Wireless router problem

[JP Bless]

I have 2 wireless cards in WIN2000 box. Card "A" (linksys) connects to
Internet wireless router supplied by my ISP. File and Printer sharing is
unchecked.

Card "B" connects to another router with File And Printer SHaring checked.
This card is to enable users on LAN to share resources... Files, Folders,
Printers etc.

This worked fine for a day or two. After that, when a user click on network
folder or printer the system would hang for a about 3 minutes and then
return "Network Path not found" error. When that happens the system would
lose Internet Connection, and neither wireless cards would work. Restarting
the system only restores the Internet connection. The cycle repeats all over
when a user tries to access a network resource. This happens to all 3
systems systems on the LAN.

I suspect there is some kind of conflict going on here but I have no idea
what to look for or settings to change. Is it OK to have two wireless cards
on the same system?

Both cards are using 128 bit encryption and when connected both cards
reported a 95% signal strength. I do not want to enable file and printer
sharing on the Internet card that's why I chose to have two wireless
routers. I will appreciate any help/ pointers.


Thanks in advance.

 

[Herb Martin]

I have 2 wireless cards in WIN2000 box. Card "A" (linksys) connects to
Internet wireless router supplied by my ISP. File and Printer sharing is
unchecked.

Card "B" connects to another router with File And Printer SHaring checked.
This card is to enable users on LAN to share resources... Files, Folders,
Printers etc.

This worked fine for a day or two. After that, when a user click on network
folder or printer the system would hang for a about 3 minutes and then
return "Network Path not found" error. When that happens the system would
lose Internet Connection, and neither wireless cards would work. Restarting
the system only restores the Internet connection. The cycle repeats all over
when a user tries to access a network resource. This happens to all 3
systems systems on the LAN.

You may have a hardward/driver problem in which case you will
get better help from LynkSys probably, but if you have a problem
with a TCP/IP network (routed) then you haven't given a good report
until you provide PING results...

Ping by name and number? Just by number?

Ping fails, the view and show us tracert outpub....?

If ping works but large file transfers fail, then increase the packet
size of ping until you determine a patter ( -l option)

Show IPConfig /all for router and sample affected machines.

Copy the text, don't type it in or paste a picture please.

I suspect there is some kind of conflict going on here but I have no idea
what to look for or settings to change. Is it OK to have two wireless cards
on the same system?

Both cards are using 128 bit encryption and when connected both cards
reported a 95% signal strength. I do not want to enable file and printer
sharing on the Internet card that's why I chose to have two wireless
routers. I will appreciate any help/ pointers.

 

[no_one]

does the router to the internet path have a firewall? If so I would think
that you are safe with the single wireless card. Also, what is your subnet
mask on the computers? (are the IP addresses of the network cards in the
same subnet?)

 

[JoeO]

Thanks Herb, no_one for responding

Herb, When I restart machine the Internet works fine and I could access
other files and printers on LAN. Pinging all 3 pcs works indicating good
connection. IP config returns two dynamically assigned IPs from both
routers. Trouble starts when few minutes later I try to access a network
file or printer. The system would drop both connections.... I really can't
explain this.

no-one... the Internet router does not have "hardware" firewall. The
subnetmask for both wireless cards are same 255.255.0.0 Both subnetmask were
assigned by DHCP enabled router.

 

[Herb Martin]

Herb, When I restart machine the Internet works fine and I could access

other files and printers on LAN. Pinging all 3 pcs works indicating good
connection. IP config returns two dynamically assigned IPs from both
routers. Trouble starts when few minutes later I try to access a network
file or printer. The system would drop both connections.... I really can't
explain this.

You are not being specific when you use words like "access".

Access in PRECISELY what way?

Or "drop" -- what precisely occurs? What error messages?

What do ping and tracert show at THAT point?

Always indicate PING by NUMBER vs. Ping by name (even
if you think that is obvious) because we cannot always tell if
someone knows the difference.

If you are using Explorer to access a file or similar to print,
what do command line "net use" and "dir \\server\share" give
at that point?

no-one... the Internet router does not have "hardware" firewall. The
subnetmask for both wireless cards are same 255.255.0.0

That's irrelevant if they are on separate subnets and they must be for
such to work.

Subnet masks are specified on a per subnet basis and must (ONLY)
be correct for that particular subnet.

Better would be to show us the addresses and the mask by copying
the results of your IPConfig.

Both subnetmask were
assigned by DHCP enabled router.

 

[no_one]

I think the key is the subnet mask; with 255.255.0.0 you are operating over
several subnets (same subnet is 255.255.255.0) I think that the problem is
that your routers are not in the same sub net and you are experiencing
issues with this. Just last weekend I was playing around with two routers;
one at 192.168.0.1 and the other at 192.168.1.1. I got into the same subnet
mask set up as you and found very long delays and hangups of the entire
network. I would try to get them into the same subnet (1st three sets of IP
numbers the same, the last different) and then see if you can work it out.
I think it will require you to set gateway and DNS server to match your
needs.
I am not a network expert, but have played around enough to make a few good
guesses; let us know if this helps.

Ron