Re: [LUG] eurobell cable usb or nic

[Paul Weaver <P.J.Weaver@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tuesday 08 October 2002 9:02 pm, Ray Smith wrote:
> Hi. I'm having broadband from eurobell installed in a couple of weeks and
> it's being sdone with a usb cable instead of a network interface card to
> save the £27 that they charge for supplying and fitting one.
>
> How well does linux detect a cable modem connected via usb. I currently
> have suse 8.
>
> I can get a nic from the computer shop in plymouth for 8 quid which is tons
> cheaper than eurobell charge and fit it myself.
> Is it a pain to set up ?

I've got the following setup

Cable modem ---> Via Cat5 Network cable ---> eth1 on a p133 debian linux 
router ---> Via eth0 via cat 5 ---> 5 port switch ---> Win95, ME, XP, Linux 
boxes

I have no idea if usb works, but a network cable is the way to go. However 
they wont install under linux (I wouldnt recommend it, I got 2 monkeys, the 
Cable guy was ok, the pc guy didnt even try to reboot windows when it needed 
a dhcp refresh). 

However Eurobell only allow 1 MAC address. Every network device in the world 
(including your network card), has a unique address made up of 6 pairs of Hex 
digits (e.g. AA:BB:CC:11:22:33). Eurobell, on install, will use the number. 
It's easily forgable in linux, fortunatly, and you can change it online.

If you dual boot its easy to set up the network

1) Let them set up in windows and go away
2) reboot
3) Use your distributions tools (/etc/network/interfaces in debian, netconf in 
redhat etc), to set your network card (eth0 usually) to DHCP
4) restart the interface (debian: ifdown eth0 && ifup eth0, redhat might do it 
automatically) or reboot.

As for USB? I wouldnt bother. Puts more load on your computer (processor 
intensive), limits maximum throughput (you might later upgrade to 1Mbit, 
which should be ok, or 5mbit in a few years, which would be too fast for 
USB). 

If you dont have dual boot, set your network card up before the goons arrive, 
for DHCP, then when they get there, plug in, boot up, load mozilla, and go to 
(IIRC) 192.168.1.100. They will tell you with a little coaxing (offer a cup 
of tea). They can then activate your mac address (have it ready, its listed 
by running "/sbin/ifconfig" in debian). Everything should work (*cross 
fingers). Simply restart the interface (ifdown/up, or reboot as a last 
resort) and you should be set. Routing should configure automatically, try 
"ping 144.173.6.8" - this will ping a machine at exeter university. If that 
works you're set up. Then try "ping www.google.com". Might work, might not, 
depending on how name resolution is set up. 

If ping 144.173... works then eurobell cant help you any more, so send them 
away and fiddle with /etc/resolv.conf (in debian), adding blueyonder 
nameservers (80.235.128.125 and 80.235.128.126).

Once up and running, make sure you arent running any non-essential servers. 
grc.com has a webpage that will scan your ports for open servers. If you have 
any problems, email the list :)

--
The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG
Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the
message body to unsubscribe.