Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
The reason Telewest insist on a windows machine is that they want to install 'spyware' software. It is supposed to help with diagnostics if you have a problem, they will be able to remotely spy on that windows machine. When they came to connect us we had 2 windows and 2 linux machines but I refused to install the spyware, the engineer was one of the senoir ones and agreed with me that he wouldn't want it either. As he was happy that I had knowledge of computers and wouldn't be phoning up help with 'noddy' questions he DID NOT install the software. My advice is stick to your guns and make a big play on how secure linux in light of all the holes highlighted in windows recently. If you don't get anywhere then why not take your complaint to OFTEL. On Wednesday 15 Oct 2003 4:21 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Gave him a cup of coffee, said watch me do it, and yell whoa if you think I'll break something. LOL. That's great. When I was setting up 9.1 with my cable service it was really simple. I used Comcast and all I needed was the hostname that Comcast needed to 'see' on my system. During installation, I selected DHCP, popped in my hostname and everything has been good to go. You don't need the proprietary software (in most cases at least) that the cable company wants to install. Usually all it is is their custom version of IE and a bunch of links to go on your desktop. All Windows crap really. Anyhow, as mentioned you really only need to know how the cable company authenticates your modem, DHCP or static IP, and probably a hostname. YMMV, -A -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of H.J.Bathoorn Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 10:03 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo On Wednesday 15 October 2003 15:00, Ronald J. Hall wrote: On Wednesday 15 October 2003 05:49 am, Len Lawrence wrote: Can anybody tell me just what information would be required for a simple standalone setup? And is it true that the cable modem can only be initialized by proprietary software? I went thru something like this when I hooked up with Charter. I simply told the tech that I was willing to sign to the effect that I took all responsibility for getting the Ambit modem working with my setup. He called his supervisor and that was good enough for them. I have perused various HOWTOs without seeing exactly what kind of information is needed. IP addresses of course. Presumably I could badger Telewest to give me those in written form, but what else? The dialup connection was simple to configure because Demon provided all the relevant parameters. Hmm, once they provisioned my cable modem, all it took was a simple (as root): ifdown eth0 then ifup eth0 and it acquired everything that was needed. I'm assuming that service network restart would do the same thing. Keep us informed as to how it goes! :-) PS This link may help some: http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Cable-Modem/ Happened likewise here. There was sheer panic in the eyes of the guy who came to install when he saw it was Linux;) Gave him a cup of coffee, said watch me do it, and yell whoa if you think I'll break something. He was stunned that I had it up and running before he'd even had a chance to sip his coffee. Good luck, HarM -- Registered Linux User #197998 FSF Associate Member #901 ICQ #146191606 Mandrake HowTo's more: http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org -- Rosie Linux forever Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
On October 18, 2003 10:37 am, rosie wrote: The reason Telewest insist on a windows machine is that they want to install 'spyware' software. It is supposed to help with diagnostics if you have a problem, they will be able to remotely spy on that windows machine. Oh, no, no, no, no, no! This is advanced diagnostic software not spyware! Don't you understand the necessity of this to our over worked, underpaid and under qualified help desk techs? We have this wonderful guy here, all of 15 years old, who is our star! Top marks on the national MSCE exams! Why he can click through wizards and have a system up and running faster than you can say Bill Is God! Now those Unix and Linux guys would still be testing those horrible plain text scripts and configuration files while our guy would have already come to the conclusion that it's all the users fault! (KNOCK KNOCK) Oh, sorry, it seems we have a small security problem here. The police are at the door asking us about a series of viruses, trogans and stuff that have been happening for the last six months. I'm just gonna go ask our star. That's about when we hired him so he has to know something about it. wicked grin When they came to connect us we had 2 windows and 2 linux machines but I refused to install the spyware, the engineer was one of the senoir ones and agreed with me that he wouldn't want it either. As he was happy that I had knowledge of computers and wouldn't be phoning up help with 'noddy' questions he DID NOT install the software. My advice is stick to your guns and make a big play on how secure linux in light of all the holes highlighted in windows recently. If you don't get anywhere then why not take your complaint to OFTEL. By all means stick to your guns. No reputable supplier of high speed services should be installing this crap on your machines. Some folks are just getting far too enamoured of the Microsoft approved virus called phone home. ttfn John Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
