Member Avatar for Ritesh_4

Hello.
I have a scenario as such. 1 router connected behind a proxy used to connect PC with LAN devices. Proxy provides limited access to websites on the net. There is a 2nd router, Wifi only, which is not connected to any proxy, thus allowing open connection to the web.
I would like to use my ethernet connection (LAN cable) to access the LAN devices, while using a USB WiFi device on the same PC to simultaneously be able to use the open network.
Is this possible on a PC running Windows 10?
If yes, what are the steps to configure such connections?
Regards.

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Yes — Windows 10 can keep an Ethernet and a USB Wi‑Fi adapter active at the same time. Windows uses the routing table (and per‑interface “metrics”) to decide where each packet goes, so you can send local LAN traffic via the wired NIC while letting the Wi‑Fi supply the system default route to the Internet. This is exactly the kind of setup was pointing to: you either change routing/metrics or add explicit routes so each destination uses the adapter you want. (learn.microsoft.com)

Quick discovery (run an elevated command prompt or PowerShell): find adapter names/indices and inspect the routing table.

ipconfig /all
netsh interface ipv4 show interfaces
route print

The netsh/route commands above are the same tools you’ll use to change metrics and add routes. (learn.microsoft.com)

Practical options (pick one or combine them):

  • Make Wi‑Fi the default Internet path: give the Wi‑Fi a lower interface metric (or remove the Ethernet default gateway). Example (adjust names/indexes for your system):
netsh interface ipv4 set interface "Wi‑Fi" metric=10
netsh interface ipv4 set interface "Ethernet" metric=200
  • Add persistent routes so LAN subnets always go over Ethernet (replace IPs/ifIndex):
route -p add 192.168.50.0 mask 255.255.255.0 192.168.50.1 if 12

Persistent static routes and interface metrics are the reliable way to split LAN vs Internet traffic. (learn.microsoft.com)

Notes and gotchas: if the two networks share the same IP range you’ll get conflicts — change one subnet first, as warned. For application‑level control (only one program uses Wi‑Fi) use per‑app binding/proxy tools (as suggested). Commercial tools like Proxifier let you force an app through a chosen path; ForceBindIP is another (community) option. Always test with route print, ping and tracert and make changes as an administrator. (proxifier.com)

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Member Avatar for Itsdigger

As far as I know , you can only have one internet connection open at a time.

Member Avatar for rproffitt

This would test your network skills. There is no short answer here. That is, you would have to add routes to the host's routing table and that's specific to your setup.

Most of the time this fails because the two LANs use the same IP range. If you have no idea of this area, you have about a year of study ahead of you. I have yet to find a shortcut unless you get a network guru to set it up and maintain it for you.

Member Avatar for Ritesh_4

- The IP range of the WiFi connection is completely different from that of the LAN one. In fact, the WiFi is open to public, so anyone can just switch on WiFi on a mobile phone and get access.

commented: Then dive into routes. +10
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