Two nics query

I have 8 pc's ethernet'd in house via Cat5 and a hub. As I live in rural
area and there's only dialup available, one of the pcs runs a proxy server
that most of the others use to connect to the internet. That way, wife,
daughters and myself can all surf at same time, albeit slowly.

Six of the pcs run 98SE (one is the proxy server), another desktop runs
XP-PRO and a laptop runs XP Home.

We are about to have a 'Satellite internet connection' (NS, Canada)
installed, e.g. dish and other hardware. It is my understanding that this
requires a network card for it's connection to the pc. Seems to me the best
approach I could take would be to install a second nic in the desktop XP-Pro
unit for that connection. Reasoning being XP Pro allows one to bridge
networks which sounds like that should allow the other pcs to also use the
Sat connection via Proxy or Windows/ ICS?

So the questions ...

Presumably, getting 2 nics installed and working properly under XP-Pro in a
2.8G/1G ram pc isn't a problem?

Is setting up the "bridging" straight forward?

Any links one might care to point me at appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:30:32 -0400, "pjp"
<pjpoirier_is_located_at_@_hotmail_._com> wrote:

>I have 8 pc's ethernet'd in house via Cat5 and a hub. As I live in rural
>area and there's only dialup available, one of the pcs runs a proxy server
>that most of the others use to connect to the internet. That way, wife,
>daughters and myself can all surf at same time, albeit slowly.
>
>Six of the pcs run 98SE (one is the proxy server), another desktop runs
>XP-PRO and a laptop runs XP Home.
>
>We are about to have a 'Satellite internet connection' (NS, Canada)
>installed, e.g. dish and other hardware. It is my understanding that this
>requires a network card for it's connection to the pc. Seems to me the best
>approach I could take would be to install a second nic in the desktop XP-Pro
>unit for that connection. Reasoning being XP Pro allows one to bridge
>networks which sounds like that should allow the other pcs to also use the
>Sat connection via Proxy or Windows/ ICS?
>
>So the questions ...
>
>Presumably, getting 2 nics installed and working properly under XP-Pro in a
>2.8G/1G ram pc isn't a problem?
>
>Is setting up the "bridging" straight forward?
>
>Any links one might care to point me at appreciated.
>
>Thanks for your time.

Bridging and ICS do different things, and ICS is what you would use to
share the satellite connection.

It's easy to use an XP computer as an ICS host with two NICs: one for
the LAN, and one for the Internet connection. Once the Internet
connection is working, open the Network Connections folder,
right-click the Internet connection, click Properties > Advanced, and
enable ICS. That will set the LAN connection's IP address to
192.168.0.1 and enable a DHCP server on the LAN to assign compatible
192.168.0.x addresses to the other computers. If the Internet
connection uses 192.168.0.x addresses, you'll have to change it before
setting up ICS. There's no supported way to change the ICS addresses.

However, your network would be simpler and more reliable if it used a
broadband router to share the Internet connection. Connect the
router's WAN port to the satellite Internet connection, and connect
your existing computers, hubs, and switches to the router's LAN ports.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Why bother with ICS at all? Your satellite connection will most likely be a
modem with Ethernet coming out the back end. Plug that into your network
switch and point all your machines at the modem's address. Chances are the
modem will even assign addresses automatically so set your machines to use
DHCP and you'll probably be up and running in a matter of minutes.

"pjp" <pjpoirier_is_located_at_@_hotmail_._com> wrote in message
news:%231iKEw%(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have 8 pc's ethernet'd in house via Cat5 and a hub. As I live in rural
> area and there's only dialup available, one of the pcs runs a proxy server
> that most of the others use to connect to the internet. That way, wife,
> daughters and myself can all surf at same time, albeit slowly.
>
> Six of the pcs run 98SE (one is the proxy server), another desktop runs
> XP-PRO and a laptop runs XP Home.
>
> We are about to have a 'Satellite internet connection' (NS, Canada)
> installed, e.g. dish and other hardware. It is my understanding that this
> requires a network card for it's connection to the pc. Seems to me the
> best
> approach I could take would be to install a second nic in the desktop
> XP-Pro
> unit for that connection. Reasoning being XP Pro allows one to bridge
> networks which sounds like that should allow the other pcs to also use the
> Sat connection via Proxy or Windows/ ICS?
>
> So the questions ...
>
> Presumably, getting 2 nics installed and working properly under XP-Pro in
> a
> 2.8G/1G ram pc isn't a problem?
>
> Is setting up the "bridging" straight forward?
>
> Any links one might care to point me at appreciated.
>
> Thanks for your time.
>
>
>

