Broadband, baby!

Alex · February 8, 2003, 12:00

woohoo!! Now I have a broadband connection (ADSL) from home too! I can finally bother you all the time!

Er... well... anyway, I'd like to ask you a question: I know that this kind of internet connection requires a good firewall for security purposes. What would you recommend? I'm talking about free programs, of course. Is ZoneAlarm really the best of its kind?

Az · February 8, 2003, 12:06

Zonealarm is free.

and it's pretty good, as well.

Alex · February 8, 2003, 12:43

I already downloaded it but I wanted to hear another posters's opinion before I install it.

SpencerH · February 8, 2003, 12:47

I use zone alarm and AFAIK it blocks everything. I cant even be pinged by my ISP.

Alex · February 8, 2003, 15:54

I must be doing something wrong... whenever I turn my computer on, my connection is "lost" and I have to reconnect using a dialer... Wasn't the ADSL connection suppose to be always on, meaning that I just have to turn the computer on to have access to the internet?

Alex · February 8, 2003, 16:52

oh, come on... I need some help here...

Thrawn05 · February 8, 2003, 17:25

I have the same problem with my LAN. When on computer is turned off all hell breaks lose and I need to restart each and everyone one to see that I turned that one computer back on. Could be that's just the way it is. IDK, we don't have type of connecting over here in the states.

I'm also having probs with Zonealarm that they trying to adress. It has to do with a USB Zip drive I had a long time ago for collage that I returned (no need for it anymore). Everytime I load up Zonealarm it can't find the E: (Zip) drive and quits. Uninstalling and reinstalling dosn't work.

chairmanmeow · February 8, 2003, 19:49

I had problems when I first installed my cable modem. It wouldn't connect, saying that the connection had been lost, and then the dialup stopped working, because they cut off the account when I got the cable modem.

What I did was I went into DOS (I'm running Windows 98

) and I ran "scanreg." I had it retreive a backup of the registry, and after that the cable modem worked fine (although I had to reinstall Office XP). A word of warning, though: if you've never backed up the registry, don't do this.)

MattHiggs · February 8, 2003, 21:02

ADSL is not an always on connection. You have to dial up to initialize it but from then on it should stay connected permanentely. However DSL or Cable as it's more commonly known is 'always on'.

Unspeakable Horror · February 8, 2003, 21:17

Quote:

Originally posted by Alexnm
woohoo!! Now I have a broadband connection (ADSL) from home too! I can finally bother you all the time!

Er... well... anyway, I'd like to ask you a question: I know that this kind of internet connection requires a good firewall for security purposes. What would you recommend? I'm talking about free programs, of course. Is ZoneAlarm really the best of its kind?

Congrats!!

You know what? 1 year ago I did the same thread when I got Cable

By the way, you have a PM

Skanky Burns · February 8, 2003, 21:21

Quote:

Originally posted by MattHiggs
ADSL is not an always on connection. You have to dial up to initialize it but from then on it should stay connected permanentely. However DSL or Cable as it's more commonly known is 'always on'.

Not necessarily - it depends on the ISP. For instance, my ISP used to disconnect after a certain amount of idle time. To reconnect, however, all I needed to do was attempt to use the internet and it would reconnect. My ISP recently changed to "always on" though, which is better.

Thrawn05 · February 8, 2003, 22:21

I can't get anything other then dialup because of the cable lines here, and can't do anybetter then 28k because of the phone lines.

Even still, I know several people near here that have cable don't do any better speed wise then me, mostly due to all the 24/7 kazaa users we have up here.

Urban Ranger · February 9, 2003, 00:54

Quote:

Originally posted by Alexnm
I must be doing something wrong... whenever I turn my computer on, my connection is "lost" and I have to reconnect using a dialer... Wasn't the ADSL connection suppose to be always on, meaning that I just have to turn the computer on to have access to the internet?

No, what gave you that idea? It depends on how the ADSL is implemented.

Alex · February 9, 2003, 09:15

I found out what was wrong. In the dialer there is an option to connect as soon as Windows starts, and to do that in the background. So, actually, ADSL is not an "always-on" kind of connection. It cleverly connects to the ISP silently in the background when you start Windows. I feel terribly cheated.

Az · February 9, 2003, 09:31

It seems that I am going to get broadband too!

it's either 256k or 512k.

SpencerH · February 9, 2003, 09:49

I guess that depends on your definition of 'broad' then

Gibsie · February 9, 2003, 10:20

I was going to be getting broadband back this weekend, but for some reason when our housemate with the connection went to live with his girlfriend (Whilst still paying rent here: excellent) he too kthe Cable Modem with him. Whaaaaaat?!

Rogan Josh · February 9, 2003, 10:23

I have ADSL too, but I never connect it unless I want something online. My setting connect automatically if I need to go online (although it does warn me) and it takes 2 seconds to connect.

Why woudl I want to start my connection as soon as windows boots?

Alex · February 9, 2003, 11:23

Quote:

Originally posted by Rogan Josh

Why woudl I want to start my connection as soon as windows boots?

This way you don't feel cheated when they say you'll be "always connected"... But I think that my dialer don't have the option to connect as soon as need to go online. Hm, I'll have to check this out...

Az · February 9, 2003, 11:30

Quote:

I guess that depends on your definition of 'broad' then

I am too cheap for the bigger ones.

( What are your monthly cost for broad band? we 256 for around 35$, and 750 for around 45$.)

Wraith · February 9, 2003, 11:33

--"Is ZoneAlarm really the best of its kind?"

Not much competition. The only others I can think of don't offer free versions.
Although, if you're running Linux or one of the BSDs you've got a whole lot more choice.

--"Wasn't the ADSL connection suppose to be always on, meaning that I just have to turn the computer on to have access to the internet?"

Depends on how your network is set up and how your ISP is set up. Most of the DSL companies these days are using something called PPPoE. It's a royal pain in the ass, and it means your connection is not always on. You're just dialing in by another means. If you get a Cable/DSL router you can put the PPPoE settings in it, and then to your computer it'll look like it's always on.
Some DSL companies offer non PPPoE services that are truly always on. If you don't have a static IP address you can pretty much forget this, though.

Note also that if you are stuck using PPPoE, you should adjust your Windows settings to get the most out of your connection.

Wraith
If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port
& the bus is interrupted as a very last resort
& the memory address makes your processes abort
then the socket packet pocket has an error to report!