2 computers/1 internet connection

[Jeremy2]

How can I have 2 computers connected to 1 internet connection (so that 2 people in my family can be on the internet at the same time)?

[Derek]

Yes, either by running a router or having multiple network cards and running one computer as a proxy server. Router and hub are going to run you over a $100. If you want to go the proxy server route you can probably pick up 3 network cards for under $20 each. If you 98SE or ME the proxy server software is built in.

Derek

[Dman155]

So even if you only have one phone line to use, you can hook up 2 computers to use the internet? Could you diagram it out? How would all the connections work?

[Sam_D]

If I remember correctly, there was some software for this exact purpose. I don't know what it had in it, as far of hardware or anything, but it had a real simple name, like Internet Connection Sharer or something like that.

[mwiener]

There is a package called GnatBox. It is available at www.gnatbox.com. It is a free firewall for up to 5 simultaneous users. It requires a seperate 486 computer with 16MB, but no keyboard or monitor is required. There is no limit to the number of actual computers you can use, just 5 at the same time. You can configure it with 1 ethernet card and 1 serial connection to the internet. Although I would highly recommend it use with DSL or Cable modem with a second ethernet card. I use it with my home system with DSL. The Gnatbox is a linux core software with all the bells and whistles removed. You can use your browser to connect to it remotely.

Now for what you get in addition to multiple computers. It is a state based firewall. So for example, if you originate a request from your computer, it is allowed to pass to the outside world with no filtering. When a response comes back to your computer from the internet, the firewall also allows that to pass through because the firewall expected the response. The firewall maintains a state table, allowing responses that originated from the inside to pass back through the firewall. However, if someone tries to hack into your computer via the internet, that is not in the state table because it did not originate from the inside. The firewall is not expecting items that are not in its state table. It simply drops the packet ( stops it from entering the inside network ) and logs the action. Simply put, it is a must have security feature for all businesses, and I put one in my home for the same reason. I want to know if someone is hacking into my system.

Don't let anyone tell you that you will not find a use for your old computers. I have at least 15 CPUs in very pieces and parts. I always find a use.

Mike.

[Derek]

Here is a good URL for getting started.

http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/stories/main/0,5594,2396515,00.html

Earlier was thinking in terms of broadband or DSL, not sure how practical it is to connection share with 56k.

Derek

[Windstorm]

What kind of internet connection are you using?

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Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

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[mwiener]

One thing I forgot to mention when sharing a restricted network pipe between multiple sources, your performance may be worse than expected. The reason has to do with serialization delay. It depends on what protocol you use to communicate between the modem and the ISP and how your device handles it and whether your devices support QOS and what methods of QOS.

What can happen is computer A sends a large packet, computer B sends a small packet just after computer A. Computer B has to wait until the entire Computer A packet is transmitted down the slow pipe before Computer B packet is sent. From Computer B's standpoint, the link seems slow. In reality this scenario can play out over and over again making the whole link seem slower.

As I said before, you are better off using a DSL or Cable Modem to share a connection but it can be done. The faster the link speed, the less time it takes to transmit large packets, hence a smaller serialization delay between packets.

Mike.

[Gondor]

ya know, Windows 2000 and ME have Internet Connection Sharing built into the network capabilities, all you need is for each PC to have a Network card and plug em both into a hub then play around in the network settings until it works

[GrrEightOne]

Jeremy... hope you're still checkin this post. I'm actually doing this and sharing a modem (no DSL in my area!) I'm using one machine with Windows ME (which has an easy to use "internet connection sharing" utility) and another machine (my wifes) which has Windows98 (she still has some Dos games she plays...) It's a cakewalk to make it work. You just go into network properties and set up one machine to be the proxy for the other. My wife can now fire up internet explorer and it makes my modem dial, even if I'm just playin a game. J

There's a couple of "canned" programs that you can get as well. Wingate (Difficult to setup,) and Rideway (I use to use this~!)

Good luck.