At 04:42 PM 6/26/2002, Dennis Thiel wrote:
>A friend of mine was told by Adelphia that if he wanted to share his cable
>internet access with other computers in his home, it would cost an extra
>$24.95 per month per computer. I was under the impression that when you have
>a network with one computer as the gateway connected to the internet, the
>client computers have their own internal IP addresses that can't be seen by
>the outside world. Only the gateway computer has an external IP address.
>What's to stop him from setting up his own network and sharing the
>connection? How would anyone know? I've heard of people buying secondary
>static IP addresses for additional computers and this makes no sense to me
>either. Doesn't just the gateway have to have the external address?

Yes, everything you said is correct.  Either the customer representative
from Adelphia misunderstood your friend or they have a policy that is
unenforceable.

One thing however, I recommend instead of using a gateway computer
that you use a dsl/cable router specifically designed for this purpose,
such as the Linksys BEFSX41:
   http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?prid=433&grid=23
Actually, most companies that sell network cards also have a router just like this
one.  The router is as far as the cable company can see into his network,
as it provides a firewall and the network can have as many PCs as
you want.

    Bob Wright
The NoSpin Group
http://freepctech.com


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