Windows 2000: Internet Connection Sharing

On some countries, more and more families have 2 (or even 3) PC's:
- one for the parents, used for business work
- one for the children, to play (and to do some school-work......)
Also in small office (without a big central fileserver acting as proxy-server), several people
need to connect to the Internet, but not everybody has a modem in this system or there
maybe are not sufficient phone-extentions available on the telefon-switchboard.

On the first version of Windows98 and on Windows NT-systems, a PROXY-server could
be installed to allow the sharing of the connection to the Internet.

First introduced with Windows98 SE ,Microsoft has included this functionality in Windows2000:
Internet Connection Sharing ( ICS )

Before you try to use the Windows 2000 Internet Connection Sharing on an office network,
be aware of the limits imposed (and documented ) by Microsoft :
Windows 2000 allows up to 10 (= TEN ) computers to simultaneously share a single connection,
either dial-up or broadband , to the Internet.

The system with the modem or broadband-interface, establishing the connection to the Internet,
is called the "ICS Host", while the other systems, which connect now to the Internet via the
network and the ICS-Host, are called "ICS Clients".

Windows 2000 ICS Host Installation
Windows 2000 ICS Client Installation
Windows 2000 ICS Advanced Configuration
Windows 2000 ICS Usage

Windows 95/98/ME ICS Client Installation
Windows NT4 ICS Client Installation

Like Windows95/98/ME, Windows 2000 can not use Direct Cable Connection for the
build-in Internet connection Sharing (ICS).

On Windows95/98/ME, you need to use a Non-Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing
Software or Proxy Server, such as WinRout Lite from Tiny Software as a DCC-host.

Altough Windows 2000 can not be used with such a non-Microsoft packages as a DCC-host
sharing an Internet connection, you can use Windows2000 as a DCC-Client (setup very
similar to a Windows9x DCC client ) sharing via a direct-Cable-Connection via a Windows95/98/ME
DCC-host an Internet connection.