Trouble with wireless networks

[Neil]

I have a Dell Inspiron 600m with a Dell TrueMobile 1300
wireless card. It is 802.11 b and g compatible.

At home I have a Linksys 802.11g wireless router and a
ISP with no static IP address so I need to set the
wireless network card to 'DHCP assigned IP address'. The
system works great as long as I use DHCP assigned IP
addresses.

At work, I have an 802.11a wireless router. In order to
access the network printers at work, I need the wireless
card configured to a specific IP address. If I allow
DHCP assignment, I can access the network and the
internet but I have no use of the network printers.

As it stands, I have to manually configure the wirless
card each time I go to work (which means typing in each
number for the IP address, subnet mask, etc) in order to
use printers.

When I get home, I click 'DHCP Assigned IP Address' and
the manually configured numbers disappear from the main
screen.

Which brings me to my question....

There is a second tab that appears in the
Windows 'Wireless Network Connection Properties' dialogue
box. The second tab is titled 'Alternate
Configuration'. It appears when I have selected 'Obtain
IP address automatically'.

Even if I fill out the 'Alternate Configuration' with the
details of my workplace's IP address,etc, I can still not
access the printers at work.

I assume that the computer is using the default Auto IP
address, since it has no reason not to. Is there a way
to force the computer to use the 'Alternate
Configuration' at home then switch back to the auto
setting at home?

Am I misunderstanding the purpose of the 'Alternate
Configuration' settings?

Or.... do you know of any other solutions? I have
already tried to assign the same IP address to my home
router as the IP address at work but my home router will
not accept that range of address.

Thanks in advance,

Neil

[Jim Macklin]

You can set the router to DHCP to the Internet, and all the
computers inside your LAN to a static IPs, be sure to set
WEP and MAC if you have those security features. Software
firewalls can be on each computer for added security. Be
sure to encrypt as needed to secure confidential data.


"Neil" > wrote in message
...
| I have a Dell Inspiron 600m with a Dell TrueMobile 1300
| wireless card. It is 802.11 b and g compatible.
|
| At home I have a Linksys 802.11g wireless router and a
| ISP with no static IP address so I need to set the
| wireless network card to 'DHCP assigned IP address'. The
| system works great as long as I use DHCP assigned IP
| addresses.
|
| At work, I have an 802.11a wireless router. In order to
| access the network printers at work, I need the wireless
| card configured to a specific IP address. If I allow
| DHCP assignment, I can access the network and the
| internet but I have no use of the network printers.
|
| As it stands, I have to manually configure the wirless
| card each time I go to work (which means typing in each
| number for the IP address, subnet mask, etc) in order to
| use printers.
|
| When I get home, I click 'DHCP Assigned IP Address' and
| the manually configured numbers disappear from the main
| screen.
|
| Which brings me to my question....
|
| There is a second tab that appears in the
| Windows 'Wireless Network Connection Properties' dialogue
| box. The second tab is titled 'Alternate
| Configuration'. It appears when I have selected 'Obtain
| IP address automatically'.
|
| Even if I fill out the 'Alternate Configuration' with the
| details of my workplace's IP address,etc, I can still not
| access the printers at work.
|
| I assume that the computer is using the default Auto IP
| address, since it has no reason not to. Is there a way
| to force the computer to use the 'Alternate
| Configuration' at home then switch back to the auto
| setting at home?
|
| Am I misunderstanding the purpose of the 'Alternate
| Configuration' settings?
|
| Or.... do you know of any other solutions? I have
| already tried to assign the same IP address to my home
| router as the IP address at work but my home router will
| not accept that range of address.
|
| Thanks in advance,
|
| Neil

[Pavel A.]

"Neil" > wrote in message
...
> Am I misunderstanding the purpose of the 'Alternate
> Configuration' settings?

Maybe... The purpose of it is to let you specify a known, fixed IP instead
of picking a random address,
when DHCP is not available.
So, as you described, it will try to get DHCP address first. If this
succeed, alternate IP isn't used at all.

This procedure repeats every time when you reboot, or LAN cable is plugged
in - what in case of wireless LAN means that it connects to the router or
AP.

Sorry, this doesn't explain why you're having these problems.

- PA