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If you'd rather set up sharing using a Mac as your Sharing
computer, your options are fairly limited. Just see the information
below.
On the other hand, if you want to have Macs as Sharing Clients,
you can do that with pretty much any Sharing method. Just set your
Mac's TCP/IP properties according to the instructions that come with whatever
Sharing method you use. There are also some helpful
links below.
Using a Mac as the Sharing Computer
There are really only two companies who offer products that will allow
you Mac to share an Internet connection, Vicomsoft
and Sustainable
Softworks.
Before you start, better check that
your Mac:
Has at least 32MB of memory (64MB if you
are running MacOS8.X)
Is running Open Transport (this means that your OS version
is at least 7.5.3)
Can support two Ethernet interfaces.
iMacs presently (7/99) cannot.
See this page for why you need two
Ethernet interfaces. THIS DOES NOT APPLY IF YOU ARE USING A DIALUP MODEM TO CONNECT
TO THE INTERNET!
If your Mac doesn't meet one or more of the above checklist
items, then consider using a hardware router. For more info, check
the Router Product Guide
See this page for more info on Vicomsoft's
extensive product line (which now also includes Windows versions of its
products).
Sustainable Softworks' only product is the IPNetRouter.
The documentation is harder to understand than Vicomsoft's and
it's a much smaller company, but the price is lower ($89 for
"a single gateway machine" with unlimited clients allowed) if
you have more than two computers that need to be shared.. If you are part
of an educational organization (people with a .edu or .k12 email address)
the price is 50% less, about $45.
This site also has some FAQs,
but there isn't much cable modem detail.
Other helpful Mac info
If you'd like help for setting up a network for your
Macs, visit the Three
Macs and a Printer site.
If you need help configuring TCP/IP on the Mac, read
this.
If your LAN has Macs and PCs, you may want to read
this.
If you just want Internet access on one Mac,
but also have it connected to your other Macs for file and printer
sharing, read this.
