[esque]

I was just about to post the question below, but have found a workaround solution. I thought I would still post my question, with the solution below it, in case anyone can:

a) recommend a better one; or
b) use the same solution to solve their problem

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THE PROBLEM:

We have a netvigator broadband connection which we have been accessing happily over wifi from one laptop. Today we bought a second laptop, and have spent hours trying to set up internet connection sharing.

This is something I'm sure I've done easily with previous networks, but I can't get it working in this case.

Details: Windows XP on both machines, ASUS wl-530g as supplied by Netvigator, broadband connection that must be connected to by each computer (ie the connection is set up through the control panels on the laptops rather than anything on the router).

So far I've succeeded in:
Enabling filesharing
Connecting independently on each computer (but not simultaneously) using the netvigator broadband connection.

I've followed the standard procedure for setting up ICS, using one computer as the "host", through XP's network setup wizard, to no avail.

I called Netvigator support. They said that as we've been set up to need to connect each time we use the internet, there is no way we can share our internet connection. To do so we would need to be in "router mode", he said. When I asked how to get into router mode he advised me to call the router company, who of course do not have decent support hours, and probably wouldn't have the faintest idea what I'm on about.

Has anyone successfully changed their connection to use the router, rather than the XP connection? If so would appreciate your advice. Thanks for reading all the way through!

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THE SOLUTION:

Go to properties for Wireless Network Connection
From the list, select Internet Protocol TCP/IP
Instead of Obtain an IP address automatically, select Use the following IP address
Enter any IP address in the same subnet mask as the router, ie 192.168.1.2 through to 192.168.1.254
For subnet mask, enter 255.255.255.0
Click OK
Access the internet

[kailasa108]

For anyone who might be reading this later on: What esque is explaining is the difference between a "static" and a "dynamic" IP address. An IP address is the numeric identity assigned to each computer on the Internet. Part of a router's function is to assign a DIFFERENT dynamic IP address to each computer using the LAN through its gateway to access the Internet. Normally, Windows is set up to automatically accept the IP address assigned to it by the router. But without a router, there is no IP assignment. Thus the computer has to be changed to use a static address. Each computer has to have a DIFFERENT static IP address entered in the TCP/IP settings as esque describes.