Networking an external modem

is it possible to share an external dial up modem on a lan. i have a linksys ethefast 5 port workgroup switch and 3 computers on my network. it would be really convenient if i could network the modem through the network cuz of the crappy wiring in my house. thanks for any help
~ToMMy

[Paymaster]

If you are asking if you can share the connection, yes you can. As far as sharing the modem, that could be more tricky.

The home networking wizard in Windows ME makes this very easy. You can even configure it such that if the host computer isn't logged on, it will establish the connection when one of the peers wants to access the internet.

If you are configuring it manually, do some web searches for what the settings should be. I've done it both ways (manually and with the wizard), and found that there were some very specific IP address settings/masks that had to be entered to get it all to work manually.

You should note, though, that your ISP may charge you an additional fee, or may disable this completely. With my current dial-up, the connection share works for 2-5 minutes, then the other computer loses the internet access. I think that the ISP must somehow see that two IPs are pulling from the same connection and disable on of them.

Or something like that...

i was looking to share the modem, but i will give this a try. im still wondering if there is a way to access the modem from across the network. the problem i have is that my family wants to use aol and windows cant automate that unless 1) i install aol on my computer AND 2) i set aol as the default internet connection AND 3) i let aol infect my computer like a freakin virus and change all the damn settings and place icons where ever it wants to and mess everything up that it pisses me off until it forces me to format my hard drive to get rid of the damn prog. (as you may see, i have had to deal with this before) any ways, i want to share the modem, not the connection. the home networking wizard in winme wont let you share the connection with aol.

[DoPeY5007]

there are some DSL/Cable routers that have a ser. port for a modem (it is used for back up but can be primary)...


All you can do is use that to share an internet connection...


I don't think that you can use it for faxing of any thing like that