Internet Connection Sharing Discovery and Control overview
Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Discovery and Control allows you to monitor and manage your shared Internet connection from a client computer. Discovery and Control automatically determines (discovers) if Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) is available and provides clients with information about, and control of, the shared Internet connection. With Discovery and Control, the ICS host computer advertises its shared connection to client computers with a broadcast The ICS control then detects the broadcast, and an icon for the ICS host computer automatically appears in the network connections folder on the client computers. It is this icon that allows ICS clients to remotely monitor and control the shared Internet connection.
Discovery and Control allows ICS clients on your network to:
| • | View basic statistics about the shared Internet connection. |
| • | Monitor the status of the shared Internet connection. |
| • | Remotely connect and disconnect the shared Internet connection from the Internet service provider (ISP). |
| • | Use an icon, displayed in the notification area on the taskbar, to monitor and control the shared Internet connection. |
The administrator of the ICS host computer has the option to enable or disable the Discovery and Control feature that provides ICS host computer control from client computers, but the ability to view the shared Internet connection status and statistics from a client computer is always available. For more information, see View the status of a shared Internet connection
The following table lists the types of information that are available in the status window on ICS client computers.
Status window title | Displays the name of the shared Internet connection. This appears as the name of the shared dial-up or high-speed connection and the name of the ICS host computer, in the following form: connection name connection on host name status. For example, if your ICS host computer is named Main, and your shared Internet connection is named ICS, the title of the status window appears as: ICS connection on Main status. | ||||
Status | Displays the connectivity status of the connection between the ICS host computer and the Internet service provider (ISP). This status is updated in real-time to provide accurate information about the shared Internet connection. The status that is displayed is always one of the following:
Status only appears in the status window once the shared Internet connection is either completely connected or completely disconnected. When the shared Internet connection is a dial-up connection, a pop-up dialog box appears on the ICS host computer while the connection is being made, whether the connection was initiated from a network client or from the ICS host computer. | ||||
Duration | Displays the duration of the current connection between the ICS host computer and the ISP. The duration shows days, hours, minutes, and seconds that have elapsed since the connection was last activated. It is updated in real time. | ||||
Speed | Displays the speed in megabits per second (Mbps) at which the adapter with Internet Connection Sharing enabled is capable of operating. Note that this is the speed that the network adapter supports, not the speed at which data is actually sent to and from the Internet. Downloads, streaming media, and other types of data transfer may not actually operate at the speed indicated. | ||||
Shared Connection | Displays the total number of bytes or packets that are sent and received between the ICS host computer and the ISP. Whether the information is displayed in bytes or packets depends on which type is supported by the network adapter being used for this shared Internet connection. | ||||
My Computer | Displays the total number of bytes or packets sent from or received by the client. If the client is connected to the Internet, the number of the bytes or packets sent and received between the ICS host and client is displayed. If the client is communicating with other computers on the private network, the number of bytes or packets sent and received between the client and other network computers is displayed. | ||||
Disconnect button | Allows users to immediately disconnect a shared dial-up connection or to disable the public adapter on the ICS host computer. This button displays Disconnect if your shared Internet connection is a dial-up connection, and Disable if your shared Internet connection is a high-speed connection, such as DSL or cable modem |
When you view the Properties tab of the icon for the shared Internet connection from a client computer, you can configure Service definitions. The contents of the tab provide information only, with the exception of the option to display the shared Internet connection icon in the notification area on the taskbar. For more information, see Show a network connection icon in the notification area on the taskbar
Internet Connection Sharing on-demand dialing and ICS host computer icon control
When using dial-up connections, the Establish a dial-up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box and the Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection check box can operate independently or simultaneously. If only the Establish a dial-up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box is selected, clients can initiate a dial-up connection on-demand, by clicking the icon for a program that requires Internet access, such as Internet Explorer. Once the Internet connection has been established using this method, it remains active until a time-out occurs due to inactivity, or until the connection is disconnected from the ICS host computer. For more information, see Enable Internet Connection Sharing on-demand dialing and Control the shared Internet connection
In some cases, the program times-out before the connection can be established. This can occur if the time between when you dial from your connection to the time the ISP answers and connects exceeds the time allowed by the program that requires Internet access. When this occurs, the ICS host computer icon control method provides an alternative way to connect to the Internet.
If only the Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection check box is selected, clients can initiate a dial-up or high-speed connection by clicking the shared Internet connection icon, located in Network Connections and labeled Internet Gateway. This method forces the shared Internet connection to dial, regardless of time-out rules. It also provides clients with the ability to disconnect the shared Internet connection when it is no longer needed.
If both the Establish a dial-up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet and the Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection check boxes are selected, clients can use either the on-demand dialing method or the ICS host icon control method to initiate the Internet connection. For more information, see Set permission for shared Internet connection control, Using ICS Discovery and Control, and Control the shared Internet connection
How Discovery and Control works
Discovery and Control uses the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) protocol to provide discovery, control, configuration, and statistics between the ICS host computer and clients. UPnP is a standard that defines and provides a structure for network device communication. UPnP acts as an enumerator, defining the unique characteristics of each network device and, in doing so, UPnP makes it possible for your client computers to automatically discover your network ICS connection. UPnP is built upon the same standards that the Internet uses, namely HTTP, IP and XML. For more information, see Using ICS Discovery and Control
Note
| • | To enable Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Discovery and Control on Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Edition computers, run the Network Setup Wizard from the CD or floppy disk on these computers. For more information about the Network Setup Wizard, click Related Topics. |
| • | For ICS Discovery and Control to work on Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Edition computers, Internet Explorer version 5.0 or later must be installed. |
| • | Internet Connection Sharing, Internet Connection Firewall, Discovery and Control, and Network Bridge are not available on Windows XP 64-Bit Edition. |
Using Internet Connection Sharing Discovery and Control
Control the shared Internet connection
Start the Network Setup Wizard
Configure other computers on your network using the CD
Configure other computers on your network using a floppy disk