Internet Connection Sharing
with One Phone Line
by
Bee Vang
The Internet, filled with information and
entertainment has inspired more and more people to be connected online. Many if not most families now have access to
the Internet. With Internet Connection
Sharing, more people now can connect to the Internet individually or at the
same time, and with only one phone line. All that you need is a computer that
will act as the Internet Connection Sharing computer (connection host) and your
other computers on the network. The
Internet Connection Sharing intercepts packets and passes them between the
Internet and the network computers.
With this service, the IP address is automatically assigned and
configured to each of the computers on the network. As you connect to the
Internet via an ISP, your computer is assigned a unique IP address, which it
uses to send and receive messages to and from the Internet. Each computer sends
packets to the Internet. It identifies itself as the sender using both its IP
address and a subaddress.
To start up your connection you will need a
network connection device for every network computer (your phone-line), a
modem, and the required software and services.
For the phone-line network, you will use your existing telephone wiring. This is probably the one of the least
expensive connection device for a network.
It is also easy to install and cables are not required. All you need to have is a phone jack for
each computer network.
For the modem, you will need a modem for your
connection host computer. This is your
network’s connection host to the Internet.
All computers on your network will use this computer to connect to the
Internet. There are different kinds of
modems you can use such as a standard data/fax mode (such as a 56K modem), an
ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) modem, an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital
Subscriber Line) modem, or a cable modem.
Here are the advantages and disadvantages about each of the modems.
Standard data/fax –
connects to a standard analog telephone line with a maximum
speed of 56 Kbps. It is inexpensive and pre-installed. It has
the slowest connection speed.
ISDN connects to ISDN digital telephone
service with a maximum
speed of 128 Kbps. Much faster that the standard modem and
has a dedicated line. It requires
digital telephone service and
line fees.
ADSL connects to a ADSL line with a maximum
speed of 1.5 Mbps.
The fastest connection from a home and
is dedicated. It
requires special connection not
offered in many areas, and is
more expensive than standard phone
line fees.
lines in homes. Requires cable modem service not available
in
all areas.
You will need one ISP account for Internet
Connection Sharing. All computers will
connect to the ISP account through the network connection host. When a network computer try to connect to
the Internet, the host will start connection to the ISP. TCP/IP drivers are needed for every computer
on the network. For Windows 95, an
installation disk is required for the installation. All PCs with Windows 98 already have TCP/IP pre-installed.
After setting up the network and verifying that
your network is working, you are ready to install the Internet Connection
Sharing Service. Remember that when the
service is installed, the IP addresses automatically assign a unique address to
each home network computer as it boots up.
It will also set up the connection host for name resolution and access
to the Internet. Remember that you only
need to install the service to only one computer on the network. This computer will be the connection host;
therefore, you should choose the one with the fastest modem.
To install the Internet Connection Sharing:
Click
·
Start button and point at Settings
·
Control Panel
·
Add/Remove Programs
·
Windows Setup tab
appears
·
Select the adapter you want to use in the
Connect To The Internet Using box Enable Dial On Demand checkbox and select the
Internet service provider Dial Using box to auto dial your ISP.
·
In the Share This Home Network box, select the
network adapter you are using.
·
Click Enable DHCP On My Home Network to
dynamically assign private IP addresses to the other computers on the network.
·
After the installation, select the Internet
connection, set up dialing options, select the home network adapter, enable
automatic IP addressing for the network computers.
The final step for this Internet Connection
Sharing is making sure that the network computers will not dial up using their
modem for connection. They should all
be accessing the Internet through the network LAN.
http://mspress.microsoft.com/desktop/windows98/win98ics.htm
http://mspress.microsoft.com/desktop/windows98/winhardware.htm