Topic: Bt- UK - adsl experiences anyone?

[Kees Blokland]

Hi all,

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I still hope for some comments..

It seems BT (UK) is finally able to install ADSL in my area.

I'm looking for suggestions as far as 'this is what you should NOT do' or 'this is a good deal'.

I'm on an isdn line now, so immediately I pay a fortune to have the isdn converted to adsl. (the expense of that baffles the mind, but lets pretend it's not there)

Any experiences with the famous 'one computer only' scenario? Only one pc is allowed to be connected..
(Of course I have only one SME box connected to the ADSL  what's behind SME is my busniness..)

The 50:1 contention ratio seems a bit high, and 'we will adjust the rate so all consumers enjoy the service', does suggest I end up with around the same speed as my present ISDN line, but at least i'll be 'on line'.

The price difference between my total idsn package and the business plus pack does not seem to be too much, actually probably less if I'm honest. Is it worth getting that?


kees

[Ed Form]

Kees Blokland wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I know this is slightly off-topic, but I still hope for some
> comments..
>
> It seems BT (UK) is finally able to install ADSL in my area.
>
> I'm looking for suggestions as far as 'this is what you
> should NOT do' or 'this is a good deal'.
>
> I'm on an isdn line now, so immediately I pay a fortune to
> have the isdn converted to adsl. (the expense of that baffles
> the mind, but lets pretend it's not there)

Having ISDN removed and replaced with an analogue line costs only £25 and your rental falls a long way. The ADSL is on the same wires so you may only need one line for all your phone use. In any case, 2 analogue lines cost less than a BT Highway but you will have to pay the install fee for the second line which is a bit higher.

> Any experiences with the famous 'one computer only' scenario?
> Only one pc is allowed to be connected..
> (Of course I have only one SME box connected to the ADSL
> what's behind SME is my busniness..)

Don't sign up with BT. Use Nildram and buy 'Wires only' which is usually about £60 activation fee. Choose whatever contention ratio you want and that sets your monthly fee. The hardware at the computer end is your choice with this setup so buy an SMC 7401BRA-UK modem/router at about £90 plus £8 for the DSL filters at each phone socket on the ADSL enabled line. The router saves all the SME setup nonsense as it does the negotiations with the provider's kit.

> The 50:1 contention ratio seems a bit high, and 'we will
> adjust the rate so all consumers enjoy the service', does
> suggest I end up with around the same speed as my present
> ISDN line, but at least i'll be 'on line'.

You will get the best part of 8 times the speed of your ISDN line even at busy times - typically 60-70k a second, or 4 Mbytes each minute.

> The price difference between my total idsn package and the
> business plus pack does not seem to be too much, actually
> probably less if I'm honest. Is it worth getting that?

No. It is a rip-off.

Ed Form

[Ed Form]

In my previous message I should have been more careful with my words. The phrase 'all that SME nonsense' in the following...

> Don't sign up with BT. Use Nildram and buy 'Wires only' which
> is usually about £60 activation fee. Choose whatever
> contention ratio you want and that sets your monthly fee. The
> hardware at the computer end is your choice with this setup
> so buy an SMC 7401BRA-UK modem/router at about £90 plus £8
> for the DSL filters at each phone socket on the ADSL enabled
> line. The router saves all the SME setup nonsense as it does
> the negotiations with the provider's kit.

...was not intended to suggest that SME is any worse than other server software in the matter of setting up PPPoE, simply that the negotiation capability of the router is very simple to use and you won't get *any* hardware issues such as might arise from an unfortunate choice of internal modem in particular.

My apologies to the SME team.

The disdainful attitude to BT in my message was intentional.

Ed Form

[Charlie Brady]

Ed Form wrote:

> ...was not intended to suggest that SME is any worse than
> other server software in the matter of setting up PPPoE,
> simply that the negotiation capability of the router is very
> simple to use and you won't get *any* hardware issues such as
> might arise from an unfortunate choice of internal modem in
> particular.

As far as I am aware, we don't support any internal ADSL modems. AFAICT, whether you use an ADSL modem or ADSL router/modem, you still need to configure ethernet on the SME server, and need to configure (at least) username and password in one place or another.

I'm perfectly satisfied with a dumb ADSL modem at home, and wouldn't want a router if you gave me one.

