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I have a Windows PC (Win 7). It has a couple different network connections, including one that connects to a VPN, and one that connects to the Internet. I want to share both of those connections with other Windows PCs.

In other words, on Computer A, I can use the internet (through Connection #1) and my VPN (through Connection #2). How can I do the same thing (access the internet & VPN) on other computers (by somehow going through Computer A)?

You'd think this wouldn't be hard to do.

I've heard of ICS (Internet Connection Sharing), but that only seems to be able to share 1 network connection.

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  • Possible duplicate: superuser.com/questions/656998/…
    – HackSlash
    Commented Nov 16, 2018 at 21:25
  • What do you mean by "connection", are those two physical network adapters or just VPN over one Ethernet adapter?
    – harrymc
    Commented Nov 17, 2018 at 11:59
  • The VPN "connection" is a "virtual ethernet adapter" (which uses whatever the internet connection is). Does that answer your question?
    – Tacony
    Commented Nov 19, 2018 at 22:54

2 Answers 2

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+50

It looks to me like this has been answered before on SuperUser. The answer that makes sense to me goes like this:

  1. Disable internet connection sharing if you have enabled it before
  2. Select both adapters that you want to share. (Your Internet connection and your VPN connection)
  3. Right click on one of selected and chose from dropdown menu "Bridge Connections" (or similar)
  4. Enable Internet Connection Sharing and select the bridge as the thing you want to share.

EXPLANATION:

Bridging is what switches do. This makes Windows act like a switch, passing traffic between the bridged connections. ICS makes Windows act like a router so you are routing packets to your virtual switch.

SOURCE:

Windows 7 share internet connection with multiple network interfaces

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  • I tried this before. The problem is that when I do step #4 (for the MAC Bridge Miniport"), there is no "Sharing" tab - like there would normally be. The problem might have to do with the fact that I am trying to share 2 connections (instead of sharing 1 connection with 2 local interfaces as is described in the "source" you are talking about).
    – Tacony
    Commented Nov 16, 2018 at 23:06
  • Right click on one part of the bridge, like the adapter that you are sharing with. Go to the sharing tab of that adapter, click Allow, and select the bridge from the dropdown.
    – HackSlash
    Commented Nov 19, 2018 at 16:09
  • None of the 3 "connections" have a Sharing tab. The MAC bridge doesn't. And after bridging the 2 "child" connections, they don't have the Sharing tab anymore either.
    – Tacony
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 4:34
  • The other option is manually set up static routing and enable routing with netsh forwarding=enabled. You're better off using a router for routing and windows for running software. Windows isn't the best router.
    – HackSlash
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 17:09
  • 1
    In fact, this solution makes allows all parties to communicate with each other on same LAN subnet. One issue I have observed though, is that the speed of the internet connection drops (from an upload speed of 10MB without bridge to 1MB with bridge). Maybe the best thing to do is to use physical switches.
    – W.M.
    Commented Dec 3, 2021 at 15:21
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Share multiple network connections by bridging them

If you do not care about traffic from Network 2 reaching Network 3 and vice versa (shown below) you can try this solution.

Network diagram

Select the three network interfaces you want to connect, click with your right mouse button and select Bridge Connections.

Bridge

You should see another adapter appear named Network Bridge. Right click this device and select Properties to configure it.

Network Bridge

Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (or six depending on your preference). Double click that or select Properties.

IPv4

Switch to tab Alternate Configuration and enter your data depending on your setup. The most important is that you enter the correct Default Gateway, because that is the "door" your network traffic needs to reach the internet. The IP address you need to enter there is most likely the same IP your router has. If you're unsure about your DNS Servers it (again) is most likely your routers IP address. You should not have to enter a IP address for yourself (or Subnet mask) but you can.

If you don't know your routers IP address or gateway etc. you can find that out by opening a command prompt (cmd) and entering ipconfig /all.

Configure Network Bridge

Click OK and test your setup.

CMD window

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  • You've explained the switching well but this doesn't explain how to route packets to different networks. The OP wants to route packets to a VPN and to the internet. These are two different routes that need special routing rules to decide which packets go out which interface.
    – HackSlash
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 17:11

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