Ethernet card?

Hey George,

Go to your desktop, right click on "My Computer", choose "Properties", then click on the "Device Manager" tab. Scroll down the list of devices until you come to "Network adapters". Click on the "+" sign and you should see the adapters that are installed.

If you find an ethernet card there, but don't know how to configure it, or what to do in preperation for your cable connection (with or without already having an ethernet card), let me know.

If you don't have an ehternet card, do NOT "lease" one from the cable provider, go to cdw.com, or any other on-line computer store and purchase a 10/100 MB ethernet card (should run you less than $20). Be sure to buy a name brand (i.e. 3Com or LinkSys) as most cable vendors have tested, and are compatable with the better known card manufacturers.

Good luck, and prepare yourself for the joys of broadband!


Dacoopah

Just enough to be Dangerous ;-}

Dimension XPS T550 / 256MB / Win98 SE
Svc Tag: 5E6D9

I've been on Roadrunner for about five months and really love the speed. However, I may have to drop it in favor of DSL: Roadrunner doesn't support VPN.

If you plan on eventually dialling into an offsite network, like an office, keep this limitation in mind. Otherwise, enjoy the ride!

scracker
New York

Hi,
I did look in Device Manager and DO NOT see an ethernet card listed.I will take your advise and will buy the card myself.But I am afraid I will not know what to do after that!Road Runner will not be installing for a little while yet,so I have some time to prepaire myself.I you could give me more advise I will appresiate it.
Thanks...

George P-Farrell

Thank you for your enlightening advise

George P-Farrell

Hmmmm...doesn't support VPN? I happen to be using AT&T Broadband Cable Modem service, which is actually leased by AT&T from RoadRunner (the support page I use is actually a RoadRunner page), and I have no problem running a VPN to my office. I am using CheckPoint SecureClient on my end of things and it works just fine.

Did RoadRunner say it wouldn't work or that it just isn't *officially* supported?


Dacoopah

Just enough to be Dangerous ;-}

Dimension XPS T550 / 256MB / Win98 SE
Svc Tag: 5E6D9

Me again, I should have mentioned that installing the network card is actually quite simple. Once the card is installed, turn on your PC and Windows should detect it no problem. The card should come with a driver disk as well as installation instructions. Just follow the prompts Windows throws at you and you should have no problem.

Dacoopah

Just enough to be Dangerous ;-}

Dimension XPS T550 / 256MB / Win98 SE
Svc Tag: 5E6D9

The best advice I could give is to tell you to go ahead and visit the Web site of the Road Runner service you are looking to use. Go to their support section and there they should have specific instructions on how, and what, to configure. If your service provider uses DHCP for assigning IP addresses as mine does, the configuration is quite simple.

The only thing that I got bit on was when expanding the number of devices I wanted to network or share the cable connection. The hub I bought (Linksys EtherFast 10/100 5-port Workgroup Hub, model EFAH05W) is not directly compatable with the cable modem supplied (3Com "Shark Fin"). The problem is actually with the modem in that pins 3 and 6 are rolled (swapped) coming out of the back of the modem, necessitating that I use a custom-made cat-5 cable. The pin-out in my case needs to be 1 - 1, 2 - 2, 3 - 6, 6 - 3. You may or may not run into a problem as most hubs are cool with polarity crosses, and can deal with them internally, the Linksys just isn't one of 'em.

If you follow the advice of my first paragraph, and still run into problems, or don't quite understand something (they often write the instructions on the level of someone who wouldn't NEED instructions to begin with), let me know!



Dacoopah

Just enough to be Dangerous ;-}

Dimension XPS T550 / 256MB / Win98 SE
Svc Tag: 5E6D9

Per TimeWarner New York's Road Runner Help Desk (http://help.rr.com/rredesk.asp?entity=51):



Virtual Private Network (VPN) Information

Road Runner does not offer support for Virtual Private Networks (VPN).



The entry goes on to explain what VPN is.

I visited some Road Runner-related sites in different service areas to see if this were a local policy. The info I found is sketchy and a lot of it dated, but no VPN seems to be standard policy at least for Time Warner/residential.

I still need to follow up by voice with TW-NYC to see if the restriction is temporary or if there's a workaround. (No response as yet to an e-mail sent several days ago.)

Afraid I don't know about CheckPoint SecureClient; I do run ZoneAlarm. Do you know if SecureClient's why you can 'get in' or if it's because you're connected through Bell Atlantic? (In NYC, Verizon – was Bell Atlantic – does provide VPN support but no cable, only DSL.)

scracker
New York

I'm actually connected through AT&T Broadband (formerly Media One in my area).

CheckPoint SecureClient is the VPN software that is running on my machine, CheckPoint Firewall SecureServer is running at the other end (in my office).

Different companies mean different things when they say the do not "support" something. Sometimes they mean "it won't work", sometimes they mean "it should work, but we don't have enough people that know anything about it to support it".

If your company has invested in the software needed to run VPN's already, then there is no harm in trying it yourself - you will not crash your ISP or anything :o) If your company is still in a "wait and see" mode before buying the required software, then, if I were you, I'd try to pin someone down at TW-NYC to get a definative answer BEFORE your company spends the money.

DSL may not be a bad idea anyway; even though the dollar-to-bandwidth isn't as good as cable. Cable can give you up to 3Mbps for roughly $40/month, but you have to compete with everyone else on your cable "loop" for the bandwidth so your mileage may vary - drastically. With DSL, it costs a lot more for the same bandwidth, but at least you KNOW what you are getting speed-wise. In my case, since cable modem service is new to my area (MPLS, MN), I am only competing with one or two others, so my connection is unbelievably fast :O)

Good luck to you!


Dacoopah

Just enough to be Dangerous ;-}

Dimension XPS T550 / 256MB / Win98 SE
Svc Tag: 5E6D9