[vox-tech] Weird ppp dialup problem -- switch to DSL?

[Margo Schulter]

Thank, you, Jeff and Brian, for helpful advice and questions.

Jeff Newmiller wrote:

> I haven't been modeming in the last several years, but your
> description is remarkably similar to the symptoms exhibited by ethe
> rnet hubs and wireless access points when they fail. I recommend
> replacement, and cable modem or DSL will have a longer effecti ve
> life than another plain old telephone modem.

Your experience and advice make me lean to DSL, and at Calweb this
will involve setting up DHCP, for which I'm taking a look at the DHCP
How-To. Freeing up my telephone for voice calls while I'm online is
probably enough of an advantage in itself!

Brian Lavender wrote:

> Did you try using minicom and dial in using a shell account? Does
> calweb still have shell accounts?

To your first question, or maybe both at once, I should answer by
explaining that calweb still has shell accounts, but since 2004 has
permitted connections only through ssh after ppp is established.
Before that, I did dial in using ProComm Plus for DOS (that was my
pre-Linux era when I was using DJGPP).

Maybe two or three weeks ago, during a time I wasn't able to connect,
I did make a beginner's try at using minicom to debug the ppp
situation, but cluelessly, maybe not fully grasping how the
information in the manpage applied to ppp debugging. However, I've now
downloaded some tutorials on using minicom to test ppp, and should be
giving it another go in the next day or two.

With many thanks,

Margo Schulter
mschulter at calweb.com