Note to moderator - I am registered with email address wlug@dancro.net but have email forwarded to this comcast account, from which I am sending this reply. Dan Crooks ------------------------------- Brian, I am running Mandrake 9.2 and Win2K on a Dell Dimension in dual boot mode. Have used Win2K on a Comcast cable connection for 5 months. Comcast installer told me that they assumed I would be connecting with Windoze and Internet Explorer, which I did. But... I have since installed Mandrake 9.2. Installation was effortless and most importantly for this discussion, Mandrake found and connected with the cable modem on the LAN with no problem. I now use 9.2 and Galeon or Mozilla to surf the web. I share the LAN connection, without incident or effort, with my wife's XP Pro machine. Dan Crooks wlug@dancro.net
Send Wlug mailing list submissions to wlug@mail.wlug.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to wlug-request@mail.wlug.org
You can reach the person managing the list at wlug-owner@mail.wlug.org
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Wlug digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Re: High-speed access questions (Brian J. Conway) 2. Re: High-speed access questions (Gregory Avedissian) 3. Re: High-speed access questions (Mike Frysinger) 4. RedHat 9 Network Problem (Joel J. Young)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1 Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 18:37:43 -0500 From: "Brian J. Conway" <bconway@alum.wpi.edu> Subject: Re: [Wlug] High-speed access questions To: Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug@mail.wlug.org> Message-ID: <20040331183743.0858c05e.bconway@alum.wpi.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Not true (entirely). What Comcast does now is direct all requests from an unauthorized modem to a Comcast web page that you enter your info in and it authorized the MAC address on your modem. Before that with AT&T Broadband, I called up support, told them I had an unsupported OS and asked them to enable my modem for use on their network. They asked for my various information, and 5 minutes later, everything worked.
But yes, using the Windows program was probably the easiest way. Fortunately, now anyone with a browser can set things up.
Brian
On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 18:27:49 -0500 (EST) gboyce@badbelly.com wrote:
On Wed, 31 Mar 2004, Gregory Avedissian wrote:
It seems like most of the providers say that you need windows or mac to use their DSL or cable internet. Does this just mean they won't offer tech support for linux, or does it mean that it won't work? I'm planning on using a router and having two computers connected.
When I signed up for a AT&T cable modem (before Comcast bought them), it
was actually impossible to enable your cable modem from within Linux. There was a windows program to do the initial setup. After you get past
that point, Linux would work with it fine.
I luckily had a Windows partition on the machine at the time.
I'm hoping that Comcast doesn't have this same problem for new users, but issues like that are a possibility.
------------------------------
Message: 2 Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 19:50:56 -0500 From: Gregory Avedissian <avedis@rcn.com> Subject: Re: [Wlug] High-speed access questions To: douglas.waud@umassmed.edu, Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug@mail.wlug.org> Message-ID: <406B6770.1000401@rcn.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
Thanks to all who answered on this one. I called Verizon to ask them about linux, and the person I spoke to had never heard of it. He did manage to spell it right the first time, put me on hold and went to talk to someone else who said that it does work. I also switched my phone plan, and I'm saving $5/month on the DSL and another $5/month on my long distance.
I probably will have questions about this when I try to set it up. This will be my first attempt at networking. OK, I thought of one already. I'm running linux, and housemate is running XP. Will each OS just deal with the router, or do I need special software to interact with a windows box?
Greg
doug waud wrote:
Hi
Gregory Avedissian wrote:
It seems like most of the providers say that you need windows or mac to use their DSL or cable internet. Does this just mean they won't offer tech support for linux, or does it mean that it won't work? I'm planning on using a router and having two computers connected.
I have dealt with 3 cable companies.
The first, the local Shrewsbury Cable company wanted a Windows box so their installer could prove/test that the system was working. This is a reasonable position; if you don't draw the line tightly you'll end up dealing with the customer-from-hell and just run up expenses. Incidentally, the guy who came to my house played with Linux at home so the atmosphere was cordial but beside the point since I had a windows notebook for the initial test (and then just reconnected cables once he was out the door.
