A networking question

I have an Ethernet cable going from my laptop in my room to my desktop. I want this so I can transfer files fast.

I want to have the desktop also connected to my wireless router/Internet. I don't want to share my Internet connection from my laptop. I'd like to be able to unplug my laptop and still be able to transfer files wirelessly over the network through the router.

So I want both my laptop and desktop to be able to connect to the Internet wirelessly at all times without sharing. I want to be able to access files from my desktop wether I'm connected to it via Ethernet or wirelessly through my router.

Can it be done?

PS They both run windows 7.

network laptop internet desktop router ethernet

asked Oct 27 '12 at 13:21

Zorbeen98
151●64●77●84

edited Oct 28 '12 at 05:32

5 Answers:

oldest newest most voted

The simplest way would be to use a crossover cable. Since you don't want to share internet over that connection; don't bridge the connections. Just set it up for file sharing. It may seem a little unorthodox by todays' methods but a null modem connection should be fine. Using a switch or a hub as opposed to a crossover cable should be fine as well.

answered Oct 28 '12 at 08:30

ClosetFuturist
1.7k●6●14●27

edited Oct 28 '12 at 08:31

your question is not really clear, but if you want to have both computers connected to the internet and also share files both over wifi and ethernet, then the most stable way to do it is the default way. Windows will automatically select the fastest connection so if your laptop is on wifi and you connect the ethernet cable, it will switch to ethernet. same with the desktop.

Any decent gigabit switch will offer the full speed (meaning almost no benefit from bypassing the switch and connecting the 2 systems together directly.

If you have 2 separate internet connections then you will need 2 network adapters and possibly a 3rd party file transfer application that either allows you to select which network interface to use, or that you can use with an application such as force bind IP.

PS often for the cost of a 2 separate internet connections, you can buy a single internet connection that is faster than both combined, then you can use QOS to equally share the connection.

answered Oct 27 '12 at 14:07

Razor512
15.6k●34●80●242

Upvoted as this is the correct answer, cable both machines to an ethernet switch, (you liekly have a 4 port 10/100 switch on your router)OR disbale wireless network adapter on both machines and use a standard ethernet cable (no need for crossover these days as NIC will automatically detect it is connected to another NIC and cross over the relevent pins for you)and create an ad-hoc network connection between the two!

(Oct 30 '12 at 07:56) Headwards

0	Your question is quite confusing but you can connect your Desktop to a wireless network with a Wireless USB Adapter. answered Oct 27 '12 at 14:31 Cameron 1.8k●103●127●134

0	I apologise for the confusing question. Explained it as clearly as I can. Was hard for me to do so though :s answered Oct 27 '12 at 16:14 Zorbeen98 151●64●77●84

Your question does not supply enough information, like OS's using, etc.... Assuming you have a wireless router that connects to the internet, you really do not have to worry about sharing the connection. For best speed transferring files, just use wired connections. If you really have 2 different ways to connect to the internet wireless for the 2 computers, then use a crossover cable and manually configure the ip address on both computers. Dan

answered Oct 27 '12 at 21:20

dan501
61●3

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