Connected both wired and wireless

When I hook up my laptop and both wired and wireless, which connection does it actually use? How does it decide which one is better? Does it go automatically by wired or there is some kind of data split and both connection are being used???

 

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No idea. Why would you want two different connections?

 

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I am just curious on the technical level... let's say if the laptop actually using both, that would make it faster...

 

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it will run through both simultaneously if you are trying to access data from either network, but it will not split packets between the connections if they both connect to the same switch. your internet will run through whichever connection you set as the default.

 

I have this kind of setup because my wireless is too slow to stream movies from my storage computer. Initially I hooked my two computers up directly using a crossover 1000mbit cable and it was incredibly fast. Recently I've added another computer to the wired network so I added in a 100mbit switch. I use my wireless connection mostly for the internet.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but the two networks should have different subnet masks for the routing to work properly. This gives each of your computers a pair of different IP addresses to work with.

If you really want to figure out how your traffic is being routed, you can try either the 'route print' command in windows console or the 'route' command in the linux console.

 

I am not sure which is the default. The laptop is using automatically whatever is aviable, so I guess whatever I hook up first is the default. Once it is connected I don't think it switches just because the new connection is faster....

 

Assuming you're using Windows, go to your Control Panel and select Network Connections. Whichever has that little checkbox is your default.

 

When you ask for a web site, or network resource, the OS looks at it's routing table for devices that are in the correct subnet (in your case, both connections have the same info as they both get their DHCP settings from the same router) and send the request to however many have the correct subnet info. Whichever responds fastest, with the lowest cost (in this case, network hops) routes, wins, and that connection is used.

This will almost always be your wired connection, when both are present, 'cos it will be 100mbps, vs the WiFi 54mbps. Probably.

 

Doing a little more research you can tell which connection has priority by looking at your routing table and seeing which connection has a lower metric.

 

I measured the internet speed 3 ways:

-wireless: 2.3 Mbps
-wired: 5.5 Mbps
-together: 5.3 and 5.1 Mbps

I actually did the together in 2 ways, hooking up first the wireless and than the wired and vica versa. Interestingly if the laptop is hooked up both ways the speed is less than just using the wired hook up.

And when I go to network places there is no little checkbox, they both show up as connected, so I still don't know which one is the default...

 

compulsory syndrom...:bugeye:

I was pointing to lack of logic in the results you gave... or lack of understanding of the results on my par. No need to hiss.

It seems to me that you would be better off having only LAN connection turned on...whereas wifi off.

network bindings, change it this way:

1. Click Start, click Run, type ncpa.cpl , and then click OK.
You can see the available connections in the LAN and High-Speed Internet section of the Network Connections window.
2. On the Advanced menu, click Advanced Settings, and then click the Adapters and Bindings tab.
3. In the Connections area, select the connection that you want to move higher in the list. Use the arrow buttons to move the connection.

 

obviously Syzygy...the top in the list is your default

 

http://www.ezlan.net/metrics.html

 

OK, I take it back (I guess a moderator already did that). I thought you were putting down my laptop speed for no apparent good reason...

OK, I checked, wireless was on the top. Changed it to LAN, although we use it wireless most of the time. Anyway, the whole question was more just an intellectual inquiry, nothing practical application on my part...