DSL Information and Tips

The following information has been culled from first-hand experience and responses from known sources on the internet.

Disclaimer:  This information is provided without liability or warranty. You are responsible for the backup and restoration of your own computer system. It is highly recommended that some of these tips not be performed by someone that is not familiar with computer operating systems or hardware configurations. SURFARI.NET is not liable for any damages that occur as a result of following these tips. They are provided for INFORMATION ONLY

There is a lot of stuff here (and a lot of it is technical), please forward any comments, suggestions, additions, and errors to: HELP!.

You can also get the basic setup for DSL and our other services Right Here

Definitions of Terms

CLEC - Competitive Local Exchange Carrier. Commonly known as the competition to your local phone company. When de-regulation and "Bell Breakup" occurred, this term was created to distinguish the local phone company from independent competition.

CPE - Customer Premise Equipment. This describes the equipment that is connected to your computer for accessing the internet. This includes routers, bridges, dsl modems, etc.

DSL - Digital Subscriber Line. A method of transmitting high speed digital information across a standard phone line. Two methods are utilized, shared and dedicated. Shared DSL will use your standard phone line and a 'splitter' is used to split the analog (ie. voice) and digital (DSL) signals. Dedicated DSL uses a phone line that can only be used with the digital service. EU - End User. This is the customer, the individual utilizing the service.

ILEC - Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier. Commonly known as your phone company. When de-regulation and "Bell Breakup" occurred, this term was created to distinguish the local phone company from independent competition.

NIC - Network Interface Card. A printed circuit board that is usually installed in your computer for interfacing with a 'hard wire' network. These cards typically have the capability to transfer data at 10 Mb/sec but newer cards can do 100 Mb/sec (some are 'dual-speed' cards).

Cordless Phones
Some cordless phones have been known to interact with the CPE, it is recommended that a cordless phone base not be installed within 10 or 15 feet of the CPE and don't use a cordless phone within 5 feet of the CPE.

Auto Detection of NIC Speed
Some network cards have difficulty performing automatic detection of network speed and will attempt to transmit/receive at 100 Mb/sec even though the devices connected to them are only capable of 10 Mb/sec. This can cause network slowdowns or errors. It is recommended that the card be 'forced' to 10 Mb/sec for DSL CPE that is only capable of 10 Mb/sec.

Automatic Assignment of IP Addresses in Win98
There is a little known inconsistency between CPE and Windows98, where Windows98 attempts to assign specific IP addresses to your NIC when connected to the CPE. The Microsoft Knowledge Base refers to this problem, if you would like to read the full text, click HERE. Otherwise, here is an abstract from that article:

IPAC_OFF.INF - DISABLE TCP/IP IP AUTOCONFIGURATION
The Windows 98 TCP/IP stack supports a new mechanism for automatic address assignment of IP addresses for simple LAN-based network configurations. IP Autoconfiguration Addressing is an extension of dynamic IP address assignment for LAN adapters. It enables configuration of IP addresses without using static IP address assignment or installing a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol DHCP) server.

If a network LAN adapter is configured for TCP/IP, and if "Obtain an IP address automatically" is selected on the IP Address tab in the TCP/IP Properties dialog box, Windows 98 TCP/IP attempts to find and use a DHCP service on the attached network to obtain a dynamically assigned IP address. If it does not find a DHCP service, Windows 98 uses IP Autoconfiguration Addressing by assigning the adapter an Class B IP address out of the network number 169.254.x.x IP address space. In this way, two PCs can be plugged into a LAN hub and can start without any IP address configuration, and can use TCP/IP networking for internetworking. Each computer that uses IP Autoconfiguration Addressing gets an IP address and tests to determine that the IP address is unique and not already in use on the LAN.

IP Autoconfiguration Addressing is enabled by default. IP Autoconfiguration Addressing can be controlled by setting the value of IPAutoconfigurationEnabled (type DWORD) in the registry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VXD\DHCP

If the value of IPAutoconfigurationEnabled is nonzero or if the registry key is absent, IP Autoconfiguration Addressing is enabled. An IPAutoconfigurationEnabled value of 0 disables the IP Autoconfiguration Addressing feature.

If Windows 98 initially does not detect a DHCP service and configures an IP Autoconfiguration IP address, and then it subsequently discovers a DHCP service on the network, Windows 98 uses the DHCP service and switches from 169.254.x.x addressing to IP addresses assigned by a DHCP server.

To set the registry value for IPAutoconfigurationEnabled value to 0: Select IPAC_OFF.INF found in the \Tools\MTSutil folder on the Windows 98 CD.

Right-Click IPAC_OFF.INF.

-or-

Hold down the SHIFT key and press the function key, F10.

Choose INSTALL to modify the IPAutoconfigurationEnabled value.

IPAC_ON.INF - ENABLE TCP/IP IP AUTOCONFIGURATION
Refer to the previous section for information concerning IP Autoconfiguration.

IP Autoconfiguration Addressing is enabled if the value of IPAutoconfigurationEnabled is nonzero or if the registry key is absent.

To set the registry value for IPAutoconfigurationEnabled value to 1:
Select IPAC_ON.INF found in the \Tools\MTSutil folder on the Windows 98 CD.

Right-Click IPAC_ON.INF.

-or-

Hold down the SHIFT key and press the function key, F10.

Choose INSTALL to modify the IPAutoconfigurationEnabled value.

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