[aclug-L] Re: ADSL, SWBell & Linux

["Dale W Hodge" <dwh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Now, there is yet another way that ADSL service can be
> provisioned. That is PPP over Ethernet. I believe someone on this list
> said that this is what they were doing. I am curious who you are
> getting the Internet service from. Is SWB doing this? In this case you
> would need a NIC in your "router" connected to the ADSL modem. You
> would then need to run a PPP client on that router to establish
> connection with the provider.

That was me, and I'm out in Clearwater, where we have our own little
monopoly serving us Telephone/Internet/Cable TV.  They've decided to go with
PPPOE, which by the looks of things is what many of the ISP's in larger
markets are going to.  The reasoning behind it is mostly conservation of IP
addresses.  With PPPOE you don't have a network IP until you log onto the
server.  It allows for the provider to have a 'pool' of IP's much like they
do with modems.  Since most residential users don't require a 24/7
connection, it let's the provider get by with fewer IP's.  Providers like
Bell Atlantic are offering PPPOE for about $10 less than a bridged
connection. Whether SWB will follow it's siblings in moving to this is
unknown.

FWIW, I have PPPOE *and* a fixed IP. For a single IP, this was just a change
in the RADIUS server. The interesting thing is, this means that whether I
connect by DSL or by modem, I always get the same IP.  This does offer a bit
of redundancy should my DSL connection fail for any reason.

Finally, I should mention that for now, PPPOE is a user space client. There
are about five different clients out there, with varying amounts of
complexity.  I've settled on RoaringPenguin's client, as it seems the be the
current client of choice.  It has a relatively low CPU usage, approximately
2% on a 200MHZ Pentium.  I've heard that one client can chew up 20% usage on
a 200MHZ Pentium! (Which was the one that came with my modem!) I've been
told that the 2.4 kernel will likely support PPPOE, but that's still a ways
off.

If anyone has other questions, drop me a note.  I've done lots of studying
on DSL, including how to set up a point-to-point DSL link over a dry pair.
It's in my current business plans to set up such a link (from my home office
to my business)later this year.

--dwh

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Dale W Hodge * dwh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * dwh@xxxxxxxx * dwh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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