Robert Miller created a new topic ' Ethernet and WiFi Together' in the forum. 2 years ago

This note will describe how to enable both WiFi and Ethernet on your computers.

My setup consists of a control room and an observatory where a StellarMate is the hub. First, let's consider the control room that houses a typical laptop running Ubuntu, KStars and Ekos. We don't have cable internet at the location, so my internet access is via my phone acting as a hotspot. I'm connected via Ethernet to the StellarMate. I want to stay connected to the SM while I access the outside world via my hotspot. However, if I open a web browser and try to connect to a site, the browser is unable to do so. Or, if I try to ping my old stomping grounds (jpl.nasa.gov), the computer says "network unreachable." That's because the computer doesn't know which network (Ethernet of WiFi) to use to get to the outside world, and normally defaults to the Ethernet.

Solving this problem is straightforward.   Go to the network icon on the status bar, then click on the icon in the upper right corner to get the detailed network config page. Choose Wired Connection -> IP4 -> Routes (button near the bottom). Click the box that says "use only for resources on this connection." Now you can access web pages via a browser because the Ethernet is limited to its immediate surroundings.

The also works for StellarMate. I had to upgrade the software, so I stuck my phone (hotspot) in the dome and connected to SM via Ethernet (VNC viewer) in the control room. Accessing the network icon along the right part of the top row in the VNC viewer, I connected SM to my hotspot.  I wanted to connect to the outside world to update the software, but was stuck with the same problem as before: the SM defaulted to Ethernet for name resolution. Same solution as before. Go along the upper left side menus to access the detailed network config page, and follow the instructions in the above paragraph to tell the Ethernet to stay local. I then accessed the "Update Software" icon (I'm still talking to SM via Ethernet) and 600+ MB later things are happy again.

I'm writing this some hours after today's adventures. I think I had to reboot the SM after making the network config change. If you make the change and there's no difference, reboot the SM. It does work. Of course, if you're lucky enough to have cable internet, then you can file this note in the appropriate Trash icon :-)

 

Read More...