Sometimes it comes in handy to be able to use both your ethernet connectioon and your wireless connection on a pcc at the same time.
E.g. You have some internal IP cameras plugged into your ethernet connection on the back of your PC and you wish to be able to access them from the internet. The solution would be to have the cameras plugged into your ethernet and your computer connected to the internet via wireless.
The problem is that Windows will disconnect one while connected to the other. To fix this follow the instructions below:
Make sure both your Ethernet and Wireless connections are set to a private network.
To check this go to 'Control Panel' and click on 'Network and Sharing Centre' and you will see your connections listed there with either 'public' or private' tags.
If your ethernet is showing as public you will need to open your 'device manager' and delete your ethernet device. Once the device is deleted reboot your computer and as it is rebooting you will be asked the question on whether you want to set your adaptor to public or private. Choose private.
If your wireless network is showing public you will need to disconnect from the wirless network and when connecting choose 'private network'.
Set a static I.P for the ethernet but don’t enter a DNS Entry.
- From the 'Network and Sharing Centre' click the 'Change Adapter Settings" shown in the left hand column.
- Right Click on your ethernet adapter and click 'properties'.
- Choose the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click 'Properties' which is below and to the right.
- Click the option 'Use the Following IP Address' and enter your ip address and subnet mask.
- Leave the DNS Server entries blank.
Set the metrics under the IP4 adapter advanced settings. Set the Ethernet connection to 2 and the wireless to 1.
- Now click on the 'advanced' button which is below the DNS server options on the window you currently have open.
- At the bottom of the advanced window untick 'automatic metrics'.
- This is your ethernet adapter settings so you need to type the number 2 in the interface metric box.
- Click on Ok, Then Ok, Then Ok again if needed to go back to your 'network connections' window and this time right click on your wireless adaptor and choose properties.
- Choose the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click 'Properties' which is below and to the right.
- You do not need to enter ip addr4esses this time leave them at automatic.
- Do steps 1 & 2 above for your wireless adapter settings but this time type 1 in the 'interface metric box'. This gives your wirleless connection priority over your ethernet connection.
- Click on Ok, Then Ok, Then Ok again if needed to go back to your 'network connections' window.
- Now Reboot your computer and connect to your wirless network. If it asks! choose 'private' network.
If you completed the above steps correctly you should now be using your wirless card and ethernet card at the same time.
STARTING FROM THE BEGINNING:
To connect your Windows PC to the internet via wireless (Wi-Fi) and share that internet connection to a POS machine via Ethernet, use the built-in Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) feature. This configures your PC as a simple NAT router: the POS machine receives a private IP address (typically in the 192.168.137.x range) from your PC, while your PC forwards traffic to the internet over Wi-Fi. The POS machine will use the same public IP and upstream DNS as your Wi-Fi connection.
Follow these steps (applicable to Windows 10 and Windows 11 as of 2026):
- Ensure your Windows PC is connected to the internet via Wi-Fi and that the connection is working.
- Connect the POS machine directly to your PC’s Ethernet port using a standard Ethernet cable (crossover cable is not required on modern hardware).
- On the POS machine, configure the Ethernet interface to obtain an IP address automatically (DHCP). Do not set a static IP unless troubleshooting is needed later.
- On your Windows PC, open the classic Network Connections window:
- Press Windows + R, type control and press Enter to open Control Panel.
- Navigate to Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center.
- In the left pane, click Change adapter settings (or View network status and tasks then Change adapter settings).
- In the Network Connections window, locate your active Wi-Fi adapter (it shows as connected with internet access).
- Right-click the Wi-Fi adapter → select Properties.
- Switch to the Sharing tab.
- Check the box labeled Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection.
- In the drop-down menu labeled Home networking connection (or similar wording), select your Ethernet adapter (commonly named “Ethernet”, “Local Area Connection”, or “Ethernet 2”).
- Click OK to confirm. Windows will display a warning that the Ethernet adapter’s IP address will be set to 192.168.137.1 (or occasionally a similar private range). Accept this change.
- The Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service starts automatically. If sharing fails to enable, verify the service status:
- Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
- Locate Internet Connection Sharing (ICS).
- Ensure it is Running (Startup type is typically Manual; you can set it to Automatic if desired).
- On the POS machine, restart the network interface or reboot the device. It should receive an IP address (e.g., 192.168.137.x), gateway 192.168.137.1, and DNS from your PC (which forwards the Wi-Fi DNS servers). Test internet access on the POS machine.
Important notes:
- The POS machine operates on a separate private subnet and cannot directly communicate with other devices on your Wi-Fi network (NAT isolation).
- If the POS machine requires a specific static IP, subnet, gateway, or DNS for its software to function (common in some retail/POS systems), configure those manually on the POS Ethernet interface after ICS is enabled, using:
- IP: e.g., 192.168.137.10
- Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
- Default gateway: 192.168.137.1
- DNS: 192.168.137.1 (or your preferred public DNS like 8.8.8.8)
How to use both an Ethernet and a Wireless connection on a PC at the same time
Sometimes it comes in handy to be able to use both your ethernet connectioon and your wireless connection on a pcc at the same time.
