Why does computer connected via wireless and wired have different address but same name?

Question

I have a Thomson TG585 v7 router that can be access via a webbrowser on ipaddress http://192.168.1.254/ I have various computers connected to it via wireless or ethernet in some cases both and I've noticed that if they are connected via both then when I look at my home network via the webbrowser that both connections from one computer have different ipaddress but the same machine name.

So when I try to access the machine using the machine name how does it decide whether to use the wireless or wired connection ?

Should'nt each connection have a different name

(If you are wondering why I have both connections it is usually because they are on my laptop which can make use of faster wired connection in my office room, but has to use wireless connection everywhere else in house so both configured).

Answer 1

Each connection CAN have it's own name, however, most of the time, connections are registered by the computer it is associated to, and since each IP address is registered to the same computer, it is registered to the same name. There is nothing stopping you from adding MYLAPTOP-ETH and MYLAPTOP-WIFI into your DNS.

If you are attempting a connection INTO the device, it will go to whichever IP resolves to that name.

If the name MYLAPTOP resolves both to 192.168.1.101 (wifi) and 192.168.1.102 (eth), whichever is returned first via the lookup will be which one it attempts to connect to. Connections actually go from IP to IP (this is exaggerated from the truth, which makes connections from MAC address to MAC address), not from NAME to NAME.

DNS round-robin techniques can return them in different orders each time you make the request to MYLAPTOP (to see this live, try nslookup pool.ntp.org twice. They should be different).

If you are attempting a connection OUT of the device, it follows the binding order. It will most likely be the one with the fastest connection.

For Windows, you can change the binding order to how you see fit, however, they will most likely select based on link speed.

For OSX, same applies, you can set the Service Order.

Answer 2

the connection name is caused by your computer Host name. because of this both wired and wireless will share the same connection name. as far as your computer knowing which connection to use (wired or wireless) it will use the wired one if your plugged in unless the wired connection doesn't give it internet.