OBTAIN AN IP ADDRESS BY USING DHCPBEFORE YOU BEGIN THIS EXERCISE, YOU...

2.4 GHz frequency.

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Windows XP Professional can operate in two wireless networking modes:

❑

Ad-hoc wireless networking, in which there are multiple stations but no AP.

Ad-hoc wireless networks are technically known as independent basic service

sets.

❑

Infrastructure wireless networking, in which stations connect to an AP. Infra-

structure wireless networks are technically known as basic service sets. Basic

service sets can be network together to create extended service sets.

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You can protect wireless networks in the following ways:

❑

By filtering MAC addresses so that only specified computers can connect to

an AP.

❑

By disabling SSID broadcasts so that casual intruders cannot detect the wire-

less network.

❑

By using WEP encryption, which is widely supported but also has widely rec-

ognized flaws.

❑

By using WPA encryption, which provides stronger encryption than WEP.

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Windows XP Professional supports Zero Client Configuration, which means that

Windows can automatically detect and connect to wireless networks. For secured

networks, you must configure the client to access the network properly, but con-

nection after that configuration is also automatic.

Lesson 4: Configuring Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)

ICS offers a simple way to configure computers in a small home office network to

share a single Internet connection. For small networks, ICS offers a cost-effective way

to provide Internet access to multiple computers.

After this lesson, you will be able to■ Configure ICS.■ Identify the limitations of ICS.■ Troubleshoot ICS on a computer running Windows XP Professional.Estimated lesson time: 10 minutes

Introducing Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)

When you set up ICS on a network, the computer with the physical connection to the

Internet (whether that is a modem, cable, or other type of connection) is designated as

the ICS host. Other computers on the network connect to the Internet through the ICS

host, as shown in Figure 15-23. In addition to providing Internet access, the ICS host

computer also dynamically allocates IP addresses to the clients on the network, pro-

vides name resolution, and serves as the gateway for the other computers.

InternetModemICS HostICS Clients

F15us23r.bmp

Figure 15-23 The ICS host has a shared Internet connection and acts as a DHCP server for network clients that obtain their IP addresses automatically.