Sharing Internet with Direct Cable
(Windows 95, 98, ME)
Host Computer Setup
Two TCP connections need to run simultaneously in your Host computer. First connection is with your Internet provider and the second with your Guest computer. For this reason, two Dial-Up adapters must be installed. Microsoft made available a second adapter, called Virtual Private Network or VPN adapter in addition to the Dial-Up adapter. However, not all Windows versions have this capability. Here are some possible scenarios when sharing Internet with DCC:
Case 1. Windows 98 or higher (AOL, Cable, DSL user)...................OK
No additional setup required for the host computer.
Case 2. Windows 98 or higher (no AOL, no Cable, no DSL)............OK
Need to install VPN adapter. (See below VPN Installation).
Case 3. Windows 95 (AOL, Cable, DSL)...........................................OK
VPN is not available. The AOL adapter or your network adapter can be used instead of VPN.
Case 4. Windows 95 (no AOL, no Cable, no DSL).............................Cannot be used as host
VPN is not available. You can only use this computer as a Guest.
VPN Installation
Click Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs->Windows Setup->Communications->Details and check the box Virtual Private Networking. Then follow the instructions provided by Windows.
After installing VPN, check that the installation is OK by going to Control Panel->Network. In the network setup, make sure that you see the following entries:
Dial-Up Adapter
IPX/SPX compatible protocol->Dial-Up Adapter
NetBEUI ->Dial-Up Adapter
TCP/IP->Dial-Up Adapter
Dial-Up Adapter #2 (VPN Support)
IPX/SPX compatible protocol->Dial-Up Adapter #2 (VPN Support)
NetBEUI ->Dial-Up Adapter #2 (VPN Support)
TCP/IP->Dial-Up Adapter #2 (VPN Support)
If the entries shown above are not present you need to load them. You can do this by selcting the Dial-Up Adapter then Add->Protocol->Microsoft.
AOL user
When you connect to AOL using the AOL connection software ("Home" connection), the Host computer will utilize the AOL adapter to connect to the Internet while Direct Cable will pick the Dial-Up adapter to connect to the Guest. Therefore, the Virtual Network Adapter is not necessary. Any Internet program can use the AOL adapter to access the Web.
The fact that Windows 95 doesn't support VPN makes it more difficult (but not impossible) to share Internet for Win 95 computers. The following conditions should be met:
The Win 95 computer cannot be used as a Host unless another adapter is installed (AOL or network adapter).
The Guest must have a pre-assigned IP address.
The Host and the Guest should not connect using the VPN adapter. This implies that the Direct Cable connection between the Host and the Guest must be done before the Host connects to the Internet. In this way, DCC picks the Dial-Up adapter while the Internet connection will use the VPN adapter.
If these conditions are met you can share Internet using DCC with Windows 95 computers.
Note also that if you want to connect your Guest to the Internet directly through a Dial-Up connection (without using DCC), you must remove the assigned IP address and disable DNS from your Guest computer network settings.
To assign (remove) an IP address, go to Network-Properties->TCP/IP Dial-Up Adapter->IP address and enter one of the following addresses: 10.0.x.x or 192.168.x.x where x is a number from 0 to 255. The subnet mask should be 255.255.255.0.
Additional Information
If you need more information regarding the operation of Direct Cable Connection do a serach on AltaVista or Yahoo and enter the name Direct Cable Connection. You will be directed to a few sites that present a detailed description of this program. In addition, you can find out what type of cables you should use to get maximum performance.