On Sat, 5 Jan 2008 07:46:06 -0500, "Walsh" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:
>>I have 8 pc's ethernet'd in house via Cat5 and a hub. As I live in rural
>> area and there's only dialup available, one of the pcs runs a proxy server
>> that most of the others use to connect to the internet. That way, wife,
>> daughters and myself can all surf at same time, albeit slowly.
>>
>> Six of the pcs run 98SE (one is the proxy server), another desktop runs
>> XP-PRO and a laptop runs XP Home.
>>
>> We are about to have a 'Satellite internet connection' (NS, Canada)
>> installed, e.g. dish and other hardware. It is my understanding that this
>> requires a network card for it's connection to the pc. Seems to me the
>> best
>> approach I could take would be to install a second nic in the desktop
>> XP-Pro
>> unit for that connection. Reasoning being XP Pro allows one to bridge
>> networks which sounds like that should allow the other pcs to also use the
>> Sat connection via Proxy or Windows/ ICS?
>>
>> So the questions ...
>>
>> Presumably, getting 2 nics installed and working properly under XP-Pro in
>> a
>> 2.8G/1G ram pc isn't a problem?
>>
>> Is setting up the "bridging" straight forward?
>>
>> Any links one might care to point me at appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks for your time.
>
>Why bother with ICS at all? Your satellite connection will most likely be a
>modem with Ethernet coming out the back end. Plug that into your network
>switch and point all your machines at the modem's address. Chances are the
>modem will even assign addresses automatically so set your machines to use
>DHCP and you'll probably be up and running in a matter of minutes.

A typical broadband modem provides one public IP address and can't do
Internet sharing or DHCP address assignment for multiple computers.
For those functions, connect a broadband router between the modem and
the network switch.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

"Steve Winograd" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Sat, 5 Jan 2008 07:46:06 -0500, "Walsh" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
> >>I have 8 pc's ethernet'd in house via Cat5 and a hub. As I live in rural
> >> area and there's only dialup available, one of the pcs runs a proxy
server
> >> that most of the others use to connect to the internet. That way, wife,
> >> daughters and myself can all surf at same time, albeit slowly.
> >>
> >> Six of the pcs run 98SE (one is the proxy server), another desktop runs
> >> XP-PRO and a laptop runs XP Home.
> >>
> >> We are about to have a 'Satellite internet connection' (NS, Canada)
> >> installed, e.g. dish and other hardware. It is my understanding that
this
> >> requires a network card for it's connection to the pc. Seems to me the
> >> best
> >> approach I could take would be to install a second nic in the desktop
> >> XP-Pro
> >> unit for that connection. Reasoning being XP Pro allows one to bridge
> >> networks which sounds like that should allow the other pcs to also use
the
> >> Sat connection via Proxy or Windows/ ICS?
> >>
> >> So the questions ...
> >>
> >> Presumably, getting 2 nics installed and working properly under XP-Pro
in
> >> a
> >> 2.8G/1G ram pc isn't a problem?
> >>
> >> Is setting up the "bridging" straight forward?
> >>
> >> Any links one might care to point me at appreciated.
> >>
> >> Thanks for your time.
> >
> >Why bother with ICS at all? Your satellite connection will most likely be
a
> >modem with Ethernet coming out the back end. Plug that into your network
> >switch and point all your machines at the modem's address. Chances are
the
> >modem will even assign addresses automatically so set your machines to
use
> >DHCP and you'll probably be up and running in a matter of minutes.
>
> A typical broadband modem provides one public IP address and can't do
> Internet sharing or DHCP address assignment for multiple computers.
> For those functions, connect a broadband router between the modem and
> the network switch.
> --
> Best Wishes,
> Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)
>
> Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
> for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
> addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.
>
> Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

What I've been using for most of the networked pcs already is a small Proxy
Server (AnalogX) running on a 98 box as I'm dialup with kids and their own
boxs. I've gotten both nics in the XP box and have it setup properly it
seems as I was able to connect a laptop to the 2nd nic and have it share
etc. as expected. I also installed "Bridge nics" which allowed tho pc on the
2nd nic to be seen and see the other pcs on the first nic. That seemed to
cause problems with PCAnywhere on the XP box and as it isn't needed for my
plan so I then removed the Bridge.

The plan is basically once the hardware is installed and working (e.g. XP
can use the Sat to connect) I'll run the proxy server on it and simply
repoint the other pcs to that pcs IP (I use static IPs in the 192.168.0.x
range). Assuming that works, I imagine sooner or later I'll get an older box
setup with XP and two nics (98SE PIII in back room acts as hard disk server
and nothing more) and offload the task solely to that pc.

Only thing that I can see might cause problems is the proxy server doesn't
work under XP, unlikely but I've gotta find the time to get it running and
repoint one of the other pcs at it to check.

The hold-up right now is that the authorized dealer who MUST do the
installation (authorized, trained installer required by law as dish sends
out a signal strong enough to endanger health) wants an exorbitant amount to
take dish down off current house and reinstall it here. WAY MORE than they
charged for first install when hardware was bought (opportunity to allow
greed to prevail, plain and simple) .