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FAQ Revisions	Editor: KeysCapt Last modified on 2012-03-06 12:42:44

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4. Using DSL

I want to operate my own server with DSL, am I allowed?

Servers like web? Ftp? mp3 streaming? Sure, although read your contract first. Some DSL services will forbid servers. Others make it harder. Still others scan for servers and alert the administrators if they find them.. possibly they are monitored and you are asked to explain them if your contract forbids them.

The easy way to find out more is to ask in the forum for your ISP or provider, here on the site.

by KeysCapt
last modified: 2002-07-22 23:12:54

My IP hasn't changed. Do I have a static IP?

In most cases you probably don't, unless your ISP has stated your service comes with a static IP. Static services are usually more expensive than regular residential dynamic services.

In the example of DHCP, your ISP may have "leased" an IP to you but it will expire after the lease period is over and you will obtain another IP.

Some IP addresses change more often than others, depending upon your ISP, but this does not mean your IP is static.

by Masamune edited by KeysCapt
last modified: 2002-07-22 18:17:02

How can I share my DSL/Cable connection over 2 or more computers?

Sygate is a wonderful proxy program which I use, and it allows you to share your internet connection over 2 or more computers. The url for this product is »www.sybergen.com and you can try it out for 30 days and if you like it you can buy it. The great part of this proxy is that it is fairly simple to install and allows client computer to view napster, whereas many Proxy's don't allow the use of napster on the client computer.

A more general answer is that there are at least 3 ways to implement internet connection sharing (ICS) among several computers.

The first, and best in terms of flexibility, security and speed, is to use a router. Routers cost from $80 on up, typically in the $150 range at this time. In this setup the router talks to your provider as if it were a computer and it uses NAT (Network Address Translation) to send the proper signals to the right computer on the network (LAN). this is flexible because only the computer(s) desiring connection to the internet need to be on to use it. It is more secure because of the use of NAT, and most routers provide a kind of mini-firewall function; the IPs that the computers are actually on is hidden behind the router; and it is faster than software ICS.

The next hardware solution involves using a hub rather than a router. In this case each computer must have its own IP assigned by your provider and that normally means an extra monthly fee paid per IP. That fee typically runs from $3 to $7 per additional IP. Each computer acts as if it were the only one connected to the internet, so each needs its own firewall and anti-virus software. Speeds to all computers on the network will be about the same as if only one were connected. The biggest disadvantages here, compared to the router solution, are the continuing expense and lack of added security with the purchase of the hub. Hubs run from about $50 on up, with a good one running around $100.

Finally we are back to the software ICS solution. Current Windows platforms (Windows 98 SE, Windows ME and Windows 2000) all have built-in ICS, so the software cost can be zero. There are several other software solutions available for an extra cost. The big disadvantages of this choice are in the areas of convenience and speed. First, the computer acting as the host or server must always be on for any of the others to use the internet. Second, the speed will be reduced to some degree because the host/server computer must process the information to figure out where it should go and then send it on to the proper destination, and it must handle all in and out traffic for all of the computers. The security issue is still there and all systems should have their own firewall and anti-virus software installed.

by KeysCapt

Ok I have fast DSL, what sites are cool?

Generally, sites with streaming video or audio are good for testing your DSL line and enjoying the bandwidth. The Rich Media category of dslreports.com gives you a selection of sites.

by

Why is video no better than it was with my modem?

Video streams, for instance the news ones on CNN, are available at rates modem users can cope with. Therefore, you will not notice a better picture when using DSL, or better audio, but you might notice the video no longer stops and starts, and it also starts to play faster. The video feeds on the web usually specify the speed at which they run, for instance, 28k or 56k. I have seen some at 128k, and 300k, but not many.

by

Should I turn off my DSL or something when I am not using it?

No. Why? It doesn't save you any money. If you concerned about security, though, and don't mind shutting your computer down, it may be prudent. One of the many windows security products called ZoneAlarm is also neat ... ZoneAlarm offers a button; click this when you leave your computer, and it freezes network traffic, unclick when you get back to continue.

No, you will not "damage" the modem/connection/etc. Simply turning it off by the power button is just like turning off a tv or computer. No serious harm will be done,but I don't think a modem will take up much power... Mines only take in 12vdc as it says on the label on modem.

