[Herefordshire] OT: Broadband questions

[Julian Robbins]

Hi Ralph

I'm an IPCop user (Linux based separate firewall/Router) so will answer 
where I can help ;-)

Ralph Jones wrote:
> Hello all, 
> 
> I'm taking the liberty of posting these OT questions regarding
> broadband. This is not because of my laziness to look up the information, but because of too many sources and too much
> information available.
> 
> I've decided to take the plunge and 'go broadband. I've tried to
> research as much as possible, mainly from adslguide.org.uk, but also
> various ISPs and hardware suppliers websites, and have ended up with
> more questions than I started off with.
> 
> 1) Microfilter or pre-filtered/dedicated DSL socket? 
> 
> I'm looking to go with a DSL socket to replace the standard BT plug-in
> socket, for sake of neatness. Unless you folks have experiences to the
> contrary.

> 
> 
> 2) How to connect my PC to the ADSL-enabled phoneline?
>  
> Am I right in saying that my options are: 
> a) PCI modem, which I slot straight into my mobo, and then telephone
> cable into the socket at the rear.
> b) USB modem, where the modem plugs into a USB socket on my box, and
> with a phone cable into the phone line.
> c) ethernet modem/router combos, (and variations thereof), where I
> presume I would need a PCI-based '10/100 ethernet NIC', which plugs into
> the router/modem, which itself then plugs into the phoneline.


> 
>  At the moment, I'm happy to go with either of the first two options, as
> I will only be going on-line with one PC, and it won't be switched on
> 24/7. There might be a possibility that I might build myself a
> collection of PCs later in the year, in which case I would get myself a
> 4-port router/modem combo. My question is, are the first two plug in and
> set up, or will I have to start tinkering with kernel modules et al to get
> them up and running?

Depends if we talk about Linux ... Safest and easiest option by far is 
the Ethernet based modem/router/firewall approach. As it gives you an 
ethernet interface, nothing can be easier with Linux !

PCI and USB ADSL modems are a little more limited. Try the usual linux 
hardware databases. If you go PCI, there are two fully supported Linux 
modems. Pulsar by Traverse Technologies in Australia are nice and fully 
developed and supported under Linux. Speak to Guy Ellis there. But they 
are about £60 (also 1/3 height so nice for small factor pc's).

USB is ok for home usage but the modem is usually powered by the usb 
port - can be a little less reliable 0- same for Windows and linux. That 
said, I use one. (Fujitsu FDX310 which is supported). Its fine.

Usual rules apply, newest kernels will be your best bet to get it 
working out of the box. More drivers are available without any work than 
ever. Always try the latest distros, otherwise you will have more work 
to do.

> 
> 3) As I mentioned above, the PC will not be switched on, or on-line,
> 24/7. Would it be just a case of disconnecting from my broadband ISP,
> pretty much as I do now with dial-up? And when I re-connect, will my
> settings be remembered?

hmm. Not sure. My IPCOP is always on. I think the settings would be kept 
same as it normal dial-up.

> 
> 4) Using other ISPs/SMTP servers
> If I want to send mail from ISPs other than my BB ISP (i.e. the one
> whose SMTP server is forwarding this message on), would I still need to
> keep my dial-up modem connected to the PC, and plug it into the voice
> channel of my phone line to be used as required, or is it a case of once
> a phone-line has been 'DSL-ed', that's it - you can't use dial-up
> anymore. I don't particularly want to transfer all my mail accounts to
> one address (provided by my BB ISP) purely because I can't access various SMTP servers as
> required.
>

Right - this always confused me. Generally, you cannot send mail through 
a different ISP that that that you are dialled in with ADSL/ISDN or 
anything. This is for reasons of stopping spam as much as anything.

But, you CAN send mail from your non dialled in other email account. The 
mail will still go through. (i just tried it !). So you receive your 
mail -POP/IMAP through your normal provider, but you must send SMTP 
through the ISP you are dialled in with.

Some ISP's are moving to authenticated SMTP where you pass your username 
and password to get SMTP access.

> 
> 5) I see one ADSL modem/router (Zoom X5v) also has a phone port for
> VoIP. I had intended to use Skype with a headset/microphone combo that I
> already have plugged into the sound card. Is this option still available
> to me? It would be interesting to see, if Chris brings Asterisk to the
> next meeting, whether that is similar to Skype, or a case of overkill
> for my needs.

Don't know - but i would be interested in seeing a demo of Skype or 
Asterisk. Skype is certainly simpler though

> As I mentioned above, these questions are off-topic, for which I do
> apologise if it offends you. Otherwise, your comments/opinions/past
> experiences would be most welcome.

I think they are all relevant. We all generally  need to go on-line, and 
most of us will use a Linux system to do so. When I first started with 
Linux in 1998 Redhat 5.2 ) it took me two weeks to figure out why my 
modem would connect but only work at about 0.1kB/s rather than the 4 
that I would see in Windows. It was (for those interested, a clash of 
IRQs that meant that although the connection was happening, it was 
throttling any real throughput. But with help from a techie friend of 
mine, we got it fixed :-)

Hope this helps

Julian

> Regards
> Ralph
> 
> 
> 
> 
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