Some general questions on DSL.

Well my equipment arrived and I have some general questions:

1) Suprise, suprise, my modem is a Efficient SpeedSteam 5100 ( it says 5100 not 5100b on the box ). But no manual came with the modem, just software and a manual for the software. Also how do I find out the settings I use ie ethernet address, DNS whatever else is needed. I suspect the software configures this, but I would rather avoid the software, just whatever software is needed to control the modem. ( By the way, where can I download that? I suspect from the same place that you download the manual. )

2) They provide a cable to connect the modem to the phone socket. It looks different from standard phone cable. Unfortunately I need about twenty feet and they give me ten :( Do I need special DSL cable or is any phone extension cable good? ( Or I can use the whole ethernet cable to make up the distance and leave the modem in my bathroom ;) ).

3) They say put a dsl filter on every device. They are emphatic about this. Their drawing looks like this:

wall outlet --insert filter here--device wall outlet --insert filter here--device wall outlet --insert filter here--device ....

My configuration looks like

wall outlet --splitter -- previous modem +----Caller ID---answering machine---phone

To me it seems logical to do this: wall outlet -- combination dsl filter/splitter--dsl modem +CallerID--answering machine--phone .

but a strict reading of the manual would suggest

wall outlet -- combination dsl filter/splitter--dsl modem +CallerID--dsl filter--answering machine-- dsl filter--phone .

Which is it?

Thanks.

Try starting at:

Depending on who your DSL provider is, that will determine wether the modem is operating in bridge mode or not as well as how you obtain IP address (DHCP or PPPoE or PPPoA).

Who is your DSL provider??

Well, I wouldn't leave it in a bathroom, but the modem doesn't *have* to be right next to the PC. A longish ethernet cable is perfectly acceptable.

When installing microfilters, make sue that every device *except* the modem gets a filter in front of it. The DSL modem *must* be unfiltered.

John

-- John Dearing A+, Network+

SBC.

Ok. But is the other cable the one from the phone outlet to the modem special? Is there a limit on it's length. Since it's smaller, I would rather run it than ethernet.

Each one except the modem even when they are daisy chained? Or is it enough to filter the begining of the chain?

One more question: is a 10/100Mbs NIC sufficient, or do I need a 1 Gigabit card?

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Just filter the beginning of the chain. Here's how I do it:

Telco _DSL __________________________________!__ PC _ ! Connector / Modem ! ! Block ___/_________ !_________! ==== ! Radio Shack! ! [ ] Line __! Duplex Jack! ! ==== ! 279-448 ! ! !____________! ! \ ________ ! \_ DSL___! Radio !_$$_ WECO Key equip ! Filter ! Shack ! with 3 telephones ! ! !_$$_ Fax from PC _______________! ! Wiring ! ! Block !__ Panasonic KG XT 5110 2 phone ! ! ! 279-430!___Acatel 2840 Webtouch Phone ! with dial up access ! !__ AT&T 612 desktop phone ! ! ! !__ Radio Shack Wall Phone ! ! ! !_$$_ 2 Dish Network Receivers ! ! !________!___AMCAMEX Caller ID Display

$$ indicates the use of either Radio Shack Single or Duplex Jack to facilitate quick disconnect for testing purposes.

10/100 is fine.

I guess I am a littled puzzled. It would seem to me any problems caused by the few feet of "plain jane" telephone wire between the wall jack and the modem would be swamped by the same sort of problems caused by the many feet of 2 pair wires running from the NID through the house to the wall jack? Am I way off base here?

If it has 4 lights, it's the 5100(a), 5 lights is the 5100b. They are both marked 5100.

Go to weww.dslreports.com and check out the forum for your DSL provider. This should (many do) provide information on how to get things working through the DSL modem without using the install CD. If you are running WinXP, everything you need should be built in. With older windows, some accessorial PPPoE software may be required.

The cable from modem to phone socket in the wall is a plain jane telephone cable.

