Text 42, 140 rader
Skriven 2004-07-25 15:10:02 av Will Honea (1:106/2000.0)
     Kommentar till text 39 av Mike Luther (1:117/3001.0)
Ärende: Sprint ADSL setup info?
===============================
Mike Luther wrote to All on 07/23
ML> To anyone who may know and can help?
ML> 
ML> One of the sites I nursemaid has suddenly decided to go get 
ML> Sprint to put in 'DSL for them.  OK, out comes the line 
ML> mule and installs one each Sprint 'DSL modem and a filter 
ML> that produces a voice line on that drop.  This is about a 
ML> hundred US miles from me and I'm going to have to either be 
ML> able to talk people through this LD or have to go there.  
ML> If I go there, I'd better know what to expect and how to do 
ML> things before that trip, grin!
ML> 
ML> 
ML> Now .. all of my experience with broadband is in the cable modem
ML> game. Never  seen one of these 'DSL modems before.  But I'm guessing
ML>  that it has to be much the same as a cable modem.  Now it  is also
ML> obvious to me that there is going to have to be a  fixed IP address
ML> come out of this somehow, just like in  cable modem stuff, to really
ML> make any professional use of  this. While I do know how to get
ML> OS/2's DHCP to connect to  get in to the COX operation with that, I
ML> also know how much  misery getting the address whomped every so
ML> often is.  And  that brings to mind what interface characteristics
ML> are  going to exist there .. such as the fixed address, the  masking
ML> etc.
ML> 
ML> 
ML> OK .. so I was told today that there was a Sprint guru who 
ML> would 'assist' the folks in setting up this honest 'DSL 
ML> modem, whatever it is, and they would furnish 'software' to 
ML> do that.  Yeah, what, like Windows whatever? Well we've 
ML> heard about that stuff here in the echo, but that is likely 
ML> how the interface with Sprint will start.
ML> 
ML> 
ML> My advice, so far, to the crowd of sheep, is that they had better
ML> plan on at  least a broadband router or switch, something with a 
ML> firewall capability and in this case it really needs to be  able to
ML> be set up with at least Telnet,or I *HOPE* with an  RS-232 line into
ML> it.  I chose my ZyXel broadband router  that way for just exactly
ML> the purpose and after reading the  book a bit, via the RS-232 modem
ML> port and ZOC on a  'standard' comm port deal, away it went. I've
ML> never looked  back and can manage it with TelNet also if needed. 
ML> All COX  ever did here was to give me the neighborhood router 
ML> address and masking data, plus the needed domain server and  backup
ML> server deal and away we went,either DHCP or fixed  address later,
ML> via the either a basic MCP2 box with all the  fixes, or later the
ML> ZyXel.
ML> 
ML> 
ML> As well, having a standardized interface between the router and
ML> the 'DSL  modem sure has to be the way to go, as opposed to just 
ML> hooking up the single desired OS/2 box on the facility LAN  to that
ML> modem and firing up either DHCP or using fixed  addressing to what
ML> Sprint offers.  Not firing up NETBIOS  over TCP/IP is sure the way I
ML> want to do this, based on  previous bitter experience about what can
ML> be done with an  OS/2 box that thinks it normally can be seen via
ML> TCP/IP as  in default Windows worlds!
ML> 
ML> 
ML> Any advice and comments?

Mike, I just went through this exercise a couple of months ago with
both cable and DSL (Qwest).  In my case, the DSL "modem" Qwest was
pushing out was a modem/router/bridge combo.  It had both an ethernet
port and USB input plus the phone line jacks (built-in DSL filter for
the phone even).  It runs a Linux core with built in firewall, DHCP
server and client, and a decent router.  From the "inside" I can
configure it via http with any browser or I can use telnet - but there
are NO instructions for the telnet interface (hell, they don't even
document that it's even THERE!).  It has lots of options but basically
it boils down to a few simple functions to get going.  First, the box
has to be set up to connect to the DSL source.  Call this the outside
interface - it's required no matter what mode you use.  That takes
care of actually establishing the physical link.  From that point on,
things can be made simple or complicated, depending on your frame of
mind.  I have done two completely separate types of install with this
modem: one where I used all of it's facilities and one where I used it
as the simplest form of DSL modem.  Since I have several boxes on and
off the local net, I tried the simple form two ways: with just one
computer hooked to the modem and with a Linksys 54G router/hub/wireless
AP in the loop.  All resolve to the same issues.

The DSL modem establishes a physical link between the outside world
and the using computer.  Somewhere, there has to either be a DHCP
client or you have to have a fixed IP assigned by the ISP.  The modem
sets up the link.  It will either grab an IP address via DHCP from the
ISP's DHCP server or will have a fixed IP assigned that it will
respond to (This is part of the PPoE and PPoA stuff Peter refers to). 
That defines your ISP that the outside world sees.  Once you get to that
point,  the rest is a matter for your own preferences as far as the
inside world is concerned.

Since the modem I have has all the functionality, I just use it for
all the works.  I can assign it an internal IP address of my choosing.
 It comes with a default address assigned in hardware.  The ActionTec
modem uses 192.168.0.1, Linksys uses 192.168.1.1, so check the paperwork
that comes with the hardware (or do a portscan to find it <g>).  It will
probably have an http server at that address that you
can use to configure it via a browser.  Both of the units I used have
an option to either block that server from the outside world (safest)
or allow access from the outside for remote admin.  The ActionTec is
protected by a user programmable userID and password, the Linksys only
allows you to set a password.  I set my son's cable modem up with my
laptop running OS/2 but I cheated just a bit since he had no smarts in
the modem aside from the protocol negoiation.  I had him buy a cheap
($39) router/hub to put between the computer and the modem.  That
bought a firewall and NAT functionality for multiple users as well as
a local DHCP server for the inside network.  Nearly all the work was in
configuring the stuff on the inside of the router.  

The Actiontec has a good DSL loop monitor funcction.  If it looses the
DSL line for more than 10 seconds, it automagically re-connects and
re-negoitates all the DHCP stuff it needs to keep on line.  The stuff
on the inside is maintained according to it's own rules even accross
power failures so the stuff on the inside net is pretty well
controlled and predictable.  I would HIGHLY recommend you get a router
to put in series if the DSL modem does not contain the functions.  The
firewall, DHCP server, and stability are worth every penny!

Email me if this is confusing.  My DSL "setup" arrived in a plain
brown wrapper with no tech in sight.  It took me all afternoon to get
things set up the first time but that was just lack of experience. 
Setting the one up for my son took under an hour after that.  Playing
games with the Linksys router in place of the modem's builtin functions
took a couple of hours, but I was playing.  I do agree with Peter: for
the first one, make the drive.  If you go with the separate router, 
you can actually set that one up using your cable modem before you ever
leave home and then make just a few changes when you get there.  For
the DSL modem (if is is a multifunction unit) you could probqbly have
them send it to you and get it configured for all but the physical
outside link as well but you should still figure on doing the first one
on-site.  I would probably not use the remote admin function if it were
up to me.

Will Honea <whonea@codenet.net>

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