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Proxy
The Internet is based on TCP/IP,
and if you have a full Internet connection
with your own Internet IP-address, it
is nothing else then a
very big TCP/IP network:

When you make a connection to the Internet, your station sends
the data to the Gateway/Router, which then forwards the data to the gateway at your
ISP (Internet Service Provider), which sends it on to
the next router,to the next router,.... until it finally reaches
it destination, from where the data has to come back the same
path.
But only very few people enjoy such a full featured connection to
the Internet, because they are expensive
("24 hour" line from your network to the ISP) and also due to the explosive growth of the Internet,
it is almost impossible to get an assignment of Internet
IP-addresses.
Most installations (especially if it is for
home-usage for a network of just 2 systems)
connect via a (hopefully fast !) modem/ Dialup-
networking connection to the Internet:

But now there are some technical issues to overcome:
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most ISP's do NOT assigned for dialin
connections a fixed IP-address, but
use DHCP to dynamically assigned an IP-address on making
the connection. |
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when making the connection to the
Internet, the ISP assigned temporary
ONE IP-address to you, but you have MULTIPLE systems,
which require
MULTIPLE IP-addresses. |
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the system, which connected via the
modem to the Internet, has to pass on
the Internet connections of the other systems from the
network cable to the
Modem and back, this is called IP-routing, but Windows95
/ 98 is NOT able
to act as IP-router (Microsoft has
reserved this functionality for Windows NT). |
Solution: a PROXY:

The systems on the local network are configured for
private IP-addresses.
When now a station (like: pc3) makes a connection to the
Internet, it passes on its data (via the TCP/IP network with
private IP-addresses) to the system running the Proxy
program (the "Proxy server").
The Proxy modifies now the request, putting in its own name and
IP-address (assigned by the ISP to the
modem) as address and sends the data out to
its destination on the Internet. When the answer arrives back
from the Internet, it is then passed on via the local network to
requesting station.
Most proxy server work also as Firewall, to protect your
system against unauthorized access
from the Internet.
Microsoft does NOT include the functionality of a Proxy into
Windows95/98 or Windows NT4, they sell a proxy to run on Windows
NT.
But Windows98 Second Edition and Windows
ME includes now Internet Connection Sharing,
which is also available for Windows 2000.
There a several other suppliers
offering Proxy programs for Windows95 and Windows NT4, some are Freeware,
but most packages need to be purchased after an evaluation time (Shareware).
(example: WinRouteLite )
However, be warned: Setting up your browser (Netscape or Microsoft) for
communication via a proxy is fairly easy, but other Internet
software (like: access software for AOL or CIS) maybe much more
difficult to configure.
In any case, I suggest:
- first, make sure that you are familiar with the TCP/IP bascis
- then, download all installation and setup procedures from the
website of
the product, which you have selected to use, and study it VERY
CAREFULLY !
- if you have problems, go back and visit again the website
of the supplier
(and don't ask me for help ! )
You may get some information on setup requirements from my test
setup for a Shareware
Non
Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing (like: WinRouteLite ) or a simple
Proxy server
(you can also use Direct-Cable
Connection (DCC) to share an Internet
connection).
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