Hello, I need help configuring windows 7 machine to properly access networks. PC has two separate NICs, both wired. The first one is connected via simple 8 port router to local business network (other PC's have windows XP pro SP3) running financial / retail software without internet access, and the other is directly connected to DSL modem and provides only internet access. Two adapters are set up only to separate internet access from business network. There are two PCs having internet access, and both of them use separate adapters to achieve it. Internet network configuration requires gateway so W7 recognizes Internet network as Business network, and the real business network (without a gateway) as "undefined network". I cant't set the other network as Home network in configuration. The issue is in much slower network access to business applications on W7 side. Same actions within business applications on Windows 7 are significantly slower than same actions on XP machines, and W7 machine is newer and much more powerfull than XP PC's. What can I do to get the same response on windows 7 as I have on XP? Are there any tweaks I can do to increase speed and network browsing inside business network?

Change the metric and order of the internal network so that it comes before the external network. Also, disable the firewall on the internal connection but leave it enabled on the external. As for the gateway on the internal network, try putting in your machine's address or 127.0.0.1 (the localhost loopback address) and see if it allows you to define the network type then. Something else just occurred to me: Since it appears you're not using DNS for internal name resolution, have you defined your XP machines in the Windows 7 machine's HOSTS file? This would alleviate the need for Windows 7 to fall back on NetBIOS broadcasts to resolve names. While NetBIOS was fine for XP, it's very inefficient with Windows 7 and might explain some of your network browsing issues. You should also place the Windows 7 machine's address in the XP machine's HOSTS files for the same reason.

Change the metric and order of the internal network so that it comes before the external network. Also, disable the firewall on the internal connection but leave it enabled on the external. As for the gateway on the internal network, try putting in your machine's address or 127.0.0.1 (the localhost loopback address) and see if it allows you to define the network type then.

Hi Bob, thank you very much for your answer. The metric on both network is different, internal network subnet mask is 255,255,0,0 and internet network subnet is 255.255.255.0 I will try with other advices, but possibly te hosts file will gain most with network traffic. I will also try put gatway to internal network, but please advice me does it have to be on every local network machine or only on W7 one?

Hi Bob, thank you very much for your answer. The metric on both network is different, internal network subnet mask is 255,255,0,0 and internet network subnet is 255.255.255.0 I will try with other advices, but possibly te hosts file will gain most with network traffic. I will also try put gateway to internal network, but please advice me does it have to be on every local network machine or only on W7 one?

Metric and subnet are two different things. In your configuration the two networks should be on two different subnets. The metric number defines which network has priority; yours should be set so that your internal network has priority. Multi-homed machines are always rather difficult to configure properly. Have you considered using a single DSL connection with a router and using the router's internal functions to limit the connection to only the two machines that need it?

Unfortunatelly I'm not so skilled to do that at the moment, and I'm affraid I misinformed you... the router is on Internet portion of the network (DSL) only, and intranet is connected via Edimax 8 port Gigabit SoHo switch... I don't think the swich has any programming capability at all... I need to learn something of metric by reading some related articles first and then I'll try your first sdvice... I heard also that static routes might be of help, so what you think of setting them too?

I don't know if static routes will help, but they won't hurt anything either.

Try to disable auto-tuning in Windows 7. You may refer: Network connectivity fails when you try to use Windows Vista behind a firewall device http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934430 If it does not help, temporary disable firewall and see the result. if the issue persists, I suggest you change the default authentication level in Windows 7. Open gpedit.msc from Start Search box. Then locate to the following policy. Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options\Network security: LAN Manager authentication level Please change “Send LM & NTLM - use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated”. Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.