Modem/Router as a Cable Rounter - possible?

Hi,

I have just bought a Belking ADSL modem/Wireless Router that I intend to use
to connect 2 PCs to ADSL with once I move to my new house.

However, as I am still in the "old" house for a couple of months, and
currently use NTL for my internet connection, I was wondering if it would be
possible to only utilise the router of the modem/router to connect the two
PCs to the cable modem.

Have I lost the plot? ( a bit of a newbie to all this as you have probably
gathered...)

"Individual.NET" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:c4shd8$2mjpni$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
>
> I have just bought a Belking ADSL modem/Wireless Router that I intend to
use
> to connect 2 PCs to ADSL with once I move to my new house.
>
> However, as I am still in the "old" house for a couple of months, and
> currently use NTL for my internet connection, I was wondering if it would
be
> possible to only utilise the router of the modem/router to connect the two
> PCs to the cable modem.
>
> Have I lost the plot? ( a bit of a newbie to all this as you have
probably
> gathered...)
>
Whilst I don't know that particular modem/router, in general you cannot use
an ADSL mode/router on cable. Think of the device as having two sides - a
WAN side and a LAN side, with the firewall between them. The WAN side in
this case is the ADSL and the LAN is...... the LAN side. You may be able to
use it as an Ethernet switch so you computers can talk to each other, but
not as a router.

Cheers, Mike

> "Individual.NET" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:c4shd8$2mjpni$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Hi,
> >
> > I have just bought a Belking ADSL modem/Wireless Router that I intend to
> use
> > to connect 2 PCs to ADSL with once I move to my new house.
> >
> > However, as I am still in the "old" house for a couple of months, and
> > currently use NTL for my internet connection, I was wondering if it
would
> be
> > possible to only utilise the router of the modem/router to connect the
two
> > PCs to the cable modem.
> >
> > Have I lost the plot? ( a bit of a newbie to all this as you have
> probably
> > gathered...)
> >
> Whilst I don't know that particular modem/router, in general you cannot
use
> an ADSL mode/router on cable. Think of the device as having two sides - a
> WAN side and a LAN side, with the firewall between them. The WAN side in
> this case is the ADSL and the LAN is...... the LAN side. You may be able
to
> use it as an Ethernet switch so you computers can talk to each other, but
> not as a router.

Mike, can't he just use his Router like a switch just now and enable ICS to
connect both PC's via his cable modem? I'm currently waiting on Broadband
being enabled and am using my Vigor 2600 to connect my PC's, with ICS
enabled.

cheers

Steven.

"fred bloggs" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:h9kcc.30307$Y%(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Individual.NET" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:c4shd8$2mjpni$(E-Mail Removed)...

> > However, as I am still in the "old" house for a couple of months, and
> > currently use NTL for my internet connection, I was wondering if it
would
> be
> > possible to only utilise the router of the modem/router to connect the
two
> > PCs to the cable modem.

> >
> Whilst I don't know that particular modem/router, in general you cannot
use
> an ADSL mode/router on cable. Think of the device as having two sides - a
> WAN side and a LAN side, with the firewall between them. The WAN side in
> this case is the ADSL and the LAN is...... the LAN side. You may be able
to
> use it as an Ethernet switch so you computers can talk to each other, but
> not as a router.

Well, cable (generally) uses PPPoE and DSL uses PPPoA.
So, it's possible that if your new modem/router supports PPPoE that you
could use it to replace the existing NTL cable modem, before you switch to
DSL. (Assuming that you can work out how to configure it for PPPoE under
NTL).

That said, I'm not at all familiar with NTL's setup. And, from what I've
heard, it can be quite particular about MAC addresses connected to it.
Hopefully, someone with NTL and their own router will be able to advise
better.

Otherwise, like Mike says, it's going to be tricky.
If the new modem/router has a 'bridging' mode, then you could utilise this
to temporarily bridge the LAN side on your existing NTL cable modem with
your LAN (2 PCs) at home.
But, this is a little excessive for someone not familar with network setup,
and for such a limited time.

Perhaps setup net access to the 1 PC, then use ICS (Internet Connection
Sharing) to provide access to the 2nd?

Baz

On Mon, 5 Apr 2004 23:57:13 +0100, "Baz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Well, cable (generally) uses PPPoE and DSL uses PPPoA.
>So, it's possible that if your new modem/router supports PPPoE that you
>could use it to replace the existing NTL cable modem, before you switch to
>DSL.

The protocol is not likely to matter that much. An ADSL router/modem
will have a telephone socket on the WAN side, whereas NTL uses either
USB or ethernet to connect to their cable modem. The end-user doesn't
know or need to know whether its PPPoE or whatever.

>That said, I'm not at all familiar with NTL's setup. And, from what I've
>heard, it can be quite particular about MAC addresses connected to it.

Not any more.

>Hopefully, someone with NTL and their own router will be able to advise
>better.

You need a router with ethernet on the WAN side to connect to the
cable modem. Most adsl router/modems don't provide that as their
modems are builtin.

"Mark McIntyre" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...

> The protocol is not likely to matter that much. An ADSL router/modem
> will have a telephone socket on the WAN side, whereas NTL uses either
> USB or ethernet to connect to their cable modem. The end-user doesn't
> know or need to know whether its PPPoE or whatever.
>
> You need a router with ethernet on the WAN side to connect to the
> cable modem. Most adsl router/modems don't provide that as their
> modems are builtin.

Agreed. But, without being familiar with the OP's modem/router, I was trying
to point out that the right modem router will support cable or DSL. But,
like you say, the modem part is not required when using PPPoE.
For example, my router (D-Link DSL-504) supports both PPPoA and PPPoE. But,
as I'm using it for DSL it is configured for PPPoA.
But, the support manual is very poor, and pretty much all literature on the
net (that I've found) only lists how to set it up for PPPoA.
There are 4 LAN sockets (RJ45), and the WAN socket is labelled as 'ADSL' and
is a RJ11.
So, this is where I'm in new territory.
If I were to configure my modem/router for PPPoE, would I (for example) use
one of the RJ45s (effectively converting one of the LAN sockets to a WAN)?
Or, would I use the RJ11 socket (as an RJ11 will plug nicely into an RJ45,
but, not vice-versa)?
I suspect it's the former. And then hook it directly into the existing cable
modem.

But, this is all for nothing, as I suspect that the OPs hardware is
different to mine.

B