[PLUG] Victor wants a reality check with regard to raspberry pi and ZyXEL C1100Z

Russell Senior russell at personaltelco.net
Fri Apr 1 08:50:28 UTC 2016


>>>>> "Victor" == Victor Soich <vsoich at gmail.com> writes:

Victor> Hi all, First, a bit of background....  I thought I lived in a
Victor> comcast monopoly area, and just recently had a knock on my door
Victor> in S.E. Portland from a guy saying I could get centurylink
Victor> internet services.  I might make the plunge and pay 25 bucks a
Victor> month for 40 Mbs download speed, unless I hear heavy criticism
Victor> about centurylihk service, as opposed to comcast.  If I take the
Victor> plunge, then I have to go through the rigmarole of returning a
Victor> recently purchased docsys 3.0 comcast cable modem.

Victor> So...if I take the plunge, and return the comcast modem, then I
Victor> have to get a ZyXEL C1100Z
Victor> <https://internethelp.centurylink.com/internethelp/modem-c1100z.html>
Victor> https://internethelp.centurylink.com/internethelp/modem-compatibility-table.html
Victor> https://internethelp.centurylink.com/internethelp/pdf/modems/datasheet-c1000z.pdf
Victor> http://www.amazon.com/C1100Z-802-11n-Wireless-Gateway-CenturyLink/dp/B015ELWZ16/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1459492620&sr=1-1&keywords=ZyXEL+C1100Z+Modem
Victor> http://www.amazon.com/Zyxel-C1000Z-Centurylink-performance-router/dp/B0074VKK26/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1459492620&sr=1-2&keywords=ZyXEL+C1100Z+Modem

Victor> So, I bought a raspberry pi.  I want to turn it into a wireless
Victor> access point.  I have to learn about ifconfig, and other tools.
Victor> That's fine.  Also, I want to make it into a DHCP server, so I
Victor> have to learn how to configure some files.  That's fine.  Also,
Victor> I want to build a firewall, so I have to learn about the nft
Victor> command, which is some sort of successor to iptables.  That's
Victor> fine.  I basically want my future raspberry pi to have the
Victor> functionality of the ZyXel C1100Z

Victor> The part I'm concerned about is the RJ11 wire that goes from the
Victor> ZyXEL C1100Z to something called a network terminal, that will
Victor> let me access the fiber optic line that may come to my house.  I
Victor> hope I said that correctly enough.

Victor> So can I get some sort of dohicky converter thingy (to use a
Victor> technical term!) to turn one of the usb ports on my raspberry pi
Victor> into a "phone jack" or "DSL" port...if I'm saying that right,
Victor> and then install some sort of software on the raspberry pi
Victor> rasbian debian OS, that will let me communicate with the network
Victor> terminal.  Just like I need to possibly learn how to recompile a
Victor> kernel to make use of the nft tool, do I analogously somehow put
Victor> on some software on the raspberry pi, that in the end will make
Victor> my raspberry pi a complete replacement for the ZyXEL
Victor> C1100Z....and thus communicate through the RJ11 ( not ethernet )
Victor> port.

Victor> I want to do this for the learning of DHCP servers, wifi access
Victor> points, firewalls, et. al.  I just don't know if the DSL RJ11
Victor> parts is possible.  If it is not possilble, then I'll buy the
Victor> ZyXEL C1100Z.  If it is possible, then I'll rent the ZyXEL
Victor> C1100Z, until I figure out how to replicate the latter product
Victor> on a raspberry pi.  If what I'm asking to try to do is really
Victor> stupid, and very involved, i.e. the DSL RJ11 part, not the other
Victor> stuff, then I'll just buy the ZyXELL C1100Z.  If I have to do
Victor> things like solder something, for example, then I'm out.

Victor> This all assumes that I'm not disabused of my notion of
Victor> switching from Comcast to CenturyLink in the first place.

Victor> So, while I may be a bit barbarous in my phrasing, I hope I was
Victor> articulate enough to get my point across.  So, should I just
Victor> stick with comcast over centurylink.  If I go with centurylink,
Victor> can I implement the functionality of the ZyXEL C1100Z DSL phone
Victor> jack RJ11 in the raspberry pi, or is that just dumb to do.

First off, if it's fiber, then you aren't going to use the rj-11.  If
you are plugging in the rj-11, and it's really a 40 Mbps download
service, then it's probably bonded DSL (they use two pairs of copper and
gang them for extra speed).

If it's DSL, you'll need a DSL modem (their C1100Z or something
equivalent).  If it's fiber, they will try to sell or rent you a router
to plug it into.  You don't need it, but you will need your PPPoE
credentials that they would normally program into their router.  You
also need to set up a VLAN on your router (VLAN 201) in order to talk to
the fiber box they will screw on the side of your house (if they are
really installing fiber, which I'm skeptical about).  Find out which
they are promising.

The people who come to your door are not really reliable sources of
information, generally.  They are there to say what they need to say to
get you to sign up so they can get their commission or whatever sales
incentive they have.

Furthermore, a Raspberry Pi is not going to make a very good wireless
access point.  Only the version 3 has built in wifi, and it's *probably*
fairly crappy (with a crappy antenna).  If it's less than a version 3,
then you'd need a USB wifi dongle, and usually, they make lousy access
points as well.  The (solitary) ethernet port on a raspberry pi is on
USB as well, which has been a weak point historically.

You can either try buying a reflashable access point (until recently, a
reasonably easy thing to do, though we are in a period of some
uncertainty at the moment due to a new FCC regulation on 3rd party
firmware), or you could look for something like an Alix or APU from a
company called PC Engines if you really want to roll your own.

Lastly, CenturyLink is a horrible, horrible company.  It's nice that
they are trying a little harder to compete with Comcast these days, and
to try to deploy fiber before Google gets in gear in Portland, but they
are no panacea.  Try to avoid any contract commitments, as you really
lose leverage when you sign up for a contract term.  If you can bail,
you will have more of their attention to fix problems.  Also, record
every conversation you have with them.  Tell them you are recording the
call for quality assurance.  If possible negotiate on their chat feature
and save the chat log.  You'll need it when your first bill arrives and
it has lots of inventive things on it.

Good luck!


-- 
Russell Senior, President
russell at personaltelco.net



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