DSL and basic issues.

Zoolander · 09-24-2005, 23:39

Next week I get DSL installed.

Anything that I need to know?

Does DSL only work on old Copper telephone lines?

What about Fiber Optic lines?

Not sure what kind of lines I have. With all the static on my phone, they must be copper.

I guess they're going to put filters on my other telephone lines?

Do all the empty outlets need filters or just the ones that are actually being used?

I have a monitored home alarm system, what to do about that?

Will they use a DSL modem or just plug into my network ethernet card?

Can they use my existing phone line thats in my dial up modem?

Or will they need to split the phone line outside and have a dedicated DSL line?

It may have been easier to get a cable modem instead?

I don't really have an official "firewall."

I do have my ISP firewall turned on.

I do have the MSWindows XP firewall turned on.

I went to DSL reports and did a Port Scan.

Quote:

Port Scan:

monitor.dslreports.com scanning ***.**.***.***.
does NOT respond to a ICMP ping
does NOT respond to a TCP ping
does NOT respond to a UDP ping
Probing TCP ports with SYN packets
TCP probe finished
Probing UDP ports for echos
UDP probe finished
Scan complete.
Open TCP port 139 was NOT seen
microsoft netbios check skipped
Press results button.

Your Results for this scan

Conclusion: Healthy Setup!

We could detect no interesting responses from any of the commonly probed TCP and UDP ports.

It would be difficult for an attacker to know where to start without further information.

TCP ALL : FILTERED No response packet was received.

UDP ALL : FILTERED No response packet was received.

I'm just a noob, teach me!

What protection do I need when upgrading to DSL?

***HerrGlock*** · 09-25-2005, 06:51

DSL general:

They will put it on your voice line, it will share the voice wires.

They will give (sell, rent) you a DSL modem.

You need to put a filter on everything you have plugged into a phone line EXCEPT the one going to the DSL modem.

If nothing's plugged into a phone outlet, don't worry about it unless you think you'll forget and plug something in without the filter. If that's the case, plug the filters into every outlet, except the one to the DSL modem.

Your ISP's firewall is probably okay but if you want more control over what is seen and blocked, you may want to consider a firewall/router.

The phone line goes into a DSL modem and from there into either your computer or a firewall/router.

I would recommend getting your own firewall/router. Look for the words "Stateful Packet Filtering" on the box. Do NOT get one that just says "NAT".

Don't worry about what kind of lines you have, you probably have copper into the house.

DanH

Washington,D.C. · 09-25-2005, 07:00

It will use your dial up line.Each phone needs a filter but unused jacks do not.Fax machines and phoneline based alarms should have filters.Best way to hook up is ethernet,a router,even with only one PC will help things.A router with a firewall is best.Should likely upgrade from Windows XP firewall for DSL.If you did a scan from dial up you should do a scan on DSL.You will need a DSL modem and ethernet or some newer DSL modems can take USB too but ethernet is best.

Zoolander · 09-26-2005, 16:56

I hope that the install guy brings a router, filters, DSL modem and ethernet cable.

Thanks to HerrGlock and Washington,D.C. for DSL info.

I hope that my house is near a hub (CO), to get the strongest signal.

Michael Dean · 09-27-2005, 10:35

Zoo, I would echo the comments above. When I got DSL setup here in Oklahoma, they shipped the modem, filters, cables, to the house. However I didn't have someone coming to install it. We did that ourselves. Very easy to setup. Our provider has several DSL modems available, including wireless, built in router, etc.

Good luck, Mike

Harlequin · 09-27-2005, 17:23

Being rather handy, I rewired my lines. I ran a dedicated line from the network interface (the gray box outside your house) inside and marked the plug "DSL." I then set the lines in the rest of the house up on another line from that box, using the filter in the basement near a junction box that all other lines hooked into. That way I only needed one filter instead of one for every device. Works like a champ!

Washington,D.C. · 09-27-2005, 17:35

I got DSL a few years ago.No USB on the DSL modem then.They shipped the parts to me.I had to install it myself.Many of the filters were bad right out of the box.They sent me some replacemenmts and some extras.I had one or two go bad since but not lately.The filters were really cheaply made.At the time the company that made the DSL modem offered to sell an "upgrade" for increased perfornamce for $50.A few months later the phone company gave this "upgrade" for free.Some of the newer DSL modems have both ethernet and USB jacks.Mine has only the ethernet jack.I had to buy an ethernet cable of the proper length but the phone company gave me an ethernet card because I told them I didn't have one.They asked and said I wouldn't be sent one if I didn't need it but it was "free" or included in the package.The DSL modem was free only if I kept the DSL service for at least one year.Otherwise I had to pay for it. i forget how much,$100-$200 I think.

Conju · 09-27-2005, 17:54

As for protection, you should have the standard install on a windows pc (spyware remover, antivirus)

Don't worry too much about the line quaility, it only makes a difference in certain situations (ie extended bandwidth). If you're not setting up a file server, don't worry about it.

Alot of people knock DSL really hard, and I cant understand why, its a perfectly rational solution to a small business who wants to save money by doing their own webhosting, all the while saving them from the cost of a T1.

Comcast kinda pisses me off like that. But at least it's not AT&T any more.

Zoolander · 10-06-2005, 00:12

Well, they ran a black cable from my front yard to my house. A dedicated phone line for DSL. They ran a white CAT 5 type cable under my house (crawl space) to an ethernet outlet next to my computer. There's a yellow ethernet cable running from the DSL dedicated outlet to the network card on the back of my pc. He said my house has copper phone lines, but my street and neighborhood has fiber phone lines.

Washington,D.C. · 10-06-2005, 00:30

Yeah I guess a lot of street phonelines are fiber optic these days.Sounds like they did a lot of work.Sounds like you don't have A DSL modem.Must be a new type of setup.So you must not need to mess with any phone filters.

Zoolander · 10-06-2005, 01:34

Yeah, no DSL modem and no line filters.

What would a DSL modem do for me?

He said that 'my area' has only 1.5mbps now, soon to have 3mbps and eventually 6 mbps. Is that possible on fiber?

I'm as happy as can be with my new speed at 1.5mbps.

I was use to barely rolling at 24 kbps.

My connection says 10.0Mbps.

Washington,D.C. · 10-06-2005, 05:41

A DSL modem won't do anything for your setup.I have just never seen it that way before.It sounds good.DSL here was first 750kb,then 1.5mb and now 3mb.Fiber begins at 5mb but 6mb sounds like the more expensive DSL here and fiber goes from 5mb to 15 mb.So you should have much better speed than dial up now.

Washington,D.C. · 10-06-2005, 05:43

Oh you "connection speed" is just the ethernet card speed not your real connection speed.There are 8 bits to a byte.