Everyone’s got a LAN at work or at home these days. Here’s how to use Linux to let every computer on your LAN, including Windows boxes, access the Internet through a single connection.
Remember the dim and distant past, about five years ago, when networking was something only big companies and those hopelessly addicted to computers did? Thanks to plummeting hardware prices, that’s all changed now, and it’s common to find LANs (Local Area Networks) in even the smallest business or home.
There are many advantages to networking your local computers. First, having a LAN allows you to easily share and centralize data — no more swapping disks or sending bulky e-mails when you can just save directly to any disk on any machine in your network. Second, LANs allow everybody in a home or office environment to share peripheral components like printers, scanners, and zip drives. Instead of buying a printer for every computer, for instance, you can buy one excellent printer for all the computers, get higher quality output, and save money.
Finally, using Linux, you can hook up your entire LAN to the Internet through a single connection, save a bundle of money, and still enjoy excellent performance. All you need is at least one computer running Linux (the other machines in you LAN can use just about any OS), a modem, and an Internet service provider. The setup process is surprisingly easy. In this article, we’ll show you how to do it.
Before we dive into the details, it’s worth pointing out a few items. First, we won’t cover setting up a…
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