Vista: set correct routing with multiple networks

[VJ]

Hello,

I have posted about this problem before, but it never got solved (and kind of got forgotten after a number of issues with my pc). Those issues are close to solved, so I can pick it up again.

The configuration is as follows:
There is an internal network, consisting of a linksys router, a vista pc and an xp laptop. The router is configured as "gateway" (as suggested before).
For internet access, I use my Windows Mobile device (via USB or bluetooth), and it presents itself as a new network connection (not as a dialup modem).

When my pc is connected to the linksys AND to the WM device, I cannot get internet access. The pc appears to want to route via the linksys, which of course fails. In the network sharing center, I can see that I'm connected to two networks: "local & internet" (the WM device) and "local" (wired connection). The systray network icon shows computer but no globe to indicate internet. When I unplug the wired network, the systray icon changes to show a globe, and now I have working internet.

How can I set this up so that I can have local network connectivity AND internet access?

(FWIW, my previous phone presented itself as a dial-modem, and this did seem to be the preferred connection for internet, so in that situation it worked - IIRC)

Thanks!

Jörg

[Chucky Cheese]

I don't have any experience with that kind of setup...but take a look at your routing table by typing "route print" at a command prompt and see what it looks like when hooked up like you said...also check your routers "ip commtrack" log.

also try route /? for more options

cc

[MultimediaMan]

Get rid of the default gateway on your internal network: if there no internet on that segment, don't tease the OS into looking for it there.

[Helevitia]

Get rid of the default gateway on your internal network: if there no internet on that segment, don't tease the OS into looking for it there.

lol, I've never heard anyone use the word "tease" when referring to destinations for network data I like it though

Anyway, sounds like you need to change which route has priority when both connections are up.

You could lower the metric for the "new network connection". You can do this under LAN Properties (for "new network connection"), Networking Tab, IPv4 Properties, Advanced. Change the metric to 9 or lower as 10 is the default. Actually, it may not be 10. To be sure that you are lower than the other connection, open up a cmd prompt, type "route PRINT" and look at the metrics for both interfaces. I'm guessing your wired connection is 10 and the "new network connection" is higher.

If changing the metric doesn't work, or doesn't stick after you remove it and try again, you can add a static route with the "route ADD" command. This will force it to use the default route with the lower metric. Here is an example:

C:\Windows\system32>route ADD 0.0.0.0 MASK 0.0.0.0 192.168.1.200 METRIC 2 IF 9
OK!

You need to start the cmd prompt as administrator. IF = interface. You need to select the interface number that you see under "route PRINT".

Hope this helps.

You could post your "route PRINT" here for us to look at as well (while both connections are up).

[VJ]

I'll try all these suggestions on Sunday!

[WxDude]

I don't know if this is the same in vista, but under XP you can set the priority of the network
connection. Open up the Network Connections window and under the Advanced menu at
the top of the window, select Advanced Settings. That will open a window that will allow
you to select the order the connections are accessed by the networking services.

It maybe that your connection to the linksys is set to be higher than the WM device.

- Wx

[VJ]

Ok, this route print output puzzles me further...

First up, the router (on lan connection) has IP address 192.168.2.1, and it assigns address in the range 192.168.2.100 - 192.168.2.149.

The WM device is identified as a "Remote NDIS based internet sharing device", and it appears to use IP addresses 192.168.0.*.

This is the output:

C:\>route print
===========================================================================
Interface List
 11 ...80 00 60 0f e8 00 ...... Remote NDIS based Internet Sharing Device
 10 ...00 10 60 a9 d2 40 ...... Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
  8 ...00 30 48 70 08 e0 ...... Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection
  1 ........................... Software Loopback Interface 1
 15 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0  isatap.{8BD98859-575B-4EE1-824C-5113D7EC8B78}
 16 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0  isatap.{15FF96A4-30E8-42EF-9726-14B4098FE906}
 12 ...02 00 54 55 4e 01 ...... Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
===========================================================================

IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination        Netmask          Gateway       Interface  Metric
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0      192.168.0.1    192.168.0.102     30
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0      192.168.2.1    192.168.2.100     20
        127.0.0.0        255.0.0.0         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
        127.0.0.1  255.255.255.255         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
  127.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
      169.254.0.0      255.255.0.0         On-link     192.168.0.102    306
  169.254.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.0.102    286
      192.168.0.0    255.255.255.0         On-link     192.168.0.102    286
    192.168.0.102  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.0.102    286
    192.168.0.255  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.0.102    286
      192.168.2.0    255.255.255.0         On-link     192.168.2.100    276
    192.168.2.100  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.2.100    276
    192.168.2.255  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.2.100    276
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0         On-link     192.168.2.100    276
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0         On-link     192.168.0.102    286
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.2.100    276
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.0.102    286
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
  None

