Sharing Internet Connection

[michaeld]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice about setting up 2 computers on a LAN so that one can access the internet through the other.

The 2 computers are connected by a simple Ethernet LAN, but one also has a wireless connection that connects through a router to the internet.

Both computers run Windows XP SP2 (and will soon run Windows Vista).

Microsoft's Internet Connection Sharing seems good, but the problem is there doesn't seem to be a way to restrict who can connect through the shared connection (for example by IP). I need to be able to restrict it so that only 1 computer (there are many others on the LAN) can share internet through the one with the wireless internet.

Could anyone offer any advice? Perhaps I have missed the aforementioned required ability to select those who can use the shared connection in ICS, or perhaps there is a suitable (preferably free) software option?

Many thanks in advance,

Michael

[Rob Pomeroy]

I suggest reading our networking FAQ first.  Link is in my signature.

[michaeld]

I suggest reading our networking FAQ first.  Link is in my signature.

Thanks for your reply, but I still can't find any information about how I might setup restrictions on the host computer to only allow certain clients to connect (for example limiting by IP)

[Rob Pomeroy]

Okay, first things first: is getting another wireless adapter (e.g. cheaply through eBay) out of the question?

[michaeld]

Okay, first things first: is getting another wireless adapter (e.g. cheaply through eBay) out of the question?

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately another wireless adapter is not really possible. Not on a matter of price (I'm very happy to invest in a decent solution to this problem) but the fact that the two computers are hundreds of metres apart (it's a big LAN).

[Rob Pomeroy]

Your answer is to run a proxy server on the internet-connected machine.  ICS as you rightly say isn't up to this job, but Squid is.  There's a (free) Windows port, >here< and I believe you may be able to use authentication mechanisms to regulate use of the proxy server.

It's a fairly sophisticated package; expect pain, getting it working!