[bisjoe]

I am connected as recommended by Epilog via a crossover ethernet cable, directly between the PC and Laser. This is for best speed and reliability. With only one ethernet socket to get online I have to use a USB wireless connection to the network. Due to conflicts I have to keep the wireless connection off while sending jobs to the laser. Is there any way to be able to run both network connections at the same time, so that I can be sending files to the laser while onlline? If I do it now I get an error message and the file doesn't make it to the laser.

[MacGyver]

Hubs are a dime a dozen these days...

[bisjoe]

Hubs are a dime a dozen these days...

I'm pretty clueless about networks, so I don't see how that helps. Our router has an empty port that I can connect the PC to, but I don't want to have the laser running through the network. If I wire the PC via USB adapter instead of using the wireless will there be any difference as far as the interference when trying to send a job to the laser while online? The wireless is also a USB connection.

[MacGyver]

Pick up a small 4-port router, then (not a hub as I originally suggested), and drop the wireless connection altogether. The router will intelligently route traffic from/to your machine... net packets will go from/to your LAN, and the LAN will never see any laser traffic. It will take a few extra minutes to set up, but well worth the time if segregating traffic is a concern.

You don't say what kind of conflicts you're seeing, only calling it "interference". You'll need to elaborate on what interference is before I can give you more guidance. If you mean electrical interference, then your wireless connection should not be affected in the least by the hardline and you should look for another culprit. If you mean your net connection goes down completely, it may be a driver issue.

[bisjoe]

The "interference" is the internet connection interfering with the laser job. What seems to be happening is that when I activate the wireless connection in xp the
DSL works great, but while it's up, if I try to send a job to the laser, it tries to go to that instead of to the laser via the PC ethernet port and finds it busy. Like I can't connect to two networks at the same time. One being PC=> laser, the other being usb=> wireless modem=> wireless router.

I do have a 4 port router in the next room, which is connected to two other computers strictly for internet access, no sharing data or printers. It has one empty port plus the one going to the wireless would be available if I didn't use it.