Checking internet connection without a winbox

[Chong Yu Meng]

On Mon, 2006-09-25 at 12:20 +0300, Dotan Cohen wrote:
> Can I access the modem while connected through the router, or
> would I need to connect to the modem directly to access the control
> panel?

Hi Dotan,

I know I'm coming into this thread rather late, and I may have missed
some of the earlier posts, but here are my 2 cents:

Some cable/xDSL modems do not possess a GUI or means by which you can
interact with it. I have a pretty old Motorola cable modem that is like
that. It just grabs an IP address from the ISP and I can't control it in
any way, except to unplug the power and re-plug it back. 

Instead of wrestling with the IP address and the modem, you may want to
consider another alternative: look around for a combination router/modem
that will handle the connection details for you and provide a GUI which
you can use to configure your network. There are quite a few models from
NetGear, Linksys and D-Link. Of course, you would probably need to do a
little homework before buying by asking subscribers to the same service
what models they purchased or what they are successfully using.

Besides avoiding the hassles of configuration, there are 2 other reasons
why I think this approach is better:

1. With cable/xDSL connections, you will want to keep the connection
"always on", if you are not subscribed to a plan that limits you by time
or bandwidth. Using a computer as a router will tend to heat up the room
and introduce noise (if you have noisy fans). If it is always on, and if
you are in a small room, it can get quite uncomfortable very quickly. 

2. Some devices provide features for wireless networking. Until I
actually installed it, I did not realize how useful it would be -- not
having to lay cables all over the place, the freedom to move about as I
wished, etc. 

I am currently using a rather old NetGear MR814 which provides a GUI and
802.11b access, and which connects to my also-old Motorola cable modem.

Well, anyway, that's just my 2 cents. Oh, and welcome back !;)
-- 
Pascal Chong 
email:  chongym at cymulacrum.net 
web:    http://cymulacrum.net
pgp:    http://cymulacrum.net/pgp/cymulacrum.asc

"La science ne connaît pas de frontière parce que la connaissance
appartient à l’humanité. et que c’est la flamme qui illumine le monde."

-- Louis Pasteur
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