This is the first in a series of columns on the Internet, home networking, wireless networking, filtering, computer set-up, etc. Many families and home businesses are adding broadband Internet connections to their computers. Often the next thing they want to do is to share that connection with other computers.

Sharing Internet between two computers
One computer can be added pretty easily to a first using Windows Internet Connection Sharing (ICS). The requirement here is Windows 98 or newer, two network connections in the PC and the set-up of ICS. The most common way to get two network connections in your PC is to use a USB or modem port to bring in the Internet connection and then connect the second computer to the LAN(Local Area Network) port of your first computer. Two LAN ports can also be used but additional hardware must be added to the sharing PC. The second computer also needs to have a LAN port, and be running Windows 98 or higher. The network addressing is handled pretty automatically.

Sharing between two or more computers of any type - wired
A more general solution is to use a LAN switch or hub to connect all the computers together as is typically done in the enterprise. 4 port routing switches used to share a DSL or cable modem as readily available for under $100. The source of the Internet is converted to Ethernet and plugged into the switch. The Ethernet connections to all the other computers are plugged in to the switch as well. This solution required that there is a wired connection between each computer.
Each computer needs its own Internet Protocol (IP) address on the network. There are some great tutorials on the Internet for more information. (Search for IP tutorial or see glossary below)
The router is set up with an outside address provided by your ISP. The router connects the outside network with the one in your home or office. The inside addresses are (can be) automatically assigned by the router. Thus all computers connected to the switch may have their own addresses but share the one outside address to the Internet.

Sharing between two or more computers of any type - wireless
An alternative that does not require all the computers to be wired together so that they can connect to the Internet is to use the wireless standard (Wi-Fi or 802.11x). To implement this one would buy a wireless router/switch, again for less than $100, and connect it to the source of Internet. For each computer or laptop that needs to share the network, a wireless radio card is installed. At this point, the laptop, for example, can get to the Internet from any room in the house.

Please send feedback on this article please send email to jwilson@ptera.net. Is it too "techie"? What subjects would you like to hear about in future columns? For now, surf wisely…

'Net Insights Glossary

Network - connection between computers to share files, play games, video conference, to share an Internet connection, etc.
LAN - Local Area Network
LAN port - the most common network connection from a PC using a built in or added in Network Interface Card (NIC) and a CAT5E cable. Ethernet is the physical method.
Ethernet - The most popular LAN technology in use today. It is a wiring standard for a type of network connection. The IEEE standard 802.3 defines the rules for configuring an Ethernet network.
CAT5E - a cable type of four unshielded twisted pairs of wire used in Ethernet
OSI network model - a layered model showing how networking software is organized.
Layer one - physical connection layer, for example CAT5 cable and protocols
Layer two - data link layer using MAC addresses
Layer three - IP layer using IP addresses
Layer four to seven - application layer
MAC or Ethernet address - a one of a kind address, the hardware's physical address given out at factory and unchangeable consisting of 6 pairs of two hexadecimal (base 16) digits
IP address - this address can be assigned by the user or the ISP and is in the form of four sets of three decimal digits, for example 123.123.123.123, separated by periods.
Hub - hardware that connects multiple devices using Ethernet, all devices see all traffic on local network
Switch - hardware that connects multiple devices using Ethernet, devices see traffic directed at them on local network, faster than a hub and generates less network traffic.
Router - hardware or software that connects different local networks, may include firewall and other functionality
Wi-Fi or 802.1b/a/g - The most common wireless networking standards

Note: Much more information is available on the Internet. Just do a search on "IP tutorial".