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Software DSL Modems

Many ISPs give away a 'free' USB modem if you buy a minimum term contract. In most cases the modem will be designed for Windows, with GNU/Linux (at best) an afterthought. Setup on Linux is often possible, depending on the model, but is likely to be difficult, inflexible and somewhat unstable. Vendor-supplied winmodem drivers are sometimes distibuted without source and therefore are suitable for i386 only. Sometimes there are open-source drivers, so search for them at [sourceforge].

PCI card DSL modems are also avaliable, but are more often sold seperately. As with USB, these tend to be heavily dependent on proprietary software and are likely to present similar problems.

If your ISP gives you a so-called "winmodem", you will have a hard time with this hardware as it is not supported, or has very limited support in free software such as Linux.

You can use scanmodem to get information about your usb modem. The company whose brand name is on the front of your device probably did not manufacture the chips inside, which will be one of a few generic chipsets. In most cases there is no functional difference between differently branded modems of the same chipset, so they should work with the same drivers.

List of Linux drivers/models

Connexant chipset based drivers
Samsung AHT-E310
Etec USB ADSL
Any Connexant branded internal modem
Globespan GT3180/GS7070 chipset
BT Voyager instalation instructions (should also work for other modems of this chipset)

Ethernet DSL Modems

If your ISP provides you with a DSL modem with an ethernet port, or if you provide your own equipment, you're in luck. By far the easiest way to set up broadband on Linux is to connect a DSL/Cable router to the modem via ethernet. The router will neither know nor care that you're using Linux, Linux will see the router straight away via DHCP and the only setup is to enter the username and password your ISP gave you. This only needs to be done once and other computers (of any OS) can be plugged straight in without any setup. Configuration is usually done through a web browser, so is inherently cross-platform. It also probably provides more than one connection to the internet and has a built-in firewall, giving some level of protection to any Windows boxes you may have on your network.

To accept incoming connections you will have to set up port forwarding in the DSL router, which is done typically via a web interface and is not difficult to do. This step is necessary to use P2P networks, host online games, or set up a server, but not for most normal tasks such as email and web browsing. If the router does not have a firewall, limited filtering can be set up by forwarding ports you never use - such as telnet - to a non-existant internal IP. Some routers refer to port forwarding as virtual server.

Some high-end internal DSL modems are hardware modems, and sometimes called 'WAN adapters'. If you have a spare computer these may be used to create a firewalled router with all the power of a much more expensive Cisco device. See Firewall distributions.

Country-specific information

United Kingdom

In the UK a good place to buy an external modem/router is Linux ADSL who offer a range of routers and PCI ADSL cards all of which are guaranteed to be suitable for Linux users.
Ebuyer sell a well featured model to connect a single computer to the internet for \ufffd18.99 [1]or a 4-port version with built-in printer server for \ufffd22.99[2]. If your computer does not have an ethernet port you will also need a NIC, which can be bought for around \ufffd3. To setup either product on Linux point your browser at http://10.0.0.2, enter the password and you're ready to go!
Also worth checking out : Broadbandstuff.co.uk.
UK Free Software Network are a UK ISP serving the Free Software communities in the UK. The ADSL service is among the best in the UK and is backed by 24/7 telephone support. They have a very good reputation for service and all profits go to fund UK Free Software projects. The ADSL service is based upon a range of services from Entanet.
UKLinux are a UK-based ISP specialising in Linux. They are not the cheapest ADSL provider ADSL page here. Linux User and developer readers voted them best ISP for Linux in 2003. Their ADSL service is based upon a NetServices Plc product range. (As of May 2007, broadband services are migrating to Enta.net services.)
See ADSL Guide for an independant view of UK ISPs offering ADSL services.

USA

In the US, DSL/Cable routers are available most anywhere network equipment is sold, such as Amazon.com, Staples, Radio Shack, or countless other stores and websites. The current (Apr 2004) average cost is less than $50.

See also

External links

Retrieved from "http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Setting_up_DSL"

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