DSL support

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

Why would I be recommending against Linksys if I worked for Cisco?
Didn't you know that Cisco owns Linksys?  And why would I be recommending
in favor of a PC setup as a router if I worked for Cisco?

Sounds to me like you didn't read the post throughly.  Next time quit
shooting from the hip.

Ted


> -----Original Message-----
> From: gabriel [mailto:normal1.lists at gmail.com]
> Sent: Sunday, November 07, 2004 7:17 AM
> To: Ted Mittelstaedt
> Cc: R. W.; freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
> Subject: Re: DSL support
>
>
> lol, do you work for cisco? - Overall, his views are agreeable.
> Or get cable! :\
>
>
> On Sun, 7 Nov 2004 01:49:34 -0800, Ted Mittelstaedt
> <tedm at toybox.placo.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
> > > [mailto:owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org]On Behalf Of R. W.
> > > Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2004 4:40 PM
> > > To: freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
> > > Subject: Re: DSL support
> > >
> > >
> > > On Saturday 06 November 2004 15:34, Mark wrote:
> > > > I am on sbc dsl and found this page covered the setup.
> > > >
> > > > http://renaud.waldura.com/doc/freebsd/pppoe/
> > > >
> > > > On Fri, Nov 05, 2004 at 09:54:30AM -0800, William Scott wrote:
> > > > > Dear Sir or Madam,
> > > > >
> > > > > Is there any support/documentation for configuring FreeBSD for
> > > > > use with a DSL modem (my ISP is SBC)?
> > >
> > > I recently had some trouble in setting up an ADSL modem (it
> didn't work
> > > with 5.2.1). What I did in the end was buy a 4-port ADSL NAT router,
> > > and I think it's actually for the best. They are quite cheap these
> > > days, and they have some strong advantages over a basic modem.
> > >
> >
> > Hi R.W.,
> >
> >   I work at an ISP and before anyone goes running off and buying a
> > ADSL router please consider this.
> >
> >   We have recommended these for the past 3 years now, for DSL lines,
> > ever since we started selling DSL.  The big advantage of them from
> > our point of view is that windows systems tend to not get infected
> > with viruses as rapidly - thus we get fewer support calls.  The
> > primary one we have always recommended has been the Linksys BEFSR41.
> > This one has several advantages - it can act as a router -or- address
> > translator, it has logging, and can send the log to a remote syslogger
> > host.  (there is a program someone wrote for FreeBSD that captures the
> > log output, BTW)
> >
> >   HOWEVER - we are no longer recommending the Linksys devices.  Why -
> > because over the last 3 months we have had an increasing number of them
> > which have been installed for several years, just fail.  And
> the failures
> > aren't pretty.  Usually the packet flows through the router
> start getting
> > slower and slower, and the user gets an increasing number of
> disconnections
> > from websites and such that they go to.  It is insidious, and very very
> > difficult to tell the difference from either a congested ISP or virus
> > activity, so most often the user just gets more and more dissatisfied
> > with their DSL line, never realizing it's the cheap router that's the
> > problem.  When things get bad enough they start power-cycling the router
> > and that 'fixes' things for a few hours, and the customer
> > gets the impression that this is 'normal' for these devices.
> >
> >   It has almost cost us several customers as the customer blames the ISP
> > for slowness and not their $35 cheapass device.  And initially when it
> > started happening, we didn't catch on that quick.  And we have spent
> > far too much time with troubleshooting them now.  Unfortunately a number
> > of business customers we have, put these devices in a couple years back
> > when they signed up, and now these are coming back to haunt us.
> >
> >   And the thing that really scares me is that we have recently had a
> > few of these problems show up with dlink and other
> manufacturers devices.
> > I am just hoping that this isn't the start of a trend.
> >
> >   Today what we recommend ethernet-to-ethernet Cisco routers or Cisco
> > PIX firewalls for businesses.  The PIX and modern Cisco IOS can be
> > setup to speak PPPoE directly.  And a used 10-user PIX 501 can be had
> > on Ebay fairly cheaply, I have seen them go as cheap as $200, and it
> > is ideal for a home setup - assuming that is, that someone at the house
> > is really in to networking and wants to work with the real equipment
> > that industry uses, not the toys that you get at Fry's.
> >
> >   And for home users that are technical but too cheap to do that, I tell
> > them to use a PC setup as a router, NOT one of these.
> >
> >   Unfortunately we have way too many nontechnical windows users
> who these
> > devices are pretty much the only way they have of putting up a firewall.
> > Nowadays when I talk with one of them I put the Fear of God into them
> > about these devices with instructions to call immediately if they notice
> > the slightest problem with their connections, and I cross my fingers
> > that when the time comes for the device to die, that they remember what
> > I told them.
> >
> >   One last thing with these, while they can do a lot, if you need to
> > run a pptp server, it is very problematic to get them to work.  At least
> > when using a FreeBSD system as a router, you get a real public IP number
> > on the outside interface, rather than everything being private, and
> > if you want to run a server, you will have fewest problems with this
> > setup over the long run.
> >
> > Ted
> >
> >
> >
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>
>
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> gabriel,
>
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