[vox-tech] networking

[Matt Holland]

Rick Moen wrote:
> Quoting Karsten M. Self (kmself@ix.netcom.com):
> 
> 
>>...but this largely doesn't matter for broadband.  Most DSL/Cable
>>services connect to your internal network as an Ethernet hub.  There's
>>no hardware issue here -- your network card will work just fine (though
>>your DSL/Cable provider may balk at dealing with GNU/Linux).  
> 
> 
> The software issue with low-end providers requiring PPPoE is worth
> noting.

You think so?  PPPoE is really pretty easy to set up these days, as the 
major distributions (SuSE included) come with PPPoE support, and very 
likely with a GUI tool for configuring it (OK, maybe Debian doesn't have 
the tool, I dunno).  I know Red Hat now has a wizard-like tool for 
configuring network interfaces, and a quick look at SuSE's web page 
suggests that YaST2 can do this as well.  You might as well be using M$, 
except that it works, and you don't have to reboot :)  I wouldn't worry 
about PPPoE.

I would suggest being aware of one possible hardware issue, though... 
when I set up my DSL with Pac Bell 1.5 yrs ago, I had to specifically 
request a modem with an ethernet interface; the other "option" was a USB 
interface.  Maybe they've gotten away from that with the near ubiquity 
of ethernet adapters in PCs now, but I'd make sure.

Matt