"High Speed" Internet Providers

[Badfrog66]

Hello all,

Can anyone recommend any Linux-friendly DSL providers?

I'm currently with Bellsouth.net and hafta boot Winders to surf :-(

[ph34r]

One of my co-workers got bellsouth going in Linux no prob - I think he just got the non-usb modem, configured his nic, and off he went.

[Craig McPherson]

You can (should be able to) DSL provider with Linux as long as it doesn't require any "weird" hardware like a "USB DSL Modem", which, by the way, is the dumbest invention of the century. Any service which supplies an Ethernet card which plugs into a DSL access device (commonly called a "modem" although it ain't) can be used under Linux. If the service requires PPPoE, you'll have to install PPPoE software for Linux, but that's become quite easy as PPPoE has become more common.

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http://users.ipa.net/~cmcpher/paminv.gif DEBIAN (http://www.debian.org/) http://users.ipa.net/~cmcpher/paminv.gif
It turns girls into statues!

[This message has been edited by Craig McPherson (edited 13 January 2001).]

[Craig McPherson]

Oh yeah... and if you did get shafted with a USB "modem", you can probably just pick up a used standard DSL "modem" just about anywhere, and get it to work with the service. As I understand it, all DSL "modems" are functionally compatible and use the same set of protocols. They're really just dumb adapters, not "modems".

In fact, nobody's quite sure what to call them. They're not "modems", because they're not analog. They're not "routers", because they don't route. They're not "adapters", because "adapter" implies an internal device. They're not "appliances" because they're not smart enough.

So call 'em whatever you like, I guess, since no "real" name fits the bloody things.

[Badfrog66]

Hey, thanks for replying...

I had been wondering if any ole "device incorrectly referred to as a modem" would work, I might try that if one can be found suitably cheaply.

[mikeylikesitz]

I believe that you can get them through www.pcconnection.com (http://www.pcconnection.com) for about $225 or maybe a little less. I think the Alcatel Speedtouch is the best way to go http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/biggrin.gif And i went a found a used 3com eithernet card with drivers for 15 bucks. Works out great. Set my linux for DHCP on boot and everything went fine. Hope it helps.

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Welcome to the Revolution!

[ds801]

Since nobody mentioned it so far, check out DSL Reports (http://www.dslreports.com). There are at least two different types of DSL modems (as in the way they work, not as in PCI, USB, ethernet), so if you buy a used one, make sure it's of the type compatable with your ISP.

I believe that the term "DSL Bridge" might be a good name for the modems, since they connect 2 different types of networks: broadband and baseband.

[Sweede]

Calling a DSL terminal adapter a modem is like calling your mom, your dad (unless your eric cartman).


but the proper name for a DSL adapter would be a CSU/DSU
Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit , but since DSL only has 1 channel, it'd just be a DSU ?

so the proper name would be a DSU
which makes sense becuase SDSL technology is nearly identical to standard Frame Relay, which uses a CSU/DSU before the router.

[Craig McPherson]

I don't know if "bridge" would work.

Bridges operate at the Data Link OSI Layer.

I don't know much about how those little "modems" work, but I STRONGLY supppect that they operate at the Physical Layer and have no concept of addressing whatsoever: they just take a stream of data coming in from one side and spit it out on the other side, similar to a hub (hubs operate at the Physical Layer also) with two different kinds of Ethernet interfaces on it (10BT and 10B2 for example...).

If anyone actually DOES know what OSI Layer a lil DSL "modem" operates at, I'd like to know: they don't seem smart enough to be anything higher than Physical, but I could be wrong.

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http://users.ipa.net/~cmcpher/paminv.gif DEBIAN (http://www.debian.org/) http://users.ipa.net/~cmcpher/paminv.gif
It turns girls into statues!

[This message has been edited by Craig McPherson (edited 14 January 2001).]