Internet connection sharing

Internet connection sharing

Feb.05, 2011 in Networks

Internet connection sharing (ICS) is feature of  WINDOWS  for sharing a single internet connection on one computer between other computers on the same local area network.To share the Internet on multiple computers we need two LAN cards on a computer that will act as a server (which has internet) and possibly a switch / hub if connecting more than two computers.
ICS is easy to setup. There’s no need to install any software .However, in order to activate it you need to do the following steps.
From the  Start menu go to Control Panel -> Network connections and select the card which is connected to the Internet. Now right click on it and select Properties. Then select Advanced tab and check the option Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection. Click OK.

You will receive the following message :
When Internet connection sharing is enabled, your LAN adapter will be set to use IP
address 192.168.0.1. Your computer may lose connectivity with other computers on
your network. If these other computers have static IP addresses, it is a good idea to set them
to obtain their IP addresses automatically. Are you sure you want to enable Internet
Connection Sharing?
Click Yes.
With this settings  your server is ready for use.But if you want fully operational network you need to connect the computers each other. If the network is composed only of two computers (your server and one client PC) you can connect them with crossover cable but for connecting more computers you will need  switch between server and other computers.
Now on the client computer go to Network connections .  Right click on the local area connection  and select Properties. Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and then Properties.

In the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box click Obtain an IP address automatically and then click OK.
You can also assign a unique static IP address in the range of 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254. For example, you can assign the following static IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway:

IP Address      192.168.0.2
  Subnet mask     255.255.255.0
  Default gateway 192.168.0.1

For normal operation each computer on the LAN must have a unique IP address. It means that if your client computer IP is 192.168.0.2 there should not exist another computer with the same IP.