Windows Vista Annoyances

Sharing an Internet Connection

If you have broadband (high-speed) Internet service, like a cable modem or DSL service, you’re a very lucky individual. Not only do you get spectacular speed when surfing the Web or doing email, but you also have a full-time connection. You never have to wait for a modem to dial (screeching all the way), and wait again for it to disconnect.

If your broadband company didn’t supply a piece of equipment (like a wireless or Ethernet router) for sharing that connection with more than one computer, shame on them!

Fortunately, setting up such a system is fairly easy, and practically a requirement if your home or office has more than one PC. There are two ways to go about it.

Get a Broadband Router

A router (a gateway in Microsoft lingo) is a little box, about $60, that connects directly to the cable modem or DSL box. It provides multiple Ethernet jacks—which look like slightly fattened telephone jacks—to accommodate your wired PCs. The Internet signal is automatically shared among all the PCs connected to the router.

Use Internet Connection Sharing

Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) is a built-in Vista feature that simulates a router. Like a hardware router, ICS distributes a single Internet connection to every computer on the network—but unlike a router, it’s free. You just fire it up on the one PC that’s connected directly to your cable modem or DSL box—or, as networking geeks would say, the gateway or host PC.

But there’s a downside: if the gateway PC is turned ...