DSL Routers

[Dick Miller]

Today I went to Micro Center and bought a Linksys Cable/DSL router. Got it home and proceeded to set it up. The physical set up was easy enough however the router settings were only for Windows
A call to my ISP (SBC DSL ) was no help at all, and after about an hour on the phone with Linksys tech support they advised me to return the router to Micro Center, which I did and got a refund. I later talked to Other World Computing tech support about a Macsense router and was told that all routers were difficult to set up. All I wanted to do was share my DSL with my kids IMac, now it seems like a major project. Am I missing something here. I know a lot of you are using routers is it really that hard to set up. Both computers are running OS 9.1

  Dick

[Gary S]

Dick,

I don't know....I don't have DSL...I have Cable. When I set my D-Link (wired Ethernet) up it was plug and play!

Maybe someone knows something about the Voodoo of DSL and will shed some light on it.  

[Paddy]

Dick, I've owned a Macsense router (wire) and a D-Link (wireless) and both were extremely easy to set up.  Routers, by their very nature, are not platform specific - they all use the same protocols. It's just the darned instructions that assume that the world is controlled by Billy and Co. The one advantage of a Macsense router is that they DO provide instructions for us Mac owners (as well as PC instructions) and their tech support is excellent. However, that Linksys router should have worked too - it's a pity that Linksys can't be bothered to provide adequate Mac support. I'm using cable, but it shouldn't be any different on DSL, from what I've read.

See:

http://www.macworld.com/2000/12/bc/01howtorouter/
http://www.lowendmac.com/tech/router.html
http://www.atpm.com/7.06/router.shtml?print

One thing to remember - power up the modem - give it enough time to establish a connection (watch the blinking lights!), then the router and then the computers.

[RHPConsult]

I am not making this up!

I love telling this tale because it so completely illustrates the Mac/WIN worlds' difference(s).

Our 3-Mac + 1-printer LAN first had a little hub to knit it together. When we went from 3 dial-ups to one SBC/DSL Alcatel "modem", my son said to get a hub/router. He called shortly thereafter saying that Fry's had a NetGear box for a good price.

I sped down the the Palo Alto store and picked one up. Saw no cautions, or special ID, or instructions printed on the box. Got home, took it out of the box and all I could see were WIN instructions and a WIN/CD, apparently containing all the "necessary software."

Called son. Not home.

Called NetGear. Got a Tech Guy who said quite quickly and decisively (read = loudly) "We do not support Macintosh". Then, in a very, very soft whisper, "But it will work with a Mac." Then he hung up.

Called son (the Linuz guru). "Don't worry, Dad. Just hook it up."

"Whadaya mean, 'Hook it up'? I haven't any software installed, yet."

"Hook it up," says son, again. "It doesn't need any software for a Mac!"

So I did. It didn't. All the relevant address and DNS numbers appeared as if by magic. That was three years ago. It hasn't sneezed yet.

2 or 3 times we've had to reboot the "modem" (only) by turning it off, then on, after a couple of minutes. That's been the total  "maintenance drill".   A couple of weeks later, I helped a  clueless friend go through the same drill, as though I was an expert. Same results. Perfection.  

Your mileage may vary, of course, but that's my story and I stuck with it.  

If there's a serious Mac VAR anywhere nearby, see what you can find out about whether you can enjoy a similar experience. I still don't understand the simplicity of it all.

PS: Wait a minute!

Aren't we talking to the Valley of the Olentangy here? The Apple Store in Easton still has some smart folks residing therein, even though the Genius Bar is a thing of the past. Ask them.

Besides, isn't it true that the next Governor of California owns Easton?

Go Bucks!

[Bill]

"Besides, isn't it true that the next Governor of California owns Easton?"

Don't know about that but I'll bet he has a hand in the prices going sky-high for the last nine days!!! /grumble\ /end short rant\

[Dick Miller]

RHP: You've got to be from Columbus. No    Arnolds stake in Easton went out of business. The Apple store was no help at all, they only sell the Airport. I think I'll try the Macsense, at least it has Mac instructions.    

GO BUCKS

[MamaMoose]

There is an excellent router made by Asante that I have used in the past and it comes with setup instructions for the Mac! try it you will like it.

Unfortunately, my Asante bit the dust and I needed a router ASAP. Comp USA - my only convient hardware source stopped carrying Asante so I got, with great trepidation, a Linksys router. I got the Linksys set up then ran into trouble, but with the help of my son, Young Moose I was able to set it up in spite of the Windows only philosophy. It wasn't that hard once I understood what the Linksys instructions were saying.

I will try, before moving to Portland, to list the instructions that my son gave me.

What made it esier for me is that I was using DHCP within TCP/IP rather than PPPoE.
So get the Asante friendlkyNET FR3000 Series router directly from Asante's web page. Last time I looked it was going, refurbished, for $39!

Of course, RHPConsult's recommendation is an excellent one.

MamaMoose

[jepinto]

Dick As I tell my bowling partner....you're thinking too hard.

Just hooked up a 6400/G3/400, an IBM 600 laptop and a Compaq 6000 to a Trend 311-BRP Got mine at MacMall

The Mac was
1.  Set up the router
2.  Plug ethernet cable from router into DSL modem
3.  Plug phone wire into DSL modem
4.  Plug ethernet cable from router to 6400.
5.  Go Control Panels>TCP/IP, select "Connect Via Ethernet" and "Configure using DHCP Server"
6.  Open browser, type in 192.168.1.1
7.  In the tools menu of that page, change the DNS number to 192.168.0.1 (don't know why, just had to be done), change the password, save changes.
8.  Log on to TS

On the Win 2000 laptop, nearly as simple.  Had to "let the machine recognize and configure new hardware" for the wireless PMCIA card, restart, configure using the control panel (using the supplied instructions), restart, log onto TS.

Now, the Win XP machine is giving me more trouble (Tech Support walked me through, but still having slow loading, we think it's an XP problem on that machine! I HATE Windows!), but that's for another thread.

[RHPConsult]

Dick Miller . . . only an "adopted" Buckeye (MS, Ph.D The Ohio State University), but a loyal one! Married to a Buckeye for 49 years, which I think means "fully qualified"  

Tom and Jen's separate (and generally benign) experience brings back a REALLY bad memory.

I once struggled to get a brand new Asante ethernet card to work in my wonderful old 6400, only to discover after days and days of a-g-o-n-y they were selling a card that didn't work on a 6400 . . . something about misplacement of one major chip so that it was too close to something else inside the Mac.  Finally got Engineering to admit that, while Sales was oblivious and in public denial, plus the CEO never even answered a reasoned, written appeal for restitution. Asante can, permanently, Go To Hell as far as I'm concerned.

Bandits!

[Dick Miller]

RHP: Yep your a fully qualified Buckeye  

GO BUCKS