The second was for my daughter in Southboro. There the cable was Charter. Again, I just had a windows notebook available in the cellar where the cable came in and the cable modem would lie. As with the Shrewsbury cable company the service guy just wanted to confirm that the signal was working and again, I just reconnected cables once he was out the door.
The third was Adelphia up at our cottage in NH. This time I did not get to the notebook stage. I just looked over the service man's shoulder while he installed the signal separator (ethernet/tv) and waved goodbye. I then ran a cable into the house to the cable modem (this time I bought it; cheaper route) and from there to a firewall/router.
In all cases most computers are running Linux (my wife still has a Windows box for games) and all work fine. Once the signal gets out of the cable modem to your router, the os of the connected computers will make no difference.
I cannot comment on phone help from any of the three companies since I have never needed it. I would not expect them to deal with Linux since that would not be cost-effective. On the other hand, this list is an alternative that will trump a low paid telephone responder any time :-)
Get the modem in (and have a windows machine available) and then connect your router and see if you can ping the router etc. If you run into a problem get in touch with the list (or me directly if you wish).
doug
_______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
------------------------------
Message: 3 Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 20:07:53 -0500 From: Mike Frysinger <vapier@gentoo.org> Subject: Re: [Wlug] High-speed access questions To: wlug@mail.wlug.org Message-ID: <200403312007.53122.vapier@gentoo.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
On Wednesday 31 March 2004 07:50 pm, Gregory Avedissian wrote:
I probably will have questions about this when I try to set it up. This will be my first attempt at networking. OK, I thought of one already. I'm running linux, and housemate is running XP. Will each OS just deal with the router, or do I need special software to interact with a windows box?
nope ... just get a hub and plug all the machines into it (dont plug into the Uplink port though :D)
on the router, if you run dhcp / nat / dns and setup the dhcp to give out all the right values, all the machines should know what to do -mike
------------------------------
Message: 4 Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 22:25:53 -0500 From: "Joel J. Young" <joel@jyng.com> Subject: [Wlug] RedHat 9 Network Problem To: <Wlug@mail.wlug.org> Message-ID: <000501c41799$0a23ccd0$0400a8c0@PALEALE> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Here are the requested files:
Ifcfg-eth0: # Lite-On|LNE100TX DEVICE=eth0 ONBOOT=yes BOOTPROTO=dhcp HWADDR=FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF USERCTL=no PEERDNS=yes TYPE=Ethernet NETMASK=255.255.255.0 IPADDR=192.168.0.2 GATEWAY=192.168.0.1
/dev/null 2>&1 || :
Modules.conf: alias usb-controller usb-uhci alias sound-slot-0 emu10k1 post-install sound-slot-0 /bin/aumix-minimal -f /etc/.aumixrc -L pre-remove sound-slot-0 /bin/aumix-minimal -f /etc/.aumixrc -S
/dev/null 2>&1 || : alias eth0 tulip
network: NETWORKING=yes HOSTNAME=
Output of /sbin/lspci -vv - Non network devices removed to pass 40k post filter
00:0d.0 Ethernet controller: Lite-On Communications Inc LNE100TX (rev 20) Subsystem: Lite-On Communications Inc LNE100TX Control: I/O- Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- Status: Cap- 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR+ Latency: 32 Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 9 Region 0: I/O ports at 8800 [disabled] [size=256] Region 1: Memory at d5800000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=256] Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=256K]
......
-----Original Message----- From: wlug-bounces@mail.wlug.org [mailto:wlug-bounces@mail.wlug.org] On Behalf Of Charles R. Anderson Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 10:21 AM To: Worcester Linux Users Group Subject: Re: [Wlug] RedHat 9 Network Problem
Include your /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 and your /etc/sysconfig/network files in an email so we can see what they look
On Tue, Mar 30, 2004 at 10:13:15AM -0500, Dwight A. Ernest wrote: like.
