Setting Up Internet Connection Sharing Server

July 16, 2007 by Mark Marucot

Using the Network Setup Wizard, we can easily configure a Windows XP computer as an Internet Connection Sharing Server.
To start the Network Setup Wizard, follow the steps on this article. After completing the steps, we can proceed in configuring our ICS server.

Select “This computer connects directly to the Internet“.
Select the Internet connection that will be shared with the networked computers. The Wizard will try to automatically determine which one to use. In this example, it correctly selected my DSL connection.
If your computer has more than one local area network connection, the Wizard asks you to select which one(s) to use. Specify “Let me choose the connections to my network“.

Select the local area connection(s) that will share the Internet connection. If you select more than one, the Wizard will create a Network Bridge that joins the connections into one logical connection.
Enter a computer description and computer name. The description appears in My Network Places or Network Neighborhood on other networked computers. The computer name must be unique on the network. For maximum compatibility with all versions of Windows, use 1-12 alphanumeric characters, with no blanks.
Enter a workgroup name, which should be the same on all of the networked computers. Once again, use 1-12 alphanumeric characters, with no blanks. By default, the Wizard uses the name MSHOME. If your network uses a different name, enter it here.

The Wizard displays the settings that you’ve made. Scroll down the list to see all of them.
The Wizard then configures the computer’s network settings. The process may appear to stop for a time, but let it continue to completion.
The Wizard then asks if you want to create a Network Setup Disk, which is a floppy disk that you can use to run the Network Setup Wizard on other computers to configure them as ICS clients. If your clients run Windows 98, 98 Second Edition, or Me, it’s a good idea to run the Wizard on them. It enables them to use XP’s Internet Gateway to control the ICS server’s Internet connection. If you have a Windows XP CD-ROM, you can run the Wizard from it. If you want to run the Wizard but don’t have the CD-ROM, specify Create a Network Setup Disk. Otherwise, specify one of the other choices.
If you told the Wizard to create a Network Setup Disk, it prompts you to insert a disk in the floppy disk drive. If you want to format the disk, erasing all of the existing files on it, click Format Disk. When you click Next, the Wizard writes its files to the disk.
While the Wizard is creating the disk, this screen appears. Wait for it to complete before continuing.
If you created a setup disk, remove it from the drive. Then click Next to complete the network configuration.
When the configuration is complete, the Wizard’s Completion screen appears. Click Finish to exit.
Click Yes to restart your computer automatically, or click No to restart it manually.