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verizon dsl supported operating

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From: Bob Harris <harris@zk3.dec.com>
Subject: Re: Verizon DSL/Mac users: questions re: client software
References: <president-2206031207450001@p20.a1.du.radix.net> 
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 19:55:35 GMT

In article <president-2206031207450001@p20.a1.du.radix.net>,
 president@the-dma.org (Mike Flugennock) wrote:

> Any Verizon DSL customers here in the DC/Metro area: I have a few
> questions about their Macintosh service/software and versions/performance
> of same.


I'm a New England Verizon DSL customer, but I would expect that the 
software part of there service would be similar.

> *Is this actually an "always on" service a la isdn, as advertised,
>  or does it require a client module, like some flavor of PPP, in
>  order to connect?

Mine has been always on.

I did not need to install any additional software (but I also us Mac OS 
X)

They use PPPoE.  Does Mac OS 9 have PPPoE support?  I never needed to 
PPPoE before last month so I didn't have any reason to explore whether 
Mac OS 9 TCP/IP control panel had a PPPoE option.

My actual connection is via a D-Link Cable/DSL router.  It provides the 
PPPoE hookup and I then attach my 3 Macs to the house side of the net.  
I use an Airport Base Station for a Pismo and an iBook, plus an ethernet 
attached B&W G3.

If you have more than one Mac to connect, I would suggest some kind of 
Cable/DSL router between you and the DSL connection providing NAT 
services to help keep the nasties out of you household network, and to 
allow you to have more than one system use your internet connection.

> *When checking out DSL options at verizon.com, I noticed that the Mac
>  version of their software requires OSX. Are there any pre-OSX users here
>  on Verizon DSL? Do they really only serve OSX users, or are there
>  versions available for OS8.x - OS9.x as well?

Like I said, I use a D-Link Cable/DSL router.  After that I could run 
anything on the household side.  Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, 8, 7, 6, a PC, a 
PDA with WiFi access (my next toy I think :-), etc...  As long as it 
spoke TCP/IP and talked to your router, it should work nicely.

The only software was an installation CD that did a very nice job of 
walking you through the hardware installation, but it did not leave any 
software on my system.  And the final on-line registration can be done 
via Internet Explorer, so as long as you can get to the registration 
site, you should be able to do the whole thing with Mac OS 9.

However, since I am only speculating, and have not actually tried Mac OS 
9 with my setup, you must take what I say with a gain of salt.
 
> *What's the overall quality of your connection and customer service been?
>  The only person I know who runs DSL (under Windows) is claiming outages
>  of an hour or so every few days, but that's just one user I've spoken to.

My connection has been rock solid.  I've gotten about 1.4megabits/sec 
download speeds, and I live about 19,000 feet from the switching office.  
Previously all DSL services have said I'm too far away, so either 
Verizon is using new technology, or they have installed a substation of 
some kind closer to my home that I don't know about (which would be 
easy, since I don't pay all that much attention to what the phone 
company does around town :-)

Of course I live in New England and the quality of phone service will 
vary depending on the region as much as on the condition of the phone 
wires and equipment setup in each region.

As for customer service I have not had a reason to really talk to them.  
The only thing that I did call them for was that initially I could not 
setup my web page.  Kept getting an error message.  Customer service 
scratched their heads, but nothing happened.  About a month after I 
signed up, I was able to initialize my web site and now I can access it 
via FTP to update it on my own or use their web site creation services.

> I prefer answers via email as I don't hang out on this group a whole lot;
> obviously, I am actually _not_ the president of the Direct Marketing
> Association. Reach me by email by souding out and typing in the address
> spelled out in my .sig.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> .

7 comments

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Agree with Bob's comments. I am on the west coast and easily hooked up the Verizon DSL line with Mac OS 9. Two keys are (1) use a DSL router and (2) put a DSL filter on every phone, satellite modem, answering machine, etc; any phone devices without filters will severely slow down DSL.

