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Posted by Jen on April 3, 2005, 8:12 pm
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I'm new to cable internet access and am researching Modems. From these
discussions, the Motorola SURFboard 5100 modem seems pretty hot, and
Linksys seems to be good for its routers. I'm trying to keep my total
footprint very small (cute little Shuttle XPC), and wondered if there
even was such a thing as an internal cable modem, just as there is for
dial-up access.
Also, I need firewall hardware, not just the firewall software. Do I
need to buy a modem and router (only one PC needs access at a time) and
a firewall all separately, or are any of these manufactured in a
combined product?
--
Jen
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Posted by Warren on April 3, 2005, 6:38 pm
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Jen wrote:
> I'm new to cable internet access and am researching Modems. From these
> discussions, the Motorola SURFboard 5100 modem seems pretty hot, and
> Linksys seems to be good for its routers. I'm trying to keep my total
> footprint very small (cute little Shuttle XPC), and wondered if there
> even was such a thing as an internal cable modem, just as there is for
> dial-up access.
>
> Also, I need firewall hardware, not just the firewall software. Do I
> need to buy a modem and router (only one PC needs access at a time) and
> a firewall all separately, or are any of these manufactured in a
> combined product?
There are some internal cablemodems, but they aren't on most cable
companies' lists of acceptable modems. They may be DOCSIS compliant, but
that's only the first level of compatibility. The cable company has to be
willing to support the modem with config files, and firmware updates. An
internal cablemodem also has the disadvantages that it cannot be separately
reset, and would also require OS-specific drivers. So even if the stars
align, and your cable company allows any of the internal modems available,
you'd be paying a high price just for cosmetic purposes.
Most OS's can also act as routers. Windows has Internet Connection Sharing,
for example. With multiple NIC's, and the right software, it can be done --
just not well. The computer's primary purpose is to run applications, and
while pre-emptive multitasking is a wonderful thing, it's not a great
environment to be running network routing services at the same time. And if
you have an undersized case, there probably isn't room for multiple NIC's.
The simple, consumer-level "broadband" router combines basic router
capabilities, and provides a basic firewall as a side effect of using NAT.
NAT means that each computer on your LAN has an internal IP address, and the
only IP address that faces the rest of the world is the single, shared
address of the router. Thus incoming packets need to be expected so they can
be translated to the right internal node. A true firewall goes far beyond
NAT, and would be a separate box. However, based on the questions you're
asking, you are highly unlikely to be in a category that requires more
firewall protection than a NAT router can provide.
There are cablemodem / router combinations, however they also have
deficiencies that far outweigh any cosmetic reasons for wanting them in a
single device.
If aesthetics are so important that you just can't have these boxes near
your desk, Cat5 Ethernet cable can be up to 100 meters long, so you can
always place your cablemodem and router in another room, and have nothing
but the cable coming out of the wall.
--
Warren H.
==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Care for your landscape with Black and Decker cordless tools
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blackanddecker/index.html
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Posted by Elmo P. Shagnasty on April 4, 2005, 6:49 am
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> They may be DOCSIS compliant, but
> that's only the first level of compatibility. The cable company has to be
> willing to support the modem with config files, and firmware updates.
Ummmm, DOCSIS compliant means the cable company can by definition
support the unit with config files.
As for firmware updates....no, they don't.
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Posted by Giles Harney on April 4, 2005, 7:33 am
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> Ummmm, DOCSIS compliant means the cable company can by definition
> support the unit with config files.
LOL. That is all good in the theoretical world but in the real world you
will find that its not the case.
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Posted by Ron Hunter on April 4, 2005, 8:54 pm
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Giles Harney wrote:
>
>
>
>>Ummmm, DOCSIS compliant means the cable company can by definition
>>support the unit with config files.
>
>
> LOL. That is all good in the theoretical world but in the real world you
> will find that its not the case.
>
>
>
Oh, they CAN, which isn't quite the same as 'they WILL'.
--
Ron Hunter rphunter@charter.net
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