DSL Upgrade

[Rob]

Hello,
We currently have an Ethernet hub on a LAN that
allows us to share our 56K internet connection, and
would like to upgrade to AT&T DSL Service. The
question is can I make the upgrade without having to
upgrade the LAN ? The AT&T phone person said I
would to buy a wireless router. I dont understand the
differnece between a wireless router and an ethernet
hub. I would like to upgrade to DSL without having
to buy a whole new network system.

Please give direction, RS

 

[Guest]

Rob, you should be able to connect your dsl modem to the same port as you
have your dial-up modem connected to and that should allow the other PCs
connected through the hub to access the Internet.
I have a router that I use in the same way and it works just fine.

Fred

 

[Phillip Windell]

It depends on how your LAN is currently designed. If you run Public IP#'s
on your LAN (you never mentioned having a NAT Device or Proxy Server) then
they are not going to be valid after the switch.
Since an Ethernet Hub cannot do what your post implies, something else would
have to be performing some kind of NAT'ing, proxying, or routing (if using
public IP#s) to be able to interface with the Internet,...or,...what you
called an Ethernet Hub is not really an Ethernet Hub. All of these things
effect the design of the LAN and the original question is impossible to
answer with out knowing all the gory details.

--
Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
www.wandtv.com
-----------------------------------------------------
Understanding the ISA 2004 Access Rule Processing
http://www.isaserver.org/articles/ISA2004_AccessRules.html

Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Guidance
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/techinfo/Guidance/2004.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/techinfo/Guidance/2000.asp

Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Partners
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/partners/default.asp

 

[Herb Martin]

Hello,
We currently have an Ethernet hub on a LAN that
allows us to share our 56K internet connection, and
would like to upgrade to AT&T DSL Service. The
question is can I make the upgrade without having to
upgrade the LAN ? The AT&T phone person said I
would to buy a wireless router. I dont understand the
differnece between a wireless router and an ethernet
hub. I would like to upgrade to DSL without having
to buy a whole new network system.
Please give direction, RS

Buy (or use the provided) DSL Router.

Your hub won't work for several reasons but the easiest
to explain is that it doesn't understand or even have the
right connection port for the DSL -- you need something
that "does DSL" -- DSL routers do that.

You likely also need NAT (sharing one DSL provided
public IP with more than one machine on your netwokr)
as others have mentioned. Hubs don't do that.

You also need the "routing" for IP (Internet Protocol,
aka TCP/IP), and hubs don't do that either.

Hubs are cheap. Some service providers include them
with an account (or minimum time signup) but hey only
cost $50-$100 US in most cases.

Most of them also provide a HUB capability which
might cause one to confuse them with the simpler
Ethernet(-only) hubs.

 

[James]

Discussions so far appear to be centered around hubs but since true hubs
are just a means of connecting various machines on a LAN with no nat
abilities they will not work in this case without the public id's
mentioned. With a hub the ISP provides an IP address connections for
each machine on your LAN. A router, Linksys BEFSR11, 1 port in and 1
out to your cable/dsl modem, or BEFSR41 with 4 ports, for your LAN
computers, and 1 port out to your cable/dsl modem which will allow
connection to 4 machines. In this case your LAN will obtain all IP
addresses from the router while the router will obtain one IP address
from your ISP and to the ISP you will only have one machine online. If
you connect 1 port for a LAN machine to a larger switch or hub more
machines can be handled. The only difference between a switch and a hub
will be seen on your LAN when talking from one machine to another. If
you have 4 machines you will be able to have 2 "private connections"
between any combination of 2 machines running at full speed while with a
hub you will run at the speed of the network divided by the number of
machines connected. 10/100 running at 100 will give 25 as the network
speed or half the speed of a switch. When connecting to the internet
all machines will be sharing the 10 speed connection common to typical
cable/dsl modems. Costs of these items can vary but the BEFSR41 can be
obtained for $50 or less with sales appearing for various "old" models
of similar devices being as little as $10, I have one from Microcenter
in the LA area. 8 port switches, far preferred today due to
performance, can be obtain for $15. I don't know where you are located
but www.microcenter.com, www.acnt.com, www.actirvine.com,
www.actcorona.com, etc. also www.computeruser.com is a magazine through
which you can contact a number of Southern California suppliers or
possibly get ideas for contacting local suppliers in your area. On the
matter of wired vs wireless it is easier to obtain your privacy on a
wired system since someone parked outside your home/office cannot simply
logon through your wireless connection. If you go wireless make sure
you read the security procedures for your device and follow them
otherwise others can use your ISP connection for their purposes. They
can also monitor everything you do on your LAN and over the internet for
their own purposes. Your banking ID's, credit card numbers, etc. will
be at risk without proper security measures in place.

James

 

[JRingo]

*Hello,
We currently have an Ethernet hub on a LAN that
allows us to share our 56K internet connection, and
would like to upgrade to AT&T DSL Service. The
question is can I make the upgrade without having to
upgrade the LAN ? The AT&T phone person said I
would to buy a wireless router. I dont understand the
differnece between a wireless router and an ethernet
hub. I would like to upgrade to DSL without having
to buy a whole new network system.

Please give direction, RS *

 

[JRingo]

* You can range from $50 to $80 dollars for a router (Netgear) and
the pci adaptor. You can buy the parts from sbc or a comp store. DSL
from At&t is easy to hook up, and despite a lot of complaints ( I
think it is one irate trailer dweller) making noise, one truly great
service. I have a high (3.2 gig processor) and 200 gig hard drive
running windows xp pro. I have had not one problem, disruption or
irritation. Att/sbc dsl is great and I plan on staying as long as
they provide the service. Thanks for listening.*