Bought a D-Link DI-514 DSL wireless router with 4 ethernet ports and 802.11b for only $30 ($50 retail - $20 rebate). Verizon on the West Coast uses DHCP and not PPPoE. Set the Mac TCP control panel to DHCP. Hook up the hardware per the D-Link instructions. Set the D-Link to Dynamic IP Address, the router automatically sets the MAC address of the DSL server and finish the install. Very EASY! I live about 8000 feet from the DSL Central Office and have speeds of 1.8 Mbps or more.

After you install everything, be sure to call Verizon DSL tech support to test your line. They will test your line's relative capacity and speed. They also gave me added tips to make the line faster.

Also have an imac with OS 8.5 connected via ethernet and it works with the DSL too. And yes, the ibook with an apple airport card connects via the 802.11b wireless. Bottom line is that the router is the key to connecting older MAC OS systems. Just $30 and you can connect older OS's and have a wireless LAN too! What a deal!

redondo011@yahoo.com




---August 25, 2004

I just got Verizon DSL on 8/20 (activated). I had the install kit 2 days after I called on 8/10. I pay $29.99/month. They sent me a Westell 2200 DSL modem. I had already put together a CableFREE (SOHOWARE) 2mb/sec wireless network about 2 years ago, but could not get DSL on my phone line until recently. I had the NETBLASTER wireless hub already, so I installed it, and switched the PC's (4) to communicate with the NETBLASTER. After 6pm on Friday 8/20 I hacked around with the system. I called Verizon DSL support a total of 3 times. My backgound is 22 years of computers and networking for federal government so I eventually got it to work. I had a problem with the Verizon assigned username/password (wrote it down wrong?) but after that it worked! The curious thing was I had set the CABLEFREE software on each PC to use DHCP, and that worked automatically on 2 of the 4 machines, even though they all where using Windows 98..... The other two would go to the NETBLASTER and then to the DSL Westell modem, but they would be assigned a Public WAN local IP instead of the correct one from the local LAN. I fixed that by manually assigning IP addresses for the other 2 PC's and bingo, the DSL came right up! As it has been said, once you use broadband, you NEVER want to go back to analog connections! I am going to switch my stock portfolio to all Verizon shares! See Ya!
Mike Satyshur MSatyshur@aol.com
(p.s. I am canceling my second phone line and AOL asap...)

---September 13, 2004

I have a desktop running OSX and a laptop running 9.2. I have ordered DSL from Verizon. The Westell modem is coming from them.
I would be very grateful if somone would slowly (i.e. the speed of the average idiot) run through exactly what else (software and hardware) that I need to get both machines working.
Thank you in anticipation.



---January 2, 2005

DHCP and PPPoE are not mutually exclusive. One can set up a system with either a Fixed or Dynamic IP address and also use PPPoE. On Windows systems, the PPPoE is nicely behaved and sets itself up as an additional protocol which coexists with the previously set IP, whether fixed or dynamic.

It appears to do the same on MAC OS 8 or 9 - with the PPPoE picking up a dynamic IP from the service provider which coexists with the previous fixed or dynamic as a separate protocol just for that connection.
I was unaware Verizon was no longer supporting OS-9, I got my PPPoE software from them, it's from Wind River systems - look for MACPOET...

On MAC OS-X, I have not been able to get the fixed IP we use in our home network and PPPoE to coexist... which is a major pain. I have some UNIX skills and fear I may need to edit a config file somewhere in the belly of the beast... and OS-X is supposed to be so friendly...

---January 2, 2005



---February 9, 2005

Okay..just got verizon DSL for my ibook, and I can't get it to work. I go through the CD, but i can't get online to the registration site. I keep getting errors that the server can not be found. Anyone have any ideas on this??





Mon Mar 14 01:26:20 2005:   glpeppa


i found you via google. i need help. i live in new england and just got verizons dsl service and a wireless modem from them (westell link) is this also called the router? i have an airport card in my ibook but can't get the computer to connect to the dsl wireless only with the ethernet cable. what am i doing wrong. do i need an additional airport base station to work with the modem they've provided. i'm so frustrated because i am sitting here in my living room connected via airport to someone elses signal but paying verizon 30 dollars a month for wireless dsl i can't get to work



Mon Mar 14 10:09:06 2005:   TonyLawrence


Yes, it's also the router. Probably you've missed something important in the configuration - can't you call them for support?



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