More-or-less related to this, has anyone here managed to get Linux working with BT Broadband (USB modem connection)? Last time I was home I managed to get my mother using OpenOffice and Firebird, so I'd like her to make the full switch, especially since her AV software isn't working. Sir Robin -- I declare this sentence a performative! Robin Turner IDMYO Bilkent Univeritesi Ankara 06533 Turkey www.bilkent.edu.tr/~robin Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 12:11:20 +0200 H.J.Bathoorn [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Wednesday 15 October 2003 11:49, Len Lawrence wrote: working. All I could give the poor lad was the MAC address of eth0 and all he knew was that the connection needed to be configured under DHCP. That was all he needed. The hardware (mac adress) registers itself and gets an IP adress assigned by the cable company. Mdk does that faster...the guy's a nitwit. Me as well. Should have known it is a lot simpler than he made out. Just connect and let MCC do the rest. It usually takes some time to register the first time up. Thanks to everybody who replied in this thread. -- Len Lawrence -- There is nothing wrong with abstinence, in moderation. -- Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 10:49:33 +0100 Len Lawrence [EMAIL PROTECTED] uttered: Can anybody tell me just what information would be required for a simple standalone setup? And is it true that the cable modem can only be initialized by proprietary software? What type of modem is it? If it is simply an ethernet connection, then the only software you will need is probably included in Mandrake, ie. something like KPPPoE, maybe not even that if they are using a direct connection without PPPoE. In that case you just plug it in and it gets an IP from the ISP's DHCP server. If it's a USB modem, the story might be a lot different, maybe not, depends on the modem. I would definitely complain like hell that they were not even willing to *attempt* to help you. Also, contact your local LUG and see if there are any other customers of this provider who can give more specific info. -- HaywireMac ++ ICQ # 279518458 Registered Linux user #282046 Homepage: www.orderinchaos.org ++ Mandrake HowTo's More: http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org ++ Life is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it. -- Tom Lehrer Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
On Wednesday 15 October 2003 11:49, Len Lawrence wrote: working. All I could give the poor lad was the MAC address of eth0 and all he knew was that the connection needed to be configured under DHCP. That was all he needed. The hardware (mac adress) registers itself and gets an IP adress assigned by the cable company. Mdk does that faster...the guy's a nitwit. Just connect and let MCC do the rest. It usually takes some time to register the first time up. Good luck, HarM -- Registered Linux User #197998 FSF Associate Member #901 ICQ #146191606 Mandrake HowTo's more: http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
RE: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
The windows software you have been given registers the modem on their network and allows the modem to download the correct software into it to set the download upload speeds etc.. Howeveer, you should be able to install the modem manually, it takes a little effort. If you go to http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d.h.walker/cmtips/broadjump.html follow the instructions under 'Doing without the Broadband Installer you *should* be able to install it OK. Hope this helps. Thanks, Jamie [EMAIL PROTECTED] ITS Internal Extension : 5806 Direct Dial: 0870 754 5806 -Original Message- From: Len Lawrence [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 15 October 2003 10:50 To: newbie Subject: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo Well I am about to shoot myself, again! Finally made the decision to go broadband, having been advised on this list that there would be no difficulty with a Linux system. Contacted Telewest BlueYonder, and the technician turned up today, and found he could not install the modem because there is no Windows machine in the house. He could not install the hardware and leave it without it being configured and presumably talking to base. All he would do is load a CD into Windows, if it were available, and let it run. His supervisor gave him some story about having to run the Windows setup before the modem could be used. I am so completely ignorant about networking that I could not even begin to suggest how we might go about experimenting with it to try and get the modem recognised and the connection working. All I could give the poor lad was the MAC address of eth0 and all he knew was that the connection needed to be configured under DHCP. Can anybody tell me just what information would be required for a simple standalone setup? And is it true that the cable modem can only be initialized by proprietary software? I have perused various HOWTOs without seeing exactly what kind of information is needed. IP addresses of course. Presumably I could badger Telewest to give me those in written form, but what else? The dialup connection was simple to configure because Demon provided all the relevant parameters. -- Len Lawrence -- Living on Earth may be expensive, but it includes an annual free trip around the Sun. -- ** E-mail Disclaimer ** This e-mail message is confidential and for use by the addressee only. If the message is received by anyone other than the addressee, please return the message to the sender by replying to it and then delete the message from your computer. Please note that any views, or opinions presented in this e-mail are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Benenden Healthcare Society Limited. The recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The Benenden Healthcare Society Limited accepts no liability for any damages caused by any virus transmitted by this email and its attachments. The Benenden Healthcare Society Limited is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and is an Incorporated Friendly Society, registered under the Friendly Societies Act 1992. Registered No: 480F. The Benenden Healthcare Society Limited, Registered Office: Holgate Park Drive, York, YO26 4GG. Tel 0870 7545 700 Fax 0870 7545 821 www.benenden.org.uk. *** Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
