( Internet Connection Sharing )

BY: GURU ( Dave Smith )

Internet Connection Sharing enables you to configure two or more computer’s network to share a single connection to the Internet. Internet Connection Sharing also provides an easy way to set up and configure your home or small bis. Network.

With Internet Connection Sharing, one computer on your network, called the Connection Sharing computer (server with modem) has an Internet connection and provides private IP addresses and name resolution services for the other computers on the network. Then, the other computers on your network can access the Internet through the Connection Sharing computer using private IP addressing translation.

When a computer on your network sends a request to the Internet, its private IP address is transmitted to the Connection Sharing computer, which translates it to the Internet IP address of the Connection Sharing computer, and then sends it on to the Internet. When the results are returned, the Connection Sharing computer translates the IP address back again and routes it to the correct computer on your network. The only computer on your e network visible to the Internet is the Connection Sharing computer. None of the other computers on your network has a direct connection to the Internet.

When automatic addressing is enabled, Internet Connection Sharing uses the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to dynamically assign private IP addresses to all computers on the network. You can also disable the automatic addressing service and statically assign an IP address to each computer on the network.

Now you can save money by not buying modems for each computer. Before you can use Internet Connection Sharing, all computers on the network must have network adapters installed. Then, choose the computer that will be the Connection Sharing computer (server) and use it to establish the connection to the Internet using your preferred method. This can be with a modem, two-way cable modem, ISDN, ADSL, or a dial-up adapter. Run the Internet Connection wizard to help you establish your connection. Once your Internet connection is established and known to be working, install Internet Connection Sharing, and then configure the Connection Sharing computer and all other computers on the network.

You can also configure computers on your network to use file and print sharing, so that they can access these resources from each other. Internet Connection Sharing prevents access to the shared resources from the Internet.

To install Internet Connection Sharing

 Open the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box at the Windows Setup tab.

1. Click Internet Tools, and then click Details.
2. Select Internet Connection Sharing, and then click OK.
3. Follow the instructions in the Internet Connection Sharing wizard.

• If you used a CD to install Windows, you will be prompted to insert it into your computer.
• To remove Internet Connection Sharing, follow steps one, two and three, above.

To configure Internet Connection Sharing

With Internet Connection Sharing, several computers can connect to the Internet, individually or at the same time, and tie up only one phone line or modem. Each connected computer has the ability to use virtually any of the Internet services it could normally access if connected directly. You can also change the configuration of your Internet connections and hardware, such as your Internet service provider, connection devices, and network adapters.

1.  To display the Internet Options control panel at the Connections tab.
2. To edit Internet Sharing settings, click Sharing under LAN and Internet Sharing Settings.

Option	Description
Enable Internet Connection Sharing	Turns Internet Connection Sharing on or off on this computer.
Show icon in taskbar	Adds the Internet Connection Sharing icon to the tray. The icon indicates how many computers are connected at any time, and includes a shortcut menu of Internet Connection Sharing options.
Select the connection you use to connect to the Internet	Choose your preferred option.
Select the network adapter that you use to access your home network	Choose your preferred option.

• You can also run the Internet Connection Sharing wizard by clicking Start, pointing to Settings, clicking Control Panel, double-clicking Internet Options, clicking the Connections tab, and then clicking Sharing under LAN and Internet Sharing Settings.
• The Internet Connection Sharing wizard will set the IP address of the Connection Sharing computer to 192.168.0.1. Other computers on your home network can be set statically to any IP address in the range from 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.253.

To configure other computers on your network

Ensure that a network adapter is installed on each computer on your home network. If not, see the documentation that came with the adapter to install the hardware.

1. Make sure that TCP/IP is installed and configured to assign IP addresses automatically on each computer on the home network. For more information, see Related Topics.
2. Configure applications that can connect to the Internet, such as Internet Explorer or Outlook Express, to use your home network instead of connecting directly to the Internet. For more information, see the documentation that came with these applications.

Note

• It is recommended that the Connection Sharing computer dynamically assign IP addresses to all other computers on your home network. If you want to assign static addresses to any or all of the computers on your network, see HELP Related Topics.

NOTE After you have completed all setup RE-BOOT all the computers on your system starting with the server.