sharing internet connection
i have a cable modem, and i'd like to be able to share that connection between two computers. i was wondering if i could plug the cable modem into an ethernet hub and then plug both the computers into the hub as well. it's possible to do this in dorm rooms, where ethernet comes out of the wall, and since my modem has an ethernet jack i was wondering if it would work similarly.
thanks,
jmiller
Re: sharing internet connection
Quote:
Originally posted by jmiller
i have a cable modem, and i'd like to be able to share that connection between two computers. i was wondering if i could plug the cable modem into an ethernet hub and then plug both the computers into the hub as well. it's possible to do this in dorm rooms, where ethernet comes out of the wall, and since my modem has an ethernet jack i was wondering if it would work similarly.
thanks,
jmiller
You can't plug a DHCP cable modem in to a hub.
Here's the setup you'll need:
Server OR Router
2 x Network cards or 1 x network card and 1 x USB connection (depending how your cable modem connects)
You need to plug the cable modem in to one machine via 1 network card or USB socket.
Then plug an RJ45 cable into the other network card. This cable goes from your system to the hub. Plug all other systems in to the hub, making sure you assign different static IP's each time of course ;)
So basically...
Server:
IP: 10.0.0.1
Subnet: 255.0.0.0
DNS: Leave blank if your ISP provides this automatically
Client 1:
IP: 10.0.0.2
Subnet: 255.0.0.0
DNS: 10.0.0.1
Client 2:
IP: 10.0.0.3
Subnet: 255.0.0.0
DNS: 10.0.0.1
and so on...
If you are using windows, then you'll need to enable ICS (Internet Connection Sharing). Do this by right clicking the INTERNET connection and clicking properties. The far right tab will have "Allow other users to connect to the internet via this PC" or other variant depending on your OS.
Check that box, and click OK. ICS uses LSASS.exe to probe other systems using 192.168.x.x addresses, not 10.0.x.x so you'll need to change the internal network connection back to 10.0.0.1.
If you are running Linux, then you'll need something like shorewall to configure the network. This is far harder, and you do not get the benefit of a GUI. Shorewall is a very powerful firewall, which also allows NAT (network address translation) and MASQ (Masquerading) of internal packets to external NICs. If you need help setting that up, please PM me.
Be sure all the systems are on the same workgroup too... or getting file access will be a pain! :D