the DSP circuitry. In direct mode there is a parallel analog path that goes to the subwoofer, but as was mentioned above this can be adjusted so the sub gets no signal.

Its best to only have one connection active at any one time. mgpaulus covered exactly how it works.

The only exception is MS operating systems just act "funny" when there is more than one connection.