Admin Tips
- Windows Server 2008/2003/2000/XP/NT Administrator Knowledge Base
  - Windows XP
    - Admin Tips
      - Network
        Using XP as a router

Section(s): Network
Published on Mar 29, 2006.
Last Modified on Mar 29, 2006.
Last Modified by MitchTulloch.
Rated 4.1 out of 5 based on 42 votes.

A cheap and easy way of using an XP box as a router.

A cheap and easy way of adding a router to your network is to use a surplus PC with Windows XP Professional installed on it. Just install an additional network card in the box and then configure the registry setting below and Presto! Your XP box becomes able to route (forward) IP packets from one interface to another.

Open Regedit and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

Find the following registry value:

IPEnableRouter

Set this value to 1 to enable IP routing on the box.

After doing this, reboot the machine. You may also need to disable Windows Firewall on the machine.

About MitchTulloch

Mitch Tulloch was lead author for the Windows Vista Resource Kit from Microsoft Press, which is the book for IT pros who want to deploy, maintain and support Windows Vista in mid- and large-sized network environments. Mitch was also the author of Introducing Windows Server 2008 and technical project lead for the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Resource Kit, both books also from Microsoft Press. For more information on these and other books by Mitch, see http://www.mtit.com .