# Dual wireless cards



## ArmoredCavalry (Feb 15, 2009)

Just wondering if anyone has used dual wireless cards ever. Or if anyone knows if it is possible to use dual wireless cards to create an adhoc network, and still be connected to a router (internet) at the same time.


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## Castiel (Feb 15, 2009)

Unless you install them seperate and they don't cancle each other out. But your computer can have 2 I.P. address. So I don't think this would be a good idea.


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## Deleted member 3 (Feb 15, 2009)

Not sure how Windows handles it actually. I've never seen any options for multiple wireless nics in any applicaiton. Though with two different drivers each application can control one card. ie Intel software handles some Intel chip, Windows itself or another program handles some other chip.

If that doesn't work get some ethernet/wifi bridge


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## ArmoredCavalry (Feb 15, 2009)

Castiel said:


> Unless you install them seperate and they don't cancle each other out. But your computer can have 2 I.P. address. So I don't think this would be a good idea.



2 i.p.'s wouldn't be a problem. I already have that with Hamachi.




DanTheBanjoman said:


> Not sure how Windows handles it actually. I've never seen any options for multiple wireless nics in any applicaiton. Though with two different drivers each application can control one card. ie Intel software handles some Intel chip, Windows itself or another program handles some other chip.
> 
> If that doesn't work get some ethernet/wifi bridge



Hm, I did not think of using the manufacturer's software. Not sure if that would work or not. :\


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## newtekie1 (Feb 15, 2009)

So you are talking about connected to the router with one access card, then share that connection with the second so other computers can connect through it?

I don't see why that wouldn't work, but I don't really see why you would want to do that, other than to extend the range of your wireless network I guess.


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## Castiel (Feb 15, 2009)

ArmoredCavalry said:


> 2 i.p.'s wouldn't be a problem. I already have that with Hamachi.



Hamachi is a network adaptor. That is for a LAN connection through internet, and Hamchi has its own I.P. and it has nothing to deal with your real I.P. and internet. If you use 2 Wireless NIC's then you are going to have to have one of those NIC's to be for internet and the other for something, because the computer is going to need 1 IP address to be connected to the internet.


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## ArmoredCavalry (Feb 15, 2009)

@newtekie1:
Yeah basically, I want to be able to create an adhoc network so I could play some games over LAN, while still connected to my schools wireless for internet. (games don't work over school's wireless).

@Castiel:
I know it is.. that is my point. A computer can have multiple i.p. addresses. An i.p. is just a reference. You can have 50 i.p.'s that all point to the same computer.

Unless you are an internet service provider your computer's i.p. does not 'connect' to the internet, it is just a method of identification on a local level (intranet/LAN).

That is why, if you are on a wireless network with a friend, you both have separate i.p.'s to identify yourself on the wireless network. However, to websites, you both have the same i.p. (the server being used by the wireless network's isp).


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## FordGT90Concept (Feb 15, 2009)

I know it can work.  I've used an internal Intel wireless device and an external D-Link USB wireless device and there was two icons for wireless network down in the system tray; however, you shouldn't need two cards to create an adhoc/access point using your current card.  Just go into your Wireless Networks page and change the properties on your network.  One of the tabs lets you select whether or not other computers can connect to yours or not.


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## ArmoredCavalry (Feb 15, 2009)

FordGT90Concept said:


> I know it can work.  I've used an internal Intel wireless device and an external D-Link USB wireless device and there was two icons for wireless network down in the system tray; however, you shouldn't need two cards to create an adhoc/access point using your current card.  Just go into your Wireless Networks page and change the properties on your network.  One of the tabs lets you select whether or not other computers can connect to yours or not.



Was this in xp or vista that you got two icons? Vista seems to use only 1 for all networks, which is why I'm not sure how well it would handle 2 wireless networks (afraid I would be able to choose only one network to connect to). I know I only need one card for an adhoc, but I want to also be able to connect to an additional wireless network (for internet access), which is where the second card would come into play.


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## FordGT90Concept (Feb 15, 2009)

It is an XP Home computer.  There is only one Wireless Network screen for selecting a network to connect to (shows the signal quality, protected/unprotected, and SSID).  The computer just recognizes that there are two physical devices for establishing a wireless network.