2008-11-15 22:10:27 (Flow7 )

Most firewalls (not only Zone Alarm) offer a button or a menu from the system tray to block all network traffic. McAfee calls it lockdown. Windows Firewall has a checkbox to block all incoming traffic. However, if you block all network traffic, you won't get Windows updates, or updates to your anti-virus.

2009-04-02 12:01:03

by KeysCapt
last modified: 2009-04-02 16:15:22

Will I get charged more for using DSL often?

No. At the moment, the DSL subscription systems do not usually include usage auditing, or at least usage is not factored into any pricing. This may come though!

bell canada has bandwith charges for overage, rogers has it also. and im sure many US companies have it by now

2009-11-25 23:42:28

by

Do I still need windows dialup networking tools with DSL?

No, although... if you provider chooses PPPoE, then you will in fact be using the dialup username/password procedure to get a live connection, even if it then stays open until you power down your PC.

by

Why get DSL when I can dial the office and use its fast line?

If you dial your office, they may have a T1, but you still have a modem, so your internet use travels at that speed.. to say nothing of what your boss thinks about you using the company internet line to play around yourself.

by

Now I have DSL, I want connect to the office. How can I do that?

Your office would have to arrange a VPN (virtual private network) of some particular type. This allows you to tunnel through the internet and into your workplace, over an encrypted connection. You will need some kind of extra software or configuration on your home computer to use this, and the details vary depending on which VPN product your office picks. Without a VPN, though, you are unable to use DSL to get into work, other than use your companies public home page.

by

Is DSL available with voice-over-IP so I can use 1 phone line for voice & data?

True VoDSL (voice over DSL) is currently available from a very limited number of providers: for example, Sprint ION, now in beta-test in various areas of the US.
VoDSL seamlessly splits off voice to your phone or phones, taking small parts of the DSL connection for high priority voice packets as you make or receive calls.
With any regular DSL line, just as you did with modems, you may download some of the internet to phone type programs such as dialpad. These programs may suffer from various problems - delay, echo, quality loss etc.

Dont forget that voice & data can be "on the same line" today if you use ADSL provided by the local telco, and soon with CLECs due to a line sharing agreement, regular voice service and ADSL can run over the same physical copper pair. In this sense, yes, 1 phone line is for simultaneous voice and data. But there is no integration between them.

by

How many users can use a single business DSL line

Depends on the speed. Even a slow speed business DSL line can happily support 10-20 people. Why? because only rarely is more than one person actually USING the connection at a single time.

A T1 speed SDSL line (1500 mbit) could easily support an office of several hundred if their jobs did not involve using the internet all the time.

Getting a good small office firewall like the SonicWall would allow you to set access limits and log users (and abusers) of your office line, so that there is less risk of employees moonlighting at work.

by

Which modem should I get when ordering from Bellsouth

You should either go for the 3060 internal PCI or the External Alcatel Speedstream Ethernet.

Avoid the USB modems unless you really have a need to (say) connect it to a laptop with a USB port. USB modems take CPU power from the computer, and their drivers are still unreliable.

by CyanideOD

Can I be dialed up and on DSL at the same time?

Yes. The first problem to overcome is that when you dialup, your DEFAULT GATEWAY becomes your dialup ISP.. the DSL connection is still active though, you just cannot get to it!
Solution (windows):

What is your DSL default gateway IP address? take a note of that. X.X.X.X

What is the IP address of the OFFICE machine you wish to reach?. Y.Y.Y.Y

What is the address of your DIALUP default gateway? Z.Z.Z.Z

Create a .BAT file with the following commands in it:



echo "Pointing back to DSL"
route delete 0.0.0.0
route add 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 X.X.X.X metric 1
route add Y.Y.Y.Y mask 255.255.255 Z.Z.Z.Z metric 1

The first command deletes the dialup default gateway entry.
The second command tells your PC the new default route is your DSL line.

The third command says the default route for your office server Y.Y.Y.Y is the dialup line.

If your dialup has reset your DNS server, you may wish to add another route command

route add A.A.A.A mask 255.255.255.255 Z.Z.Z.Z metric 1

where A.A.A.A is your office DNS server, (assuming it can resolve internet addresses).

by

Would it slow down my speed if i ran a web server?