E.g. You have some internal IP cameras plugged into your ethernet connection on the back of your PC and you wish to be able to access them from the internet. The solution would be to have the cameras plugged into your ethernet and your computer connected to the internet via wireless.
The problem is that Windows will disconnect one while connected to the other. To fix this follow the instructions below:
Make sure both your Ethernet and Wireless connections are set to a private network.
To check this go to 'Control Panel' and click on 'Network and Sharing Centre' and you will see your connections listed there with either 'public' or private' tags.
If your ethernet is showing as public you will need to open your 'device manager' and delete your ethernet device. Once the device is deleted reboot your computer and as it is rebooting you will be asked the question on whether you want to set your adaptor to public or private. Choose private.
If your wireless network is showing public you will need to disconnect from the wirless network and when connecting choose 'private network'.
Set a static I.P for the ethernet but don’t enter a DNS Entry.
- From the 'Network and Sharing Centre' click the 'Change Adapter Settings" shown in the left hand column.
- Right Click on your ethernet adapter and click 'properties'.
- Choose the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click 'Properties' which is below and to the right.
- Click the option 'Use the Following IP Address' and enter your ip address and subnet mask.
- Leave the DNS Server entries blank.
Set the metrics under the IP4 adapter advanced settings. Set the Ethernet connection to 2 and the wireless to 1.
- Now click on the 'advanced' button which is below the DNS server options on the window you currently have open.
- At the bottom of the advanced window untick 'automatic metrics'.
- This is your ethernet adapter settings so you need to type the number 2 in the interface metric box.
- Click on Ok, Then Ok, Then Ok again if needed to go back to your 'network connections' window and this time right click on your wireless adaptor and choose properties.
- Choose the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click 'Properties' which is below and to the right.
- You do not need to enter ip addr4esses this time leave them at automatic.
- Do steps 1 & 2 above for your wireless adapter settings but this time type 1 in the 'interface metric box'. This gives your wirleless connection priority over your ethernet connection.
- Click on Ok, Then Ok, Then Ok again if needed to go back to your 'network connections' window.
- Now Reboot your computer and connect to your wirless network. If it asks! choose 'private' network.
If you completed the above steps correctly you should now be using your wirless card and ethernet card at the same time.
STARTING FROM THE BEGINNING:
To connect your Windows PC to the internet via wireless (Wi-Fi) and share that internet connection to a POS machine via Ethernet, use the built-in Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) feature. This configures your PC as a simple NAT router: the POS machine receives a private IP address (typically in the 192.168.137.x range) from your PC, while your PC forwards traffic to the internet over Wi-Fi. The POS machine will use the same public IP and upstream DNS as your Wi-Fi connection.
Follow these steps (applicable to Windows 10 and Windows 11 as of 2026):
- Ensure your Windows PC is connected to the internet via Wi-Fi and that the connection is working.
- Connect the POS machine directly to your PC’s Ethernet port using a standard Ethernet cable (crossover cable is not required on modern hardware).
- On the POS machine, configure the Ethernet interface to obtain an IP address automatically (DHCP). Do not set a static IP unless troubleshooting is needed later.
- On your Windows PC, open the classic Network Connections window:
- Press Windows + R, type control and press Enter to open Control Panel.
- Navigate to Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center.
- In the left pane, click Change adapter settings (or View network status and tasks then Change adapter settings).
- In the Network Connections window, locate your active Wi-Fi adapter (it shows as connected with internet access).
- Right-click the Wi-Fi adapter → select Properties.
- Switch to the Sharing tab.
- Check the box labeled Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection.
- In the drop-down menu labeled Home networking connection (or similar wording), select your Ethernet adapter (commonly named “Ethernet”, “Local Area Connection”, or “Ethernet 2”).
- Click OK to confirm. Windows will display a warning that the Ethernet adapter’s IP address will be set to 192.168.137.1 (or occasionally a similar private range). Accept this change.
- The Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service starts automatically. If sharing fails to enable, verify the service status:
- Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
- Locate Internet Connection Sharing (ICS).
- Ensure it is Running (Startup type is typically Manual; you can set it to Automatic if desired).
- On the POS machine, restart the network interface or reboot the device. It should receive an IP address (e.g., 192.168.137.x), gateway 192.168.137.1, and DNS from your PC (which forwards the Wi-Fi DNS servers). Test internet access on the POS machine.
Important notes:
- The POS machine operates on a separate private subnet and cannot directly communicate with other devices on your Wi-Fi network (NAT isolation).
- If the POS machine requires a specific static IP, subnet, gateway, or DNS for its software to function (common in some retail/POS systems), configure those manually on the POS Ethernet interface after ICS is enabled, using:
- IP: e.g., 192.168.137.10
- Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
- Default gateway: 192.168.137.1
- DNS: 192.168.137.1 (or your preferred public DNS like 8.8.8.8)