Considering dropping DSL modem rental, bad idea?

[Forrest]

It's no more difficult to setup a DSL modem than it is to setup a wireless router. After my Verizon supplied Westell DSL Gateway started acting up after 4 years, I bought the Actiontec GT701D that numbered linked to above. The Actiontec has been working fine for two years. If you're in a hurry, Best Buy sells the Actiontec modem in their stores for $49.99. Used models from other providers may work, but I'd stay away from models more than 5 years old. Those early models were limited to 1 Mbps maximum.

[davec]

lafinfil-apparently what I am currently using is a modem/router. I do use all 4 ethernet ports on the back of the Siemens modem/router. Connected to the Siemens are my son's Mini, a Brother laser, my G4 FrankenMac and the AirPort Base Station. My AirPort Base Station is 2nd gen (white) and only has one ethernet port. We use the wireless connections for my work MacBook and my youngest son's iBook G4.

If I used a modem would I be able to: DSL Modem-->>Netgear ethernet switch-->> AirPort Base Station? Any conflicts from that kind of connection?

space-time - thank you for your offer. I believe I will see if I can purchase the modem/router I am currently using. If that doesn't work out I will contact you. Thank you!

numbered, decocritter and Forrest- thank you for your posts! It is reassuring that setting up a DSL modem is not difficult. I'll admit to being a bit worried that I could screw something up.

I sincerely appreciate all of the support and input!

Dave

[Winston]

davec wrote:

If I used a modem would I be able to: DSL Modem-->>Netgear ethernet switch-->> AirPort Base Station? Any conflicts from that kind of connection?

That would be right if the DSL modem has a router in it as your current one does. if you got one which did not have a router you could use the ABS as the router, but that would mean connecting the Netgear switch to the ABS.

Note that DSL modems provided by your internet provider come set up to connect to that provider. If you got a different DSL modem you would might have to set it up for the PPPoE connection to your internet provider. Think of DSL as giving you a dial tone and PPPoE as dialing the number which gives you an internet connection. (Our DSL modem has both "DSL" and "Internet" lights for the two functions.) If you do a Google search you should be able to find setup instructions for pretty much any DSL modem.

You can also set up a router to do the PPPoE part of the connection if you disable it on the DSL modem. We did this at one point several years ago with a DSL modem that could not reliably handle the PPPoE connection. Earthlink later replaced that modem with one which also has a router in it, so we no longer use a separate router.

The main issue will be if you do have an internet outage, Frontier may try to blame it on your modem instead of their system. But as pretty much all the modems have lights that show their status, as well as web interfaces that can do the same, you should be able to troubleshoot.


Good luck.

- Winston

[decocritter]

If I can set up a modem and get it to play nice with Airport Express, anyone can do it. I was afraid to add the airport express when everything was working so well. But it only took me a few minutes, and it has been working great. I watch netflix almost everyday with no problems.

[davec]

Winston-thank you for your post! I have very little knowledge of modems or routers and I appreciate the information you shared. If I should use a DSLmodem/router (combo) unit (other than the one I currently rent) would there be more complications in setting up the combo unit? Thanks again for the information and help!

Dave

Edit: decocritter-I truly appreciate your words of encouragement! Thanks!

[Winston]

davec wrote:
Winston-thank you for your post! I have very little knowledge of modems or routers and I appreciate the information you shared. If I should use a DSLmodem/router (combo) unit (other than the one I currently rent) would there be more complications in setting up the combo unit? Thanks again for the information and help!

First, don't give up your current (working!) DSL modem until you have the new one set up and working. If you are having setup problems you will want to be able to go online with the old modem to do research.

The only "unusual" problem that I can think of is that a DSL modem's web browser interface might be set to a default screen that doesn't allow you to mess with settings. This is the case with our ZyXEL modem from Earthlink. You'd then have to find out how to get around the default screen.

Virtually all DSL modems, and virtually all routers (AirPort base stations being the notable example) can be set up by plugging them into the ethernet port on your computer, then going to their IP address which gets you a setup web page. The IP address will normally be one of just a few possibilities like:
10.1.0.1 or
192.168.1.1 or
192.168.123.254

Note that for a router, you plug your computer into one of the LAN (computer) jacks, not the WAN (internet/DSL modem) jack.

You enter this IP address in your web browser's URL bar (where web pages say "http://..." ) to get to the web page.

If you google the device's make and model number and the word "setup" you can almost always find setup instructions. There is usually a default password to log onto the device, typically "1234" or "login" or "setup" or something similar. If for some reason this has been changed, you can do a hard reset of the device, usually by holding in a button with a paperclip while plugging the power cord in. This will return it to the default IP address and password.

Essentially all you should need to do the setup is your email address and password from your ISP (or whatever you'd use to log into web mail or your account). There are a lot of fields, but the only ones you'd need to worry about are the PPPoE connection ones (which use your log in info to authenticate that you are the one connecting) and maybe the DNS settings, which are where your browser goes to look up how to find a web page. But you can probably use whatever DNS settings are already in the device.

If you get a specific model I am sure there are those here who'd be happy to help.

Frontier might also have help pages that talk generally about setting up a PPPoE connection and DNS.


Good luck.

- Winston

[davec]

Winston- I sincerely appreciate the information. I am certainly a novice when it comes to networking, routers and internet configuration. Your information helps a lot! Your point about not sending the other modem/router back until I have the other working is excellent. Thank you for your help! I hope you have an excellent weekend!

Dave

[Winston]

You are welcome. You have a great weekend too.


- W