How to use 2 internet connections on 1 computer

[smous]

Hi
I have 2 internet connections at my disposal. Connection1(wireless) and connection2(lan cable internet shared through another pc).
I want to use both connections at the same time.
Connection 1 should handle all normal internet traffic like surfing web downloading files checking email etc and connection 2 should handle only game ports so I can play games on a low latency connection.

I am looking for software to accomplish this. Maybe a load balancing software package where I can choose which programs use which connection.
Help me please

[syphus]

Due to the way the Internet Protocol (IP) works, it's not easy for one system to make use of multiple connections (or gateways) to the same network segment (in this case, the Internet).

Load balancing can be employed by servers to distribute load evenly across physical links, or alternatively, servers can arbitrarily assign different gateways to clients. As a concept however, the client cannot control which interface is used, or else the technique would not be effective in balancing load.

One method would be to configure a SOCKS proxy on another system, configured to use the second connection. If you wanted an application to use that connection you could configure it to use the proxy, otherwise, it would default to the gateway.

An alternative method would be to use virtualisation; the default connection could be set up with DHCP; the second connection accessible by manually configuring an OS running in a virtual machine, like VMware or Microsoft Virtual PC.

[attagirl]

That is a very clear and good explanation. I could not have put it better. Thank you for the answer I have seen this same question a couple of times and wanted to answer but was beat to it.

[JenniP]

You can do it via Channel Bonding quite a few ISPs will do it for multiple ADSL lines including the one I use ADSL24.co.uk, they will mostly do it at their end and on your end you have a dedicated PC with several ADSL cards and special software that sorts it all out.

To do it with different providers is a lot more difficult and while it can be done (although I'm not sure exactly what you would need) will more than likely end up cheaper using and off the shelf service designed to do it.

Jen

[niki]

For which OS are you seeking help. For windows XP, Vista, 2000 or server or linux because in windows server and windows 2000 you will get an option when you try to access internet if using two connections and for xp you'll have to manually program the sockets.

[london]

You can change your local protocol and it also depends upon the operating system you are using in your computer.

[funtoosh]

For linux and unix you dont need any extra settings it will do itself and in windows it will use the default connection everytime till you manually set it to use the other connection.