Re: Cable modems?

From: Clive Dove (chdove_at_rogers.com)
Date: 07/18/03 

Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 12:15:46 GMT

Captain Dondo wrote:

> I'm looking seriously at a cable modem. Google pulls up articles on
> cable modems that are years old - I mean a HOW-TO for Red Hat 4.0?????
>
> So that tells me one of three things:
>
> 1. Cable internet access is dead, replaced by DSL.
> 2. Cable internet access is so simple, no HOWTOs are needed. It
> works 100% with linux.
> 3. No one uses cable internet access with linux.
>
> But which is it? Or am I missing a reason? :-)
>
> FWIW, I'm thinking of using Hargray - a local cable/phone/etc
> provider.
>
> -Dondo

Most modern linux distributions set up a lan connection with dhcp as the
default once the installer detects the presence of the ethernet card.

A cable modem is simply plugged into the ethernet card using a CAT5
straight-through cable.

Then configuring the box to use LAN with DHCP (or automatic ip) is all
that is usually needed.

A dsl modem with a built-in router is set up in the computer as a LAN
with DHCP and the modem is configured using a browser.

A usb dsl modem or cable modem requires a bit more set-up.

A dsl modem without a built-in router requires additional software to
run the PPPoE or PPPoA. (For example the Roaring Penguin PPPoE client)

Usually the choice between cable and dsl depends on what is available.
Where both are available, cable seems to be a bit more popular. Not
every household is close enough the the phone company's switching
station for dsl to work efficiently. Also, the cable service has a
higher uplink speed, although the speed advantage could be wiped out if
enough of your neighbours are sharing your cable node (especially if
some of them are running unauthorized servers)

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