Hi

Is it possible to have 2 ISP's attached to 1 PC in wired config?

The reason for asking is that I am trying to get 2 wired internet connections working on a PC but am having a problem.
OS is XP professional.
PC has ethernet connection on m/b connected to an ISP using a dedicated program so can't access the internet. At present there is a wireless PCI network card installed that connects to a different ISP. This works as far as getting onto the internet but the signal is weak and there is dropout.
I took out the wireless card and fitted a TP-LINK wired adaptor TG-3269 but there is some problem when trying to install the driver from the supplied disc. I downloaded the driver from the manufacturers site in case the disc was faulty but no joy.
Is there some conflict between the on board and plug in connections?
Is this just not possible?

Thanks malc

Is it possible to have 2 ISP's attached to 1 PC in wired config?

Sure. It is just connecting to multiple networks, generally through multiple routers (or a Dual WAN router) to each ISP's "gateway" device (typically a cable or DSL modem).

PC has ethernet connection on m/b connected to an ISP using a dedicated program

What do you mean by dedicated program? You should not need a dedicated program. If you mean the one provided by your ISP, you only need that if you want to install all the extras they might try to shove down... err, I mean provide for you.

but there is some problem when trying to install the driver
Is there some conflict between the on board and plug in connections?

Well, you didn't describe the problem so it is hard to tell. There may an interrupt or IRQ conflict. Any errors shown in Device Manager?

Originally Posted by Digerati

What do you mean by dedicated program? You should not need a dedicated program. If you mean the one provided by your ISP, you only need that if you want to install all the extras they might try to shove down... err, I mean provide for you.

This is a pharmacy management program which is provided via an ISP but which won't allow general internet access.

Originally Posted by Digerati

Well, you didn't describe the problem so it is hard to tell. There may an interrupt or IRQ conflict. Any errors shown in Device Manager?

With the 'wired' card installed there is a problem with loading the driver. In device manager the card is shown but has a question mark over it indicating some problem.

If this card was working correctly how would the PC know which of the 2 ethernet connections to use for accessing the internet?

With the 'wired' card installed there is a problem with loading the driver. In device manager the card is shown but has a question mark over it indicating some problem.

Well you need to sort that out before moving on. If me, I would uninstall the driver and card and make sure my one connection worked first, then add the other card and get it working. From there, you should be able do what you want.

Well I put the card back in and reloaded the driver up to the point

'There was a problem installing this hardware

Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware.
The driver may be corrupted or missing.'

So went into device manager, the card was showing a fault, went into drivers and clicked on update driver not expecting anything to happen. Bingo, something loaded off the disc and it works. Don't understand why the driver didn't load initially but I'm happy

Thanks for the help.