[HOME]

ICS - Internet Connection Sharing Problems

update: 3:58 PM 20/08/2005

As already stated on my site. I have two computers joined together with a crossover cable sharing a cable internet connection. Both computers have WinME. On my HOST or main computer, the one with the direct connection, I have two ethernet connections. One is set up for my internet and one for my network or LAN.

I have been using a proxy server to share the internet for years. I never could get Internet Connection Sharing or ICS to work, until now.

Here's how.:

  1. Click on Start then Programs then Accessories then Communications and Home Networking Wizard - note: this may be setup a little bit different on your system depending on what version of windows you are running. Basically find and run the Internet Connection Sharing Wizard, from this point I will refer to it as ICS. I currently have WinME on both computers.
  2. Whaen prompted to make a network disk. Then run it on your second computer. You will have to change some of the settings on your second computer for it to work if it doesn't right away.
  3. For now lets go back to computer one. First you need to find out your DNS server numbers and there are two ways to do that.

    a) Go to your internet service provider, ISP, and get your Primary and Secondary DNS numbers from their web site.

    b) On your computer, click on Start, then Run, then type in winipcfg - when the IP configuration window opens click on More info. At the top then you will see the term DNS servers. You will probably only see one series of numbers and a small square at the end with a number of little dots on it, click on that and you will notice that the number canges slightly.

    For example mine is 216.104.96.10, and when I click on the little square the number 10at the end changes to 11, so my numbers are : 216.104.96.10 and 216.104.96.11

    Yours may be different depending on your internet service and the area that you live.

    Unless you have a good memory, write them down. You are finished here now so you can click OK to close it down.

  4. Now, right-click on My Network Places on your desktop, and then click on Properties. On the first tab, usually named Configuration you will see The following network components are installed:. Find the TCP/IP protocol that binds to your to your home network card. This is the card that your other computer or your hub is hooked up to, not your cable modem. My card is a Realtek card and it looks like this:

    TCP/IP[Home]-> Realtek RTL8139(A)-based PCI fast ethernet adapter

    Either double-click on it or click once to highlight it and then click on Properties.

  5. If you ran ICS then on the IP Address tab Specify an IP address should alredy be checked and a IP address of 192.168.0.1 with a Subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. Detect connection to networkmedia should also be checked. In other words don't change anything here.
  6. The only thing you need to change is to click on the DNS Configuration. Click on Enable DNS. In the Host blank put in the name of your computer as set up in your network, mine is MAINFRAME. In the DNS Server Search Order, type in your first DNS server number, remember, I said mine was - 216.104.96.10 , then click on Add. (you will notice the number disappears from the box you typed it into an appears in the box directly below it). Then do the same for the second number - 216.104.96.11 - important use your own numbers. When finished click on Ok and let your computer restart, if prompted. You don't need to put anything in the other blanks.

    And you are done on this computer, now go to computer number two.

  7. First, run the network setup disk that you created with ICS on your second computer. Then you have to go to the network properties on your second computer and make a few changes.
  8. Right-click on My Network Places on your desktop, and then click on Properties. On the first tab, usually named Configuration you will see The following network components are installed:. Find the TCP/IP protocol that binds to your to your home network card. Usually there is only one card listed this time.
  9. If you ran the network setup disk then on the IP Address tab Specify an IP address should alredy be checked and a IP address of 192.168.0.2 with a Subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. THIS TIME click on the option to Obtain an Ip address automatically, and uncheck Detect connection to network media. In the DNS Configuration tab, DON'T DO ANYTHING!! If its enabled, then disable it by checking on Disable DNS. Click OK and that's it.

That's how I got it to work. I spent all day, to get this to work, experimenting with different settings, and downloading and printing up tons of information off the internet.

There is a lot of information on Internet Connection Sharing, and I admit that finding the right combination of factors for your setup may be no easy feat. I have been fooling around with this, on and off now for awile before I finally got it to work. At the time, it was the first time I tried anything like this, so maybe the information was there but I just didn't understand it. Anyway, I gave up on it ( a few times) and started using a proxy server from www.analogx.com, but every now and then I would get an urge to try it again.

Also I would like to add another note: When I used Internet Explorer on my client computer I ran the Internet Connection Wizard and set it up as LAN and chose the option to automatically detect settings. Setting up the proxy server address doesn't work, at least not on mine. Strangly enough, if you use the setup disk on your second computer it will set up the proxy settings.

But I am a Mozilla fan. To set up that one even though it is on my client computer I had to set up its connection preferences to a direct connection to the internet. Again setting it up a proxy will not work.

3:01 PM 17/10/2006 - I wrote the original above awhile ago, today I have two computers, sharing a cable internet connection through a hub, with WinXP on both systems. ICS was a snap. To get it to work all I did was run the Network Setup Wizard on both computers. I wished it was always that easy.