switching from one network interface to another without reboot

[Adam Vande More]

On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 6:25 AM, Michal <ml at infosec.pl> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> How can I switch from one network interface to another without rebooting my
> system (7.2R)?
>
> Problem description: I've got a laptop with two network interfaces (wired
> em0 and wireless ath0). Every now and then I have to set up a DSL wireless
> box which comes with default settings so that I have to start with
> connecting my laptop via em0.
> em0 gets IP address from wireless box by DHCP. I log in to web interface
> and set everything up including WLAN and restart wireless box. At this point
> I would like to switch to ath0 and start using internet connection via
> wireless box.
> I'm taking em0 interface down with "ifconfig em0 down" and unplug the
> cable.
> I'm changing /etc/rc.conf entries to:
> ifconfig_em0="NOAUTO"
> ifconfig_ath0="WPA DHCP"
> Then I'm doing "/etc/rc.d/netif restart" and ath0 gets IP address via DHCP
> and is connected to wireless box (/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf is set up).
>
> But whenever I try to ping anything (including wireless box) I get
> "interface down" message because my system still tries to use em0.
> What else should I do to tell it that I'm connected to network via ath0
> now?
>
> Any suggestions are welcome.
> Michal
> --
> "The quiter you become, the more you can hear." -Ram Dass
>
>
> /etc/rc.d/netif stop em0
/etc/rc.d/netif start ath0


-- 
Adam Vande More