So you've got the latest and greatest DSL connection piped into your house, and life is just grand. The speed is changing everything. You've forgotten how to address a paper envelope, and the TV is serving as a footstool. How did you ever live without this marvel of technology? You're enjoying things so much that you want to hook up another computer so you and your wife/husband/kid/freeloading relative can surf at the same time. But there's a problem. Your ISP has provided you with only one IP address, and getting others is going to set you back some serious money.
Why would ISPs charge you for additional IP addresses? Your provider probably assumes that the more addresses you have, the more bandwidth you'll use. Chances are it's right. But here's something you might not know. If you're dealing with a halfway respectable ISP, it didn't pay anything for the addresses! I failed economics and I never balance my checkbook, but the way I figure it, if a company pays nothing for IP addresses and then turns around to rent them out, it's making a nice profit.
Beyond the cost, you might worry about leaving an insecure Windows PC on the Internet 24/7. If those vague security updates for Windows 98 aren't keeping you up at night, they should.
I'm writing this because there is good news. If you know a little about Linux networking, you can share your one IP address among many computers — and add a strong firewall in the process.
Come along and see how IP Masquerade will make your life even better.
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