OT:21st century

Gentlemen, My village is about to leap into the future, BT are upgrading our exchange and on the 22nd of January 2004 I go onto Broadband. That I believe is where the fun starts :-))

Martin P

-- When replying use snipped-for-privacy@btopenworld.com

Reply to
Campingstoveman
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I think it was Pete who originally posted this warning but based on my own bad experiences: avoid USB modems like the plague and go for a decent router. ttfn Roland Driven in by persistent precipitation

Reply to
Roland and Celia Craven

I agree, a lot of people have had problems with usb modems. It is worth thinking about a firewall too if you intend to leave the machine on for any length of time, when I installed one I was amazed at the traffic attempting to port snoop and connect to my machine.

Reply to
Pete Aldous

Gentlemen, The Modem comes from BT FOC if a problem I shall heed your advice, I already run a firewall but are you implying for Broadband this is different? Martin P

Reply to
Campingstoveman

Martin,

No, a firewall does the same job however you connect to the internet.

I will be interested to hear your experiences once you are connected. The first comment I guess will be "how did I ever survive without it"

Reply to
Pete Aldous

Peter,

I have experience from another source and that by the way is with a USB Modem via a ISDN line. The machines / robots are connected to Italy via this connection so that they can modify and monitor the software and programs running. I can also access the internet via this and for Windows 98 and a "slow" computer it is quick, it makes my machine seem slow in comparison.

Martin P

Reply to
Campingstoveman

On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 15:51:59 -0000, "Pete Aldous" wrote:

What sort of problems?

I'm using a Fujitsu USB modem, and have had problems twice with the connection but probably not to be directly blamed on the modem. First was when a thunderstorm destroyed the modem (replaced under warranty), the second time we had a long visit from a BT engineer who tried at first to tell us we were too far away from the exchange (after 5 months of successful connection) & then went away having not proved much one way or the other. It actually turned out a week or so after his visit that there was an incipient earth fault on the ring main, which must have been in some way producing some HF interference which was being picked up by the phone wiring. This eventually started breaking down enough to trip the main RCD occasionally, so I went out & hired a megger & found the source of the trouble. Rock solid connection since then (2 weeks), fingers crossed. One thing which disappoints me is the difficulty getting BT involved if there's a suspected line fault. My connection is via Onetel, who make you jump through all sorts of hoops before they will consider contacting BT (fair enough up to a point). Last time they told me I should have a visit within 72 hours, but when I chased them after that time had passed they told me (eventually) that they had decided after doing their own line test not to contact them after all, but hadn't bothered to tell me! I have no faith in BT's line testing via the exchange, having been told my line tested OK (another occasion) when the phone wouldn't work because their line was physically broken in the neighbour's garden 200 yards away!

Cheers Tim

Tim Leech Dutton Dry-Dock

Traditional & Modern canal craft repairs

Reply to
timleech

I 've been on Telewest Broadband for - what? - 18 months. I too, now wonder how anyone has the patience to sit and use an ordinary telephone line when the Broadband option is available in their area.I could not go back to it now, I should just die of frustration!

I coughed up for the Telewest modem AND dedicated network card as I didn't want to possibly compromise the already-installed network card that talks to Hazel's ancient device downstairs and (occasionally) to my laptop. The nice man that seamlessly got me on line recommended that I do that and I figured that after that it was their fault if it failed. But - touch wood - it just works.

Time saved? A friend runs the same set up as me, but spends little time on the Internet, so steadfastly pays AOL sixteen quid a month (I believe) instead of twenty five for Broadband. The other day, I downloaded a software patch at her place and the same one at my place the next morning. Hers, 55 minutes, mine 2 minutes 50 seconds.

I kid you not.

But you really do need to have your ducks in a row on system security. I recommend live update Norton which catches and eliminates around TEN virus laden packages a day from the 100 or so spam I receive. I am a great believer in the ravages of thermic shock on chips, so my 'pooter is frequently on for days at a time. According to Those That Know, it is invisible and port inquiries phase it not - long may it continue!

Regards,

Kim Siddorn

Reply to
J K Siddorn

For security / routing, I strongly suggest a "smoothwall" setup - mine is running on a cruddy P233 with 64MB of RAM. It been rock solid for a couple of years now, and VERY easy to live with. The install's a breeze, thanks to plenty of hand-holding walk-throughs on the net. It is a dedicated Linux based solution which requires minimal hardware (mine is a P233, 64Mb RAM, 1.2gig HD, and 2 network cards, no mouse, keyboard or monitor). But don't let "Linux" put you off, it really is simple to install - Smoothwall was my (very painless) introduction to Linux. It's other huge advantage is that it's free - the only drawback is that it's a pommy company ;-) Have a look at

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for more information, and enjoy your broadband! Anthony.

Reply to
Ten80

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