Share Your Internet Connection

By John Norton

Have you ever been using the internet on one computer, while a member of your family wanted to use it on his own? I know all about that; ever since I got my iBook, I was coming into conflict with the family's computer usage. That all changed when my copy of SurfDoubler Plus arrived. In this how-to, my goal is to teach you to share.

The worst part of not being able to connect to the internet at the same time as my family's computer is the fact that most of the time we're connected to the internet, it's barely being used at all! There's often a huge amount of time when you're not checking email, and in between webpage downloads. Even if you have a chat program open, such as AOL Instant Messenger, that only uses your connection lightly.

Note: I'm going to assume that you have an ethernet network and that you connect via modem to a standard ISP. If you have a localtalk network, just substitute "MacIP" wherever I say "Ethernet" and you'll be pretty well off. If you use a cable modem, ISDN, or some other mode of connection, it'll take some extra work on your part.

Step 1: Get SurfDoubler

1. That brings me to Vicomsoft SurfDoubler, a really cool program that allows you to share your internet connection between 2 or 3 users (read our recent review for detailed info). If you're interested in sharing your connection, go get your trial version now and then come back and continue reading.
   
   
2. First, a quick run-through of SurfDoubler's capabilities: SurfDoubler allows you to connect to the internet on your main ("server") computer, either a Mac or Windoze machine, and share your connection with other users on your network -- Mac, Windoze, Linux; doesn't matter what platform the clients use. SurfDoubler allows two users to be using the internet at the same time (you can purchase an optional third user). The server computer is not necessarily considered one of the users -- it's based on which computers are actually accessing the internet at that time.

Step 2: Set Up Your Server

1. Once you have SurfDoubler downloaded, you need to set up your server. When choosing which computer to use as the server, keep a few things in mind: the server should have a fast modem; the server will need to be turned on and have SurfDoubler open for any computer to be able to connect; the server requires at least a 68040 processor, and PowerPC is recommended; it's best to always use the same computer as the server.
   
   
2. Install SurfDoubler, following Vicomsoft's instructions. SurfDoubler installs something in your TCP/IP control panel that requires you to restart. Do it, then launch SurfDoubler. The first time you run it, a set-up wizard guides you through the process of setting up your first "port" -- your connection to the internet. You can have any number of ports, which you can switch between to connect to different ISPs (for example, if you have both Prodigy and Earthlink). Follow the instructions, and set up your main internet account (you can change it at any time). You should need some standard info such as username, password, phone number, and DNS addresses.
   
   
3. Select your NAT Modem port in the list of ports and double-click it -- this will bring up a new three-tabbed window to edit the port. Fortunately, the first tab shouldn't need much, if any, editing; it has various options such as type of port, IP address, and a couple others. They should be all correct. The second tab is where you set the authentication -- username, password, and phone number. The third tab has the most options you care about, although you may not have a clue as to what half of them mean. For the most part, it's all up to you -- can it autoconnect, how long before you're automatically disconnected, etc. Everything else... just leave it how it is, unless you feel the urge to mess with settings.
   
   
4. Now, go to the "Edit" menu and select "Preferences..." Click the "Network" tab, and prepare to check some settings. You should have one DNS address already entered; if you have a secondary one, enter it too. There are three important checkboxes along the right side; these deal with sharing your internet, and should all be turned on (if you're having trouble later, you may try switching them off). This gets you ready to set-up your shared port.
   
   
5. Next job is to make sure you have a port open to share your connection. The auto-setup will have created one for you, with some initial settings. You have to double-click it; the "Ethernet" port. Since only the first tab is active, it's simpler to set-up than the modem port. The "static IP" checkbox must be checked, and a unique (for your network) IP must be entered -- the default is in the "192.168.1.x" range. At the bottom, make sure only the "Can Serve DHCP" box is checked. Simple as that.
   
   
6. When that's done, try connecting. If SurfDoubler is "Active," all you should need to do is select the NAT modem port you made, and press command-K (or go to the "Ports" menu and select "Start Port"). The status of that port ought to change to "Opening Connection..." If not, you did something wrong. Mess around with it until you get it to connect. Once it's connected, make sure you can do everything as normal -- check email, read MacMilitia.com, etc. If you can't do that stuff on the server computer, there's no way it will work on the clients -- you have to go back and mess with various setting until it works (the DNS server settings seem to give the most problems).

Step 3: Set Up Your Client(s)

1. Each client computer will be set up exactly the same way. It's very simple to do, and all they require is TCP/IP access. You don't have to install anything new, and any computer that can do TCP/IP will work -- Mac, Windoze, Linux, Unix, etc. I personally don't like to mess with Windoze and other non-Mac operating systems if I don't have to, so I really don't know where you set up their TCP/IP settings. It will all work out the same way, though, if you can just find it. On the Mac, go to the control panels and open up "TCP/IP."
   
   
2. Go to the "File" menu and select "Configurations." Select a configuration and click "Duplicate." Name it something meaningful, such as "via SurfDoubler." Make sure it's selected, and click "Make Active." You now have a new TCP/IP configuration. If you ever want to switch back to your old one, just go to configurations again and choose your old one.
   
   
3. If you set up your server's ethernet port to "Serve DHCP," you can follow these simple directions, otherwise skip to the next paragraph. In the TCP/IP window, select "Ethernet" from the "Connect via" pop-up menu. Below that is a another pop-up menu, "Configure"; select "Using DHCP Server." You can leave the "DHCP Client ID" field blank, and you shouldn't need to change any other settings, either.
   
   
4. If, for some reason, you didn't want to serve DHCP from your server, you need to go through some extra steps. In the TCP/IP window, select "Ethernet" from the "Connect via" pop-up menu. Below that is a another pop-up menu, "Configure"; select "Manually." Your IP address must be unique, and in the same range as the server (e.g. 192.168.1.x). The subnet mask should be "255.255.255.0". The router address is whatever you set your server's ethernet port to; likely 192.168.1.254. You must also enter in your DNS addresses, which are provided by your ISP. If you have any search domains, enter those.

Step 4: Surf!

If you've followed all the steps above, you're completely ready to go! Just make sure SurfDoubler is open and active on your server (if the autoconnect option is turned off, you'll need to manually connect it as well). You can start surfing on server or client(s), and reap the benefits of multiple computers online at once!

If you ever want to add another client, just run through Step 3 on that computer, and plug it in. For example, my friend came over the other day and brought a PowerBook 3400 from college. As it was set up to connect via the college's network using a DHCP server, he had to do nothing other than plug in the ethernet cable to get it running! It's that simple!

In a future article, I hope to show you how to set up the Location Manager to quickly switch between SurfDoubler and Remote Access, as well as how to connect an entire AirPort network via SurfDoubler as only one user!

-John Norton is really glad Vicomsoft sent him SurfDoubler to review and test out -- sharing the internet between his iBook and Performa 6400 is VERY nice.

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