Home » Technology » Internet Communication » Internet Connection Sharing Made Simple

Internet Connection Sharing Made Simple

© Maureen Fleury

Approximately 4 years ago I set up my first home network. Prior to that, there were five of us sharing two computers. Not only was it frustrating to wait our turn to dial in, we all wanted to be on the Internet longer hours. When I bought a new computer and gave my kids my old one, we were up to 3 computers. I knew I had to get a home network. I didn't know how it really worked, though I've heard the words like server, network cards, cable and hub.

By luck, I worked at a business where there was a computer department and I asked one of the techies a lot of questions. He had just set up a home network plus he managed the network at work. I had a crash course on home networking from him plus I did some research on the Internet (when I had my turn on the computer). I discovered that setting up a home network was not that difficult providing you have user-friendly administration software and the ability to install network cards and attach cables.

My friend had set up his home network using Sygate Home Network Software licensed by Sybergen Inc and was very pleased with the easy configuration and reliability. I was hesitant to try it because sometimes a techie will consider something very simple and it turns out to be beyond comprehension for an ordinary person like me. It was available for a 30-day trial so I thought I'd try it to see if it was as easy as he described it. If I didn't like it or found it too difficult to use, I could delete it and look for something else or have the techie make a house call. I proceeded with doubt but had the determination to set up a home network regardless of anticipated bumps along the way.

I went to the local computer store and bought a network in a box. It contained a hub and two network cards. I also bought the RJ45 cabling to connect the hub to each computer. With a coat hanger and drill, I strung cables between the upstairs and main floor and basement. We didn't have room for all 3 computers on the same floor. I used the drill for boring holes in the floors and ceiling and the uncoiled coat hanger for pulling cable though the holes.

The techie had some opened computers in his lab at work and he showed me how to install the network cards. It was very easy. I popped open the metal protector in an available slot at the back of the computer and snapped in the card. I put back the computer cover and plugged in a cable to the card and hooked it to the hub. The hardware was all in place and then I had to program the cards on each computer. I had a driver disk for the cards so when I started up Windows, it detected the hardware and I put in the driver disk. I then went into Control panel to do some simple settings. I had to think of a workgroup name for my network and enter that same name in each computer. . I also enabled file and print sharing. Then the Network Neighborhood icon appeared on each desktop. By clicking on the icon, I could see a list of all computers. I knew that all the computers were attached.