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Internet Connect Sharing Part 3

Setting up ICS on a Mac. Ian Waugh clicks the buttons...

In the first two parts of our mini ICS series we explained what ICS is, what it can do, how to set it up on a PC and configure PC clients to work with it. In this final part we see how to add a Mac to the system and look at some common problems.

Macs made easy

Macs are very easy to add to an ICS network. As with PC systems, you must make sure the network is up and running and the Internet connection working. Macs have Ethernet built-in which is very handy but you still need to set it up to network with PCs (This series is about ICS not networking so we won't go into this here. However, you don't have a PC/Mac Network up and running, you might like to check out a piece of software called Dave at www.thursby.com .)

To set up a Mac as an ICS client, select Control Panels from the Apple menu then select TCP/IP from the Control Panel list. The dialogues may look slightly different depending on what version of the Mac OS you are running.

From the "Connect via" drop down menu, select the network system which will probably be Ethernet.

From the Configure drop-down menu select Using BootP Server. This allows the server (the ICS computer) to supply the required IP and Subnet mask addresses which may change each time you boot the Mac according to what else is connected. This makes the system more flexible.

However, you could set Configure to Using DHCP Server and enter a static address if that suits your network better. However, we're now entering the realms of networking niceties so we'll stop there. The object of this exercise is simply to get ICS up and running on your Mac.

Configuring IE

You may need to configure Internet Explorer, too (although it may work without further ado on some systems).

Open IE, select Edit>Preferences then scroll down the list on the left until you see Networking. Click on the triangle to the left of Networking in order to expand the list of options. Select Proxies.

Check the Use Web Proxy for all box (it may already be checked) and close the window.

That should do it!

Troubleshooting ICS

In theory, ICS, like networking, should be plain sailing, particularly with a virgin machine which hasn't had umpteen settings interfered with. However, as we don't live in such a perfect world, it's possible that all does not go according to plan. Here are some common problems and solutions.

NetMeeting does not work. NetMeeting and ICS are not completely compatible and there may be problems with the whiteboard and file sharing. But ICS is free. To solve the problem (as well as other compatibility problems) you may need a hardware router.

ICS doesn't work with VPN (Virtual private Networks). No, it doesn't as the two are not compatible so don't install VPN on an ICS system.

AOL problems. AOL 6.0 and ICS are supposedly incompatible (AOL can install VPN adapters). However, we have ICS installed on a Windows 98 SE PC which is also running AOL 6.0... But far be it for us to buck the experts. (Ed’s note – we’ve also got it running on more than one home network – give it a try)

If you still have a problem, try Windows help system. Select Start>Help and type ICS into the Search window. At the bottom of the results window is an ICS Troubleshooter which offers a range of common problems and then steps you through a list of checks and solutions.