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BOOT CAMP 285 (29/07/03)
Wireless Networking part 5
Now that your Wi-Fi network is up and running it’s time to
share your Internet connection with the other PCs. This facility is built into
some wireless routers but if you want to set it up yourself I suggest that you
go for the simplest option, which is Windows ICS (Internet Connection Sharing).
It’s included in all versions of Windows from 98 SE onwards and although fairly
basic it is reliable and reasonably easy to install.
ICS is installed only on the Server PC, the Client PCs can be
set up automatically (ICS creates an installation floppy disc during the setup
which you load on the client PCs) or you can do it manually. If your Server PC
is using Windows XP go to Network Connection in Control Panel and under Network
Tasks click on ‘Set up a home or small office network’ and follow the prompts.
In Windows 98 SE and ME go to Add/Remove Programs in Control
Panel, select the Windows Setup tab, double click Internet Tools (Communications
in Windows ME) and follow the prompts. You may be asked to load your Windows
CD-ROM after which the setup Wizard should start.
You will be asked select the type of Internet connection you
are using (Dial Up, ADSL etc.) then select the network adaptor card that
connects your PC to the Internet and this is where it can get confusing. If you
are using a USB type broadband modem it may not show up on the list. If that
happens the simple solution is to install a second network interface card (NIC)
in the Server PC. It doesn’t have to be connected to anything and you can remove
it afterwards. Resume the setup and select the second network card and the
installation should proceed to the last stage, where you are invited to make a
network configuration disc. By all means do so but it’s worth manually
configuring at least one of your client PCs, so you know how it all works. Click
Finish and the Server setup is complete.
If anything goes wrong during this stage there is nothing you
can do to recover the situation and you have to uninstall ICS from Add/Remove
Programs in Control Panel, reboot and start again.
To configure your Client PCs automatically load the
installation floppy, open it in Windows Explorer and click on the ISC icon and
follow the prompts. To configure a Client manually open Network in Control
Panel, highlight the TCP/IP entry ‘bound’ to your network adaptor (usually the
Wi-Fi card or adaptor), then click Properties. Select the WINS tab and select
‘Use DHCP for WINS Resolution. On the Gateway tab the Installed Gateways list
should be empty, (remove any shown). On the DNS tab select ‘Disable DNS’ and on
the IP Address tab select ‘Obtain IP Address Automatically’, Click OK and
reboot. In Internet Explorer go to Internet Options on the Tools menu, select
the Connections tab and make sure that ‘Never Dial A connection is selected.
All being well you will now be able to access the Internet
and send and receive emails normally on your client and Server PCs but if for
any reason the Client’s Internet connection doesn’t work here’s a couple of
things to check.
Make sure that the network is operating and you can access
files on the Server. It often helps to shut everything down then reboot in the
order Router, Server, Client. If you are still having problems try the
troubleshooting suggestions on the following web sites:
http://www.dewassoc.com/support/networking/ics_4.htm
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=
http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/
Q229/8/29.ASP&NoWebContent=1
Finally, if you haven’t already done so enable printer
sharing on your client PCs. Open Printers in My Computer or Control Panel (make
sure the printer is switched on and connected to your Server PC and that it is
working properly). Click Add Printer, select Network Printer and follow the
prompts, using the Browse button to locate the printer on your Network, which
you’ll find under Network Neighbourhood. Click OK and it’s done and your network
should now be fully operational.
Next week – Wireless Networking 6
JARGON FILTER
DHCP
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol – system of automatically
allocating IP addresses to computers in a network
DNS
Domain Name System
System used by the Internet to translate web
site addresses into IP addresses
WINS
Windows Internet Naming Service – software that translates
networking commands into IP addresses
TIP OF THE WEEK
Security is vitally important on a network, where others may
be able to access sensitive or private files on your PC. Simply deleting a file
doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t still be recovered and the only way to make
sure the data is permanently removed from your hard disc drive is to ‘shred’ it.
A simple freeware utility called Ultrashredder does just that, by overwriting
the space the deleted file occupies on your disc drive 100 times with random
characters, which should defeat even the most sophisticated file recovery
programs. The program is small doesn’t make any changes to the Windows Registry
and can be downloaded from: http://www.xtort.net/xtort/xtort.php
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