When you sign up Cable broadband internet connection, generally the ISP provides you a Cable modem which has USB port, Ethernet port or both USB and Ethernet port. Typically the modem connects direct to a single computer via either USB or Ethernet port. What if you have more than one computer in home and would like to share the Cable Internet connection? The solution is networking the computers.
For some home users with lack of knowledge about computer networking, building a computer network in home to share the cable internet connection is not an easy task to do. Fortunately, there are lots of networking devices such as home wireless routers from many different manufacturers available in the market today which allows you easily build home network with one single networking device as the addition of your existing Cable modem. See also tips in choosing the best wireless router.
Using a LAN Switch
If you currently have signed-up Cable internet connection in home with a modem connects direct to a single computer, an easy way to share the Internet connection is to use a LAN Switch. With a LAN Switch, you need to change the cable connection in different way. Originally the modem connected direct to a single computer via USB or Ethernet, you need to connect the Ethernet port of the modem to a Switch. The following figure is connection diagram if you use a Switch to build a wired local network.
Firstly, before you disconnect the LAN cable from the modem – identify the IP address assignment to the Ethernet port of the modem. The easy way is to run the ipconfig /all command from the command line, and then identify the default gateway address and the subnet mask.
Cable internet connection diagram using switch
Connect the Ethernet port of the Cable modem to the LAN Switch using the UTP cross cable (LAN cable that comes with the modem). Some LAN Switches have Auto-sensing (MDI/MDI-X) ports – means that you can use either straight through or Cross cable – it doesn’t matter. And then the computers with Ethernet port enabled can be connected using the UTP straight through cable too.
This cable internet connection is very easy; however you need to provide TCP/IP configuration for each computer manually with the unique IP address and the same subnet as the modem only if the Cable modem doesn’t have the DHCP server feature. Typically a modem doesn’t have a DHCP feature.
Using a Wireless Router
The best way to share the Cable internet connection with many computers in home or in the office is by deploying a wireless router such as WRT610 Linksys or Netgear WNDR3700. With the wireless router, you can build the network easily and securely without the clutter of the wires. Besides you don’t need the hassle of running the UTP cabling for computer connections, the other advantages of using the wireless router are the DHCP server and the security features. See also home wireless computer network.
Mostly all the wireless routers support the DHCP server feature which is enabled by default. If you know nothing about the DHCP server – just leave the default setting. With the DHCP feature support, you don’t need to configure the IP address manually for all the connected computers in the network. What you need to do is to configure the TCP/IP property to obtain the IP address automatically. See also configuring a simple network for more detail.
The following figure helps you understand how the configurations diagram of the cable internet connection using the wireless router. Connect the Ethernet port of the cable modem (with the LAN port label) to the Ethernet port of the router (with the WAN port or the Internet port label) using the UTP cross cable.
You need to provide the IP address of the WAN port. Many wireless routers detect and configure the WAN port automatically. By default, mostly Router’s Internet Connection Type is set to Automatic Configuration – DHCP, which should be kept only if your ISP supports DHCP or you are connecting through a dynamic IP address (This option usually applies to cable connections).
For all the computers in the network, you need to enable the DHCP services in the router (typically all the wireless routers are enabled by default). And all the computers must be configured to obtain the IP address automatically (which is normally the default setting for Windows XP and later).
The advantages of having wireless routers for your network are the security connection and network protection. Unlike the wired network, the wireless network is susceptible to the eavesdropping by unauthorized users in the network coverage. Wireless routers provide some security features including the wireless encryption and MAC filter. To protect your private network against any threats from the public network (Internet), the wireless routers are powered by the dual firewall features (NAT and SPI).
The easiest way to share the cable internet connection – you can use the Cable wireless router (such as SurfBoard SBG900 by Motorola) – a single solution for Cable modem, firewall/router, and wireless access point.
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