Advice Please Re- Extension Sockets

[Huge]

Oh, I rarely (never?) have problems with the router itself, but being able to see the Carrier Detect and activity lights is useful.

[Bob Eager]

I didn't bother. He was still over the moon when I told him I wanted the NTE9 sited two inches from the master socket...

[The Natural Philosopher]

One place I wired up we put the broadband router, and the PABX in the cupboard under the stairs..cots thats where the wires came in!

for everything else, there was cat 5.

[Skipweasel]

When Telewest fitted cable to this place they turned up expecting to nail it to the skirtingboards in that obscene way they have. They looked a bit surprised when I showed them a draw-wire leading through a conduit to the back of the house where I wanted the terminal. Definitely worth doing - you can't see any wires anywhere except behind the telly.

[Mike J]

When NTL supplied service at a relations, they just cut off all the BT wiring (including the NTE) and connected their wires to it using the old internal cabling. I had to re-do it when they went back to BT/Sky as the old internal stuff (orange/blue/brown/green untwisted) completely f***s up ADSL

Mike

[Skipweasel]

That's a bit naughty!

[Dave]

How do I do that, please?

I have a voyager 205 router, but I am on the USB output. The wife is on the LAN line.

Dave

[Ivor Jones]

[snip]

: : : If I suspect a problem with the router I can : : : interrogate it from any computer on the LAN, and : : : re-boot if necessary. : : : : How do I do that, please? : : : : I have a voyager 205 router, but I am on the USB : : output. The wife is on the LAN line.

Why..? Put all computers on the LAN, it's a lot easier. If your router only has one Ethernet port, get a switch, they're cheap enough.

Ivor

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It's in the instruction book - but I suppose if you bought a package with it all ready set up you won't have one.

With mine you ping its address from your browser and a password window comes up. Enter the password and you're into its menu and you can then do a number of checks or re-configure it for a different ISP, etc.

I couldn't use one as supplied by an ISP as I don't use a PC or Mac at the time. So had to configure it manually.

[Nigel Cliffe]

There is some support on the BT website, though I didn't find the product manual (Dave above appears to be a BT Broadband customer).

With mine you ping its address from your browser and a password window

BT router/modems come pre-configured to work "out of the box" on a BT (consumer) Broadband line (they don't need your username/password entering, any sane default will work - this isn't a security hole either). There is no setup required for the Ethernet side and basic connectivity. USB will require drivers. Some of the extra service features require setup (if wanted).

Like Ivor Jones, I would suggest that Dave puts both computers onto Ethernet; its a lot less hassle once its done.

For just a couple of computers, a cheap switch box will do the job perfectly adequately, eg this at £13 from PC World:

should be possible to get below £10, though postal costs might well then make the "collect in store" option at PC World the better price.

Or one could purchase a new router with four ports on it for well under £40, but that would require setup, and if one had reason to call BT's technical support they would expect you to put the supplied router back before they worked through the issue.

- Nigel (ex BT R&D)