Member Avatar for aaronkc3

This may have been discussed or answered/solved in another thread. I thought I would share my experience with setting this network configuration up. I did some quick research online and found several different approaches at getting this to work. This is my approach and it may not work for all. I currently have dial up internet service on my desktop computer. I wanted to share this type of connection with my laptop over my wireless router. My desktop has a 56k modem and a 10/100 Network Interface Card. My laptop has an internal wireless g adapter. My router is a simple cheapy Belkin 4 port wireless g router. Desktop PC is connected to one of the 4 ports (not wan port) on the router by a simple cat5e network cable. First thing I did was log into my wireless routers web interface. I then gave my wireless router an IP on the LAN side of 192.168.0.254. I turned off the DHCP service in the router on the LAN side as well. I did nothing with the WAN settings. On my desktop pc I went into control panel/network connections. Right clicked on the modem... properties.. of course... went to the advanced tab and checked allow other users to connect through this computers connection and also checked the allow others to control the shared connection. (first and third i think..check boxes)
click the OK button. When enabling ICS a windows warning message may alert you that the LAN Adapter will be set to or something like that. just click ok/yes. Next I went back to my network connections under control panel and right clicked on my LAN adapter. I manually gave it an IP of and mask of and left gateway empty and DNS stuff empty. Next I went over to my laptop and went to my network connections on it. Right clicked my wireless adapter and went to properties. then proceded to change its tcp/ip properties. I gave the laptop an IP of mask of and gateway of 192.168.0.1. Be sure to also place in the perferred DNS 192.168.0.1. I left the alternate dns empty. click ok. I dialed up to my ISP on my desktop and had internet service on my laptop as well...yay!!

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Good practical write-up by — this is the usual "make the PC the gateway, make the router a dumb switch/AP" approach and it works well for a simple dial‑up share. ’s question about DHCP is the right one to ask: Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) on Windows turns the host into the network gateway and provides its own address assignment. Running the router’s DHCP at the same time almost always causes lease and gateway conflicts, which is why the router is typically set to act only as an access point in this setup.

A few important points and gotchas that add to the thread without repeating steps already posted:

  • ICS is deliberately simple. It creates a single local subnet and NATs clients through the PC; you lose any advanced router features (robust port forwarding, QoS, multiple subnets) unless you use a proper router or a routed server (RRAS/Linux).
  • For reliability, connect the PC to a LAN port (not the router WAN), disable the router DHCP service or switch the router into AP/bridge mode, and confirm the PC shows “Internet Connection Sharing” active. If clients should not be manually configured, leave them set to obtain addresses automatically — ICS normally supplies leases to them.
  • Troubleshooting checklist: confirm the PC’s dial‑up is actually up; ping the PC from a client to verify LAN reachability; if DHCP leases aren’t appearing, try a wired client directly to the router LAN to isolate wireless/AP issues; temporarily disable Windows firewall to rule out blocking; check for IP‑address collisions between router, PC and clients.

If this is more than a temporary solution — or you need stable port forwarding or many devices — consider a small dedicated router or a lightweight Linux/Raspberry Pi gateway that talks to the modem and runs DHCP/NAT in a supported, configurable way. ’s link points to similar instructions; use that as a supplement after you confirm DHCP and firewall behavior on the host.

Member Avatar for chlapoin

Wow, thanks! I have been trying to figure out the router settings for something like this for a long time.

Why is it your router cannot control DHCP and you have to turn it off? Kind of annoying for each user to have to manually enter in this stuff every time.

Thanks again!

Member Avatar for cobaltds

This site also describes a similar procedure for anyone who might need it:

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