Discussion on:

Sharing Internet access on your home network with just one IP address

This article doesn't mention cost of these products.

Why not just get an old 486 with 16M of ram, two network cards, and install Linux? This should cost less that $400 for all the hardware, and software you'll need.

Linux is a great packet layer firewall, and it does NAT very well.

It should be the obvious soultion to any techie.

jrw

It is an obvious solution for a Linux techie but not neccessarily
for everyone.

An even cheaper route would be to get a LinkSys router
(which doubles as a10/100 ether hub). In another post, I list
another option for people who have olderMacs sitting about.

And it does make a bit of difference what kind of hardware
you use. At the minimum for the Linux box option, I'd make
sure first and foremost that the old box is Y2K compliant on
the BIOS level and I'd go for at least a Pentium if you're
plugging it into a fast ethernet hub. But then if you check, you
won't find a cheaper option than the LinkSys hub unless of
course you have old hardware just lying about.

I'm currently using ICS but I would like to try the Linksys router. But, I've head that Roadrunner will not allow the Linksys router ...

RoadRunner doesn't support running a LAN. But, They don't activly stop it either

I have Roadrunner(Los Angeles) and use the Linsys router. RR does read the NIC's MAC address. So, when installing the router, you just need to call them and tell them you have a new NIC and give them the router's MAC.

You can get pentium class machines for that price. I'm thinking in the neighborhood of $75.00. But you are correct, it IS the obvious solution.

I've seen complete (no monitor and inputs though) 486s go for $30 at wholesale 2 buyer web sites.

A complete Linux box is more than most Windows box or new to network folks can handle right off. AN alternative to mid level techs or thise who are looking for a path to learn the stuff, would be Linux Router Project, which has distributions that work on a 486 or up, 12-16MB ram, 2 NICs and a floppy drive. Provides NAT, firewalling and even port forwarding capabilities. It is not necessarily for 'newbies', but great fun and not that difficult if you follow the directions.
Web sites are
www.linuxrouter.org -main site, outdated, maillist subscriptions site though
lrp.c0wz.com -main documentation site
lrp.steinkuehler.net -pre configured disks, easiest transition for newbies

you can use freesco from www.freesco.org. it has wizards and is easy to administrate

How about that's not cheap?!
3com is now selling a home internet gateway which features:
NAT translation and IP sharing
DHCP server
firewall
access control
4 port autosensing 10/100 SWITCH
AND...
a parallel port print server built-in.

Allof this sells for C$259.99 quite a steal

Can you please tell me how I can get my second pc to share internet access from my cable connected pc.....?

Would greatly appreciate it.......

Get WinRoute Professional to Do it for you

Any of the software packages mentioned will work, even Micro$oft's Internet Connection Sharing that comes with Win98 SE, but the first thing you must have in both machines is a Network Interface Card, or course. If you use ICS or any other type or router software then you will need *two* NICs in that one PC, one to connect to the cable modem and another to connect to your hub or other PC. Search the Web for more detailed instructions, they're out there.

My entire IT group have gone to the LinkSys router either with or without the intergrated 4port hub for the home. This allows you to have a router, firewall and hub all in one. Just plug this in after the cable modem then run the connections from the hub just like like a regular network. It 10/100 and is easily configurable from a local browser. You can control all ports and even get reports of what the system thinks might be attacks. A great inventment.

Or add a second NIC into the server and 1 in the secondary machine and connect using a cross-connect cable.

I have AT@T providing me internet access via cable modem. Right now it is connected directly to my pc and I am running zonealarm to ensure that I have some security. My questions are:
1)How secure is the firewall on the router?
2)Does it work if you get an ip address via dhcp from the isp?
I ask the second questions because I have a friend who is using a linux firewall (netmax) on his internet connection, but he often has to reboot the box to renew the ip address from his isp. Would I run into this problem and have to repower the router alot? Or does it automatically renew it's address from the cable modem?
Thanks In Advance.
Mike

A cable modem router autmoatically renews ip address from the service. I have tested this out using a cable mode, but another serivce(optium online)

You can try wingate 4.0. It's a software
who enable a proxy server and permit the sharing of modem cable.

Leah,

You can either set-up a network hub with separate IP number for each machine. Or set-up another modem...one for each machine. To share two-way packet exchange, you are going to need to make sure that you get a public IP number. If you dothis, PLEASE install a personal firewall program of some kind.

You could try buying an inexpensive 4 port hub and "network" the two computers. If both computers have network cards, they can be plugged into the hub. Then using a crossover cable, plug the cable modem into the hub.

Easy.

What's the reason for a crossover cable in this solution? Normally a "straight through" cable is used to connect the cable modem to the NIC ona single PC.Why would you need a crossover cable to connect the c-m to the hub?

Normal Ethernet connector uses only 4 of the pins: 1, 3, 4 and 6. A standard patch cable is straight-thru, that is to say RJ45 connector pin 1 is the same wire at each end. The four wires actually form a pair, a xmit pair and a rcv pair. 1 & 3 are a pair and 4 & 6 are a pair. Although I don't recall which are the xmit pair and which are the rcv pair. It doesn't really matter.

Lets look at a PC connected to a hub. Lets say pin pair 1/3 are the xmit pair at the PC. That would mean that pin pair 1/3 would have to be a RCV pair at the hub. So the PC and hub are wired exactly opposite and the straight thru cable works.

But if you were going to use UTP to connect two PC's directly, since the PC's NICs are wired identically, you'd have to use a crossover cable to create that opposite wiring, where one PC's xmit pair would get to the rcv pair on the other PC. The same is true for hubs. Since the ports on two hubs would be wired the same, in order to connect them you have to cross the xmit and rcv wire pairs. Therefore you use a crossover cable to connect two hubs.

Note that most hubs have a port that can operate in MDIX mode. That crosses over the pins in the RJ45 port and you don't have to use a crossover cable.
Luck to you,
-S

I've got an Alcatel Speed Touch model to my DSL that has a USB/A output. Can't find a router that will handle it. Any ideas?

Thansk in Advance

I have my USB Speedtouch connected to my Win2k Server. RRAS service handles the routing and NAT that allows the other computers to share the Internet connection.

Has worked ok for about 6 months. Only annoying issue is that the Alcatel drivers seem to choke every couple of days and I have to reboot the server to get the Internet connection restored. Got tired of that and ordered an external (ethernet out) DSL modem yesterday.
Luck to you,
-S

Don't forget that if you only have two machines to connect you don't need a hub - just a cross-over cable.