Cannot run dual WLAN under Win7/Vista -- help needed

evilbunny

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I've tried searching on this topic, both on this forum and on the web generally, and the only posts I've found are how to remove an unwanted second network -- which is not applicable to my case.

My position is that I don't have a landline (or any chance of getting one), so for the past three years I've been using Huawei HSDPA/3G wireless modems for my internet access. This works fine for me (well, most of the time anyway).

Last year I decided to link my laptop to my friend's desktop computer (also technically mine, but never mind that). I thus bought a Belkin class N router (I've forgotten which model) and a pair of class N wireless adapters (also Belkin as it happens). I also replaced the two wireless modems with a single Huawei E585 WiFi modem (accessed via a class G adapter on the desktop machine and via the laptop's internal class G adapter), so that instead of paying £20 a month for two separate lots of 1Gb transfer I now pay £15 a month for a single (shared) allowance of 3Gb. This setup of course requires that I maintain two separate wireless networks, one for file/printer sharing and the other for the modem.

Under Windows XP this setup worked flawlessly, but under Vista or 7 I have the problem that as soon as both connections are established, the internet connection is lost, which makes the modem connection pointless. Is there any way to fix this? I can't revert to XP (it's too unstable), I can't run a CAT5 cable between the two flats (he lives next door and one flight up), and anyway if I could I'd still have the problem of the connection breaking (I've tested this), I can't get a landline (and internet access that way would be more expensive than I currently pay), and I don't know of any way of combining the two connections into one. (If there's a router which can have a wireless modem plugged into it, and can be used to remotely reset that connection in case of problems, I would buy it as that would probably cure this problem.)
 
(If there's a router which can have a wireless modem plugged into it, and can be used to remotely reset that connection in case of problems, I would buy it as that would probably cure this problem.)

There now is such a router -- the ZTE MF10, available from Three -- and I've got one (along with a new much faster dongle, the Huawei E367) to replace the E585. It does indeed solve the problem. :clap: Plus, that now means that I have a class N Wifi connection, so I can make full use of the speed of the connection (my netbook's built-in wireless adaptor is class N). So it only remains to sort out why printer sharing still isn't working (with any luck that's just a configuration problem, not a network problem as such since file sharing is working again.)

Why on earth it's taken this long for companies to come up with such an obvious piece of kit is beyond me. I think that within the next year ZTE or Huawei (or another player) will come up with a gadget that is both router and modem, eliminating the (to my mind slightly clumsy) need for a separate modem to plug into the router.
 
Why on earth it's taken this long for companies to come up with such an obvious piece of kit is beyond me. I think that within the next year ZTE or Huawei (or another player) will come up with a gadget that is both router and modem, eliminating the (to my mind slightly clumsy) need for a separate modem to plug into the router.
Those devices already exists. The three mifi is one of them. Its like a dongle but connects via wifi instead of usb.
 
Those devices already exists. The three mifi is one of them. Its like a dongle but connects via wifi instead of usb.

The only device I'm aware of which Three refer to as the "Three MiFi" is the Huawei E585 which I mention in the original post, having had one for about 18 months now; and contrary to what you're implying by your reply, the E585 isn't a router, it's only a modem. It can connect up to five devices to the internet, but not to each other; hence why this thread was started in the first place.
 
You should be able to talk to other devices connecting to the mifi as it is a 3g router. There should be a setting on it somewhere something like "ap isolation" under basic wifi settings. Make sure its off.
 
^ what he said, simply un-tick the tick box and it should let you talk to other computers and wifi enabled printers/scanners.
Also, some software firewalls (Internet security package installed on your computer) will require you to add all the devices/IP addresses to their trusted network profile before they allow you to communicate with them.
 
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To answer you original question, you must set the network adapters for the file/printer sharing network to manual rather than using DHCP.
Now specify an appropriate IP address for each computer (not part of the Mifi subnet/network), subnet mask will fill itself in and then leave the default gateway/DNS part blank. This will force the computer to use the other WiFi connection for Internet access.
 

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