Setting up your LAN

Inorder to use PPPshar and share the Internet connection, the Network should be properly configured to support TCP/IP. Make sure that machines in the LAN are properly connected by cables and there are no hardware conflicts.

Note: If you have a working tcp/ip network then skip this section and move to browser proxy configuration.

1) Assigning IP address - for the Gateway machine.

The machine that has the modem and connected to Internet will be called as the Gateway machine. Now, assign some private IP addresses to machines in your LAN including the Gateway machine. Click on the appropriate windows version below for instructions. For example, if your gateway or host machine is Windows XP, click on the "windows XP" link below.

Windows 9x/Me || Windows XP || Windows 2000

Assigning IP address in Windows XP:

Please note that you should modify only the tcp/ip properties attached to your network card. Follow the steps below to View/Modify the properties of your network connection in Windows XP

  • Click Start > Control Panel.
  • Click "Network and Internet Connections".
  • Click "Network Connections".
  • Double-click "Local Area Connection" (or Wireless Network Connection).
  • Click "Properties".
  • If Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is not already installed, click Install, double-click Protocol, highlight Microsoft in the left window, and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the right window.
  • Click OK. Click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and then click Properties.
  • Select "Use the following IP address" and
    • enter the IP address 192.168.0.1 and (you can use any private "Class C" IP address)
    • Subnet 255.255.255.0
  • Other settings can be default.

 

Assigning IP address in Windows 2000:

  • Go to Properties of "My Network Places" on your Desktop, then to
  • Properties of "Local Area Connection" then
  • Click on "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and select the button "Properties"
  • Enable the option that says "Use the following ip address" and in
  • "IP address" field enter 192.168.0.1 and in "Subnet mask" enter 255.255.255.0
  • Then click "OK"

In win2000, it is not required to restart the system after changing the ip address. If you already have a working tcp/ip connection then you can continue to use that ip and skip this section.

Assigning IP address in Windows 9x/Me:

Skip this paragraph if you have already installed your network card and configured it for tcp/ip. Install the network card by following the instructions given by the card manufacturer. Generally, Windows 95/98 will auto-detect your network adapter and will either install the driver for it or ask for driver diskette. After completing this process, the next step is to configure the TCP/IP properties.

Now press the Start button, select Settings..., then Control Panel. Double-click the Network icon. You should see two sets of TCP/IP properties - one for Dial-up adapter and another one for the Network card. It is assumed that you already have been using Dial-up Networking and so TCP/IP is installed already. To add TCP/IP, Double-click Network icon hit the Add... button, double-click Protocol, then select Microsoft, then TCP/IP, and hit OK

Double Click the TCP/IP properties that are assigned to the Network adapter. Follow this step carefully and do not select the TCP/IP property assigned to Dial-up adapter. Now you will get the TCP/IP properties dialog box.

Select the "IP address" tab and then Select the Specify an IP address option. Then type in 192.168.0.1 as the IP address. (or any Class C address) This is a private address that won't exist anywhere on the Internet, this address is used for the internal LAN only with no risk of conflicting with 'real' Internet addresses. Next, fill in the Subnet Mask with 255.255.255.0. If you already have a working tcp/ip connection then you can continue to use that ip and skip this section.

Leave the other options as it is, that is to its default settings.

2) IP addresses for workstations/client machines :

Since workstations in the LAN are not directly connected to Internet these have to be configured properly for TCP/IP to access Internet through the Gateway machine.

Now assign some private IP addresses to each of the machines on your LAN. Since you've already given a private IP address to the Gateway machine, you'll need to provide unique IP addresses in the same subnet to the Workstations on the LAN.

Assign IP numbers to your LAN workstations in the following way:

  IP Subnet mask
Workstation 1 192.168.0.2 255.255.255.0
Workstation 2 192.168.0.3 255.255.255.0

and so on.

In each of the Workstations, press the Start button, select Settings..., then Control Panel. Double-click the Network icon. Double-click the TCP/IP properties and configure the IP using the above pattern. Remember, the IP address for workstations should not be same as any other machine in the LAN, including the Gateway machine. If two machines on a network have the same number, then they won't work correctly.

There is no need to run sequentially, as long as the last number is unique, you can use whichever number you want between 1 and 254. Therefore it is often useful to divide numbers into groups, for instance, numbers 1 - 10 might be in marketing division, 11 - 30 might be in admin office, 31 - 50 might be in another department etc.

Go to the TCP/IP properties in each of the client machines (as mentioned earlier for various windows flavours) and enter the IP address and subnet. Make sure you leave the "Gateway" address blank in all the client machine's tcp/ip settings.

Next Step - Checking your TCP/IP