I always found that 9x and previous had this quirk with TCP/IP networking where you always needed to fire up a browser to get it to initialise a connection properly, I don't know if it was some remnant of diallup that made it work like that or what. Just saying that in case you're trying to use a network app that isn't a browser, and it can't see the other connection when you switch.

Are you using DHCP or static IP's?

I'm using DHCP and if they don't get an IP while booting I have to manually run winipcfg and force them to pick up (or release) an address.
You could always disable the unused card in device manager first forcing windows to use the only enabled card. Laptops did that at the time with that little wifi toggle switch.

chinny22 wrote on 2021-07-23, 15:45:

Are you using DHCP or static IP's?

I'm using DHCP and if they don't get an IP while booting I have to manually run winipcfg and force them to pick up (or release) an address.
You could always disable the unused card in device manager first forcing windows to use the only enabled card. Laptops did that at the time with that little wifi toggle switch.

If I use DHCP and don't have anything connected, the computer takes at least 10 minutes longer to boot, which is not really acceptable

andreja6 wrote on 2021-07-23, 23:11:

chinny22 wrote on 2021-07-23, 15:45:

Are you using DHCP or static IP's?

I'm using DHCP and if they don't get an IP while booting I have to manually run winipcfg and force them to pick up (or release) an address.
You could always disable the unused card in device manager first forcing windows to use the only enabled card. Laptops did that at the time with that little wifi toggle switch.

If I use DHCP and don't have anything connected, the computer takes at least 10 minutes longer to boot, which is not really acceptable

You can relax and have a coffee while it is booting up.

andreja6 wrote on 2021-07-23, 23:11:

If I use DHCP and don't have anything connected, the computer takes at least 10 minutes longer to boot, which is not really acceptable

On my Athlon 650 it takes about 25 seconds to boot if connected to the network
Disconnected its 45 seconds, noticeable difference I'll agree but I'd call that acceptable

You probably know but the time difference is due to Windows trying to pick up an IP address. By entering a static IP Windows skips this step but it also doesn't check the network status.
You can either enable DHCP and Windows should automatically use whichever NIC has a valid IP at boot. (you'll still need to run winipcfg if you switch NIC's without rebooting)

Or in your case I'd probably keep the static IP's and enable/disable whichever NIC you want in Device manager, you man still need to run a ping or something for windows to work out which connection is live.

but not much point expecting much from 9x networking. That's where NT comes in and even then inbuilt WiFi support didn't come till WinXP.
Only networking Majority of 9x PC's would have seen is dial up internet or hooked up to a "always" on LAN

Frankly, I don't remember this being much of a problem back in the day? The closest equivalent would have been having a nic and a modem. If you were connecting by nic, I'd just plug the cord into the nic as the modem was already disabled. If you used a modem, dial-up networking would take over. Wireless was not common in those days. It really wasn't until WinXP came out.

I think it's likely I preferred a static configuration. Maybe just use a static configuration? It's much faster anyway. I think you should be able to skip the reboot and force the nic down and up again and have it work. You could probably switch to dhcp much the same way too. I remember this being a thing.

My AMD K6-2 400 Linux setup does it without any bother and tells me when the cable is reconnected.