[RESOLVED] How to set priority of my NIC over Dial-up?

[Je-Tze]

Hi. I want to have my dialup connected at the same time as my DSL, but i want windows to use the DSL(through my Netgear RT314 router then my NIC) by default and only use the dialup as a sortof backup connection when the DSL loses sync. I'm having a terrible time find info on this, but i figure there must be registry setting somewhere. I'm on WindowsXP SP2. By default, once the dialup is connected Windows only uses that pipe to the internet, and completely ignores the better DSL connection through my NIC. Also supposing there is a way to set my NIC as default even while the Dialup is connected, is windows smart enough to temporarily switch to the diaup when the DSL goes down for a few seconds at a time? It can't use the Connection Status of the NIC to tell it when to switch, because the NIC's connection to the router never has any trouble. The only cue would be the sudden halt in response through the DSL.

I have good DSL service, it has one GLARING issue, which stems partially from me being near the end of the max looplength for ADSL, but probably more from being in a rural neighborhood with lines dating back to the 60's. Both of these make the DSL extremely susceptible to interference. As a result i get random loss of sync which usually last for between 5 and 30 seconds, but a minute or two is not that uncommon. Longer periods are rare but have happenned. Some times it will go for days without dropping, others it's only two or three times a day, but often it will happen many times at random spacings throughout the day. It becomes much more likely/common during primetime (~5pm-10pm). Most DSL companies won't even offer me service. I go through Speakeasy, they are awesome, but the deal is i'm basically on my own as far as support, as Covad has said my lines are unfit. Nevertheless Speakeasy has been awesome at helping me troubleshoot and stuff. I get between 300k and 700k throughput, which is certainly fine enough, when it is up!, but the dropped connections are infuriating, especially during online games.

So, any ideas for me?
Thanks.

PS: i doubt it will help much here, but my IPCONFIG, with the dialup connected, is attached.

[Tuttle]

If you were going to do this it would be by changing the metric on each interface (run "route print" to see those) -- lower metrics are preferred. However, a quick look around my XP machine doesn't suggest any easy way to set it for a dialup connection, just permanent stuff like Ethernet. For that sort of connection you just go into the TCP/IP settings and click the Advanced button.

Note that instant failover from a failure you can't see just doesn't happen, even in really big expensive networks. The best you tend to get is measured in seconds, so if that's all the DSL is dropping out for then you wouldn't gain much by having the second link anyway.

[Je-Tze]

hmmm...
When you say it's measured in seconds, what's the tendancy?
Does it tend to be something like 30-60sec, or 5-10sec or less?
If i can get the lag down to something under 5 seconds it will make all the difference in the world. That would keep many games from kicking me out. Also, even if can reliably keep it under 30seconds it would still help a lot, especially when the DSL decides to drop out for a minute or more wich is not infrequent.

[Je-Tze]

Here is my "route print" without dialup connected:
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x2 ...00 17 31 1b 45 cd ...... Marvell Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.13 192.168.0.14 20
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.14 192.168.0.14 20
192.168.0.14 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 20
192.168.0.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.14 192.168.0.14 20
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.0.14 192.168.0.14 20
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.14 192.168.0.14 1
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.13
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None


And again, but with dialup connected:
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x2 ...00 17 31 1b 45 cd ...... Marvell Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport
0x20004 ...00 53 45 00 00 00 ...... WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.13 192.168.0.14 21
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 4.245.113.154 4.245.113.154 1
4.245.113.154 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 50
4.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 4.245.113.154 4.245.113.154 50
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.14 192.168.0.14 20
192.168.0.14 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 20
192.168.0.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.14 192.168.0.14 20
209.247.21.245 255.255.255.255 4.245.113.154 4.245.113.154 1
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.0.14 192.168.0.14 20
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 4.245.113.154 4.245.113.154 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 4.245.113.154 4.245.113.154 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.14 192.168.0.14 1
Default Gateway: 4.245.113.154
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None


Any help deciphering which routes i might want to try to change would be much appreciated. Do you think, using the route command, if i used METRIC along with the -p flag (persistant), that i could permanantly change the metric for the appropriate routes related to my dialup? Or would i have to reset them every time i conecct the dialup? Not a big deal; i can setup a batchfile.

Thanks again for the help.

[Tuttle]

The two problem routes are the default ones:0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.13 192.168.0.14 21
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 4.245.113.154 4.245.113.154 1Interestingly, Windows seems to have increased the metric on your Ethernet connection when you connected the dialup, so just tweaking metrics on interfaces may not do it. You could always uncheck the "Use default gateway on remote network" box on the dialup connection, but then you'd have to create a route each time it connects (and without a static IP address, that's a pain).

As for response time, it depends on what you're relying on. Windows' dead gateway detection would be in the order of 10+ seconds (three retransmission attempts), and I'm not even sure if it works when your gateways are on different interfaces -- I've always seen it described in the sense of having two gateways on the same network (ie your 192.168.0.14 router for Ethernet, and a 192.168.0.15 router for dialup). It also relies on TCP connections; if the game uses UDP then Windows won't be able to tell that the link has failed.

And after all that, it probably still won't stop a game from kicking you out, because you'll appear to be coming from a different IP address and thus a different player. All it would let you do is reconnect straight away and run over the dialup link.

[Je-Tze]

ughhh.. i totally neglected to think about the IP's being different.
LOL

Hmm... well it seems clear that with out spending a pretty sum upgrading my actual network this is not really a worthwhile endeaver. Oh well.
Thankyou very much for your help and insights.