On Wednesday 15 October 2003 05:49 am, Len Lawrence wrote: Can anybody tell me just what information would be required for a simple standalone setup? And is it true that the cable modem can only be initialized by proprietary software? I went thru something like this when I hooked up with Charter. I simply told the tech that I was willing to sign to the effect that I took all responsibility for getting the Ambit modem working with my setup. He called his supervisor and that was good enough for them. I have perused various HOWTOs without seeing exactly what kind of information is needed. IP addresses of course. Presumably I could badger Telewest to give me those in written form, but what else? The dialup connection was simple to configure because Demon provided all the relevant parameters. Hmm, once they provisioned my cable modem, all it took was a simple (as root): ifdown eth0 then ifup eth0 and it acquired everything that was needed. I'm assuming that service network restart would do the same thing. Keep us informed as to how it goes! :-) PS This link may help some: http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Cable-Modem/ -- /\ DarkLord \/ Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
On Wednesday 15 October 2003 15:00, Ronald J. Hall wrote: On Wednesday 15 October 2003 05:49 am, Len Lawrence wrote: Can anybody tell me just what information would be required for a simple standalone setup? And is it true that the cable modem can only be initialized by proprietary software? I went thru something like this when I hooked up with Charter. I simply told the tech that I was willing to sign to the effect that I took all responsibility for getting the Ambit modem working with my setup. He called his supervisor and that was good enough for them. I have perused various HOWTOs without seeing exactly what kind of information is needed. IP addresses of course. Presumably I could badger Telewest to give me those in written form, but what else? The dialup connection was simple to configure because Demon provided all the relevant parameters. Hmm, once they provisioned my cable modem, all it took was a simple (as root): ifdown eth0 then ifup eth0 and it acquired everything that was needed. I'm assuming that service network restart would do the same thing. Keep us informed as to how it goes! :-) PS This link may help some: http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Cable-Modem/ Happened likewise here. There was sheer panic in the eyes of the guy who came to install when he saw it was Linux;) Gave him a cup of coffee, said watch me do it, and yell whoa if you think I'll break something. He was stunned that I had it up and running before he'd even had a chance to sip his coffee. Good luck, HarM -- Registered Linux User #197998 FSF Associate Member #901 ICQ #146191606 Mandrake HowTo's more: http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
RE: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
Gave him a cup of coffee, said watch me do it, and yell whoa if you think I'll break something. LOL. That's great. When I was setting up 9.1 with my cable service it was really simple. I used Comcast and all I needed was the hostname that Comcast needed to 'see' on my system. During installation, I selected DHCP, popped in my hostname and everything has been good to go. You don't need the proprietary software (in most cases at least) that the cable company wants to install. Usually all it is is their custom version of IE and a bunch of links to go on your desktop. All Windows crap really. Anyhow, as mentioned you really only need to know how the cable company authenticates your modem, DHCP or static IP, and probably a hostname. YMMV, -A -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of H.J.Bathoorn Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 10:03 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo On Wednesday 15 October 2003 15:00, Ronald J. Hall wrote: On Wednesday 15 October 2003 05:49 am, Len Lawrence wrote: Can anybody tell me just what information would be required for a simple standalone setup? And is it true that the cable modem can only be initialized by proprietary software? I went thru something like this when I hooked up with Charter. I simply told the tech that I was willing to sign to the effect that I took all responsibility for getting the Ambit modem working with my setup. He called his supervisor and that was good enough for them. I have perused various HOWTOs without seeing exactly what kind of information is needed. IP addresses of course. Presumably I could badger Telewest to give me those in written form, but what else? The dialup connection was simple to configure because Demon provided all the relevant parameters. Hmm, once they provisioned my cable modem, all it took was a simple (as root): ifdown eth0 then ifup eth0 and it acquired everything that was needed. I'm assuming that service network restart would do the same thing. Keep us informed as to how it goes! :-) PS This link may help