Internet connection sharing

[whoisurdaddy 0]

I am going to order DSL service to my apartment and I am gonna share it with 4 other computers. I know that I can share a single DSL connection to 4 computers by buying Broadband Router like D-Link DI-704 but I don't like its built-in Firewall protection. I have DI-704 at my parents' house and it is good and all but bad for playing games. I mean I can't refresh CS server list because of its Firewall protection. I was wondering, is there any other method to share internet connection?

[clutch 1]

I can play Quake 3 and UT servers with my Linksys BEFSR41 router, but I can't host Q3 games with it. Sometimes it's just a matter of opening the default security a bit. This one has simple security, but other use more conventional ACLs (Access Control Lists) that permit you to state what traffic can come and go.

 

------------------

Regards,

 

clutch

[Vampyr 0]

I suggest using redhat 7.1 beta. Internet connection sharing is easy to set up with the kde2.1 interface and you get a ton of nice options (like routing without firewall protection)

[whoisurdaddy 0]

Hmmm....Linux would be hard to use. I have no experience in Linux so that would not work for me. I believe Win2k can do routing too. But I would have to setup a computer to do routing then. Can I connect DSL modem to Switch box's Uplink port? I have 5 port Switch and one port is Uplink port. And for Firewall, install software Firewall like BlackIce defender or something.

[Vampyr 0]

What type of IP assigning does your DSL provider provide? I have the low end DSL service so my IP is through NAT addressing...therefore i'm only allowed to use 1 IP... if i got a higher end DSL package I could go with 2 static IPs or 8 DHCP address. If your provider allows for more than 1 IP assigned per user then just hook yer external DSL modem up to the hub and use a program called dynu to assign a static forwarding address.

[maxg 0]

Quote:

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by whoisurdaddy:
I am going to order DSL service to my apartment and I am gonna share it with 4 other computers. I know that I can share a single DSL connection to 4 computers by buying Broadband Router like D-Link DI-704 but I don't like its built-in Firewall protection. I have DI-704 at my parents' house and it is good and all but bad for playing games. I mean I can't refresh CS server list because of its Firewall protection. I was wondering, is there any other method to share internet connection?</font>

[whoisurdaddy 0]

I think my ISP will give me only 1 IP so I am probably going to buy D-Link Router/Switch DI-704. I got the same router at my parents' house and it is pretty good. Now, I need to figure out a way to forward ports with it so Counter-Strike wouldn't freeze when I click on Update to get the list of servers.

[clutch 1]

Quote:

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by whoisurdaddy:
Hmmm....Linux would be hard to use. I have no experience in Linux so that would not work for me. I believe Win2k can do routing too. But I would have to setup a computer to do routing then. Can I connect DSL modem to Switch box's Uplink port? I have 5 port Switch and one port is Uplink port. And for Firewall, install software Firewall like BlackIce defender or something.</font>

You need a router for this situation. Win2K will support NAT (which is what the basic broadband gateways/routers do too) and it works pretty well. Linux does the same thing, but calls it "Masquerading". However, with either of these solutions you have to sacrifice a PC, whereas with the basic home broadband routers you get all the basic features you need for $100 US or so.



------------------
Regards,

clutch

[whoisurdaddy 0]

Yeah, I think I am going to buy a Broadband router. It will be cheaper since I won't have to sacrifice a computer and using a computer to do routing will cost more for my electric bill.

[whoisurdaddy 0]

Ok, I changed my mind about buying a router. I got myself a computer to run a server and I am going to make it do routing too. I have Win2k Professional installed on it. What service(s) do I need to turn on to do routing??? Or all the services I need to do routing is turned on by default? So I will need to add another NIC in that computer too then. 1 NIC to connect to my DSL modem and another NIC to connect to 5-port switch which other computers will be connected to. Can someone help me run through stuffs that I need to setup so other computers will look up that Routing server for getting IPs? Also, I have another question. If I run that server computer for routing, it doesn't use up CPU power and bandwidth does it?? Because I am planning to use that server computer for running WWW server and dedicated Counter-Strike server also.

[Vampyr 0]

I could make you a routing program that runs on a floppy... super secure (linux distribution doesn't contain telnet, ftp, or ssh).

[whoisurdaddy 0]

Vampyr, I am interested if you are talking about Win2k routing program. Linux won't do good for me because I don't know how to use Linux.

[Vampyr 0]

You don't need to know how to use linux. Everything is menu driven. All you need is a 386, 12mb of ram and two 100% NE2000 compatible network cards. The whole program runs off the floppy and loads into ram. This router is UNHACKABLE.

[whoisurdaddy 0]

Ok, I will try and contact you for that program then.

[HarU 0]

Whoisyourdaddy, this is how i recommend you do it.

 

Get two network cards. Put them in your server. Plug the DSL line into one card so it gets the IP from your DSL modem. Configure your other network card with an address such as 10.7.6.1

 

Now, plug a cable from the second net card (the 10.7.6.1 card) to a 5 port switch. Now, go to your network properties for the 1st nework card, and go to the Sharing tab at the top. Enable Internet Connection Sharing. Have the Network Card #2 use the ip for the first network card as the gateway. Now you have a way to route the packets from network card 1 (the gateway to the internet) to your internal machines. Have all of the machines on your network plug into the switch. Plug the Network Card #2 into the uplink port. Have the other machines use address as 10.7.6.2-5. Also assign the gateway for these machines to be 10.7.6.1.

 

Now you have a gateway for all of your internal machines to use one ip and send packets out to the internet. Now, that is the hard part. Step two is to get yourself a little 3rd party software program to manage your firewall. After you configure that, you are done.

 

Well, i think that is it, i may have missed something, but im pretty sure this will work (unless i left out a step). This is the way i have mine set up at home. Good luck. If this gets too "hairy" for you, i recommend just biting the bullet and get the router. You can still manage all of the packets through your one server then to the router. The key here is the gateway. Anyway, hope this helps.

[whoisurdaddy 0]

Thanks for the tips. I have another quick question. Which service(s) should I turn on in Win2k to do the routing?

[HarU 0]

Service??? You won't need any specific services turned on that aren't already defaulted on. If you do it the way i told you, that is all you have to do. Then, from the firewall software, you can open certain ports to route to certain internal ips. You won't be able to give all of the internal machines routable ips. The one ip that you get from DSL will make a gateway for the internal machines. From the software that you download, you can open a port to, oh, say for instance, 10.7.6.3. Now, all of the packets going to your DSL ip will route specifically to that internal machine. This is really only useful if you wanted to host multiplayer games and such. Let me know how it turns out.

[whoisurdaddy 0]

Well, I am not going to use my routing computer until June when I move into an apartment and get myself a DSL connection. But I will setup the computer for routing when I get back from Spring Break. I will be back to my school on Sunday and try to setup the computer for routing. I have T1 connection at school right now. I think I can still test my computer router with that T1 connection.