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system

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Ideal networking solution

Hello,

I have a cable modem, and two computers.
Currently the cable modem is terminating into a NIC
on the main system. I would like to be able to share
the cable/internet connection, without having to resort
to a router/firewall because of other difficulties
that need not be elaborated on. Ultimately,
both systems are running Win98, what needs to be installed
(besides 2 NIC in the main PC) for the internet connection to be recognized and used by both PCs?
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vsamtani

If it's Win98 second edition on the pc with the cable modem, then Internet Connection Sharing needs to be installed, and that's it. If it's not second edition, you need to get a third-party equivalent. Wingate and Sygate are probably the most popular, and they're not too expensive. HHproxy is free, but much more rough-and-ready

http://home.t-online.de/home/sog-luebeck/hhproxy.htm

Vijay
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ASKER

Hello vsamtani,

No they are both version2, can you give more information on installing and configuring Internet connection sharing.
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Here is a really good step-by-step..
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/sharing.htm

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ASKER

Well the big issue that I am having that is probably answered in the link from the top of practicallynetworked, (http://coverage.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/HomeLAN/) is no longer active...

Basically can I do this:

Have the systems connected with and without a hub, and still follow those instructions... i.e. will my main system still recognize the other pc?
Here is an alternative link:
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/peer.htm

Your two systems should recognize each other whether they are cross-connected or connected to a hub...
system,

as I've been recommending to people in this topic, if you can spare about $120, buy a cable modem router and follow the manual. This WILL save you countless headaches (such as buying and installing 2nd network card, mucking around with ICS...). The ICS is a "cheap" solution that may end up being quite expensive if you value your time.
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ASKER

sergis,

I have heard however that there are problems with
routers, because they all have built-in firewalls.
My friend has set up a cable-router-rest of network setup
an can no longer access his mail server.

If you have any suggestions or fool-proof hardware I can
buy, I will re-consider the router option.

I use a 3com router with 4 built-in ports. I find it the best of the three I tried (compared to Netgear and Linksys). I have 3 workstations and a web/mail/name server connected to it. And a Lexmark printer through built-in parallel port.

The workstations run a variety of Windows, from 95 to ME, the server is an e-smith Linux box, just for fun. All windows boxes use DHCP ("Obtain an IP address automatically"). Works like plug-and-play. I have no problem accessing anything on the net, and I also have one of the machine configured to run a game host for Diablo, AoE and such.

No trouble and an awful lot more secure than naked Win box facing the net.
In addition to the excellent advice so far,

I would put zonealarm, the free personal firewall from zonelabs.com on the computers.

I hope this helps !

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ASKER

sergis,

I guess the only questions I have then is what costed 120 dollars? I have checked and the 3com router retails for a lot more than that.
System, just buy the 2nd NIC, it's very easy to install the ICS.

On the gateway-pc (the one with the 2 NIC's), set the LAN-IP address to 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0

On the other pc, just leave everything as it was set during the installation of the NIC (so: Obtain IP address etc.). Just set the default gateway to 192.168.0.1 and set the DNS server(s) address(es).

Activate ICS (very easy, you only have to select the Internet an the LAN NIC).

That's it! Easy huh? If you still have problems, look at the help provided by Windows. This should give you a short explanation. Normally it has the entire installation guide too!

Have fun!

ToniVR

If possible, use WinRoute instead of ICS, but this will cost you some bucks :(
Just putting in my vote from experience, although I'm aware its been mentioned.  Sygate and ZoneAlarm.  Total cost is less than $30 and it takes about 5 minutes to set it all up.  I have done this configuration for friends and relatives a bunch of times and have never had any problems.
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sergeis

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ASKER

thanks sergis,

you contributed the most to finding a solution.
I appreciate everyone who gave their two cents as well.