some: http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Cable-Modem/ Happened likewise here. There was sheer panic in the eyes of the guy who came to install when he saw it was Linux;) Gave him a cup of coffee, said watch me do it, and yell whoa if you think I'll break something. He was stunned that I had it up and running before he'd even had a chance to sip his coffee. Good luck, HarM -- Registered Linux User #197998 FSF Associate Member #901 ICQ #146191606 Mandrake HowTo's more: http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 October 15, 2003 03:49 am, Len Lawrence wrote: Well I am about to shoot myself, again! Finally made the decision to go broadband, having been advised on this list that there would be no difficulty with a Linux system. Contacted Telewest BlueYonder, and the technician turned up today, and found he could not install the modem because there is no Windows machine in the house. He could not install the hardware and leave it without it being configured and presumably talking to base. All he would do is load a CD into Windows, if it were available, and let it run. His supervisor gave him some story about having to run the Windows setup before the modem could be used. I am so completely ignorant about networking that I could not even begin to suggest how we might go about experimenting with it to try and get the modem recognised and the connection working. All I could give the poor lad was the MAC address of eth0 and all he knew was that the connection needed to be configured under DHCP. That should have been sufficient Len. Can anybody tell me just what information would be required for a simple standalone setup? And is it true that the cable modem can only be initialized by proprietary software? No it isn't true. At least here in Canada. The cable company here has the usual disclaimer programmed into the hell desk denizens too but they never argue about any software required, just a way to configure the hardware. The local tel-co told a neighbour of mine last Wednesday that they couldn't support 'lienux' (that's how the lad pronounced it) since their ADSL software was designed for Windows only. I called customer service for her and told them that was crap, since the only requirement they actually have is the hardware address of the NIC. They shut up and did it manually and she's running a Cooker install. She has since ordered a Discovery Edition of Mandrake Linux 9.2 Canicule. She really likes it. Says Windows sure sucks compared to this, doesn't it? I have perused various HOWTOs without seeing exactly what kind of information is needed. IP addresses of course. Presumably I could badger Telewest to give me those in written form, but what else? The dialup connection was simple to configure because Demon provided all the relevant parameters. The DHCP servers have to log the MAC address against an assigned IP number activate the lease then enable DNS access and response. That is all, as far as I've ever been able to determine, any connection to an ISP requires. Good luck Len. Charlie - -- Edmonton,AB,Canada User 244963 at http://counter.li.org Cooker on kernel 2.4.22-10mdk 09:48:53 up 24 days, 23:11, 1 user, load average: 0.10, 0.08, 0.07 The rich get rich, and the poor get poorer. The haves get more, the have-nots die. -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE/jW/zG11CaRuZZSIRAh9yAJ4vgJviv1jnuBTa6QXBFQ5uFu6nCACdGP+4 hgHMkJBrzni0EV3iIgWkr+g= =pJKQ -END PGP SIGNATURE- Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
Len Lawrence wrote: Well I am about to shoot myself, again! Finally made the decision to go broadband, having been advised on this list that there would be no difficulty with a Linux system. Contacted Telewest BlueYonder, and the technician turned up today, and found he could not install the modem because there is no Windows machine in the house. He could not install the hardware and leave it without it being configured and presumably talking to base. All he would do is load a CD into Windows, if it were available, and let it run. His supervisor gave him some story about having to run the Windows setup before the modem could be used. I am so completely ignorant about networking that I could not even begin to suggest how we might go about experimenting with it to try and get the modem recognised and the connection working. All I could give the poor lad was the MAC address of eth0 and all he knew was that the connection needed to be configured under DHCP. Can anybody tell me just what information would be required for a simple standalone setup? And is it true that the cable modem can only be initialized by proprietary software? I have perused various HOWTOs without seeing exactly what kind of information is needed. IP addresses of course. Presumably I could badger Telewest to give me those in written form, but what else? The dialup connection was simple to configure because Demon provided all the relevant parameters. I had the same sort of arguement with CenturyTel. My solution was to buy a small D-Link DI-604 router (about $20). The router fights the battle with their modem, DHCP/DNS servers, etc. (It even includes its own littlde firewall, so now, I get an extra Linux box for FREE. ) I plug all my Linux machines, Windows machines (via another little router) and security cameras into the D-Link router. Reboot everything, and BANG! It all works. No sweat. No tears. Harv / AI9NL Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
