On Fri, 28 Jul 2000, you wrote:
> Hi All.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with BellSouth's FastAccess DSL Internet
> connectivity and Linux? Specifically, I am looking for the following
> information:
>
Not personally, but a friend of mine has BellSouth DSL and is running
a linux box as a firewall.
>
> 1. Is it any good?
>
It works...
>
> 2. What DSL modem to they supply? I am running a laptop, so the PCI
> card option is out. I hear they can supply a USB one - is this Linux
> compatible? (I will be upgrading my kernel to 2.4.test-4 shortly).
>
You CAN get a single-ethernet router, but my understanding is that
they have become pretty strict about who can get it. You have to have
a GOOD reason to get it, something other than "I don't want an
internal DSL modem" or "I run linux and an internal DSL modem won't
work." They're quite happy to ignore the fact that you run linux, as
long as you don't run a SERVER on it.....
>
> 3. Would ANY 10 Base-T network adapter suffice (as long
> as it is Linux compatible)?
>
Should be.
>
> 4. They are very specific about their download speeds, but what is their
> upload speed (not everyone is a leech).
>
about 50% of their download speed. Tops. That's the way ADSL works --
you get twice as much bandwidth DOWNSTREAM as you do upstream.
>
>
> 5. Has anyone managed to get this going with Linux?
>
As I said, I know a couple people who are using non-Windows machines
on DSL -- one mac and one linux box.
>
> 6. I want to network my laptop to my Wife's PC so that we
> can both use the Internet at the same time - I take it that I will
> need two network cards in the laptop to do this. Any
> recommendations? (I don't want to do the Internet link directly
> from my Wife's PC if I can avoid it as the laptop is FAR more
> stable - her PC runs Win95, and my two kids [10 and > 12] use it;
> 'nuff said...)
>
Set up a P100 (or similar easy/cheap PC) to act as a firewall and give
it two network cards, then run a cable from one NIC to the DSL router
and one to a hub for you and your wife.
>
> 7. Would it be possible to set up additional e-mail accounts
> on the Linux box, so that e-mails could be sent direct to the
> box? I need this to get around the paltry 5Mb mailbox limit that
> BellSouth offer (an e-mailed document with a few embedded
> screenshots soon grows bigger than that!).
>
Maybe. I'd recommend finding some place to host a domain for you, or
similar and allow you to get your mail from them. THEN you can do
what you're wanting.
>
> 8. Does it offer a static IP address? This would make
> telneting to the machines a lot easier. (Maybe I'm just being
> hopeful - I used to use Demon Internet as my ISP when I lived in
> the UK, and even their dial-up accounts had static IP, unlimited
> e-mail addresses, etc. Heaven!)
>
Yes and no. You don't really want a "live" IP on your machine. It
makes it too vulnerable to attack. Use SSH instead as well. MUCH
safer! :-) Here's what I understand (not being a DSL user myself):
You get a "lease" on an IP for as long as your computer is turned on.
Next time you reboot, you get a new IP.
John
