In article <nQBfb.150$(E-Mail Removed)>, ian findlay
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>Hi,
>
>We just had cable broadband installed in our flat and we want to share it
>over the network. The network setup is 3 PCs connected through a switch, and
>the modem is connected too. At the moment, we seem to have two networks
>going, one PC and the modem can see each other and the other two can see
>each other. The one PC seems to be getting it's IP from the modem (82.x.x.x)
>and the two others are windows ones (162.x.x.x). According to Mr. Telewest
>the modem's DHCP server can support 30 users or something, but when you do
>an ipconfig /renew on the other two PCs they time out saying it can find a
>DHCP server (or something along those lines). One thought was that we tell
>windows the IP of the modem as the default gateway (but we've not a clue
>how). Any help or advise you could give us on this matter would be most
>appreciated.
Despite what the cable modem can theoretically support, it's configured
by TW to only issue a single IP address. The first PC will get that,
and have access via the modem to the Internet. All remaining machines
will default to the Windows 162.x.x.x addresses you mentioned as they
will fail to obtain an address from the modem.
You have two choices:
1. Use ICS
2. Replace the switch with a router
If going the ICS route, then you will need to add a second NIC to one
PC, and install ICS on it. The cable modem should be attached directly
to this second NIC, with the other connected to the switch, along with
the remaining machines. The other machines will access the Internet via
the ICS machine.
If you opt for a router, which is vastly preferable IMHO, then you
should simply be able to replace the switch with the router. You will
need to register the WAN MAC address of the router with Blueyonder
(
http://selfcare.blueyonder.co.uk/) first, then power-off the cable
modem and connect the router to it, then power it back up again. The
router will obtain the sole permitted IP address for itself, and will
then act as a DHCP server for the machines attached to it, allowing each
access to the internet via NAT.
HTH

--
Toby