Very Confusing Network Setup

[darkspreader]

Hello, I am trying to set up a second isolated network upstairs that does not have an internet connection. However, I want to be able to have it use one of it's connected computers that has wireless to allow other computers on that router to use the internet off the wireless computer. The wireless computer connects to the router downstairs that hooks up to the modem and off to the internet.

I was wondering, how will I go about sharing my wireless computer's internet with all clients on the router upstairs? It seems like an easy thing to do, but I still haven't figured it out.

Here is a horrible picture i made up in Photoshop describing how my network is set up:
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/2871/networkbo3.jpg

 

[xad001x0w]

Pretty easy to set up if you are using Win XP. That is exactly how I am connected at the moment. On the computer with the wireless connection you want to share, go to the network connections shortcut in control panel, right click on the wireless connection and goto properties > advanced. There will be a tickbox saying "allow other network user to connect through this computer's connection to the internet". The other tickbox only really applies if you were using a dialup connection to the internet but as your internet connection is controlled by your router downstairs it doesn't really matter (someone correct me if I am wrong). I usually leave it unticked however just as a matter of security. Select the options you want and click ok. The "upstairs" computers might need a quick network reset to assign new IP addresses (quickest way with a wired network is to take the cable out and put it back in again). All the computers on the upstairs switch should now be able to connect to the internet through the wireless enabled computer.

Hope this helps.

 

[darkspreader]

Thanks for the help, I actually found this out before reading your post, lol.

I also had to change the second router's IP to 192.168.0.2 however, because WinXP wanted to make my LAN IP 192.168.0.1 in order to share the connection. I doubt that'll create any problems, though, since it's working fine. I was able to leave the DHCP server enabled on the router, so that if I want to connect any other computers they won't need to assign their own IPs. I also set the DHCP for the internet side to 192.168.0.1, which is my computer with the wireless, so all the other computers on the second router was able to connect to the internet through the wireless computer's shared connection.

I'm glad it's all worked out now, because I hate doing ad-hoc connections with two computers via ethernet, lol.

Also, is there any difference between sharing a connection with a different one and making a network bridge between the two?

 

[xad001x0w]

There is quite a lot of difference, but for your purposes ICS (internet connection sharing) is fine. The issues you mentioned with the IP address are the main drawback of ICS however as it leaves you no room for change should an IP conflict like that arise. Also, ICS is not just between two connections, if you had any other ethernet cards / connections on your wifi pc, they would all be able to connect through its wifi as well.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_bridge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_connection_sharing