Right now, the computers and the DSL modem in my house are networked using a switch. In order for a computer to connect, it must have the Enternet software installed. If one computer connects, however, other computers can't (They won't find the modem). To remedy this problem, I set up ICS on all the computers. If one computer is connected, and the other computers will be able to share its internet connection. Is there a simpler way to do this?
Can I share my Pacbell DSL connection (Enternet) without using ICS?
- Thread starter igowerf
- Start date
What you are doing with ICS is IP Masquerading, also called NAT (Network Address Translation). The ICS server is taking the request from say machine B, and putting the correct address on it, and sending it to the network. Then when the reply comes back, the ICS server sends the reply back to machine B. There are lots of software and/or hardware solutions to do just that. Netgear, Linksys, SMC and many others put out a smaller hardware device called a DSL/Cable router. Sybergen (Sygate), Deerfield(Wingate), and others put out software that do the same thing.
ICS has an advantage in that it's only $80 or so. (Buy ICS, and Winblows is free
). But it is slightly confusing to setup/configure, it requires 2 Network Cards (NICs), and it requires that particular server to be on all the time, if you want to surf from other machines. This limitation will apply to all software/server solutions.
The device solution is nice, in that you only have 1 NIC in each pc, and you have a small, dedicated device to manage your internet traffic. It can be on all the time, and if you need to bring your server down for maintenance/crash/etc, you still have network connectivity for the rest of your network. I personally prefer this method, because I don't have to rely on finiky computer/os components to make sure my Internet is always available. Once nice feature about the SMC is that it also has a dial up port, in case your DSL goes down. And it has a printer port, so you can share one printer for all your PCs through this same device. This is a nice feature. I have a 3 port print server, and have a laserjet and inkjet on it. 6 computers, and 2 printers.
Anyway, if ICS is working, I think you have the cheapest solution you can get for now. If you don't mind having that particular server be the firewall/gateway/router, then I would stick with it, and be happy.
ICS has an advantage in that it's only $80 or so. (Buy ICS, and Winblows is free
). But it is slightly confusing to setup/configure, it requires 2 Network Cards (NICs), and it requires that particular server to be on all the time, if you want to surf from other machines. This limitation will apply to all software/server solutions. The device solution is nice, in that you only have 1 NIC in each pc, and you have a small, dedicated device to manage your internet traffic. It can be on all the time, and if you need to bring your server down for maintenance/crash/etc, you still have network connectivity for the rest of your network. I personally prefer this method, because I don't have to rely on finiky computer/os components to make sure my Internet is always available. Once nice feature about the SMC is that it also has a dial up port, in case your DSL goes down. And it has a printer port, so you can share one printer for all your PCs through this same device. This is a nice feature. I have a 3 port print server, and have a laserjet and inkjet on it. 6 computers, and 2 printers.
Anyway, if ICS is working, I think you have the cheapest solution you can get for now. If you don't mind having that particular server be the firewall/gateway/router, then I would stick with it, and be happy.
The router part is where I get confused. Would the router maintain the connection for me so that I don't need a server running?
I have the modem connected to the switch using a crossover cable and the computers are connected using normal cat5 network cables. This way, none of the computers are directly connected to the modem. If one computer on the network connects, the other computers can't connect because the modem is already in use. When ICS is used, the server communicates with the modem AND the clients through the switch, thus eliminating the need for a second NIC (The network is 100 Mbps FD so it should have plenty of bandwidth to handle this). Whichever computer connects to the modem first becomes the server and the rest of the computers become clients.
I have the modem connected to the switch using a crossover cable and the computers are connected using normal cat5 network cables. This way, none of the computers are directly connected to the modem. If one computer on the network connects, the other computers can't connect because the modem is already in use. When ICS is used, the server communicates with the modem AND the clients through the switch, thus eliminating the need for a second NIC (The network is 100 Mbps FD so it should have plenty of bandwidth to handle this). Whichever computer connects to the modem first becomes the server and the rest of the computers become clients.
Yes, the Router becomes the traffic cop, and maintains the link with the modem, as well as doing the IP Masquerading. IP masquerading is nothing more than making all traffic from your internal network look to the outside world like one address, the address assigned by your ISP. For example:
My isp has given me an address 21.224.xxx.xxx
My Router has that address: 21.224.xxx.xxx
But my router also has an address 192.168.0.1 <-- This is the address that I put in as my gateway/dns
my other machines have address 192.168.0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.10, etc, and use 192.168.0.1 as their
gateway address....
My router acts as a gateway, and firewall, and allows all my other machines to see the internet.
My isp has given me an address 21.224.xxx.xxx
My Router has that address: 21.224.xxx.xxx
But my router also has an address 192.168.0.1 <-- This is the address that I put in as my gateway/dns
my other machines have address 192.168.0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.10, etc, and use 192.168.0.1 as their
gateway address....
My router acts as a gateway, and firewall, and allows all my other machines to see the internet.
- Oct 25, 1999
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Nope, no difference. The router can be set to use a dynamic IP. Basically the router is just a small computer, so think of it as your server.
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