DSL install info needed

Soundguy · Apr 16, 2007

It looks like the telco will finally be offering DSL in my area. I've got a few calls to make.. but if so.. i will be ordering it, hopefully this week. Just a few questions to ask.

I've got a few friends that are out of town with either dsl or cable, and they are telling me that the telco will install a modem onmy end.. and then that I can either hook my pc to that by network cable directly.. or I can hook a hub to that modem, and then hook in a few computers.. etc.

This right?

Also.. i have another PC in another room that has an older linksys 802.11b card on it, and I still have the old wireless access point 802.11b for it ( currently unused ).. would that access point be able to be hooked to the hub as well and let that other pc in on the dsl?

I went to a few local stores just to browse.. and all i see any more are routers. I've not messed with routers before.. At home.. I've got a generic 10/100 hub.. and I've also got a 10/100 hub with a switch. Both are older.. circa 1995-1998 or so. ( ironically.. I was on the cutting edge of computers nearly 20 ys ago.. but have folowed it less and less.. and by the time win95+ came out.. I'm pretty much just a user... ). I used to have my old win98 pc wirless linked to my other pc in the other room with that 802.11b setup.. but then I got a new computer ( xp ).. and it wouldn't talk to the other pc.. so i put all te stuff in a box and forgot about it. Upgraded the other pc a while back to an xp machine and put the wireless card on it and installed the driver just for the heck of it.. .. just wondering if it will be of any use.... ? I alos have a laptop that will do wireless G or B.. so I guess I need 3 pc's on this dsl setup... My pc will be right where the modem is. The laptop is portable.. and the other pc is across the house. So it looks like the other pc and the laptop need the wireless link via the access point? and my pc to be directly connected to the?? hub?? Fill in the blanks here guys... if this was an old ford tractor issue.. I'd be fine...(grin)

Advice?

Soundguy

MikePA · Apr 16, 2007

Here's how I connect;

Phone line -------> DSL Modem -----> Wireless Broadband Firewall Router -----> Hub or Switch.

hilld · Apr 16, 2007

Soundguy said:
It looks like the telco will finally be offering DSL in my area. I've got a few calls to make.. but if so.. i will be ordering it, hopefully this week. Just a few questions to ask.

I've got a few friends that are out of town with either dsl or cable, and they are telling me that the telco will install a modem onmy end.. and then that I can either hook my pc to that by network cable directly.. or I can hook a hub to that modem, and then hook in a few computers.. etc.

This right?

Also.. i have another PC in another room that has an older linksys 802.11b card on it, and I still have the old wireless access point 802.11b for it ( currently unused ).. would that access point be able to be hooked to the hub as well and let that other pc in on the dsl?

I went to a few local stores just to browse.. and all i see any more are routers. I've not messed with routers before.. At home.. I've got a generic 10/100 hub.. and I've also got a 10/100 hub with a switch. Both are older.. circa 1995-1998 or so. ( ironically.. I was on the cutting edge of computers nearly 20 ys ago.. but have folowed it less and less.. and by the time win95+ came out.. I'm pretty much just a user... ). I used to have my old win98 pc wirless linked to my other pc in the other room with that 802.11b setup.. but then I got a new computer ( xp ).. and it wouldn't talk to the other pc.. so i put all te stuff in a box and forgot about it. Upgraded the other pc a while back to an xp machine and put the wireless card on it and installed the driver just for the heck of it.. .. just wondering if it will be of any use.... ? I alos have a laptop that will do wireless G or B.. so I guess I need 3 pc's on this dsl setup... My pc will be right where the modem is. The laptop is portable.. and the other pc is across the house. So it looks like the other pc and the laptop need the wireless link via the access point? and my pc to be directly connected to the?? hub?? Fill in the blanks here guys... if this was an old ford tractor issue.. I'd be fine...(grin)

Advice?

Soundguy

If you use a Hub without a router, you will need 2 public IP Addresses, rather than just one. There might be an additional charge for that. It is also possible that the DSL modem will be a router, I know mine is and I had to turn that feature off as I have my own router and it was causing me some problems with port forwarding. I have Verizon DSL and my modem/router is a Westell 6100 provided for free by Verizon.

Having your own router you can controll is an advantage and you have the benefit of having a firewall as well.

