DSL Questions

[Cirerrek]

Okay,

My Earthlink DSL Installation Kit should be waiting for me when I get back from Xmas break.

The kit includes:
1 ADSL Modem
1 filter kit, which includes 3 inline single microfilters, 1 Y-adapter, and 1 swapper
Earthlink 5.03 DSL software CD
Earthlink DSL terms of service
QuickStart Card

1) I picked up a Linksys LNE100TX-EtherFast 10/100 LAN Card, but haven't put it in my computer, yet. I've checked the Linksys website, and they do not seem to have any drivers for WinXP, but the setup software in the box seems to include drivers for pretty much all the other Windows OSs. Any pointers on setting the card up for WinXP?

2) None of the above mentions anything about cables. I think I need a cable to go from the NIC to the ADSL Modem and then a cable to go from the ADSL Modem to my phone jack. So what kind of cables should I get?

3) According to the sales rep, the Earthlink software CD contains a copy of WinPoet, for the PPPoE software. I've seen several posts in these forums, recommending not to install the PPPoE software provided by the DSL companies. Any particular reason? And if there are good reasons not to install the software, which software is a good alternative (I've seen RASPPPOE recommended by some)?

4) Also the Earthlink software CD contains a copy of ZoneAlarm. Is ZoneAlarm a good firewall or is there better 'free' firewall software out there?

5) Almost forgot, virus software? I was using InnoculateIT, and I liked it very much, but they sent me an e-mail a while back on my old dial-up connection saying that they were no longer offering InncoluateIT as a free software d/l, or something to like that. Is there a good 'free' alternative that is compatible with WinXP?

6) Happy Holidays!

[reboot]

1.) Drivers are built into XP, should install automatically.
2.) Usually, enough cables to get connected are included, UNLESS this particular "modem" is internal or USB...
3.) No idea, sorry.
4.) ZA is good. You may prefer www.tinysoftware.com or http://www.sygate.com/swat/default.htm I prefer Sygate.
5.) Check to see if you can still get updates for your InoculateIt. The updates are still free, and it works with XP, you just can't download a new version any more. If you don't have it saved anywhere, AVG is also free. http://www.allfreetools.com/article1002.html
6.) Happy Holidays!

[audiyoda]

3) Most PPPoE clients from the ISP are bloated and slow. RASPPPoE is an exception. It's small (under 500K) and fast. Very fast -- it was originally written for WinNT and Win2000 and then ported back to the 9x kernal. So it should work well uner XP considering it's based from the NT/2000 kernal. Here's the link.

Otherwise, what Reboot said except I prefer ZoneAlarm Pro as a software firewall -- the pro version is very configurable -- much more so than the free version of ZA or Sygate.

-Craig

[reboot]

I should have qualified my statement about firewalls.
Of the FREE ones, Sygate I prefer.
If you're buying, ZA Pro is the best.

[glc]

XP has a PPPoE client built in - you will not need Winpoet or Raspppoe. I hear that it's actually VERY good.

[Cirerrek]

The kit should be here sometime this week. Hopefully the install and setup will go smoothly, otherwise, I'll be back here with a few more question.

Thanks to all for answering my questions!

Cheers,

[Cirerrek]

Okay, my DSL installation kit, finally arrived.

The DSL modem is a ZyXEL Prestige 645 Series. It came with enough cables, which answers 2).

7) Okay, I think I can hook up the phone and the DSL line to one wall jack using the Y-Adapter, but I need to include the low pass microfilters for both pieces of hardware or just the phone? The documentation isn't exactly clear on that and the diagram shows both items going into one adapter (with two slots, one labeled DSL, the other phone. There is no adapter like that in the kit) and then being plugged into the phone jack.

8) Should I do all the installation work through the Administrator account? I haven't quite got the hang of the Administrator account thing, when to use it, when not to use it.

9) I'm sure the really tricky part will be figuring out how to get the whole thing setup and using the WinXP PPPoE software rather than loading up the WinPoet software. Plugging everything in is 'usually' pretty easy, getting it all talking through software is usually the part that I find tricky.

Thanks,

[SARGE]

filters are for everything BUT modem. If you have an alarm system you need to filter it at dmarc (if they ran alarm wire correctly). But then you'd be filtering everything else, including modem. There are many ways to do the wiring; ideally you have a dedicated wire from dmarc to your dsl jack and use a filter at dmarc to cover everything else. This is my setup and I use a splitter at dsl jack with filter for phone.

I can't help you with XP - sorry. But if you go over to dslreports.com and click "community" and select forums, you'll find alot of good info for XP.

[Cirerrek]

Yep, no filter on the modem. It took me a while to figure that out because it took so long for the modem to get warmed up and happy each time restarted it after configuring the cables and filters different ways.

LinkSys Ethernet 10/100TX was recongnized instantly by WinXP. Didn't have to tell it anything.

I configured everything through the administrator account. Seems to be happy in all the other accounts.

I had Earthlink customer support walk me through the modem setup, since I had them on the line asking about the DSL light not coming on (modem restart times are fairly long as noted above), no matter which way I had it filter/jacked in. Didn't have to load any of the Earthlink software from the CD as the XP PPPoE worked like a charm and was very easy to setup.

Turns out they forget to issue me any kind of password, either for internet access or e-mail access, so it was a good thing I called them up. Too bad I didn't know about needing an e-mail password at the time, sigh...

My favorite part of the conversation was when the guy told me I had been set up and ready to go since Dec 12th, 01, but I didn' receive the kit until today. I better check and see if they charged me for the month of Dec.

How did I phrase it one day when I was ranting about Sprint and Earthlink and their crappy customer service "By offering sub par customer service, large companies like Sprint and Earthlink are leaving themselves open to competition. They need to get that rammed through their business models and inserted into their mission statements." I didn't realize the imagery at the time, but it was pretty darn funny when someone pointed it out to me, but I digress...

Well, looks like a couple of passwords to go and things will be hunky dory, for a while. Thanks for the advice and suggestions!

Cheers,

[SARGE]

When you reach the end of the Internet, let us know.