When you have a cable modem.. software internet sharing or hardware?

[Hercules]

I was thinking of using some software to share my internet connection with my cable modem but I'm not sure it will work the way I want.

I just need a NAT, that takes the one IP address I have and lets all my computers use it. I know that the Linksys Cable/DSL router does this, but is it better or worse, or even in the same range as a software solution like it?

And what type of software solution would you reccommend, if any?

 

[JellyBaby]

For a software solution, Win 98SE's internet connection sharing would work. It's pretty easy to configure and works well. It also has pretty good security but you need to tweak file/print sharing a bit.

 

[helloedchen]

Or just get any of the numerous wingates. Of course if you have linux around, use ip masquerading(sp?). I believe that also lets you share ips.

 

[dvch]

Hercules- when I used ICS my cable provider sent me a nasty email saying I was using a DHCP server contrary to the agreement I had signed and to stop forthwith or loose service. Go hardware.

 

[Hercules]

Okay, hardware it is

Any suggestions? I'm rather partial to the Linksys one..

 

[BoberFett]

I use Win98 and ICS. What provider are you with dvch? Also, how could they tell you were using a NAT/DHCP server?

 

[Hercules]

How can you use internet connection sharing on a cable modem? I thought it was only for dialup.. Oh yea, I also have Win2k Professional

 

[BaDaBooM]

I know my cable provider sent out an email saying they were going to crack down on that. They can tell if you don't have it configured securely. You need a firewall or to tweak your Internet Sharing software so they cannot see your internal network traffic.

Hercules: you can use it for cable also. I believe Win2k Pro has ICS also.

 

[Hercules]

How would I set it up for cable? The only connection I have now is "Local Area Network"

 

[BaDaBooM]

well, first you need two NICs in your server. One connected to the cable modem and one to the switch/hub of your internal network.

 

[Sparky Anderson]

http://www.timhiggins.com

 

[BaDaBooM]

good call sparks

 

[dvch]

BoberFett-
@home and how they knew is beyond me.

Hercules-
I am now using the Linksys and am very happy with it.

 

[cparker]

Get a linky. If you are on amazon.com s mailing list they have a coupon till hmmm july 19 or so that gives you 20 bucks off on first electronics purchase and they sell 4 port linky for 158, so that will get you one for 138 bucks. A deal!

 

[Dogmeat]

I have my @home modem hooked into my primary computer (POS 233mhz, just used to serve it up) with thin-coax NICs in each or my other computers. Its interfaced with SYGATE and protected with Black Ice. No problems with ATT snooping around and I file share between the systems using NetBEUI to keep it unavailable to outside snoop scum.

Love it!

 

[Erasmus-X]

Yeah, these greedy cable and DSL providers want you to pay for static IPs when you're going to connect multiple systems to the same service. If you have a lot of computers, they can really add up becuase in most cases, it's $10/month for each additional static IP.

 

[BoberFett]

Strange, I'm on Charter@Home here in MN, and hell, I run www, ftp, mail, dhcp/nat, dns, you name it. Hope they don't decide to crack down around here. :Q

Still, I wonder how they knew without snooping around on your computer. (which would be illegal, if that's what they did) If you set up ICS properly, it is a firewall of sorts. Any inbound traffic should only make it as far as the host computer, and I can't think of anyway you could figure out what the machine was doing with that traffic once it received it.

 

[dvch]

BoberFett- Only idea I have is the Tioga software bundled with some @home software.Tim Higgins implies that it is spyware. Needless to say I no longer use any @home software.

 

[Grey]

BaDaboom is correct, the cable Cos scan your PC to see if your leaving anything open. I know i get scanned 2x a day. As for the sharing I would go hardware to..



{Edit wrong time}

 

[Akkan]

If anyone does decide to go Win/Software route, don't use the Wingate software. It uses ts own specialized clientside program, which makes it impossible, at least to my understanding, to connect OS's other than the Windows line to the internet. On top of that, there latest few version have been extremely buggy and difficult to use. In addition, the tech. support is something like $50 a call, even if you bought their software for 50-75 dollars. Ripoff.

I used ip-masquerading a few months ago, and it worked great, but does require knowledge of Linux.

I am using a proxy server right now called Browsegate. Go to www.netcplus.com for more info. So far I don't have any qualms except for the fact that because it acts as a full proxy, it is tough to get configured for internet games. I have never used hardware routing, but have heard good things about it from friends. If you do go the Windows route, look into either Sygate like Dogmeat mentioned, or look into @Guard, which is what I use.

BTW, I have been using DHCP, FTP, and WWW servers since I first got cable with @home, and have never heard anything about it.

 

[BaDaBooM]

Also, if you have an old Piece O'Sh*t machine laying around that you can put two NICs(just so your NICs are supported) in this will work:

http://www.linuxrouter.org
Linux Router Project (LRP) n.
A networking-centric micro-distribution of Linux.

LRP is small enough to fit on a single 1.44MB floppy disk, and makes
building and maintaining routers, access servers, thin servers, thin clients,
network appliances, and typically embedded systems next to trivial.

Whole OS fits on a floppy, is free, easy to setup, and can run on a 386 with 8meg of memory!