Sharing an Internet Connection
Sharing a single Internet connection is one of the most useful advantages of networking your computers. Rather than having a modem, phone line, and perhaps even a separate Internet account for each of your computers, you can configure your network to allow all of your computers to share a single dial-up, DSL, or cable Internet connection. There are two ways to share an Internet connection, either by running Internet sharing software on a computer on the network which has a working Internet connection, or by using a special piece of hardware called a "Gateway".
Software Internet sharing is appropriate for dial-up (normal phone line) Internet connections, as well as for DSL and cable connections which use either a modem which connects to the computer’s USB port, or a modem which goes inside of the computer. Software Internet sharing can be done through the Windows operating system if the computer which has the Internet connection is running Windows 98 SE, Me, NT 4.0., or 2000. If the computer with the Internet connection to be shared is running another operating system, third-party "proxy server" software is required.
Hardware Internet sharing, which requires a Gateway (such as the Belkin Broadband Internet Gateway, part number F5D5230-X), is the best way to share DSL or cable Internet connections which use a modem connected to the Network Card in a computer.
Once you have your network running properly, which can easily be verified by using Network Neighborhood to view the other computers on your network, and have a working Internet connection through a standard dial-up, DSL, or cable modem, setting up Internet connection sharing is simple.
