Double NICs

[captaincurran]

I've got an onboard NIC and a NIC card, because i had run out of bandwith for the mac address on my onboard, but that's another story. well i was wondering, since i access my internet through the dorm's network, would i have double bandwith, double the network speed, double something if i were to plug a cable into each of my NICs and plug those cables into my hub, and daisy chain (not sure if that's the proper term) it into the network, like i do when i'm using the net on both my tower and laptop.

[Áedán]

Not without special software and changes in the switching configuration! What will happen is that the two different interfaces will get two different addresses. Windows will default to using one of the two interfaces - most likely the one that was initialised most recently for sending.

For receiving, the network cards each have a different MAC. As the method for connecting a MAC address and an IP address can only map one MAC address onto an IP address, the router on the network will only send the data to one interface.

However, it's also possible that the network card has more bandwidth than the outgoing connection, meaning that running multiple links wouldn't actually provide you with any benefit.

[captaincurran]

Different scenario. On the computer with two nics can i connect one to an existing network, and the other to another pc with a crossover cable, and be able to access both the network and the other pc?

[Áedán]

Only if you set the PC with two network cards up with Internet Connection Sharing or similar.

[Gizmo]

Actually, he should be able to access the existing network and the other computer from his machine with the two NICs without ICS. I do that all the time on my W2K boxes. What he WILL need ICS for is if he wants the machine with two NICs to act as a gateway to allow the other box access to the existing network.

[Áedán]

Helps if I read things a bit more closely, rather than assuming I know what CaptainCurran wants to do! My apologies!