Re: Question about LANWAN Ethernet connector (DSL modem)

For some reason your previous post didn't make it to my ISP's news
server. Google to the rescue...

Mark Conrad <no-email@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

David Empson <dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I can make an educated guess, but it would be much easier if you told us
the brand and model of your DSL modem, so someone who has a better
chance of understanding the technical documentation can read it and
interpret it for you.

The DSL modem was installed by my rural phone company,
he left no manual for the DSL modem.
Modem is Siemens model "Gigaset SE567".

OK, found some documentation, what little there is. Here is the
technical information page.

<http://gigaset.com/shc/0,1935,hq_en_0_141461_rarnrnrnrn_variation%253A-
5_pageType%253ATechnical%2Bdata_imagePos%253A0,00.html#content>

In reference to the back panel connectors, it says "1 LAN port can be
used as WAN port".

That's it.

There is also a link to the PDF quick start guide, which has no useful
information at all.

Neither of these provide enough details to be able to determine exactly
what WAN function this port has. I haven't found a full technical
manual.

Without a full manual, the only way I'd be able to work out what it does
is to play with the actual device and look through its configuration
screens with a web browser (assuming I could guess its default username
and password).

My best guess is that Siemens might supply the manual only with the
router (typically on CD). If the router was supplied by your ISP, you
should ask them if they can give you the manual for it.

Phone company tech' did the modem configuration, all I did
was to plug the Ethernet cable into my various Macs, and it
worked right from the start.
No configuration needed by me, it must have used any default
settings already programmed into the Mac. (DHCP ?)

Yes. That's normal for most routers.

I had _previously_ configured all my Macs for slow dialup,
so apparently the DSL modem had all the ISP info it needed.

A DSL modem typically needs ISP-specific configuration to set up its DSL
connection. In New Zealand this includes selecting the right mode of
operation (PPPoA), some mode parameters (correct values for VPI and
VCI), and entering a client-specific username and password. The details
are likely to vary for other DSL providers. The ISP would do this part
for you if they supplied the router.

Apart from that, its default configuration will work for anyone who
wants a simple "client only" Internet connection.

You typically need to access the router's configuration to enable
advanced features such as opening incoming ports through its firewall to
allow you to run "server" functions on your computer (which might not be
allowed by your ISP's terms and conditions). This particular device is
also a wireless base station, and you would need to be able to configure
that to your specific requirements.

Because of these issues, I'm surprised you didn't get a manual with it.

Thanks everyone for the clues, guess I better try to download
any users manual that Siemens corp' has for that particular
model DSL modem, so I can figure out how to properly use the
modem Ethernet sockets.
<shudder> Not looking forward to reading that technical info'
For some reason, anything involving networks is difficult
for me to understand.
Mark-

BTW, the first Siemens "Gigaset SE567" only lasted a month
before it blew up, this is my second (new) DSL modem,
again installed and configured by my local phone company tech'.
Maybe it blew up because I used the Ethernet sockets in an
indiscriminate manner, sometimes plugging the Mac into
a numbered Ethernet socket, sometimes plugging into the
so-called "LANWAN" socket, dunno.

Extremely unlikely that it would "blow up" because of anything plugged
into Ethernet ports. Ethernet ports are electrically isolated, and they
don't care about being connected and disconnected while "live". The
router also wouldn't care about you plugging the Mac into a different
port each time. (It might take a little while to adapt, e.g. because it
remembered which port the computer was connected to previously; this
would only cause a temporary inability to access the Internet.)

It is more likely that the original router was faulty, or something
happened like a power surge or lightning strike which damaged it.

Whoops, forgot to add that the only thing I use the
DSL modem for is to connect to the Internet and Usenet.

I do not have any local network of Macs yet.

If you did, you could plug up to four computers into the numbered (LAN =
Local Area Network) ports. It also seems you can use the LAN/WAN port as
a fifth LAN port in the default configuration of the router, but I'd
suggest avoiding that port due to lack of information about its
function.

Kevin McMurtrie's suggestion that it may be a DMZ port is also feasible.
If so, the LAN/WAN port may be on a separate local network from the
numbered ports, and it might bypass the firewall in the router, so it
would be a bad idea to use it unless you had a good reason to do so, and
sufficient understanding of the implications.

--
David Empson
dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
.

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