| When this IP address you choose is translated by the operating system into a form your computer understands, each three digit number will be represented as eight zeros and/or ones. 11111111 is the biggest number eight binary bits can represent. This equals 255 in base ten numbers, which is what us humans use because we have ten fingers. How do you know you aren't picking the same numbers for your NICs as someone else? The IP addresses beginning with 10. and 192.168. are reserved for use on private local area networks only. The router on your Internet Service provider should not let anyone on the outside connect to any computer with numbers beginning with 10 or 192.168. So it doesn't matter how many people pick the same numbers as you pick, as long as they are in these number ranges. Wizard tip: Is someone's router misconfigured? Try running an IP address scanner such as What's Up (http://www.ipswitch.com) on 10. and 192.168. addresses on an Internet connection and see what you find. I've found a few reachable through the Internet. If you find one, you can do a good deed by letting its sysadmin know about it. Get All of your LAN on the Internet Your network is up -- now for the big one. If you live with other people, the way to persuade them to let you network their computers with yours is to promise to set it up so that one modem can be shared by everyone for Internet access. No more fighting over the phone line! Once you have networked your Windows computers, there are many ways to put them all on the Internet, even though they have private network IP addresses in the 10. or 192.168. ranges. If your computer with the modem runs Windows NT, or some kind of Unix/Linux, it supports “IP forwarding.” You can set it up as the gateway to the Internet for your other computers. However, this assumes you are stuck with nothing better than Win95/98. For these operating systems, you need to install gateway software. If you have studied hacking, you have already probably heard about Wingate, an Internet proxy server that allows you to telnet into a computer running it, and from there telnet elsewhere on the Internet. There are many other Internet gateway programs (for private virtual networks these are called “proxy servers”). Most of them are shareware which will allow a trial period for you to use them. An excellent tutorial on Win95/98 Internet gateway programs is at http://www.winfiles.com/howto/lansing.html. To learn what shareware proxy servers are available, see http://www.winfiles.com/apps/98/servers-proxy.html. In case you were wondering if you have to pay money (eek!) for a proxy server that doesn’t expire in a few weeks, never fear, there are several that never expire. However, remember that you get what you pay for. If your free proxy server has problems, don’t email me asking for help! |