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Adding IPs?

More and more homes across the country are using high-speed Internet services. The cost for a single account is pretty reasonable, but hooking up additional accounts for more computers can get expensive. That's where Internet sharing comes into play. Considering that most common Cable and DSL services offer a good amount of bandwidth, there is plenty available to be shared among several users at once without any visible slowdown. Why spend extra dollars to get more equipment and services than you need?

Some companies will allow you to obtain (for a fee) a second IP, and then they can take care of setting up the systems for you. For my cable system out on Long Island, it's very simple to just plug the cable/DSL directly to a hub's uplink port. From there, assuming that you have installed your network cards correctly and that there are no conflicts, your two (or more) computers will automatically each get assigned an IP by the cable server. Boom, instant internet access for all your computers.

This practice is generally frowned upon, because it causes the subnets to get filled up very quickly, possibly bumping a paying customer off the network. My company (Cablevison of LI Optimum Online) unofficially states that if you do it, they won't stop you, but if you screw something up and need them for service, you are going to get charged a good chunk of change for them to fix the problem and get it all working again. Officially, they want you to buy and pay for a separate modem and account for each computer in your house. Check with your local company for more details about what options you might have.

Proxy Up

The method of sharing an Internet connection that we are going to talk about here involves interfacing an intranet LAN (inside your house) to your cable/DSL/dial-up Internet connection. If your ISP does not allow for multiple connections as described above, and/or you don't want to pay for the extra IP or equipment, a proxy/NAT server is one choice for sharing a single connection between multiple computers. Once again, many cable companies may also also frown upon this practice, but most won't (or can't) stop you from doing it. Check with your local company for details before proceeding.