Setting Up Internet Connection Sharing in Windows 2000 Professional

Setting Up Internet Connection Sharing in Windows 2000 Professional
If at least one computer on your network runs Windows 2000 Professional and you don't have any Windows XP installations to choose from, you can set up Internet Connection Sharing on that computer instead. The basic operation of ICS in Windows 2000 is the same as in Windows XP, with the following exceptions:

No wizard is available to help you set up the connection. All configuration options are set manually on the ICS host and on local computers.
Windows 2000 does not include a firewall, so your shared Internet connection is vulnerable to outside intruders unless you install a third-party firewall program.
Network users cannot control access to the shared connection.
To enable ICS, you must have two separate network connections, one for the Internet, and the other for LAN access. Open the Network And Dial-Up Connections folder, right-click the icon for the Internet connection, and then choose Properties. On the Sharing tab, select the Enable Internet Connection Sharing For This Connection check box. Click OK to close the dialog box. The Internet connection acquires an IP address using the current settings; your LAN connection is reset to a static IP address of 192.168.0.1 and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0; and the DHCP allocator assigns addresses in the range 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254.

If you gain Internet access through a dial-up modem, you'll find the Sharing tab on the Properties dialog box for the dial-up connection, as shown here. Note the extra check box that allows you to enable on-demand dialing.


On a network with a Windows 2000 ICS host, you must configure client computers manually. Specify that the computer is to acquire its IP address automatically via DHCP, set the gateway to 192.168.0.1, and leave the DNS server settings blank.