network configuration

  • Thread starter Thread starter tanewha1956
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tanewha1956

I use my laptop for business and in doing so I have two office
environments at two locations. The first is my own and the network is
set that I automatically obtain IP address. The other environment is
set for fixed IP addresses within a range.

I go to network and under TCP/IPproperties i have two tabs (Win XP Pro
by the way). The first is the general tab and the second is for
alternate settings and seems to accomodate my situation.

I assume that I place the fixed IP addresses in the second tab but
wonder if anyone knows the process for making all this work.

Does XP try to find one from the general tab and by defauolt, when it
can not, move to the fixed on on the second tab? Do I have to manually
tell it some how? I have tried the KB without any luck so far

thanks
 
Does XP try to find one from the general tab and by defauolt, when it
can not, move to the fixed on on the second tab?
Click to expand...

Yes, this is basically how it works.
It's automatic, but while in the alternate configuration you get a
penalty on every connection to the network, since this is only tried
after a relatively long timeout in the primary configuration. Every time!

What you can setup of other combinations (gateway, DNS, ..) is also
somewhat limited IIRC. I tried it for a while, but dropped it for
reasons like this. (And I also wanted two alternative fixed-IP setups,
which it couldn't do...)
 
I use my laptop for business and in doing so I have two office
environments at two locations. The first is my own and the network is
set that I automatically obtain IP address. The other environment is
set for fixed IP addresses within a range.

I go to network and under TCP/IPproperties i have two tabs (Win XP Pro
by the way). The first is the general tab and the second is for
alternate settings and seems to accomodate my situation.

I assume that I place the fixed IP addresses in the second tab but
wonder if anyone knows the process for making all this work.

Does XP try to find one from the general tab and by defauolt, when it
can not, move to the fixed on on the second tab? Do I have to manually
tell it some how? I have tried the KB without any luck so far
Click to expand...

No, you're doing this right. This is how I have my son's laptop set up
and it works just fine. At school he has a static IP address in the
192.168.2.xxx subnet. At home he has a dynamic IP address in the
192.168.1.xxx subnet. When he starts the laptop, I'm not sure whether
it looks for the first configuration (general) or for the last one it
used. In any case, in less than 30 seconds the laptop sorts itself out
and can get on line.

Contrary to the other response you got, the time out isn't all that
long. If <30 seconds feels too long to you, then use third-party
network management software (not expensive) such as:

http://www.netswitcher.com - NetSwitcher
http://www.globesoft.com/mnm_home.html - MultiNetwork Manager
http://www.mobilenetswitch.com - Mobile Net Switch

Malke
 
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