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Setting up ICS in Windows is very simple. If you are using Windows 2000 or XP, open the properties dialog for My Network Places. If you are using Windows Vista or 7, open the Network and Sharing Center and click on Manage network connections (Vista) or Change adapter settings (7) in the left-hand task list. Now access the properties of the connection you wish to share.

Click the Sharing tab (Windows 2000, Vista, and 7) or the Advanced tab (Windows XP), and select Enable Internet connection sharing for this connection (Windows 2000) or Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection (Windows XP–7, Figure 25-23). Clients don’t need any special configuration, but should simply be set to DHCP for their IP address and other configurations.

Figure 25-23 Enabling Internet Connection Sharing in Windows Vista

Hardware Connection Sharing

Although Windows Internet Connection Sharing works, it has a major drawback—you must leave the computer running all the time so the other computers on the network can access the Internet. This is where the small home router fits perfectly. Several manufacturers offer robust, easy-to-configure routers that enable multiple computers to connect to a single Internet connection. These boxes require very little configuration and provide firewall protection between the primary computer and the Internet, which you’ll learn more about in Chapter 26, “Securing Computers.” All it takes to install one of these routers is simply to plug your computer into any of the LAN ports on the back, and then to plug the cable from your Internet connection into the port labeled Internet or WAN.

A great example of a home router is the Linksys WRT54G (Figure 25-24). This little DSL/cable router, for example, has four 10/100 Ethernet ports for the LAN computers, and a WiFi radio for any wireless computers you may have. The Linksys, like all home routers, uses a technology called Network Address Translation, or NAT for short. NAT performs a little network subterfuge: it presents an entire LAN of computers to the Internet as a single machine. It effectively hides all of your computers and makes them appear invisible to other computers on the Internet. All anyone on the Internet sees is your public IP address. This is the address your ISP gives you, while all the computers in your LAN use private addresses that are invisible to the world. NAT, therefore, acts as a firewall, protecting your internal network from probing or malicious users from the outside.

Figure 25-24 Common home router with Wi-Fi

Basic Router Configuration

These small routers require very little in the way of configuration if all you need is basic Internet connection sharing. In some cases, though, you may have to deal with a more complex network that requires changing the router’s settings. The vast majority of these routers have built-in configuration Web pages that you access by typing the router’s IP address into a browser. The address varies by manufacturer, so check the router’s documentation. If you typed in the correct address, you should then receive a prompt for a user name and password, as in Figure 25-25. As with the IP address, the default user name and password change depending on the model/manufacturer. Once you enter the correct credentials, you will be greeted by the router’s configuration page (Figure 25-26). From these pages, you can change any of the router’s settings. Now look at a few of the basic settings that CompTIA wants you to be familiar with.

Figure 25-25 Router asking for user name and password

Figure 25-26 Configuration home page

Changing User Name and Password One of the first changes you should make to your router after you have it working is to change the user name and password to something other than the default. This is especially important if you have open wireless turned on, which you’ll recall from Chapter 24, “Wireless Networking.” If you leave the default user name and password, anyone who