Internet Connection Sharing: How To Share That Connection
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Do you have two or more computers that you want to connect to that latest high-speed cable modem service? Do you want to keep your high-speed cable modem subscription cost as low as possible?
Some high-speed cable modem service providers charge as much as $15 more per month for each additional computer you want to connect to their service. This is because their cable modems are preconfigured to allow just one single IP address to be doled out to one single computer. If you want to connect additional computers on your home or business network then you'll have to pay additional fees for each additional IP address. Then they will reconfigure their cable modem to dole out the number of additional IP addresses you pay for each month.
There is a workaround that's called Internet Connection Sharing and it's already built into your Windows 98 Second Edition or Windows XP operating systems. It only requires a bit of researching in your help files to figure out how to set it up but once you have it running then you can connect as many computers on your local area network to also browse the internet. This is a great money saver because considering an extra $15 per computer you can see how quickly it would add up in monthly fees if your family has three or more computers.
Listed below are the basic requirements you'll need to set up Internet Connection Sharing.
1. You need Windows 98 Second Edition or higher to serve as your Internet Connection Sharing server.
2. You need a second ethernet card installed into your Internet Connection Sharing server.
3. You need one ethernet card installed into each additional client computer.
4. You need a networking hub along with sufficient ethernet cabling to connect all your computers.
5. You need to configure networking on each of your client computers.
6. Finally, you need to set up your Internet Connection Sharing server to share out your internet connection.
Once you have a working network and a properly configured Internet Connection Sharing computer then all your computers on your network will be able to browse the network simultaneously. Do the math at $15 for each additional computer and you can see how a family or business network of four computers can save at least $45 each month in cable-modem fees.
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