| If you have cable modem or DSL service, you're a very lucky individual. Not only do you get spectacular speed when surfing the Web or doing email, but you also have a full-time connection. You never have to wait for some modem to dial (screeching all the way), and wait again for it to disconnect. It's just too bad that only one PC in your household or office can enjoy these luxuries . Fortunately, it doesn't have to be that way. You can spread the joy of high-speed Internet to every PC on your network in either of two ways: -
Buy a router . A router (a residential gateway in Microsoft lingo) is a little box, costing about $80, that connects directly to the cable modem or DSL box. In some cases, it doubles as a hub, providing multiple Ethernet jacks into which you can plug your PCs. Others offer only a single jack into which you plug your existing hub. As a bonus, the router provides excellent security, serving as a firewall that isolates your network computers from the Internet and keeps out hackers. You're supposed to change a router's settings (in the rare event that they need changing) using your Web browser. You "sign onto" it using the account name and password you use to log onto the cable or DSL network. The router then logs onto your Internet service and stands ready to transmit Internet data to and from all of the computers on your network. -
Use Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) . ICS is a built-in feature of Windows XP Professional that serves as a software router. Like a hardware router, ICS distributes a single Internet connection to every computer on the network ”but unlike a router, it's free. You just fire it up on the one PC that's connected directly to your cable modem or DSL box ”or, as networking geeks would say, the gateway or host PC. But there's a downside: If the gateway PC is turned off, nobody else in the house can go online. Furthermore, you have to install two Ethernet cards into the gateway PC: one that goes to the cable modem or DSL box, and the other that connects it to the hub. Most people think of ICS in terms of high-speed Internet accounts like cable modems and DSL. But it offers advantages even for PCs with standard dial-up modems. For example, more than one PC can be online at the same time, which can be a sanity saver in certain households. ICS also lets you park PCs in rooms that don't actually have phone jacks. Even if you don't intend to share an Internet connection in this way, it's important to have some understanding of these concepts before running the Network Setup Wizard. Many of the questions it will ask pertain to the notion of connection sharing. NOTE If you do intend to use Internet Connection Sharing, make sure the gateway PC can already get onto the Internet, on its own, before you attempt to run the Network Setup Wizard. The gateway PC should also be running Windows XP, although the other computers can be running earlier versions of Windows.  |