Also include /etc/modules.conf and the Ethernet card entry from the "/sbin/lspci -vv" output.
_______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
Just to clarify, I was referring only to initially registering your cable modem in their system, which is the hard part. After that, you can connect any OS you want as long as it has a working ethernet card and speaks DHCP. -b
Brian,
I am running Mandrake 9.2 and Win2K on a Dell Dimension in dual boot mode. Have used Win2K on a Comcast cable connection for 5 months. Comcast installer told me that they assumed I would be connecting with Windoze and Internet Explorer, which I did. But...
I have since installed Mandrake 9.2. Installation was effortless and most importantly for this discussion, Mandrake found and connected with the cable modem on the LAN with no problem. I now use 9.2 and Galeon or Mozilla to surf the web.
I share the LAN connection, without incident or effort, with my wife's XP Pro machine.
Dan Crooks wlug@dancro.net
Brian J. Conway wrote:
Just to clarify, I was referring only to initially registering your cable modem in their system, which is the hard part. After that, you can connect any OS you want as long as it has a working ethernet card and speaks DHCP.
When the charter tech first showed up at the house (Grafton), I had NO computers, nor my cable modem out of boxes. He "set it up" and left. I had to call someone out when I had the teledyne cable modem unpacked, but he used his laptop for everything. After that, my Linux box (debian sarge/testing) came up just fine. In general though, I try to be around when techs come out, and have my work laptop handy. If they seem like they'll gripe about linux or a home network behind the modem, I just say all the computers are for "the kids to play on", and that "only daddy uses his work computer for the cable modem." Kids are great. Blame everything on them. - Bob
Bob George <mailings02@ttlexceeded.com> writes:
When the charter tech first showed up at the house (Grafton), I had NO computers, nor my cable modem out of boxes. He "set it up" and left. I had to call someone out when I had the teledyne cable modem unpacked, but he used his laptop for everything. After that, my Linux box (debian sarge/testing) came up just fine.
It was pretty amusing when the RCN guys came to install my cable line. One of them seemed to have some knowledge about Linux, even! The laptop I had for testing the line was a old powerbook running Debian, in console mode no less. The guy tried to run some kind of netconfig utility, which of course wasn't there, but he did check the hardware address with ifconfig and test the connection with ping. I used to have speakeasy, and I really miss having several static ips, and quality tech support. (also, the connection was rock solid for a year). I was pretty apprehensive about moving to a cable provider (my CO is crippled), but I went with RCN. Much to my surprise, the connection has been up for some 6 months without a single (known) outage. They let you pay them for a static IP address even. (and, when you pay for a static IP they disable all inbound/outbound port filtering) -- Josh Huber
Josh Huber wrote:
Bob George <mailings02@ttlexceeded.com> writes: It was pretty amusing when the RCN guys came to install my cable line. One of them seemed to have some knowledge about Linux, even! The laptop I had for testing the line was a old powerbook running Debian, in console mode no less. The guy tried to run some kind of netconfig utility, which of course wasn't there, but he did check the hardware address with ifconfig and test the connection with ping.
I used to have speakeasy, and I really miss having several static ips, and quality tech support. (also, the connection was rock solid for a year).
I was pretty apprehensive about moving to a cable provider (my CO is crippled), but I went with RCN. Much to my surprise, the connection has been up for some 6 months without a single (known) outage. They let you pay them for a static IP address even. (and, when you pay for a static IP they disable all inbound/outbound port filtering)
Too bad RCN doesn't offer cable anywhere near Worcester. (I used to be the Director of Internet Implementation, among other things, for RCN. They laid me off 10/31/03.) -- Dwight A. Ernest, dwight at significant dot com GPG key A6999567 Cell: +1-508-523-1416 FAX: +1-978-405-2504 YIM: dwight_ernest RHCE #803004293310030 http://significant.com/~dwight/ KA2CNN Papa, partner, pilot, net geek, sysadmin, consultant, cohouser.