On October 15, 2003 02:49 am, Len Lawrence wrote: Well I am about to shoot myself, again! Finally made the decision to go broadband, having been advised on this list that there would be no difficulty with a Linux system. Contacted Telewest BlueYonder, and the technician turned up today, and found he could not install the modem because there is no Windows machine in the house. He could not install the hardware and leave it without it being configured and presumably talking to base. All he would do is load a CD into Windows, if it were available, and let it run. His supervisor gave him some story about having to run the Windows setup before the modem could be used. I am so completely ignorant about networking that I could not even begin to suggest how we might go about experimenting with it to try and get the modem recognised and the connection working. All I could give the poor lad was the MAC address of eth0 and all he knew was that the connection needed to be configured under DHCP. Can anybody tell me just what information would be required for a simple standalone setup? And is it true that the cable modem can only be initialized by proprietary software? I have perused various HOWTOs without seeing exactly what kind of information is needed. IP addresses of course. Presumably I could badger Telewest to give me those in written form, but what else? The dialup connection was simple to configure because Demon provided all the relevant parameters. Ya know I just sit here and giggle at companies that send out alleged techs to do this sort of work. Part timers given a sticker for their car and a Winblows CD and off they go. Funny thing is that in my experience the CD is just about worthless in that it doesn't work 50% of the time. And even funnier is that they assume that all home users will run winblows. Okay..so all that said...here goes. For DSL or cable you gave the tech all he needs to know in the MAC address. All he should need to do is register that address and you're off. Some cable modems handle this differently in that they have their own MAC address and come preconfigured. For DSL you need the MAC. So the simple thing at your end to to make sure the provider has, in fact, registered your MAC address with your provider against your account. Now comes the really difficult part. (I'm feeling wicked this morning. :-) ) Pull up MCC then go to your internet/network choice and set up eth0 (or eth1 if that's where it is) as DHCP client. Let MCC load whatever packages it needs and let it restart the network. You should now have your IP from your provider. Try to surf. If you can..you're on. If you can't I'll bet dollars to donuts that your provider is having a hissy fit because you're using Linux and haven't properly registered your MAC against your account. Bug the hell out of them. I've been in the telecom business for 30 years and it never ceases to amaze me how totally ignorant the MSCE's who run DSL for telecoms are. The fact that I get calls in the field every day about this tends to prove it. Support couldn't tell me how to do this but they said you knew! Somehow this always happens when I'm on top a pole in the pouring rain. Sheesh! Add this to the fact that the IT people are running all the DSL servers on, ta da!!!, Linux or OpenBSD. Particularly after Slammer the quickest way to get fired from our IT department is to deploy a Windows box pointing the the network cloud. The next step is to turn off/decline all firewalling and anti virus at your provider and make darn sure they haven't given you a modem with the hardware firewall in place. Those things cause more trouble than they prevent. Note that the provider site firewall/antivirus is a customer option not thier own firewalls. Haywire Mac has the right way to prepare for an oddball way of connecting DSL that's often used in Europe and is used by some companies in North America (can anyone say S-P-R-I-N-T?). After that the above should apply. ttfn John Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
On October 15, 2003 09:22 am, Harv Nelson wrote: snip I had the same sort of arguement with CenturyTel. My solution was to buy a small D-Link DI-604 router (about $20). The router fights the battle with their modem, DHCP/DNS servers, etc. (It even includes its own littlde firewall, so now, I get an extra Linux box for FREE. ) I plug all my Linux machines, Windows machines (via another little router) and security cameras into the D-Link router. Reboot everything, and BANG! It all works. No sweat. No tears. Harv / AI9NL You can see my reply to Len and company about what I think of people like that. Don't count on that little firewall. Slammer got through it. The DLink is a nice piece of hardware but the firewall leaves much to be desired. It can scew up IM or prevent it compeletly. DCC file transfers on IM or IRC are next to impossible in most cases. Do install tripwire at least on your main Linux box and pay attention to it. :-) ttfn John Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Telewest broadband connection - nogo
On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 12:11:20 +0200 H.J.Bathoorn [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Wednesday 15 October 2003 11:49, Len Lawrence wrote: working. All I could give the poor lad was the MAC address of eth0 and all he knew was that the connection needed to be configured under DHCP. That was all he needed. The hardware (mac adress) registers itself and gets an IP adress assigned by the cable company. Mdk does that faster...the guy's a nitwit. Just connect and let MCC do the rest. It usually takes some time to register the first time up. Thanks HarM. Awaiting a response from Telewest right now. -- Len Lawrence -- Living on Earth may be expensive, but it includes an annual free trip around the Sun. -- Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
