Problems getting local wireless to coexist with dial-up internet

[The Beerslayer]

I have a laptop running Vista 32-bit (SP1). I have a small wireless network
at home, to which I have attached a print server. I use dial-up as my
primary Internet connection.

I've found that I cannot use both connections at the same time. If I am
connected to the Internet over the dial-up connection, any attempts to turn
on my wireless capability and connect to my internal network (so that I can
print to my local print server) will fail - the printer's driver cannot even
see the printer. If I am connected to the local wireless network and attempt
to connect to dial-up, I get a "local only" connection over dial-up, which of
course is completely useless to me. In order to have a successful connection
to either network, I must completely disconnect from the other one.

This doesn't seem right to me. It seems like it ought to be a fairly simple
thing to set it up so that local transactions go over the wireless network
and external transactions go over the dial-up connection, so that I don't
have to disconnect from the Internet every time I want to print something.

I have a feeling I'm doing something pretty basic wrong, but I cannot
imagine what. I've considered tinkering with the default gateway checkbox
for both networks but had to put them back to their default settings since I
cannot connect to the Internet at all when either of them is on. To further
complicate things, I sometimes use the wireless capability in locations other
than at home, so I do not want to disable Internet capability altogether over
the wireless adapter.

 

[Noel Paton]

I have a laptop running Vista 32-bit (SP1). I have a small wireless network
at home, to which I have attached a print server. I use dial-up as my
primary Internet connection.

I've found that I cannot use both connections at the same time. If I am
connected to the Internet over the dial-up connection, any attempts to turn
on my wireless capability and connect to my internal network (so that I can
print to my local print server) will fail - the printer's driver cannot even
see the printer. If I am connected to the local wireless network and attempt
to connect to dial-up, I get a "local only" connection over dial-up, which of
course is completely useless to me. In order to have a successful connection
to either network, I must completely disconnect from the other one.

This doesn't seem right to me. It seems like it ought to be a fairly simple
thing to set it up so that local transactions go over the wireless network
and external transactions go over the dial-up connection, so that I don't
have to disconnect from the Internet every time I want to print something.

I have a feeling I'm doing something pretty basic wrong, but I cannot
imagine what. I've considered tinkering with the default gateway checkbox
for both networks but had to put them back to their default settings since I
cannot connect to the Internet at all when either of them is on. To further
complicate things, I sometimes use the wireless capability in locations other
than at home, so I do not want to disable Internet capability altogether over
the wireless adapter.

How is the locla network set up? - with a router, hub,switch?
what is the DHCP server? - or are you using fixed IP on the network?
When you say dialup - is this a wired modem hanging off a serial port,
an internal modem, or a usb dongle or what?
can you include results of ipconfig /all for both situations in your
response, please.
(others with more knowledge than me will need this data to assist!)

 

[The Beerslayer]

How is the locla network set up? - with a router, hub,switch?

It's a fairly standard wireless (G) router, of the sort that can be
purchased for $30-40 at any decent electronics store (Fry's, etc.).

what is the DHCP server? - or are you using fixed IP on the network?

The DHCP server is the router itself, I believe. The laptop is assigned an
IP address by the router upon startup. I have assigned a specific address to
the print server itself (192.168.1.101) which should NOT be handled by the
dial-up connection since it is not an external IP address.

When you say dialup - is this a wired modem hanging off a serial port,
an internal modem, or a usb dongle or what?

Modem is built-in (internal) to my laptop. I believe the OS sees it as
"COM3".

can you include results of ipconfig /all for both situations in your
response, please.
(others with more knowledge than me will need this data to assist!)

The relevant part of that file is attached below. I have obscured a few
bits that I don't think are important because I'm a paranoid git, of course.

------------------------------------------
C:\Windows\system32>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Zamboni
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

PPP adapter earthlink (multi):

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : <dial-up connection name>
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 4.246.xxx.xx (Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Ethernet adapter Internal Ethernet:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8101E Family PCI-E FE NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-xx-B8-xx-68-xx
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Internal Wireless:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network
Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : xx-1C-xx-A1-xx-55
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

 

[Noel Paton]

It's a fairly standard wireless (G) router, of the sort that can be
purchased for $30-40 at any decent electronics store (Fry's, etc.).



The DHCP server is the router itself, I believe. The laptop is assigned an
IP address by the router upon startup. I have assigned a specific address to
the print server itself (192.168.1.101) which should NOT be handled by the
dial-up connection since it is not an external IP address.



Modem is built-in (internal) to my laptop. I believe the OS sees it as
"COM3".



The relevant part of that file is attached below. I have obscured a few
bits that I don't think are important because I'm a paranoid git, of course.

------------------------------------------
C:\Windows\system32>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Zamboni
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

PPP adapter earthlink (multi):

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : <dial-up connection name>
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 4.246.xxx.xx (Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Ethernet adapter Internal Ethernet:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8101E Family PCI-E FE NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-xx-B8-xx-68-xx
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Internal Wireless:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network
Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : xx-1C-xx-A1-xx-55
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

You didn't include the details for the case where the wireless network
is functioning. - which is kinda important
AFAICT everything so far looks normal.
What is the make/model of the laptop?
-and the router (although I can't see that this would make a
difference....)?
If you used the wired connection - does that work at the same time as
the modem?
I assume that you have the wireless connection set to Private in
Network & Sharing Center?