IPv6 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
 If Metric Network Destination      Gateway
 11   4126 ::/0                     fe80::8000:60ff:fe0f:e800
  1    306 ::1/128                  On-link
 12     18 2001::/32                On-link
 12    266 2001:0:d5c7:a2ca:cd7:1dda:3f57:fd9b/128
                                    On-link
 11     38 2002:5c30:aedb:6::/64    On-link
 11    286 2002:5c30:aedb:6:1c08:a8c6:5f1:640b/128
                                    On-link
 11    286 2002:5c30:aedb:6:2cdc:66e6:7957:3d72/128
                                    On-link
  8    276 fe80::/64                On-link
 11    286 fe80::/64                On-link
 12    266 fe80::/64                On-link
 12    266 fe80::cd7:1dda:3f57:fd9b/128
                                    On-link
 11    286 fe80::1c08:a8c6:5f1:640b/128
                                    On-link
  8    276 fe80::b4fe:bb65:37f1:e641/128
                                    On-link
 11     38 fec0:0:0:6::/64          On-link
 11    286 fec0::6:1c08:a8c6:5f1:640b/128
                                    On-link
  1    306 ff00::/8                 On-link
 12    266 ff00::/8                 On-link
  8    276 ff00::/8                 On-link
 11    286 ff00::/8                 On-link
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
  None

It appears that the internet connection has metric 30, whereas the local one has metric 20 (which is ok, right?).

I checked my router settings, and it has the following:

Operating mode: Router
Dynamic Routing (RIP): disabled
Routing table in router:
Routing Table  	  
 	
Destination   Mask                    Gateway      Metric
192.168.2.0  255.255.255.0	      192.168.2.1  1
192.168.2.1  255.255.255.255   192.168.2.1  1

So far, I changed nothing (dunno what to change...)...
Any thoughts?


Jörg

[Helevitia]

Ok, this route print output puzzles me further...

First up, the router (on lan connection) has IP address 192.168.2.1, and it assigns address in the range 192.168.2.100 - 192.168.2.149.

The WM device is identified as a "Remote NDIS based internet sharing device", and it appears to use IP addresses 192.168.0.*.

This is the output:

C:\>route print
===========================================================================
Interface List
 11 ...80 00 60 0f e8 00 ...... Remote NDIS based Internet Sharing Device
  8 ...00 30 48 70 08 e0 ...... Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection

===========================================================================

IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination        Netmask          Gateway       Interface  Metric
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0      192.168.0.1    192.168.0.102     30
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0      192.168.2.1    192.168.2.100     20

It appears that the internet connection has metric 30, whereas the local one has metric 20 (which is ok, right?).

I checked my router settings, and it has the following:

Operating mode: Router
Dynamic Routing (RIP): disabled
Routing table in router:
Routing Table        
     
Destination   Mask                    Gateway      Metric
192.168.2.0  255.255.255.0          192.168.2.1  1
192.168.2.1  255.255.255.255   192.168.2.1  1

So far, I changed nothing (dunno what to change...)...
Any thoughts?


Jörg

Who is 192.168.0.1? Is that your WM device? If so, try this:

The local connection with the default gateway 192.168.2.1 has a metric of 20 (lowest number has highest priority). This means it has the highest priority and traffic will automatically be sent there first.

Try lowering the metric on the "Remote NDIS based Internet Sharing Device". You can do this under LAN Properties, Networking Tab, IPv4 Properties, Advanced. Uncheck "automatic metric", add anything below 20. Try 10. I'm thinking it should take effect right away, but I'm not positive. maybe a reboot is required. Let us know if that worked

[VJ]

I suspect that 192.168.0.1 is the WM device. It presents itself as a network interface (when connected via bluetooth, it presents itself as an access point).

I'll give it a go tonight!


Jörg

[Chucky Cheese]

I thought that the routers mode should be gateway?

cc

[VJ]

According to the online help of the router, gateway should be used when it connects to the internet; router when there is another gateway to internet on the network....


Jörg

[Chucky Cheese]

isn't your braodband device patched through the router?

[VJ]

Nope, that is the issue...
Internet connection is via a Windows Mobile device, connected to the PC (via USB). This WM device presents itself as an additional network connection. The router is only used for my internal network.

PS: Happy birthday!

[MultimediaMan]

Just Remove the Default gateway from the Router: If the router is not connected to the internet, then it is lying to your entire network, and is really the root of the issue. Removing the Default Gateway from the DHCP server: Problem Solved.

Or, if you run you Vista Client with a Static IP, remove the Default gateway from the IP information on the Router side.

A Default gateway is the "next step" for HSRP; meaning that if your Client cannot locate the IP address it is looking for on the local subnet, it will look to the default gateway address and see if it can find it through there. If the default gateway leads nowhere (meaning the default gateway address is actually false), then your client will time out looking for the address on that segment.

Windows does a good job of working across networks, but gets a little confused if there are two or more default gateways availalbe to the system: In Vista, it will try to assign the lowest cost to the wired connection. In your case, you know your wired connection doesn't have any other networks to go to to get out to the internet. The solution is to configure the DHCP server on that network to NOT assign a default gateway.

Once you have only one default gateway, windows will have no trouble figuring out where the packets need to go.

[VJ]

Just Remove the Default gateway from the Router: If the router is not connected to the internet, then it is lying to your entire network, and is really the root of the issue. Removing the Default Gateway from the DHCP server: Problem Solved.

That should be in the web interface of the router, right?

(IIRC, I can't seem to find a setting to disable it... )


Jörg