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Using a proxy method like Wingate to share your connection has a
disadvantage, especially for LANs with a large number of users.
Specifically, you need to change the configuration information in each of the sharing
Client computers for each application that accesses the Internet.
This includes browsers, email programs, news readers, chat programs, etc.
Although
this only must be done once, it can be a nuisance.
There are also people who, try as
they might, just can't get Wingate running, or can't get it running for that networked
game they love to spend hours killing bad guys in.
No matter what your reason, there are other alternatives to Wingate.
WinFiles lists many
"proxy server tools", some of which aren't proxies at all, but instead use
Network Address Translation (NAT)
or IP Masquerading to route the data.
(A very good explanation of what NAT is can be found
at VicomSoft's site.)
After you install your
NAT software, go to the "Configure Client"
page to setup your client computers.
Listed below are a few suggested NAT based programs.
Sygate,
by SyberGen Networks gets good reports for easy installation and good support of networked
games. Go here for more info.
Vicomsoft's
SoftRouterPlus is good if you'd like more control over Internet access or
have multiple networks that you want to connect to the Internet. Go to
this page
for more info.
If you've heard about NAT1000, it isn't available any more. Go here for more info.
Finally, Microsoft's Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) capability
is available in WIN98SE or WIN2000. Go to this
page for more information.
