Internet connection sharing

[WLO]

I have received a lot of help on this website before so here goes. I recently obtained cable internet access. I would like to share that access between 2 computers. I have a dynamic internet address. I am running Windows 98 SE on my desktop machine. I would like to have my wife's laptop be able to share the access with me. She has an HP notebook with a network adapter built in and connected to a hub and is running Windows ME. My desktop is connected to the same network hub. The hub is connected to the cable modem. How do I go about setting this up. I realize this could get involved....so if you just want to refer me to a place where I can get some good advice that would be fine. I believe there are several ways to do this and would like to know the best one. The guy who installed the cable access said in his opinion I should buy a router. What are the advantages of a router? What other factors should I be considering. I would also like my wife to be able to print from my printer (print sharing) and file sharing. I had this setup before the cable guy came but he changed the name of my computer and now it doesn't work. I know I should read about this but any helpful hints would be much appreciated.

[HAL9000]

Go with the router. It will allow you to share the 2 machines (up to 253!). Since you already have a hub, you can get the single port router. With the router, you will also have a hardware firewall to keep hackers out of your system(s).

[K A Hall]

Yes...the router is the way to go and will save you some money in the long run. You could purchase another computer name/ip address from you cable company, but they charge around $5 a month for that. I recommend you get THIS router, you should be able to get one for around $80. It is so simple to install that anyone with any experience at all can do it. Just use your computer name as the host name on the router, enable DHCP and change the name of your pc and you are set.

[sanorman]

My advice is FORGET the router. I have a cable modem and also bought a router and had nothing but heartache trying to get it to run with the hub. Finally opted for the cheaper option of a second network card in my main machine. This card is connected to the cable modem and the other card is connected to the hub.
I have two other machines connected to the hub and a laptop as well. I use Zonealarm for the firewall (which is free) on the main machine. The only downside is my main machine has to be on for the others to use the internet. I have Windows Me installed on all machines using Internet connection sharing. Get a proggy called LeakTest (again its free) to test the firewall.

[scooby]

KA,

Would you recommend that router for a small business ? (under 50 employees)

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by sanorman My advice is FORGET the router. I have a cable modem and also bought a router and had nothing but heartache trying to get it to run with the hub.

What kind of router did you buy? I'm curious as to why you have had so much trouble with it.

The Linksys router is a great little unit capable of serving up to 253 machines. It's very easy to set up and once it's running, you don't need to do anything with it but let it sit in the corner. I currently have one client with 23 machines that has an ADSL modem plugged into the 1 port router, then into 2 x 16 port switches. They are using DHCP and everything works great. I personally run a 4 port model at home with cable access. For security that's affordable and reliable, run the Linksys router to keep the bad guys from going in, and ZoneAlarm to keep anything bad from going out.

[WLO]

I bought the Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL modem with one WAN port and one LAN port which seems to be functioning quite well now. One thing I did do was hook the router to the Uplink port on the hub (which the instructions told me not to do). This made the difference. I did this because the guy who originally installed the cable (before I had a router) had the cable modem plugged into the Uplink port. For my most recent trouble see the post on printing and Email.

[surfmaster2000]

scooby,

I have the very same linksys router everyone is talking about here. It works great. Fairly easy to setup. It supports up to 253 users. Unless you have VERY VERY VERY sensitive data that you do not want leaked or hacked into, it is a great choice. The higher end routers obviously are better units but are not always necessary. I have 7 pc's at my home, 5 desktops and two laptops all using this router and my cable connection. Aside from the occasional burps of the cable modem there are no complaints. Hope this helps

J

[scooby]

thanks! The provider we will probably use for internet connectivity will likely provide a cisco router but if we go with someone else then i'll definitely look into that linksys. We currently have 2 linksys hubs and am lookng to purchase 2 linksys or cisco switches to reduce bottlenecks and also run fiber backbone. Linksys seems like a solid company

[glc]

Yes, Linksys is a solid company with decent products, but you do get what you pay for. Cisco is in a whole other league.