Looks like some good info/input on getting DSL connnections at home and at BI streamlined and set up as correctly as possible.
The router, which I bought for around $50
after a rebate, is an amazing Linux device that's an 802.11g wireless
access point, router, and four-port 10/100 Ethernet switch. You can
reprogram it with SSH and a lot of other Linux software, turning it
into a killer pint-sized wireless ISP. Robert X. Cringley calls it “disruptive technology”:
… the WRT54G with Sveasoft firmware is all you need to become your
cul de sac's wireless ISP. Going further, if a bunch of your friends in
town had similarly configured WRT54Gs, they could seamlessly work
together and put out of business your local telephone company.
All I wanted was the router, so that I can keep a wired home network functioning and add wireless access.
The WRT54G's installation wizard
assumes an easy process: Run the wizard with your Internet connection
working to detect configuration settings, connect the modem to the
router over an Ethernet cable, plug the router into the computer, and
we all live happily ever after.
Unfortunately, as I found out after
trial and error (and error and error), the Westell modem provided by
BellSouth FastAccess DSL is actually a router. Two routers don't get
along with each other, causing connection problems, IP address
conflicts, and something ominous called double NATing. I'm guessing that my NATs, whatever they are, should remain single.
Thanks to a forum post by Tom Scales on SpeedGuide.Net, I found the solution:
Plug the Westell back in to the computer and configure it over a
browser to Bridged Ethernet mode, which delegates all routing
responsibilities to the WRT54G, then connect the Internet back into the
router.
From any room in my house, I can now waste time on the Web at breakneck speed. [Workbench]