Derek

Diesel-ME · Apr 16, 2007

Soundguy,

Unless your telco provides an integrated DSL modem/wireless router (some do), then just pick up a wireless router. They cost between $40 and $70 and are available at Wally*World, RatShack, Staples, BB, etc....

I have used linksys, NetGear, d-link and they are all "easy" to get working. Most new broadband routers are pre-configured to work with the majority of broadband provider's configurations. Just ask your DSL provider if they require PPPOE. If not, then all you have to do is plug the router WAN port into the DSL ethernet port, turn on the DSL modem, then turn on the router.

Now you plug your PC in to one of the LAN ports and boot it up. 9 times out of 10 that's all there is to it.... hope you are not the 10

Now you have to configure the wireless. Just follow the quick start guide that comes with the wireless router - it's not too hard. If you live close enough to any other houses you might want to turn on wireless security else others will leach off your connection for free.

PM me if you need a hand.

~paul

duber34 · Apr 16, 2007

Hi Chris,

Yes you can attach your wireless access point to your hub to your DSL MODEM and be done. But, it's not really the best configuration. Hubs generally are not very robust. Meaning: No built in DHCP Server, no built in DNS Proxy Server, no built in firewall and a HUB creates a slower network just by the very nature of how they work. Ex: When a hub receives a packet (chunk) of data (a frame in Ethernet lingo) at one of its ports from a PC on the network, it transmits (repeats) the packet to all of its ports and, thus, to all of the other PCs on the network. If two or more PCs on the network try to send packets at the same time a collision is said to occur. When that happens all of the PCs have to go though a routine to resolve the conflict.

A switch on the other hand: An Ethernet switch automatically divides the network into multiple segments, acts as a high-speed, selective bridge between the segments, and supports simultaneous connections of multiple pairs of computers which don't compete with other pairs of computers for network bandwidth.

A better solution and not very expensive is to buy yourself a wireless router. Say an 802.11g 4 port router in the price range of $30 - $70. It works more like a switch. Connect this to your DSL MODEM and it will offer you the options of being wireless or wired. Also it will give you configurable firewall protection plus the efficiency of DHCP and DNS Servers.

This isn't the only way to configure a network but probably about the cheapest way......

Hope this helps some.

Regards,
Duber

Soundguy · Apr 16, 2007

I'm taking al this in.. Sounds like I need a router.. and/or preferabley.. a wireless capable router.

and/or find out if what the modem I'm getting from the telco is.. to see if it has a router built in.. etc? correct?

Soundguy

dmccarty · Apr 16, 2007

Soundguy,

Good advice so far. Back in the city we had a cable modem and I just hooked up a router and eventually a wireless router. It was simple and painless.

After the house was built and we actually got DSL which was a huge surprise since we are at the end of the road, I tried to get our network back up. It took a year or so of me fiddiling with it. Sprint could not help though they tried. What it got down too is that that there online documents where just wrong but I got it work after working on it off and on for a year or so.

Sprint "installed" the modem. From the modem we have the wireless switch/router. That part is easy. The configuration was the problem.

Make sure you change the default password on the router. If it even has a password...

Also the DSL modem seems to take off the top end of a voice conversation. We had to put in little filters on the phones because of the DSL connection. The sound quality of a phone call was degraded after the DSL was enabled. Not a big deal for us since we use the cell phones 95% of the time.

Later,
Dan

duber34 · Apr 16, 2007

Sounds about right. If your MODEM from Telco has a built in router (preferably wired/wireless) you're golden. Be aware that while you might purchase a standard 802.11g (54Mps) router, the bottleneck will be the old 802.11b (11Mps) wireless card in the one PC.

Regards,
Duber

Diesel-ME · Apr 16, 2007

duber34 said:
Sounds about right. If your MODEM from Telco has a built in router (preferably wired/wireless) you're golden. Be aware that while you might purchase a standard 802.11g (54Mps) router, the bottleneck will be the old 802.11b (11Mps) wireless card in the one PC.

Regards,
Duber

I agree re: the bottleneck - however that should only be the case if he is sharing, say, a printer on his LAN. If he gets 11mbps on his Internet connection then I'm moving to his neighborhood

~paul

MikePA · Apr 16, 2007

duber34 said:
Be aware that while you might purchase a standard 802.11g (54Mps) router, the bottleneck will be the old 802.11b (11Mps) wireless card in the one PC.

Just to clarify....that will be a bottleneck for just that PC, not the network nor the other PCs/laptop.