[PLUG] getting DSL in the middle of nowhere

Carla Schroder carla at bratgrrl.com
Thu Oct 23 15:08:02 UTC 2003


On Thursday 23 October 2003 2:30 pm, guy1656 wrote:
> Connect - Surf - Wheee!
>
> Now THAT's what I want!
> Am I dreaming? Look above:
>
> - No mention of the user's computer hardware
> - No mention of whisch distro
> - no make, install, dependencies, configure, download RTFM.
>
> Just open the box, drop the hardware in & go.
>
> I want to know more about this, because when I make the swich from dial-up
> to DSL, I want things to go just like that. Are we there yet?

It's not that simple, that's the condensed version. Us computering deities 
make it look easy. :P The usual steps are:

- configure Ethernet settings. In Debian, /etc/network/interfaces and 
/etc/resolv.conf.  Most Linuxes have a nice network configuration utility. I 
don't believe Verizon or Qwest make you use PPPoE, which is good.

- set up firewall. Absolutely insane to not have one. For a single PC running 
no public services, all major Linuxes come with nice firewall setup 
utilities.

- set up gateway, if you want to share with multiple machines

I have an old Pentium for my gateway machine. It has two NICs. 

DSL modem -> gateway -> 4-port switch -> other machines

Don't expect any help from the telcos. Despite Unix and Linux being the 
backbones of the Internet, they still think it's a Winduhs world. Even the 
excellent local ISPs in the Portland area are spotty in their Linux support.

-- 
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Carla Schroder
www.tuxcomputing.com
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