One network, 2 internet connections

[Narked Diver]

Hi,

Currently we have 2 internet connections - one for personnel use and one for our business

For our business we have a Mac mini that is connected to an AirPort Extreme time capsule.

I am thinking of purchasing a new Mac mini for personal use

I would like the personal Mac mini to be on the same network as the business Mac mini so that it can use the time capsule as a back up but I want it to use the personnel Internet connection

Is this possible?

Thanks in advance

 

[mvmanolov]

Hi,

Currently we have 2 internet connections - one for personnel use and one for our business

For our business we have a Mac mini that is connected to an AirPort Extreme time capsule.

I am thinking of purchasing a new Mac mini for personal use

I would like the personal Mac mini to be on the same network as the business Mac mini so that it can use the time capsule as a back up but I want it to use the personnel Internet connection

Is this possible?

Thanks in advance

you can setup up to 3 network connections by using TB to ethernet adaptors, but after that you are going to have to assign with adapter is used for which kind of traffic. i'm sure it can be done, but i don't know how.

good luck.

 

[talmy]

With two Ethernet ports/adapters, both will show in System Preferences --> Network. Using the "Gear" set the service order so that the adapter connected to the personnel network is at the top of the list. That will make it the preferred connection for Internet traffic.

 

[Narked Diver]

Thanks for the help folks

Ami I right in thinking that with 2 connection I'll have two ip addresses? I don't see this causing an issue I'm just interested

Could I use a wireless connection for the Internet and prioritise it over the Ethernet lan connection or am I restricted to Ethernet and thunderbolt / Ethernet connections?

 

[mvmanolov]

Thanks for the help folks

Ami I right in thinking that with 2 connection I'll have two ip addresses? I don't see this causing an issue I'm just interested

Could I use a wireless connection for the Internet and prioritise it over the Ethernet lan connection or am I restricted to Ethernet and thunderbolt / Ethernet connections?

yes, you get two ip's and yes you can also use wifi (but it will be slower than LAN) and yes you can prioritize the wifi, but that does not mean it will use the wifi for internet and the land for TM...

 

[unplugme71]

Hi,

Currently we have 2 internet connections - one for personnel use and one for our business

For our business we have a Mac mini that is connected to an AirPort Extreme time capsule.

I am thinking of purchasing a new Mac mini for personal use

I would like the personal Mac mini to be on the same network as the business Mac mini so that it can use the time capsule as a back up but I want it to use the personnel Internet connection

Is this possible?

Thanks in advance

You can buy a dual WAN router and connect it to a smart or managed switch. Then set up two VLANs, one for personal, one for business. Set up routing, so that whatever port Time Machine uses, it can talk to the other VLAN. That way your personal and business networks are separate, but TM can still backup.

 

[donlab]

Hi,

Currently we have 2 internet connections - one for personnel use and one for our business

For our business we have a Mac mini that is connected to an AirPort Extreme time capsule.

I am thinking of purchasing a new Mac mini for personal use

I would like the personal Mac mini to be on the same network as the business Mac mini so that it can use the time capsule as a back up but I want it to use the personnel Internet connection

Is this possible?

Thanks in advance

Yes, just connect to one network via ethernet and the other via airport. Then set your default route or gateway for the personal internet. Set the default route by going to network prefs and drag the personal internet connection above the work connection in the list of network interfaces. That way your machine can have two IPs see and be on both networks but defaults to your personal internet when you get online.

 

[IHelpId10t5]

Yes, just connect to one network via ethernet and the other via airport. Then set your default route or gateway for the personal internet. Set the default route by going to network prefs and drag the personal internet connection above the work connection in the list of network interfaces. That way your machine can have two IPs see and be on both networks but defaults to your personal internet when you get online.

I agree with donlab's suggestions completely. This should work great.

However, make sure that you realize that your home and business networks need to have different IP subnets to work. Without getting technical, the best way to ensure that this is the case is to use a different private IP address range for each of the two networks. So, set one of your routers DHCP settings to use the 10.x.x.x IP addressing, and set the other router's DHCP settings to use the 192.168.x.x IP range.

This will make sure that you actually have two different networks. If you don't do this, it's very likely that more that one device on the network will have the same IP and routing confusion will occur.

 

[ratsg]

I'm doing something very similar to this for my "at home" network. I have two different broadband links from different companies, vs the T1 link as shown in the diagram at the bottom.

http://web.archive.org/web/20060627...-and-t1-line-connections-using-cisco-routers/

I have never had both broadband links die on me, I always have connectivity.

Using this example as a template, this would require real routers that can actually route packets, aka, Cisco, Juniper, etc.

Hope this helps. If nothing else, it may provide food for thought for your own custom situation.