Dwight A. Ernest wrote:
[...] Too bad RCN doesn't offer cable anywhere near Worcester.
I went with Charter because it was quick and easy, and we were going to get cable TV from them anyhow. I don't think there are any other cable options in my area (Grafton). It's fine, but I do miss the 3M/256K that Cox had in Phoenix.
(I used to be the Director of Internet Implementation, among other things, for RCN. They laid me off 10/31/03.)
Ow, sorry to hear that. Things're improving I guess, but still not "rosy." - Bob
Bob George <mailings02@ttlexceeded.com> writes:
I went with Charter because it was quick and easy, and we were going to get cable TV from them anyhow. I don't think there are any other cable options in my area (Grafton). It's fine, but I do miss the 3M/256K that Cox had in Phoenix.
Yeah, I guess RCN is only available in the Boston area? I've got a 5M/800K connection...which is...pretty nice :) -- Josh Huber
Bob> I went with Charter because it was quick and easy, and we were Bob> going to get cable TV from them anyhow. I don't think there are Bob> any other cable options in my area (Grafton). It's fine, but I do Bob> miss the 3M/256K that Cox had in Phoenix. Charter just dropped my bill by $10/month for the next three months to raise my data rate to 2M/256k? Not sure about the second number, I just know I tend to get over 200kb/s on debian package downloads now, which is a nice upgrade from 70-80kb/s I used to get. I'm in Boylston.
John Stoffel wrote:
[...] Charter just dropped my bill by $10/month for the next three months to raise my data rate to 2M/256k? Not sure about the second number, I just know I tend to get over 200kb/s on debian package downloads now, which is a nice upgrade from 70-80kb/s I used to get. I'm in Boylston.
Oooh, ya know it *seemed* to be clocking faster the other night, but I thought it was just a fluke. Need to re-test. Did they officially notify you? And what's this about a rate drop? - Bob
Bob> John Stoffel wrote:
[...] Charter just dropped my bill by $10/month for the next three months to raise my data rate to 2M/256k? Not sure about the second number, I just know I tend to get over 200kb/s on debian package downloads now, which is a nice upgrade from 70-80kb/s I used to get. I'm in Boylston.
Bob> Oooh, ya know it *seemed* to be clocking faster the other night, Bob> but I thought it was just a fluke. Need to re-test. If you power cycle your cable modem (leave it off for five minutes if you can), it should update. Bob> Did they officially notify you? And what's this about a rate Bob> drop? Yeah, they called out of the blue looking to get me to got the Digital Cable package. I balked and asked if they could just upgrade my Cable Modem speed, which they said yes too. Funny how that works. I wonder if I hadn't done anything but power cycle the unit, would I have gotten the faster speed? As it is, my rate drops for just a quick power cycle. *shrug*
On Fri, 2 Apr 2004 15:29:12 -0500 "John Stoffel" <stoffel@lucent.com> wrote:
Bob> I went with Charter because it was quick and easy, and we were Bob> going to get cable TV from them anyhow. I don't think there are Bob> any other cable options in my area (Grafton). It's fine, but I do Bob> miss the 3M/256K that Cox had in Phoenix.
Charter just dropped my bill by $10/month for the next three months to raise my data rate to 2M/256k? Not sure about the second number, I just know I tend to get over 200kb/s on debian package downloads now, which is a nice upgrade from 70-80kb/s I used to get. I'm in Boylston.
I'm in Fall River... i FINALLY upgraded to broadband through Comcast. I get something like 3M/256k. It'll be a while before the novelty wears off, i think. :D This is a weclome change to the 31.2k modem connection i've had for the last three years or so. -- William Smith wsmith@chezsmith.com Fall River, MA
participants (7)
-
Bill Smith -
Bob George -
Brian J. Conway -
dancro.net＠comcast.net -
Dwight A. Ernest -
John Stoffel -
Josh Huber