HOW TO:
Configure Internet Connection Sharing in Windows
XP
The information in this article applies to Microsoft Windows XP Professional
and Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
With ICS, you can use networked computers to share a single connection to the Internet.
How to Use Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
To use ICS to share your Internet connection, the host computer must have one network adapter configured to connect to the internal network, and one network adapter
(or modem) configured to connect to the Internet.
On the Host Computer
On the host computer, share the Internet connection:
Log on to the host computer as Administrator or Owner.
On the taskbar, click Start , and then click Control Panel .
In Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections under Pick a category .
Under the section, or pick a Control Panel icon , click Network Connections .
Right-click the connection that you use to connect to the Internet. For example, if you connect to the Internet using a modem, right-click the connection that you want under Dial-up .
On the shortcut menu that appears, click Properties .
Click the Advanced tab.
Under Internet Connection Sharing , click the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection check box.
If you are sharing a dial-up Internet connection, click to select the Establish a dial-up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box if you want to allow your computer to automatically connect to the Internet.
Click OK . The following message appears:
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, you should set them to obtain their IP addresses automatically. Are you sure you want to enable Internet Connection Sharing?
Click Yes .
The connection to the Internet is shared to other computers on the local area network (LAN).
The network adapter that is connected to the LAN is configured with a static IP address of
192.168.0.1 and a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0
On the Client Computer To connect to the Internet using the shared connection you must first confirm the LAN Adapter IP
Configuration then configure the client computer:
To Confirm the LAN Adapter IP Configuration:
Log on to the client computer as Administrator or Owner.
On the taskbar, click Start , and then click Control Panel .
In Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections under Pick a category .
Under the section, or pick a Control Panel icon , click Network Connections .
Right-click Local Area Connection and then on the shortcut menu that appears, click Properties .
On the General tab, in the This connection uses the following items list, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) , and then click Properties .
In the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box, click Obtain an IP address automatically (if it is not already selected), and then click OK .
NOTE : 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
In the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box, click OK .
Quit Control Panel.
To configure the client computer to use the shared Internet connection:
On the taskbar, click Start , and then click Control Panel .
In Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections under Pick a category .
Under the section, or pick a Control Panel icon , click Internet Options .
In the Internet Properties dialog box, click the Connections tab.
Click the Setup button.
The New Connection Wizard starts.
On the Welcome to the New Connection Wizard page, click Next .
Click Connect to the Internet , and then click Next .
Click Set up my connection manually , and then click Next .
Click Connect using a broadband connection that is always on , and then click Next .
On the Completing the New Connection Wizard page, click Finish .
Quit Control Panel.
When you now start Internet Explorer, the client computer will attempt to connect to the Internet using the host computer's shared Internet connection.
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Troubleshooting When you enable Internet Connection Sharing on the host computer, the host computer's LAN adapter is automatically assigned the IP address of 192.168.0.1. Because of this, one of the following situations may occur:
IP Address Conflict
Each computer on the LAN must have a unique IP address. If more than one computer is assigned the same IP address, an IP conflict occurs and one of the network adapters is disabled until the conflict is resolved.
To resolve this conflict, configure the client computer to automatically obtain an IP address, or assign it a unique IP address.
Loss of network connectivity
If your network is configured with a different IP address range than is used by ICS, you will lose network connectivity with the host computer. To resolve this issue, configure the client computers to automatically obtain an IP address, or assign each client computer a unique IP address in the range of
192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254.
