Merge Ethernet and WLAN connections in Network and Sharing Centre

I have this thing that keeps bugging me...

One of my PCs, HTPC, is connected to the router via both WiFi and a cable. It works fine and it somehow even knows the network name for the Ethernet connection, Minas Tirith (usually it's only for WiFi connections). Maybe I renamed it in regedit at some point, don't remember. And in the network centre it understands that both are connected to the same rounter and shows it as such:

ipconfig /all of HTPC

My other PC, M18X, is also connected to the same router via WiFi and a cable. however, it treats the connections as separate. Why is that? And how can I merge them?

ipconfig /all of M18X

Note that I've renamed the network from Network 8, which it was previously, to Minas Tirith in regedit.

Also here's what my router sees (Technicolor model):

Note that for some reason it doesn't see the Ethernet connection from M18X even though the PC gets internet access even if I turn off WiFi. I've restarted the devices several times.

Also both PCs are on the same homegroup.

Edgar

Posted 2016-09-03T12:58:34.710

Reputation: 93

Run ipconfig /all on each of the 2 PCs and post the results – Argonauts – 2016-09-09T23:37:35.427

Are they on the same home group? – user2924019 – 2016-09-12T12:54:07.260

@Argonauts Edited the question with links to ipconfig. – Edgar – 2016-09-12T18:59:10.290

1For M18X, the ethernet connection isn't on the same IP network as is the WiFi. – Doezer – 2016-09-15T15:19:45.617

1Doezer's answer may be the answer. The other possibility is that the DNS suffix may be set (deep in the adapter properties, IPv4 properties, advanced tab(?), DNS) on one but not the other. Also if one is DHCP, it may be getting a different DNS suffix. – Xalorous – 2016-09-15T22:26:43.653

@Doezer Any idea why that is? Could it have something to do with the Ethernet port on the router? I'm starting to think maybe it was pre-configured to be either a phone or a TV connection. I'll check with the port HTPC is using. I don't have anything set in DNS config. And post your comment as an answer... – Edgar – 2016-09-19T10:03:06.607

Answers

On M18X machine, both NICs have different IPs. Since both are dynamically set, it means there are two networks with each his own DHCP server : 78.84.160.1 and 192.168.1.1. You might have more insight on this? What is at 78.84.160.1? What is apollo.lv ?

Doezer

Posted 2016-09-03T12:58:34.710

Reputation: 431

192.168.. is the router itself. But 78.84.. is somewhere outside. I think it's the ISP's DHSCP server. apollo.lv is another name for the ISP, I think. That's why I thought it may be the port I'm using with the PC is supposed to be used for a TV box or a phone. – Edgar – 2016-09-21T11:13:45.200

This could be it. You're in Latvia right? We had that in France a few years ago with the first all-in-one boxes (now it's a way better system). You had to manually deactivate the TV categorization to use the port for something else. You should try to see if there's a setting of the sort in the router GUI. You can also try your ISP to see if there's a FAQ or an assistance page which explains how to do that. – Doezer – 2016-09-21T12:02:48.417

192.168.x.x addresses are reserved, private IP addresses. Unroutable. 78..x.x.x is a public internet address. In this case, it is probably the external interface of the modem, i.e. the external address. The modem may be an integral part of your router, they often are. The external address is assigned by the ISP, typically via DHCP. The other address is assigned by the DHCP service in the router, and is not routable. So how do you get responses back from websites and such? NAT routing. The gateway for the 192.168.x.x network is most likely the 78.x.x.x address. – Xalorous – 2016-09-22T00:11:07.960

Oh, and the solution is to modify the config on the router to reserve an IP for the Ethernet connection. Some DHCP servers let you create reservations so that any connection with a given mac address gets a specified address. Others you can remove an address from the range available in DHCP and then statically assign it (manually) to the Ethernet adapter. The DHCP service on most routers fall into the second category. – Xalorous – 2016-09-22T00:14:09.923

Yes, I confirmed that only port 1, the port HTPC was connected to, was intended for Ethernet. Ports 2 and 3 were for TV boxes. Port 4 for don't know what. And it's not possible to change that in the router software. – Edgar – 2016-09-23T15:00:39.987

My first thought is that somewhere in your wireless connections history it sees another instance of Minas Tirith. I would try going into your "Manage Wireless Connections" and delete any refrence to Minas Tirith and then reconnect your wireless from scratch. If it is adding a 2 to the end of your connection it is because has already connected to a Minas Tirith before that it thinks is different.

thesoundman20

Posted 2016-09-03T12:58:34.710

Reputation: 359

Yeah I'm not bothered about the 2. The thing is one of the PCs understands that both adapters are connected to the same router, but the other doesn't. – Edgar – 2016-09-12T18:55:04.890

What i meant was that it probably thinks that the current Ethernet connection and the Minas Tirith wifi are the same but it thinks you are connected to a completely different wap with Minas Tirith as the name and that is why it added the 2. I realize you dont care about the number, all i was suggesting is that it was a hint as to what was going on. – thesoundman20 – 2016-09-12T19:27:04.977

I started comparing the ipconfigs and on the PC that sees two networks there is a DNS suffix of "appollo.lv" for the Ethernet connection, whereas all adapters, including on the other PC have the suffix as "lan". I have no idea where either are configured. They're not manually set. – Edgar – 2016-09-14T19:00:31.933

Can you post your ipconfig /all outputs from the terminal for both pcs? – thesoundman20 – 2016-09-15T16:02:21.747

There are links to ipconfigs in the question. – Edgar – 2016-09-19T10:00:22.527

Different IP networks are separate networks. Presented with the same 'workgroup' name on two separate networks, Windows incremented the second one. – Xalorous – 2016-09-22T00:16:58.053

It treats the connection as separate because it has different IP address. It sees the "Minas Tirith" network, because it knows the gateway. You can use static IP and gateway, if you want (I would recommend static for at least the Ethernet port in this set up) You can try this : https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731695(v=ws.11).aspx

Load balancing means to automatically use the best bandwith of both connections at once. Better way would only be to set static routes in the router, but I don't know if you have that knowledge - unless you know what you're doing, don't touch static routes, this is my advice. good luck!...

Andrei Caba

Posted 2016-09-03T12:58:34.710

Reputation: 11

They're going to have different addresses, but they're on a separate IP network. (I can't verify this because pastebin is blocked at my work). – Xalorous – 2016-09-15T22:29:47.340

@Andrei I don't think your answer is correct. Also I don't have a Server, so NLB has nothing to do with the problem or solution. – Edgar – 2016-09-19T09:56:57.207

@Xalorous Is probably right. They definitely have different addresses because they have to. But they're also on a different subnet and the gateway is different. – Edgar – 2016-09-19T09:58:20.670

@Edgar They are on two different IP networks. The wording is important. 192.168.1.0/24 and 192.168.2.0/24 are two different subnets of 192.168.0.0/16. In other words, 'different subnets' implies that they have a common network at the 'class' level. "Different IP networks" is the accurate description, since one is class A public and the other class C, private. See wiki page for private network. Also, I've included "IP" in the statement to differentiate from 'separate physical networks' since you can host separate IP networks on the same wire.

– Xalorous – 2016-09-22T00:24:43.917