All packets leaving or entering the LAN are sent from or to the IP address of the external adapter on the ICS host computer. Because of the nature of the NAT, IP addresses on the local computer are not visible on the Internet. ICS provides NAT services, mapping individual IP addresses of local computers to unused port numbers in the sharing computer. ICS routes TCP/IP packets from a small LAN to the Internet. ICS was a feature of Windows 98 SE and all versions of Windows released for personal computers thereafter. ICS provides Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and network address translation (NAT) services for the LAN computers. The computer that shares its Internet connection serves as a gateway device, meaning that all traffic between other computers and the Internet go through this computer. Internet Connection Sharing ( ICS) is a Windows service that enables one Internet-connected computer to share its Internet connection with other computers on a local area network (LAN).

JSTOR ( May 2017) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.įind sources: 'Internet Connection Sharing' – news

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