broadband connectivity advice

[Jacob Schmude]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004 18:44:20 -0500 (EST), Chuck Hallenbeck wrote:
>1. What part of the setup must be done by my provider, and what
>part by me? My provider advertises that they only support Windows
>and Mac OS, but that's what Verizon said too.
You hook the cable modem up in to your computer and your TV cable line, and your computer connects through it. However, activation is done on the 
provider's end and you can't use it until they activate you, in the case of adelphia (my provider) they activate you based on the mac address of your cable 
modem so even if you move you're still activated as long as you stay in the area where they provide service.
>>2. With DSL, I used the Roaring Penguin PPP-O-E scripts and
>configuring, starting, and stopping my connection was a snap. Is
>there any analogous tool for handling cable modem DHCP
>connections?
No, you don't need it. The cable modem will appear as a standard ethernet device if you plug it in via USB, and if you plug it in via ethernet, you just use it 
through your NIC. Either way, only thing you need is standard network tools such as dhcpcd and ifconfig. In general, you don't "stop" a cable connection, 
it's always on.
NOTE on USB connectivity: Linux supports cable modems based on the CDC standard, which most are. If yours is not, you may have to connect via 
ethernet. This means, that if you already use your ethernet card for home networking, you're gonna need another NIC. If your modem isn't detected by the 
hotplug subsystem, it may still be supported. Try loading the CDCEther module in 2.4 kernels, or the usbnet module in 2.6 kernels. The cable modem I use is 
a motorola surfboard sb-5100, which works fine with USB, though it isn't acknowledged as being supported in the driver, the only slight quirk being that after 
fedora's kudzu tool got done with it, it needed to be unplugged and reset--turning on safe probing in kudzu fixed that. Same applies if switching from a 2.4 to 
a 2.6 kernel, cable modem needs a reset.
>3. I found lots of stuff to read about DSL, but precious little
>about cable modem in Linux. Anyone know something useful I can
>sink my teeth into?
There used to be a cable-modem howto at the LDP, I think it's still there. It's a bit dated (for instance it doesn't acknowledge that linux can use most USB 
cable modems), but it may still be useful. In general there's precious little to read because all standard networking configuration applies, so there's really 
nothing special that needs to be done in most cases. If it works with mac os x then it's a 99% chance that it works with linux as well, I've found this to be the 
general rule for services and devices alike.
>My system is a Slackware 9.1 distro with lots of bells and
>whistles. But I have tasted a high speed connection and can
>hardly bear to use a 56K dialup ISP again.
Yeah, I know what ya mean.


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGP SDK 3.0

iQA/AwUBP/oA1JXfgIVMPEIbEQJGvwCg1MMtghQFQVITZLWMqJFv73N5O+UAn1WE
DDtwERMogEYkHazokKNDu+Av
=Bvm1
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----