1. I assume you have a cable modem that works, and have more than one computer. Now all you need to do is get the gear to share that broadband connection. For this example I will be using the Linksys® Ether Fast Cable / DSL Router because it is reasonably priced and has a built in Firewall to protect your home network. You can plug a wiresless base station like an AirPort Express with AirTunes into this router to upgrade it later to a wireless network if needed.

However, if you are planning on adding any wireless computers to your network in the future, get the Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router because it has both wired and wireless options. Also it's only about $20 more than the regular router. There a two types of wireless routers B and G. The G routers are faster and compatible with slower wireless cards.

ROUTER Buy Me Now

What you'll need: - Some ethernet cable - A hardware router - This web page

ETHERNET CABLE Buy Me Now

WIRELESS ROUTER Buy Me Now

2. Plug your main computer into one of the router's regular ports with a piece of that ethernet cable you got in step one. NOTE: This tutorial doesn't cover USB connections. Don't plug it into the WAN or Uplink slot, just one of the normal ports. Then open a web browser and type in this address http://192.168.1.1 to open the router's configuration screen. In this example I am using the router shown above. As soon as you hit the router, you will be prompted for a username and password. Leave the User ID blank and use "admin" as your password. This is the default setting your router comes with. If this doesn't work, check your routers documentation. Are you using DSL? Some DSL ISP's require you to choose PPPoe to connect. (Look into this if you can.) Click the Setup tab, on the bottom of the page is the Login settings. Check "PPPoe" and fill in your username and password that was provided by your DSL ISP. If this is not the case, make sure "Disable" is checked off for the Login setting.

* If you normally go through a proxy or a corporate firewall, disable it in your browser's preferences or call your IT department.
If you don't know what a proxy is, this note probably doesn't concern you.

3. Select on the Status tab. At the bottom of the page is a button called "DHCP Clients Table", click on that. This will bring up a pop-up window with a list of devises and their addresses. Write down your computer's MAC Address. These 12-digits get assigned to a piece of hardware for identification and are unique on your network. What we are going to do is take this same MAC address and give it to your router as well. This will fool the cable company into thinking your router is a computer. Your router comes with a specific MAC address which the cable company knows to block. That's why we have to change it. Once you change the MAC address, your router will then handle all your Internet traffic, (uploads and downloads), from all your computers. The router will also protect your network with its built-in firewall from evil hackers.

GRAPHITE is the name of my computer.

4. Now select the Advanced tab on the far right. You will now be able to access a new set of tabs. Click on MAC Addr. Type in the MAC address you wrote down in step three. Then press the "Apply" button. You've just given your router and computer the same MAC Address. High-five the nearest person or stand in front of a mirror and give yourself a thumbs-up.

5. Now make sure your router is plugged into the cable modem! Plug one end of the ethernet cable into the WAN port on the router and the other end of the ethernet cable into the cable modem's ethernet port. Back to your browser. Click on the gray Setup tab on the far right. This will bring you back to the basic router functions. Now select the Status tab again. Scroll down the page to the WAN settings. Right now your DNS should be all zeros.

On the page is a button called "DHCP Renew", press that. It will reload and give you some DNS numbers. Write these down.

6. Here's the final step. You need to tell your computers to go through the router with all their Internet traffic or TCP/IP requests. Type in the DNS numbers you got from Step Five.

If you run into problems, double check the above directions and make sure everything is plugged in securely and in the right place. Also, some applications like America Online or your Internet Services Providers setup software may have some conflicts with your routers new settings. Make a back-up and properly delete or uninstall these applications. And when all else fails, restart your computer.

Windows users should install the router's drivers and test everything to make sure all hardware and software are working together properly. Also, Windows users may run into driver conflicts, so its a good idea to make sure all your operating system and router software is updated. Check the router's company's website for software updates.

Macintosh users have it much easier and are ready to go right out of the box. No drivers or extra anything is required. Just plug and play.

If your router has not supplied you with DNS numbers and you cannot reset it by pressing the reset button in the back;
1. Connect all your computers and cable/DSL modem to the router. Turn everything on and restart computer.
2. Return to MAC Address Clone page, type zeros in the address, apply.
3. Type in MAC Address again, apply.
4. Now when you return to the Status tab your computer should have DNS numbers (number of DNS numbers depends on number of computers.).
5. When you open your TCP/IP the sever address should automatically be changed to the DNS number (usually the first one on list the router supplies you with.).

Also, cable modems are tricky. If you are repeatedly plugging and unplugging ethernet cables all over the place, the modem will get confused. Try unplugging the power cable from the cable modem for 30 seconds. Then plug it back in. The modem should go through its power up cycle. When it's done, try pulling up a web page. If that doesn't work try calling your cable company's tech support. But be careful, your cable company may not allow you to have a router hooked up to multiple computers.

01/12/03
"I must thank you for the information contained in this piece. I had already gotten the router and the cable and was flummoxed to discover that all the documentation was exclusively windows. I cannot tell you of my gratitude upon discovering this site and the pure gold contained within. Took a little twiddling (once I realized I had to reconfigure TCP before I could even summon up the router set-up screen it went a bunch quicker). ~ Many, many thanks!" CarolS.

No problem.