Charlie

[Peter]

Hi Kees

Dont knock it! We would love to have any sort of ADSL. All BT will offer us her in the northe west is satellite at a cost of £800 install and I think about £50 a month  for the basic connection. What a Rip off. The best i can have is ISDN with all its costs
I agree with you re BT

Peter

[Kees Blokland]

I know, I've got the sat offer too, but there were no takers in our area it seems..
so after a month or so, all of a sudden we can get adsl.. (or at least the promise of it).

kees

[schotty]

i dont have any ADSL Experience in UK but in Germany i pay 10 UK POUNDS for DSL Flatrate......

I dont have any problems with that

[Kees Blokland]

Aye, make us green with envy,

You forget that the UK is the 4th richest enconomy on the planet (source Tony Blair) and as such everybody is expected to pay through the nose for everything..
(and most people seem to be proud of that too..)

[Peter]

Hi Kees.

Don't forget when you get BTs basic service you only get USB connection which is not supported by e-smith.

[jasper]

Hi Kees

Current setups we use are:

1) Alcatel SpeedTouch USB Modem on a SmoothWall GPL box

2) Low cost ADSL router on E-Smith external interface

Both are using the £30 per month type accounts, aka wires only. Between 5 to 15 systems on the network. So far no real problems, a few drop outs on the BT network plus the alcatel modem hangs every now and again. Download average about 50K to 60K.

Smoothwall is the easiest route if you get a USB modem that it supports ( pop into Dixons, freeserve works fine), a router for E-Smith.

The type of account and kit will depend on your bandwidth requirements.

Hope that helps

jasper

[Kees Blokland]

Thanks Jasper

smoothwall writes:
* Support for USB ADSL using Alcatel modems*

bet they'll be using 2.4 kernel? I'll have a look at it.

I've also seen an internal card, which would be nice since that bypasses the usb-requirement.

What you describe is more or less what I use when messing around, ie an extra box as default gateway for the rest of my network, which leaves me free to tinker without upsetting people.

For the moment more than enough homework, I guess the grand plan will be to have a look at smootwall, + adsl box to get on the air, and then concentrate on getting something working on sme..

.. that is when I gets it


kees

[jasper]

Hi Kees

It's currently a 2.2 kernel, iminent release of Smoothwall 2.0 will be 2.4. Check out IPCop as well. Simplest thing with e-smith is the router option which is easier to move or replace if needed.

jasper

[brian read]

IpCop is already at 2.4, and EXT3 filesystem.  new release imminent.  See www.ipcop.org

I use Alcatel Speedtouch USB modem -> IpCop -> SMEServer

Works a treat

Cheers

Brian

[David Hardy]

I second earlier opinions on BT OpenWound.

Suggest smaller techie biased ISP like Nildram / Zen (8 IPs available for standard wires only).

Also suggest you look to http://www.clarity.it/telecoms/adsl_bits.htm for the pukka ADSL filters as used by BT in an engineer install - kicks the pants off doing it the cheap way with the plug in filters (for EVERY telephone) - http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=645 tells of faulty cheapo filters, why risk it?

My setup is:

I have users, at work, with the 8 IP option from Zen using a Vigor 2600, 8 IP routed from Easynet (predates wires only) with a Vigor 2200We and I have the original 1 IP BT engineer installed jellyfish to which I added a Vigor 2200 USB last year. Recently upgraded to 8 IPs (for £25) to put both my SME and my IP webcam properly on the net.

I'm waiting with bated breath to see what Neil comes up with here http://www.e-smith.org/bboard//read.php?v=t&f=1&i=17789&t=17143 but wouldn'y recommend anyone buy a jellyfish if they want to do anything other than plug it into an MS box. In fact, for the same or less money than the jellyfish, you can get an ADSL router delivered for £83.50 - http://www.consumer-reviews.co.uk/dabs/topic.asp?ReviewID=5943&SubCatID=121331&CategoryID=268&SubMainID=2&MainID=1

I don't work for any of the above etc. etc..

Hope something in that lot is useful to somebody!

David.

[DaveA]

So, how do I use a Alcatel Speedtouch USB ADSL modem with SME?  Am I to take it that I have to buy another bit of hardware to plug in between?  Tks, DaveA