Can I set up separate IP addresses for two locations?

Hi - I'm using Windows Vista Home Premium on my laptop, and I need to be able
to connect to the internet both at home and at work. At home, the only thing
that allows me to connect is setting my computer to automatically assign the
IP address, while at work, I must manually enter it in (otherwise I get the
"local connection only" problem). This is a pain, since every time I come
home and right click on the appropriate connection under "Manage Wireless
Networks" and set my home network to automatically select the IP, it changes
my work connection to do the same. Can I avoid this and somehow get my
computer to treat them as separate connections and remember the work
connection's IP while automatically selecting the IP for home? Any help would
be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Brooke

Hi, Brooke.

Next time you're at work with the notebook and configuring its IP address,
go ahead and leave it set it to automatic -- just like you have it at home.
Now look at the Alternate Configuration tab on that IP configuration dialog.
If you click on that tab you'll see that you can enter a manual address and
DNS server entries, too. If you leave the IP configuration set up this way,
then the notebook will try to pull a DHCP assignment each time it is
connected to a network. If it fails to get an automatic assignment (like at
work), then it will fall back to using the manually assigned IP address. Now
you don't have to change the configuration when you switch from home use to
work use and back again.

There are two downsides to this method:

1. You will probably notice that it takes you as much as a minute longer to
get connected to the network at work when you first start up.

2. The network administrator at work (if there is one) might not like your
system trying to request a DHCP assignment. If this is a possibility, you
should check it out with the admin.

There are, of course, other ways to do this, including the ability to save
various different network profiles, usually provided by aftermarket software.
The simplest way of doing this involves saving the profiles and, at system
shutdown, choosing the one you plan to be connected to the next time you
start up.

When you use wireless networking Vista has its own built-in ability to save
a separate profile for each wireless network it connects to. As far as I know
MS hasn't included this ability for hard connection, though. It seems an odd
oversight, I think.

If you need a pointer to find third party software for saving network
profiles just post back, and I'll try to find the name of the one I used to
use. (I just stopped bothering and manually reconfiguring on the rare
occasions I connect to strange hard networks. Most of the time I'm connected
wirelessly.)

"Brooke" wrote:

> Hi - I'm using Windows Vista Home Premium on my laptop, and I need to be able
> to connect to the internet both at home and at work. At home, the only thing
> that allows me to connect is setting my computer to automatically assign the
> IP address, while at work, I must manually enter it in (otherwise I get the
> "local connection only" problem). This is a pain, since every time I come
> home and right click on the appropriate connection under "Manage Wireless
> Networks" and set my home network to automatically select the IP, it changes
> my work connection to do the same. Can I avoid this and somehow get my
> computer to treat them as separate connections and remember the work
> connection's IP while automatically selecting the IP for home? Any help would
> be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
>
> -Brooke

The following how to is for XP, but it should work for Vista.

ipconfigHow to setup multiple IPs on NIC How to setup two IPs on a computer How to use MS DHCP to reserve an IP on MAC How to use TCP/IP without installing a NIC ...
http://www.howtonetworking.com/Networking/ipconfig.htm


Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
"Brooke" <Brooke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:C2A12EC4-A4C7-4DAB-B2AA-072C3B2D26AE@microsoft.com...
Hi - I'm using Windows Vista Home Premium on my laptop, and I need to be able
to connect to the internet both at home and at work. At home, the only thing
that allows me to connect is setting my computer to automatically assign the
IP address, while at work, I must manually enter it in (otherwise I get the
"local connection only" problem). This is a pain, since every time I come
home and right click on the appropriate connection under "Manage Wireless
Networks" and set my home network to automatically select the IP, it changes
my work connection to do the same. Can I avoid this and somehow get my
computer to treat them as separate connections and remember the work
connection's IP while automatically selecting the IP for home? Any help would
be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Brooke