Sharing an Internet Connection
Posted on August 3, 2005
Filed Under Business Computing, Internet, Networking, Security |
High speed internet connections provide enough bandwidth for many computers to easily share one Internet connection. A simple home or small business network will allow you to share an Internet connection easily and at a reasonable cost.
Almost all new computers come with networking capabilities. With the addition of a broadband router with a built-in or separate switch and some cables, you can share your internet connection and files and printers as well.
Broadband routers are scaled down versions of the larger and more powerful network routers that form the backbone of the Internet. Routers pass information between different networks and determine the best path to get information from points a to b.
Broadband routers are sometimes referred to as “gateways” because all connections to the Internet from the internal network must pass through them. Conversely, all Internet traffic coming into the internal network such as email, web pages, etc must pass through the router to reach a computer on the inside of the internal network.
Routers deal with getting information to and from its destination by using IP addresses. IP addresses can be thought of like phone numbers as they act in a similar way. An IP address looks similar to 172.28.151.215
If we were to send an email message to glen@bowesit.com for example, our computer automatically does the equivalent of picking up a phone book and looking for the number for bowesit.com. The computer sends a message to a “DNS” server that essentially says “what is the IP address for bowesit.com?” The DNS server replies with the IP address and now the computer can “dial” that number and send the email message to the recipient.
Most broadband routers are fairly simple to set up providing the instructions are followed properly. Generally the cable modem or High Speed DSL modem is plugged into the port labeled “WAN” on the router and the internal computers are plugged into the “LAN” ports.
Once everything is physically hooked up and turned on, most routers are configured using a web browser. The user would open their web browser and navigate to the routers’ IP address which is often 192.168.01
Because all IP addresses that begin with 192.168, or 172.16 to 172.31, or 10 are considered “private” IP addresses, they are not visible on the Internet and can be used over and over again on any network. The router will also have a “public” IP address on its WAN port that acts as the public “phone number”.
Configuring the router is usually then only a matter of selecting the type of Internet connection you have, typing in a user name and password if required, selecting the time zone, and a few other minor items. Once configured you can restart the computers on the internal network and they should all now have Internet access through the router.
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