2 networks, 1 PC

August 8, 2012 2:55 PM

I'd like to select which network interface is used for Internet access on a per-application basis. How do I do this on 64bit Windows 7?

I've clumsily obtained the desired outcome by setting up a proxy server on the network that the computer does not normally use for Internet access and then directing certain applications to use it. Can I do this without the proxy server somehow?

ForceBindIP looks like exactly what I want except that it apparently doesn't work on a 64bit OS (and when I tested it on a 32bit OS with FireFox it was not using the desired network interface for DNS).

Any ideas?

posted by ODiV to computers & internet (10 answers total)

Do you know the destination ip's?

If so, read here:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/sag_tcpip_pro_addstaticroute.mspx?mfr=true

Be sure to use the interface option to specify the interface, add a -p to make it persistence across reboots.
posted by roboton666 at 9:25 PM on August 8, 2012

I realize that probably doesn't help if you want two different browsers to use go to the same destination. I'm think "I want yahoo chat to use one interface, outlook to use the other"
posted by roboton666 at 9:30 PM on August 8, 2012

I don't want to limit myself on destinations so that solution isn't workable. Thanks anyway.

Looks like I might have to keep using a proxy server even though it feels like overkill.
posted by ODiV at 9:53 PM on August 8, 2012

Would running a copy in a virtual machine be an acceptable solution? I only have VMware Fusion around, but I can assign an interface to connect the vm's network card to.

Probably a little heavy weight solution for some problems though.
posted by sbutler at 10:04 PM on August 8, 2012

Proxy server seems sensible to me.

Can't you use normal routing?
posted by devnull at 1:53 AM on August 9, 2012

sbutler: Hm, a virtual machine isn't a bad idea. Running one does seem a little heavy for the task, but so does running a whole other machine to be a proxy server.

devnull: Proxy is working fine and everything, but I dislike running and maintaining a whole computer for a connection that shouldn't really need any of the regular features of a proxy server. It might end up being the best solution, but the power consumption and eventual maintenance aren't really appealing.

What do you mean normal routing?
posted by ODiV at 8:21 AM on August 9, 2012

Normal routing is when you say network card 1 is responsible for getting to address 192.168.0.0, network card 2 for 10.99.0.0 and network card 3 for everything else. Only works if there is no overlap.
posted by devnull at 10:42 PM on August 9, 2012

@devnull: it seems like he wants to view the same site from two different browsers, taking two different routes. So say, Firefox metafilter.com going out on 192.168.1.100 and IE metafilter.com going out on 10.10.1.100. I don't see how you can do that in Windows with routing tables.
posted by sbutler at 6:20 PM on August 10, 2012

I could ditch the local proxy server for a remote proxy server instead and change the routing in Windows. Then when I set FireFox (or whatever application) to use the proxy server, it should go through the alternate network interface right?

That sounds like it would work, but I've never played with routing before, so I'll give it a go this weekend.

Also, I tried using my android phone as a proxy and it was pretty unreliable. Whether that's because it was over wifi, it was a crappy app, or I'm expecting too much out of an android app, I'm not sure.

The goal is basically to get rid of this extra machine. If I can offload the proxy server to a remote computer or a device I already have running, great. If I can get rid of the requirement to have a proxy server all together even better. It does seem like I'll have to keep using a proxy though.

Haven't tried the VM yet. I might this weekend as well, but it does sound a little cumbersome.

Thanks for your help.
posted by ODiV at 8:14 PM on August 10, 2012

For anyone curious I ended up making a static route over the alternate network interface to a remote proxy server. It works fine.
posted by ODiV at 8:00 AM on December 19, 2012