A workstation running Windows 7/Vista/XP can also act as a network router, useful for quickly connecting networks with different address ranges when a professional router is unavailable. In this example, a Windows XP workstation connects network A (10.10.10.0/24) with network B (192.168.20.0/24) while providing Internet access to both.
Example of configuring Windows XP as a network router connecting two separate networks
This example uses Windows XP, which can be replaced with Windows Vista, or Windows 7.
1) Configuring the router's network adapters (Windows XP)
Network adapter A (connection to network A):
IP: 10.10.10.1
Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: [leave blank]
Network adapter B (connection to network B):
IP: 192.168.20.1
Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: [leave blank]
Network adapter C (Internet connection through a DSL modem)
This adapter's settings may be predefined by the Internet provider.
IP: 192.168.1.5
Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway (GW): 192.168.1.1
2) Configuring all computers in network A (Network A):
Network A
IP: 10.10.10.0 (e.g. PC1 – 10.10.10.2, PC2 – 10.10.10.3)
Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway (GW): 10.10.10.1
3) Configuring all computers in network B (Network B):
Network B
IP: 192.168.20.0 (e.g. PC1 – 192.168.20.2, PC2 – 192.168.20.3)
Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.20.1
4) Registry change to enable routing on Windows XP
The setting is the same for Windows Vista and Windows 7
- start Registry Editor using the command-line command regedit. (also start – Run and enter regedit)
- find IPEnableRouter, located at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
- right-click the entry, select Modify and change its value from 0 to 1
- save everything and restart the workstation
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