The signal to every device, except the DSL modem, must pass through the filter. You can use individual filters for each, or several devices may be daisy-chained. There is probably a limit on number of daisy-chained devices, but I have 3 (analog modem to answering machine to phone) with no problem.

Despite what everyone else has said, the cable from your phone jack to the modem is ***NOT*** ordinary phone cable. Ordinary phone cable will work but is susceptible to interference and perhaps speed reduction. As you noted, it looks different. It is round instead of flat (am I correct?). It does have the same RJ-11 plugs on the end so that it is physically interchangeable with phone wire, but it is CAT-3 TWISTED PAIR wire which is what you should be using for your extension.

My modem cable (provided with a speedstream 5861) is a flat 6 conductor wire, and surely not cat-3. According to the label, it has a part number 210-00453-01.

Yes, sure, cat-3 cable would be less susceptible to interference. But with maybe 10,000 feet of wiring from the CO to the home, and perhaps 100 ft or more of internal phone wiring winding around the house behind the walls, a 20 ft flat phone cable is unlikely to make much of a difference.

Sorry to ask such a dunb question, but TPTB don't settle on one set of units. So soemtimes I get confused with the comparision. Especially when at times you combine upload and dowload and other times you don't.

Actually I seem to remember terminal boxes. The cables that were routing there is similar to cat 3. I suspect that the wiring from the CO to the home is highly insulated and the signal probably amplified at certain points ( like the entry point to a building ). Remember you can only get DSL up to certain distances ( 12 miles IIRC ) for the CO. The cables in the wall are probably insulated too.

Since I know you get SBC DSl, let me ask you a question. When I spoke to the saleslady, I asked about nttp servers, since they mentioned newsgroups on their web site. She actually called tech support to confirm they run one. Yet I could not find it in the description. For the most part I use the free German one ( news.individual.net IIRC ) since my ISP's servers went down for a while. I still use my ISP's in some cases, but in others not. It is nice to know that I have a backup system though.

I was thinking more of just before it enters the building.

Not as well as cat 3. I suspect that is what make the cable in the wall.

Oh well. There goes the pr0n. But as a friend says, it gets boring very quickly. I'm just interested mostly in technical groups.

Not a 5100x, but a Westell Wirespeed. How many LEDs does it have? As a one- time hardware tech, repairing assemblies in HP's mini-computers, then desktop workstations, I see four LEDs. Looking it it as somebody who doesn't know any better, only three of them are lit. (No big download going on at this time; the Ethernet link activity LED is mostly quiescent.) I suspect the average user is thinking of lit LEDs, not all LEDs.

Um, I damaged the modular plug on the round wire which came with my Westell Wirespeed. I replaced that with a shorter run of flat satin phone cord with no trouble. I am getting the same speed on tests as before reworking the wiring here. The biggest change was to add a POTS splitter, one of the Siecor exterior versions, in place of the microfilters. And I replaced the original, 40-year-old phone run from the NID to the computer corner; 16 gauge two-pair, with no apparent twist was replaced with a like length of 26 gauge CAT 3 two-pair. Earlier this summer, as a result of voice problems, the phone guy replaced the NID, a two-line model with test jacks, in place of the 40-year-old carbon block one-line model. And he also replaced the 40- year-old one-pair, parallel, 19 gauge drop with a new three-pair, twisted,

26 gauge drop. I can't say my speed is better, I can say it isn't worse.

With nearly 100 feet of new, 26 gauge twisted wire in place of older, heavier gauge, untwisted wire, I somehow don't think that a 7 foot flat satin cable in place of the 10-foot twisted cable that came with the modem is a big hit. Not after that signal came 10,500 feet from the C.O., through a "B-box", to the premises.

No amplification, that I can see, here. The new box the phone guy left can handle two lines, though we have only one, and has a test jack. I watched the tech install it; even had him not worry about the second anchor screw. When he had the cover off of the company side of the box, it didn't look much different, physically, from the old carbon block he removed. It is electrically different, apparently, from what the tech said; but I don't see any external power source, which I am sure is necessary for amplification.