AOL Broadband networking

[JKay]

Hi can anyone tell me if it is possible to network 2 PCs using AOL broadband? .....ty

[j2buttonsw]

Yes you can. You have several methods but the two most common are: 1) Buy a router then connect your PCs to the router then configure the router to use your AOL details. The router has to be on all the time but the PCs are independent of each other. The PCs use the router IP address as a gateway. 2) Network the 2 PCs then have one PC connected to the modem then use Internet Connection Sharing or some proxy software to allow the internet connection to be shared. The computer connected to the modem must be on in order for the second PC to use the internet. In both cases you must network the PCs commonly using 10/100 ethernet cards and CAT 5 cabling.

[j2buttonsw]

Or do you mean connecting to seperate PCs via an internet connect such as AOL broadband? You can also do this via VPN (virtual private networking) or by the free VNC software.

[lisaj]

j2: are you sure? As far as I've ever been aware (and I may be completely wrong these days), AOL is not an ISP, but a Service Provider. They don't give you an IP address in the way a normal ISP does, or in fact any TCP/IP connection to the Internet. Their software acts as an interface to their servers which in turn pull data from the web and provide other services such as email. This was why I never got things like Napster or IRC running through AOL, because they require a TCP/IP infrastructure that AOL didn't provide. This being the case, you'll never get IP routing solutions to work because you're not talking with an ISP who provides such a service. Again, I might be utterly wrong and AOL may in fact act as an ISP these days, but.... anyone out there know? Anyone an AOL user?

[j2buttonsw]

lisaj, you may well be right but I thought the only protocol used on the internet was a TCP/IP. Perhaps JKay will do an experiment: the next time he is online open up the command line (start-run then type in command then OK) or open the MS-DOS box and type in ipconfig /all then return. Has AOL given you an IP address for the virtual modem? I guess it will be in the 64.12.x.x range. On the subject of sharing the AOL connection, further research shows it is not as easy as other ISPs: http://www.homenethelp.com/web/howto/aol-share.asp

[JKay]

Hi thanx to all who answered my question ....I forgot to mention that i have been in contact with AOL thru helpline they told me AOL dosn't support networking but are looking to remedy this in the future........I'm only a novice user and appreciate all the advice given thanx once again