Sharing a single Internet connection is one of the most useful
advantages of networking your computers. Rather than having a
modem, phone line, and perhaps even a separate Internet account for
each of your computers, you can configure your network to allow all
of your computers to share a single dial-up, DSL, or cable Internet
connection. There are two ways to share an Internet connection,
either by running Internet sharing software on a computer on the
network which has a working Internet connection, or by using a
special piece of hardware called a "Gateway".
Software Internet sharing is appropriate for dial-up (normal phone
line) Internet connections, as well as for DSL and cable connections
which use either a modem which connects to the computer’s USB
port, or a modem which goes inside of the computer. Software
Internet sharing can be done through the Windows operating system
if the computer which has the Internet connection is running
Windows 98 SE, Me, or 2000. If the computer with the Internet
connection to be shared is running another operating system,
third-party "proxy server" software is required.
Hardware Internet sharing, which requires a Gateway (such as the
Belkin Broadband Internet Gateway, part number F5DXXXX), is the
best way to share DSL or cable Internet connections which use a
modem connected to the Network Card in a computer.
Once you have your network running properly, which can easily be
verified by using Network Neighborhood to view the other computers
on your network, and have a working Internet connection through a
standard dial-up, DSL, or cable modem, setting up Internet
connection sharing is simple.
Sharing an Internet Connection
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