Topic: Problems getting new e-smith server to connect to existing A

[RobW]

Hi, Has anyone out there had problems connecting a new e-smith server to the internet via an existing ADSL link. We use Telstra Bigpond and I have configured the server to use PPPoE with the appropriate user ID and PW but every time I test I get "internet connection failed". We connect with an Alcatel Speed Touch Home modem which has been working fine with a Netgear DSL Router for 6 months. As soon as I switch to the e-smith server it refuses to connect. Any ideas?

[David Sawtell]

We are having similar problem with a bigpond connection via Alcatel speed touch home on a customer site. We have been able to get a Telstra/speed touch pro setup working previously.

Thus far the only solution is to set up the modem from a windows box using the Telstra Enternet disk and your user information.
Once configured with an IP subnet etc the modem can be used from the SME box. It appears the speed touch home requires some setup to authenticate the connection. line sync comes up but the connection constantly retries with regular flashing of the TX RX and lan indicators.

This is purely a workaraound and the same issues will return if the DSL modem is replaced or reset to defaults. I will keep you posted will further results as we find them

I cannot recommend these telstra connections which have been problematic in every instance. Connecting SME to Internode fixed IP ADSL  via a D-Link DSL300 is a five minute exercise with none of the issues of the Telstra/Alcatel hookup. Note also that Telstra will not support any flavour of linux.

[RobW]

David, thanks so much for the work around, I am running out of hair rapidly! Couldn't agree more about the Telstra ADSL, flakey describes it at it's best! I will try this tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

[Rick]

I have been using it with Telstra adsl and the same modem for the last 18 months and have never had an issue connecting at all

[David Sawtell]

Please rick enlighten us on the steps you took to setup the Alcatel speed touch home with Telstra on an SME 5.x box

We'd love to know.

[Graeme Fleming]

Hi all

I have a client conected to Telstra ADSL - yes they are THE most tedious bunch to deal with!!

The setup was straight forward BUT make sure the modem is setup to bridge NOT route, that way there is no configuration of the modem required (such as username etc) just the SME box; make sure your login name is blah@blah.com.au or whatever - it needs the whole thing.

HTH

[RobW]

Graeme,

how do I go about setting up the modem to bridge?

[Simon]

Hi All,

Yes this is a problem with some of telstra's ADSL services and will only affect some customers depending on which exchange you connect to and the software version they are running.

I have found that kernel 2.2 has the problem in the way it handles the PPPoE tcp packets, 5.6 with kernel 2.4 fixes this so i have gone to 5.6b. I guess not recommended by E-smith until they bring out the final release of 5.6 but i have had no problems with 5.6b7.

Simon

[RobW]

I had another look at the setup today and noticed that the ADSL router that was connecting properly was connecting to "telstrausername@bigpond" NOT bigpond.com. I changed the e-smith setup to use this username and it worked! I am now using PPPoE with this username and the PW Telstra gave me and we've gotten over this hurdle. Thanks to everyone who added replys to this thread. If any were not directly applicable to this specific problem, I'm sure they will help someone else when they have similar issues.

[Rick]

Thats usually the only problem most people have is the correct setup of the username and password (the documentation is a little unclear on this I guess). Other than that telstra works very easily with this product. I've used it with all versions of e-smith for the last two years and it has worked faultlessly the whole time.

[Charlie Brady]

Rick wrote:
 
> Thats usually the only problem most people have is the
> correct setup of the username and password

Which can be discovered pretty quickly by looking in the logfiles, which will indicate an authentication error, IIRC. I'm surprised that no-one in this thread suggested looking in the log files. They're there for a purpose.

Charlie

[David Sawtell]

The log files showed it was an authentication problem, especially with an active line sync.

The problem lies in Telstra documentation (or lack of it). You can see how many custom patches have to be used for Telstra services. That and there helpdesk which doesn't help.

Unfortunately all too often SME (or similar) is blamed. It is pretty difficult to nut out a problem when a provider is actively hostile to OS wut windows.

My suggestion is to use a provider who actively supports Linux, life becomes much easier.

Thanks everyone for the help