Broadband

Posted by: Dobbin on 08 December 2003

I have (after periodically checking bt.com) just found out that broadband adsl will be available on my exchange from 17/12. So no more 56k for me!

Previously I've used demon as my ISP but don't think their adsl offering gives me what i need. I also don't think BT can do the biz either.

So given the requirement below has anyone using adsl out there got a suggested supplier?? Or maybe just a suggested hardware solution and a separate adsl supplier....

I need:

Multiple PC's (laptops and non-laptops, <10 in number)connected to the net (a network!) but my adsl connection must be able to provide both wired and wireless access to the www. My ISP must offer multiple email addresses (with privacy - unlike demon) and a good chunk of www space to build a web thing for promoting my IT consultancy business (which is not to do with network stuff - hence my ignorance on the subject!) I want the ADSL modem to act as DHCP server and my router/switch to do the same. I want to user 10.101 or 192.168 ip addressing for my lan - presumably the modem will interface as something else. I also want to incorporate a firewall (I currently use a linux box which handles this and has my 56k modem).

Any advice gratefully accepted!

TVM
Posted on: 08 December 2003 by throbnorth
Nildram seems to be well liked. I'd check out ADSL Guide:

http://www.adslguide.org.uk/

and rummage through their various forums. Obviously, people who post tend to be those who are having problems, but even so, it's quite easy to get a general picture.

I'm thinking of changing to them, even though I have to say that BT [who I've been with since the dawn of broadband] has been very solid in the last couple of years. I don't do online games though, and this is usually where the complaints start.

throb
Posted on: 08 December 2003 by Paul Ranson
What you need depends rather on what networking infrastructure you already have.

I use an Intertex IX66 thing as the ADSL modem/router and firewall, at which it is very good. I have a separate Ethernet switch and wireless AP. You can get combined devices but there's no point if you already have a network (for example).

I happen to use Demon, the email address arrangement suits me. The connection has been very reliable and the static IP allows me to host live Internet servers, at the moment I have an SMTP server accepting 5-10000 spam emails a day from an ISP in Ohio (it's part of some development I'm doing). So far so good. I don't think I could do this with AOL...

http://www.dsl-warehouse.co.uk/ may be a good place to browse suitable hardware.

Paul