For each computer you're going to use on your network, you will need to make sure you have enough category 5 cable to run from each computer to the router or hub. By now you should also have installed the appropriate networking adapters as well as their corresponding drivers. In the network properties window (right click on "network neighborhood" and choose "properties") you can view what protocols and adapters you currently have installed. To set up a network, you will need to make sure you have the TCP/IP protocol installed for the adapter you are going to use to connect to the network.

If you are using a Microsoft OS such as Windows 98 or later, setting up the network is super simple. Windows networking should be installed by default as one of the basic options of the OS. If you are using Windows ME on at least one of your computers, you can run the home networking wizard which will help you get your computers up and running if they are not already. Just keep in mind that you will need to set each computer in your network to use the same workgroup name, for our test set up I set mine to @home.

In Windows 95/98 you will need to go into network properties and make sure that everything is set to the default. Your internet service provider should have informed you by now of how to setup the TCP/IP protocol to connect to the internet. You can have either a static or dynamic address depending on your ISP. Static addresses take a moment longer to setup but never change. This can be nice if you want to offer services to internet users such as FTP, a web server, or any other internet services. Assuming you are being assigned a dyamic address, your TCP/IP protocol properties address tab should have “obtain IP address automatically” selected. To check if the computer has been assigned an IP address by the router/hub use Windows IP Configure (start > run > type winipcfg) or via command line ‘ipconfig' (Windows 98/ME only). There your computer should have been assigned an IP address such as 192.168.0.x, where x is the unique number each computer is assigned on the network. Depending on the router you choose the IP numbers may vary, but in general the last digit is the computer definable digit. 192.168.0.1 would be the IP address of the router (listed as default gateway in winipcfg) in this example.

Here are two different yet easy-to-use ways to share a broadband connection; NAT (network address translation), and proxy. Either way requires the TCP/IP protocol, which is what allows your computer to communicate with other computers over the internet/intranet. This protocol comes automatically installed on Windows 98 or later, and can be easily installed on Windows 95, simply refer to Windows' Help function.

A proxy is nothing more than another computer (controlled by your ISP) that sits between you and the rest of the internet. All information that goes to and from your computer must first pass through the proxy server. While this sounds bad, it is actually quite good for each subscriber. The proxy also acts as a natural firewall stopping malicious hackers from entering your computer. A proxy server also has the ability to cache frequently accessed pages, and filter certain things such as ads, out of the page you are trying to view.

A Network Address Translation, or NAT as we more commonly call it, is much easier to use (and set up) than a proxy based set up. Much like a proxy, the computer that actually connects the network to the internet runs the NAT. Unlike a proxy, the NAT based router/computer usually does not have the ability to filter or cache pages. Both NAT or Proxy can be hardware or software based, but in this example we are using a hardware based NAT router. Microsoft offers an example of a NAT software solution in Windows 98 called “internet connection sharing.”

Before you start doing anything, make sure that you know your current ISP's DNS server addresses, and your current host name. The router will need to know these to connect to the internet through your ISP. The router I choose to use in this example is the Netgear RT314 (which uses NAT), so if you have the normal network working, getting the internet to work on the network usually is as simply a matter of plugging in your cable/xDSL modem.