Sharing an Internet Connection

WINV-7.4.3

If you have a home or small office network using Windows Vista, you can use Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) to connect all the computers on the network to the Internet with one connection, which saves you money on multiple connections. If you have a shared dial-up Internet connection no one is using, you can change settings to have the connection end automatically, or you can manually end the connection from your computer.

Share an Internet Connection

Click the Start button, and then click Control Panel.

Double-click the Network and Sharing Center icon in Classic view, and then click Manage network connections in the left pane.

Right-click the Internet Connection icon, and then click Properties.

Click the Sharing tab.

Select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection check box.

For a home network, select the adapter that connects you to the other networked computers.

If you want this connection to dial automatically, select the Establish a dial-up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box.

Select or clear the Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection check box.

To select specific services to share, click Settings, select the services you want, and then click OK.

Click OK.

End an Internet Connection

Click the Start button, and then click Connect To.

Select the connection you want to disconnect.

Click Disconnect.

Timesaver:

In the Network and Sharing Center, you can also click Disconnect.

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Click Disconnect to confirm.

If necessary, click Close.

See Also See “Creating an Internet Connection” on page 136 for information on creating a new shared Internet connection using the New Connection Wizard.

Did You Know? Disable or enable a network connection. You can disable or enable a network connection by turning the network adapter for the connection off or on. To make this change, open the Network and Sharing Center, click Manage network connections in the left pane, right-click the connection you want to change, and then click Disable or Enable.