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## ArmoredCavalry (Feb 15, 2009)

FordGT90Concept said:


> It is an XP Home computer.  There is only one Wireless Network screen for selecting a network to connect to (shows the signal quality, protected/unprotected, and SSID).  The computer just recognizes that there are two physical devices for establishing a wireless network.



Ah cool, so you just say "connect to this wireless network" and then pick a second one as well? Did not know that Windows was that smart. 

I hope that works in Vista too.


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## Deleted member 3 (Feb 15, 2009)

Castiel said:


> Hamachi is a network adaptor. That is for a LAN connection through internet, and Hamchi has its own I.P. and it has nothing to deal with your real I.P. and internet. If you use 2 Wireless NIC's then you are going to have to have one of those NIC's to be for internet and the other for something, because the computer is going to need 1 IP address to be connected to the internet.



There is such a thing as a "real IP"? The virtual Hamachi adapters IP is just as real as any other. The only limitation is the fact that you can have only a single primary gateway, so internet traffic will always be routed via one connection. This is all unrelated to the PC itself having multiple NICs though.



ArmoredCavalry said:


> Ah cool, so you just say "connect to this wireless network" and then pick a second one as well? Did not know that Windows was that smart.
> 
> I hope that works in Vista too.



No, I think he's pointing out the same issue as I did. The software doesn't allow you to select multiple networks, even with multiple adapters. Hence my thought to use two different wifi managers.


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## ArmoredCavalry (Feb 15, 2009)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> No, I think he's pointing out the same issue as I did. The software doesn't allow you to select multiple networks, even with multiple adapters. Hence my thought to use two different wifi managers.



Ah, yeah, re-reading it I can see how it sounds that way. Hopefully he will reply, so I can know for sure.


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## FordGT90Concept (Feb 15, 2009)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> No, I think he's pointing out the same issue as I did. The software doesn't allow you to select multiple networks, even with multiple adapters. Hence my thought to use two different wifi managers.


Exactly.  See, wireless networking works on a sort of host/client relationship where a host can connect to another host and dozens of clients can connect to a single host.

Wireless networks just aren't designed to have one client with multiple hosts.

See image.


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## francis511 (Feb 15, 2009)

Two wifi cards in the same rig is O.K. without conflicts for example. If you set up 2 different network connections for the router and the ad-hoc connection , you should be good to go.


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## ArmoredCavalry (Feb 15, 2009)

Alright, so I guess I'll try it out then. I can pickup a cheap mini-pci wireless card for like $15, so not a huge loss if it doesn't work out. I will just have a spare then. 

If I remember I'll post my results.


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## ArmoredCavalry (Feb 24, 2009)

Ok, my wireless card came today. Went it with no problems, gotta love the m1530 for that.

Now, when I started Vista, I have a wireless connection and wireless connection #2.

I can choose a network for each of them to connect to like so:





This is very cool imo.  What is not very cool is I can't seem to share the internet connection from the main wireless connection, to the adhoc one. 

I simply get an error message about how an error occurred while trying to start ICS. I have checked, and all the required services for ICS are up and running, so not sure what the issue could be.


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## Braveheart (Feb 24, 2009)

thats sweet! i would have never thought that would work.


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## Conti027 (Feb 24, 2009)

i use my lappy as a bridge for my xbox360. i didn't want to buy the stupid wireless thingy and the router is on the other side of the house and cant run a cable. so i use a small cable and have my lappy on top of my 360.


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## ArmoredCavalry (Feb 24, 2009)

Braveheart said:


> thats sweet! i would have never thought that would work.



Haha, yeah I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. 

Also, I just figured out an alternative way to get ICS working. I just bridged the wireless connection and the adhoc network. Worked like a charm.


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## mlee49 (Feb 24, 2009)

Conti027 said:


> i use my lappy as a bridge for my xbox360. i didn't want to buy the stupid wireless thingy and the router is on the other side of the house and cant run a cable. so i use a small cable and have my lappy on top of my 360.



I've heard that is a pain to configure/utilize.  Can you still access your network/computers through the 360?


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