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Quick DSL Question

Posted: 2003-09-16 05:49pm
by HemlockGrey
Is it even remotely possible that a Verizon DSL account could be in use by two computers, at the same time?

Re: Quick DSL Question

Posted: 2003-09-16 06:40pm
by Hotfoot
HemlockGrey wrote:Is it even remotely possible that a Verizon DSL account could be in use by two computers, at the same time?
Yes. Usually by having multiple IP's as a part of the account. This is usually standard for broadband connections, I think you can get 3-4 included in your standard price.

Networking them is either handled by the ISP (probably for a service fee) or left to you.

Posted: 2003-09-16 06:40pm
by TheFeniX
Of course, buy a router.

Do you have a program installed that "dials-up" to your DSL ISP? If so, the router does that for you and all you do is open IE (or whatever). If you don't have to use a dial program then you were probably already given a router, and don't have to buy anything. Post or PM me specifics.

Office depot has a D-Link router that cost about $30 after rebate.

Posted: 2003-09-16 07:06pm
by Daltonator
If you get a router, avoid Belkin.

Posted: 2003-09-16 07:44pm
by phongn
Linksys is pretty bad as well, though not quite as bad as Belkin.

Posted: 2003-09-16 07:57pm
by Darth Wong
What's so bad about Linksys and Belkin? I've had a Linksys for a while (it was on sale, what can I say) and it's never caused any problems whatsoever. In fact, it's been more reliable than the piece-of-shit D-Link switch that I'm using in the study.

Posted: 2003-09-16 08:04pm
by Daltonator
The Belkin 4-port DSL/Cable router I got real cheap was more trouble than it was worth, but it seems to have settled down now that I use the DMZ option in the router settings rather than (gasp!) daring to open a few ports to try to get things like ICQ file transfer working through the NAT (which was probably the cause of the constant router lockups).

Posted: 2003-09-16 08:21pm
by DarthBlight
Hey! I got a D-Link router and haven't had any problems with it.

Re: Quick DSL Question

Posted: 2003-09-16 09:08pm
by Mad
HemlockGrey wrote:Is it even remotely possible that a Verizon DSL account could be in use by two computers, at the same time?
Given that I'm using Verizon DSL and using a Linksys router and have 4 computers connected, I'd say yes. :)

Just pick up a Cable/DSL router and you'll be set. There's a couple other ways, but a router is the most reliable and easiest to set up.

Posted: 2003-09-16 09:11pm
by HemlockGrey
Well, the two computers in question are a desktop...and a laptop with wireless internet. Does that change anything?

Posted: 2003-09-16 09:39pm
by phongn
You can usually get a NAT router with integrated wireless.

As for Linksys, well, their products tend to slowly die at my house and occasionally they need rebooting. They don't seem to handle our load that well.

Posted: 2003-09-16 10:25pm
by Darth Wong
phongn wrote:You can usually get a NAT router with integrated wireless.

As for Linksys, well, their products tend to slowly die at my house and occasionally they need rebooting. They don't seem to handle our load that well.
My Linksys router handled 1 GB/day transfers and tens of millions of hits per month for several months straight while the board was at my house, and it never hiccuped. It daresay it's taken orders of magnitude more load than any other router personally owned by anyone here.

Posted: 2003-09-16 10:47pm
by TheFeniX
Daltonator wrote:The Belkin 4-port DSL/Cable router I got real cheap was more trouble than it was worth, but it seems to have settled down now that I use the DMZ option in the router settings rather than (gasp!) daring to open a few ports to try to get things like ICQ file transfer working through the NAT (which was probably the cause of the constant router lockups).
Upgrade the firmware. It's what I had to do on my Speedstrem (shudder) when XBL came out.

That brings up good memories of the flamewar I got into with the MS-fanboys (and I do mean fanboys, don't say anything bad about MS unless you are ready for flame overload) at X-box addicts.

Posted: 2003-09-16 11:21pm
by TrailerParkJawa
I use a SMC Barricade for my router. Overall, Im pretty happy with it. The power plug can fall out to easily. That is annoying. But it comes with a built in Printer Server which is one of my favorite features.

Posted: 2003-09-16 11:47pm
by Dalton
TheFeniX wrote:That brings up good memories of the flamewar I got into with the MS-fanboys (and I do mean fanboys, don't say anything bad about MS unless you are ready for flame overload) at X-box addicts.
There are no firmware upgrades for my model at the moment.

Posted: 2003-09-16 11:54pm
by phongn
Darth Wong wrote:My Linksys router handled 1 GB/day transfers and tens of millions of hits per month for several months straight while the board was at my house, and it never hiccuped. It daresay it's taken orders of magnitude more load than any other router personally owned by anyone here.
Odd, our Linksys box must have not liked us :?

Actually, now that I think about it, it's not really a performance issue that I didn't like - rather, it's that we've had reliability issues with them. I also had bad experiences with their 802.11b WLAN cards (PCMCIA and PCI).

Posted: 2003-09-17 12:07am
by Crayz9000
If there's a spare 486 or better lying around, plus a couple of Ethernet cards, you can make your own router using Freesco.

Posted: 2003-09-17 12:38am
by Darth Wong
My server has two network cards in it. I used to use it as a router (with GShield as a firewall) before I got the Linksys. It's an easy job for a computer to handle; there was no appreciable difference in the performance of the machine even when handling a very large amount of data on the Internet connection (the board was running on it a few times during that period).

Posted: 2003-09-17 12:47am
by RedImperator
My Linksys router has never given me an iota of trouble.

Posted: 2003-09-17 01:03am
by Shrykull
RedImperator wrote:My Linksys router has never given me an iota of trouble.
We have a netgear wireless router connected to a cable modem with USB connectors that connect the PC's to it wirelessly. How do you configure a wireless router? My IP starts with 192, and I've been told it's private, I can't send files in Mirc and people can't connect to me to play games of mtg with magic workstation.

Posted: 2003-09-17 01:05am
by Shrykull
My Linksys router handled 1 GB/day transfers and tens of millions of hits per month for several months straight while the board was at my house
Where is it now?

Posted: 2003-09-17 03:37am
by Faram
What is this linksys and dlink you guys are talking about?

Get yourselfs a real router.

Picked up a cisco 3600 when we decomissioned one office, it's kickas!

Posted: 2003-09-17 09:55am
by phongn
Shrykull wrote:
RedImperator wrote:My Linksys router has never given me an iota of trouble.
We have a netgear wireless router connected to a cable modem with USB connectors that connect the PC's to it wirelessly. How do you configure a wireless router? My IP starts with 192, and I've been told it's private, I can't send files in Mirc and people can't connect to me to play games of mtg with magic workstation.
Read the manual. Netgear used to have a configuration system you telnet'ed into, but they may have added a web interface. I have no clue.

You have to forward ports to your specific computer or put yourself on the DMZ if various things don't work. Also, sometimes a firmware update will solve NAT issues.

Posted: 2003-09-17 09:56am
by phongn
Faram wrote:Picked up a cisco 3600 when we decomissioned one office, it's kickas!
Not everyone can get a free Cisco router or afford even their low-end stuff. They make excellent stuff, though - I have a Cisco Aironet 350 WLAN card, which beats the crap out of any other 802.11b product, and my uni exclusively uses the Aironet 350 access points. Power-over-Ethernet rocks, too.