Getting your first DSL line, what to expect – Part 2 of 2

If you missed Part 1 of this article, read it now.

I should tell you that length is the length of the wire cable between your home and the central telco office.  I lived in a home where I could see the central office, but I was 19,000 feet away in terms of wire length and the DSL circuit I received was only a little more than twice the speed when I was expecting 100 times faster.

Also, the further away from the central office you are, the slower the maximum speed.

If a vendor says they cannot give you DSL services, try others as they may have ways of routing signals from a closer (in terms of wire length) central office.

By now you have figured out what speed should fit your lifestyle, are aware of contract, price restrictions and the number of computers you can connect.

Now let’s talk about final costs and installation.

Costs will vary from vendor to vendor.  Most ISPs will either make you purchase your DSL modem or build the cost into your monthly payment.

You may pay from $100 to over $300 for the modem.  Many times they will provide you with a mail-in rebate for the modem.  Read the mail-in rebate instructions even before you install your equipment, as they often base the timeframe on submitting the rebate on the ship date, not the date you receive it.  Follow the instructions exactly or you will not get your rebate.

When you order the DSL circuit, make sure you ask them about the extra costs such as circuit installation, modem installation, and any other fees like the cost of the modem.

If you do not have a hardwire land line, do not let them talk you into ordering a telephone number with the DSL line.  They can install a DSL line without having a working phone number.

The next step is the installation.

If you already have a phone line at home, you will probably get a self-install kit that contains the modem and a few other accessories.

It is self-explanatory, which means you may have to talk with the service department to get it working.

Plug the cables in.  One cable is an Ethernet cable to plug in between your DSL modem and your computer or switch if you have multiple computers.  Some DSL modems may have multiple ports to plug in more than one device.

Another cable will go between your phone line and the DSL modem.  Then you will find some things that have a short cable on one end and two jacks on the other.  These are filters.  Connect one between your DSL modem and the wall jack, making sure you plug the DSL modem into the correct jack.  Your telephone will plug into the other jack.

Go around to other telephones in your home and connect one of these devices between the telephone and the wall jack.  You may even receive a wall plate for a wall phone that has a filter built into it.

The purpose of the filter is to block out the higher frequencies and noise from the data portion of the circuit.

Remember: if you do not have a phone line at home (many people have dropped their landline in favor of a wireless smartphone) do not let them talk you into the cost of a phone line.  They can install the DSL line without having a working telephone number on that line.  It may be assigned a non-working number for circuit identification.  The technician will probably visit your home to bring up the DSL line and may even install the DSL modem for you.

Finally, you will need to hook up all your computers.  If your DSL modem has a wireless access point built in, you can use that to connect your computers.  Just make sure you Set up your WEP key and lock the network so no one can get in.

If you are limited to one IP address (i.e. only one computer on the network) I have a way around that.

You can pick up a router and install it in place of a computer.  You may have to configure a “ppoe” connection to gain access to the internet.

You can usually set up the “Internet” settings of the router to get the information via DHCP.  If your ISP gave you a fixed IP address, use that along with the gateway and DNS addresses to set up the router.

You can verify the router is working by going to a settings screen and have the router find a web address.  Just enter a known good URL and the router should find it.  If the router does not work, check your settings and maybe call tech support and see if they will help you.

Then you can configure your computers next.  I like just setting them up to use DHCP to get their information.  If you have problems not getting proper DNS resolution, manually enter your ISP’s DNS addresses.

This router setup will give you some protection from attacks from outside on the internet.

Enjoy your DSL line and check out the DSL Internet providers we have on site.

Photo from Flickr – Credit: ThrasherDave