Not unless your website is very busy, or contains large files that people frequently wish to download.
There is no traffic, and no speed impact, by just having a web server.
Once setup, web servers provide bandwidth statistics, and you are quickly able to calculate how much percentage of your DSL line is being used by average daily or weekly web traffic.

by

Are there any alternatives to PPPoE?

Alternatives to PPPoE from your provider: Switch plans or providers.

Alternatives to the PPPoE client software provided by your DSL provider:

Enternet300 -- »www.nts.com/ sells Enternet300 which may be provided free by your provider, who pays NTS for it's use.

WINPoET -- »www.windriver.com/ does not sell WINPoET to users, only to ISPs.

RASPPPOE -- »user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~normanb/ *freeware*

And your final alternative is a router that has a PPPoE client in firmware -- which is most of them.

by Paladin$

Explain Windows 9x Virtual Memory settings

Setting your virtual memory to 1.5 - 2x your amount of actual RAM is a good idea. Set the minimum and maximum to the same size.

From what I've seen the biggest gain from setting your own settings is that your swapfile does not get fragmented so badly. When you have a dynamic swapfile and Windows decides to make it bigger, it just grabs free disk space wherever it can find it, and this can slow down performance greatly if pieces of a swapped-out program end up far apart on the hard drive.

So my recommendations would be:
1. Set to min/max both be twice your amount of RAM
2. Don't let Windows manage it for you, and
3. Defragment your hard drive!

You should only have to defrag once after you set the manual settings and reboot. This will put the swap file all in one place contiguously, and it won't move around after that.

In Windows 98 and later, defragging also helps make all applications load faster by putting them in the order they actually get loaded so there isn't so much seeking around going on every time you run something.

by pocky9

What is the 80% bandwidth / speed

A general rule of thumb for determining whether or not you have a good broadband connection is whether or not you are getting at least 80% of the maximum possible speed you could. There is a built in 'loss' due to overhead information that must be transmitted and a few other factors that immediately eat up about 13% of your bandwidth (speed). That means that the absolute best in a perfect setup would be 87% of your theoretical maximum. With other factors thrown in, the 80% rule of thumb was developed. Now, how to apply it.

As one example, lets assume you have a 1.5/256 DSL connection. This means that the best you can ever do is to get 1500kbps (kilobits per second) as a download speed and 256kpbs upload. But at least 13% of that is going away for the overhead. 80% of 1500 is 1200kbps, and 80% of 256 is 204.8kbps. So if you have a 1.5/256 line and are getting speds of 1200/204 or better, then you have a 'good' connection.

If you are getting less than these numbers, the DSLR Tweaks forum is a good place to go to start optimizing the portion of the system that can help with these numbers.

A few things to keep in mind: 1) You can only 'tweak' to improve your download speed and hopefully your upload speed will rise along with it; 2) It is hard to apply the 80% rule to an uncapped Cable connection where no upper limit for speed is stated; 3) no 'tweaks' are available to improve Ping (latency) times - that is a separate issue.

by 2kmaro

how to do dial access and dsl (or cable) at the same time without a script

issue: want to do dial access and dsl (or cable) at the same time.

problem: Windows allows dial access to steal the focus so it is an either/or situation. either you are dsl (or cable), or you are dial access but not both at the same time. there are scripts that allow you to do so, but i am lousy with scripts, and i have to dial in and out all day and hate to run scripts over and over.

my resolution: i run my dsl through a gateway machine via Wingate ... aka the poor man's firewall. For applications that i want dsl all the time (ws_ftp, ie6, media player etc.) I set up proxy settings and "use the proxy". for work (which I use dial access) i go without the proxy.

an example ... i use ns 4.7x for usenet and some email and use dial access to get to the specific news servers so ns is my dial access app. for browsing, searching, whatever i use ie6 and have it setup to connect via the proxy. i can go back and forth between the two ... one 56k and the other dsl.

by boark edited by DrTCP

How Does My Computer Get An IP Address From A DHCP Server?

DHCP involves a four step process beginning with the client (your computer/MAC address) requesting an IP lease. Next the DHCP server makes a lease offer. Then, the client makes the lease selection and broadcasts back that it requests to lease the address in the offer. Finally, the DHCP server leases the address and sends the client an acknowledgment.

by Rock Guitar edited by 2kmaro

Also read About DSL for lots more information

Thursday, 23-May 04:28:56

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