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DSL
via Qwest: LAN Options
Every
computer needs a public IP
address in order to access the Internet. Your basic
DSL service with Drizzle includes one public IP address.
This is sufficient for most customers, but if you have
complicated networking needs, you have some choices
to make.
There are two basic ways to give multiple computers at
one location access to the Internet, and/or to
improve security for a single computer:
1) RECOMMENDED: Install a DSL Modem Gateway
device which shares a single public IP address among
the computers on your LAN.
Advantages:
the current modems provided by Qwest will work in this
manner; no additional monthly cost; easy to set up;
significant security improvement.
Disadvantages: some
of the Actiontec modems provided by Qwest only have ports
for one computer to connect through, so additional hardware
may be needed.
2) Give each computer on the LAN its own unique public IP address.
Advantages:
fairly easy to set up, each computer is accessible to the
outside world (handy if you're running a web server!).
Disadvantages:
additional monthly cost; limited number of static IP addresses
available (only 5 total may be configured per subscriber);
no improvement in security; some
of the Actiontec modems provided by Qwest only have ports
for one computer to connect through, so additional hardware
may be needed; each computer is accessible to the outside
world.
IMPORTANT
NOTE:
Especially
if you are planning to connect to the Internet wirelessly,
you need to make yourself aware of the security issues
involved in an always-on broadband connection like DSL.
If
you do plan to use the Actiontec's wireless capabilities,
then we strongly suggest using one
or both of the following security options:
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)
Wireless MAC Authentication If
you are not going to use the wireless functionality
of the Actiontec, we highly recommend that you make sure
the wireless functionality on the Actiontec is turned
OFF. (Check your Actiontec documentation for instructions
on how to do this.)
There
is more information available about these functions in
your Actiontec documentation.
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