How do i share an internet connection on a network?

Question

hi everyone. I have a motorola surfboard cable modem which was supplied by my isp. It has a USB as well as an Ethernet port. Generally we connect our computers through a hub. Is it possible to connect my modem to this hub for internet sharing? Its kinda puzzling but i would be grateful for any kind of help or advise. Thanks and cheers.

Answer 1

You never connect a hub or network switch directly to an ISP's modem.  This will cause trouble of major proportions.

However, you are pretty close to having all the needed equipment to achieve your goal.

Purchase a router.  This device has a WAN or Internet port and a LAN port.  The internet feed from your modem is connected to the router WAN port; the LAN port is connected to your existing network switch or network hub.  

Follow the manufacturer's manual on configuring the router and your network pcs to work properly.

You use the Ethernet port from the ISP, not the USB port which is not used at all.

Answer 2

I'm assuming that the hub you're talking about is a USB hub.

Modems manage connections from the internet to ONE specific thing. Routers manage connections to and from multiple sources at the same time. So if you want to share a network a modem AND a router are necessary. The modem would manage connections to and from the internet and to and from the router. While the router would manage connections to and from computers in your network and to and from the modem.

In other words, you should buy a router. Linksys offers extremely high quality routers (wired and wireless) for a reasonable price. I would recommend asking the store for set-up service if you don't feel comfortable setting it up yourself. (It can be very daunting, trust me!)

Answer 3

join any social group...

Answer 4

Don't use the USB port, if you do it will make your connection unstable as well as making sharing the connection *very* difficult

Instead, connect the ethernet port to a router, I have the NETGEAR WGR614 Wireless Router, which is excellent, as it is easy to configure and secure, as well as sharing your connection between up to 4 wired computers, more if you add another hub or switch, as well as wireless computers too.

A network hub connects several different network connections together

A network switch is the same as a hub, accept that the switch only sends the data where it needs to go, the hub just sends everything to all connections, which is easier and cheaper, but less efficient and can slow down larger networks.

A router is, again, the same, accept it learns where each device on the network is, so that only that device gets the the data that it needs.

If you want to simplify things and use one box that does everything, there are "Cable wireless modem routers" out there, see the last source

You will then need to plug wireless adaptors in to your computers, if they don't alreay have them, and configure them to receive your wireless network, or plug in the network cable that you have plugged in to your router.

That's it! If you need any more help let me know.

The products below are just for example, if you don't want to buy them, or find something cheaper, it's up to you =o)

Answer 5

Use a wireless router.  There are so many in the markets. It is very easy to install.

Answer 6

Install proxy in your system and configure the connection in other systems in the network thru the system in which there is internet connection.