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ADSL2+ Broadband

Imperial College offers a fast ADSL2+ broadband service via Cerberus. The service has the potential to operate at speeds of up to 24 Mbps (download) and 1.3 Mbps (upload). The steps involved in setting this up are as follows:

Preparations

  1. LLU presence
    Check that your local exchange is enabled. You can do this via Sam Knows. Enter your phone number into the phone search box. This will tell you which exchange your phone is connected to. Select this exchange, and check for the presence of Be in the Local loop unbundling presence. If it says enabled then you are ready to go!
  2. Line speed estimate
    An alternative check is provided by Cerberus.
  3. If you have an existing broadband supplier, you will need to contact them and ask for a MAC (Migration authorization code). They are legally obliged to provide one, although they may not make it particularly easy, and it may take between 5-7 working days. The MAC should look something like ABCD1234567/FE12K and normally lasts for 30 days; if you do not pass it on to an alternative broadband supplier during this period, the code lapses, and you retain your old supplier.

Setting up a service

  1. You will now need to email the departmental adminstrator with the following information (who will in turn submit it to Marval for action by the ADSL administrator):
    1. End User Name
    2. End User Home Address
    3. End User Phone Number
    4. Order Type  (New Line / Migration)
    5. MAC (Migration Authorisation Code) if a migration from anything other than an existing ADSL2+ service. If migrating an existing Be ADSL2+ service, supply the Be portal username and password.
    6. Desired Product (ADSL2+ Unlimited / ADSL2+ Lite, which limits to 2.5 GB transfer per month and 400 kbps upload ). An ADSL (8 Mbps) service is also available for phones on exchanges which do not (yet) support ADSL2+.
    7. Options: If you want to be able to contact your domestic computer from work, specify Static IP Address and (optionally) a host name to go with it and possibly a request for reverse DNS (see host name)
      1. You do not have to have a Static IP address to contact your domestic computer from work. For example dyndns offer a service which in effect tracks a dynamic IP address for you.
    8. The College account number to be debited for all the incurred charges
  2. The ADSL administrator will contact Cerberus with these details, and you should next receive an email either directly from them, or via the ADSL administrator, which tells you the following:

Service Details

  1. They will confirm your telephone number
  2. They will give you a migration date, which will be within the 30 day expiry period of the MAC code, and more typically is about two weeks from the start of the MAC code.
  3. They will give you a static IP number (if you requested it) of the type 87-194-37-161 along with a default host name of the type 87-194-37-161.bethere.co.uk. If you find either of these too unmemorable, see host name for arranging a more friendly form.
  4. Cerberus will start to configure a router for you. In April 2007, the model on offer was a Thomson Speedtouch 780WL. In addition to offering four ethernet ports it also has a wireless broadcast to allow e.g. laptops etc to connect and two phone ports which will allow VoIP connections to be made. The router will be delivered to the ICT ADSL administrator, who will contact you to arrange collection. Note the router is only leased for the duration of your contract, and would be returned if you terminate the contract. You do not own this device. A manual for its configuration is available
  5. On the day of the switchover, disconnect your existing router, and connect the Thomson Speedtouch 780WL. If all has gone well, you should now be online again.

Local Configurations

Basic

  1. Saving the config
    Renaming SSID
    The router has a basic preconfiguration which means you can just plug it in and it will work. It is configured to do NAT and DHCP in a standard IP range (192.168.1.xxx). Wireless is on, but with WPA security enabled. The WPA key and SSID are on a sticker on the underside of the router. By default no username and password are necessary to access the router's configuration screen from the LAN side of the router, from this screen you configure other security options, such as registration of indvidual devices. The 780WL also has a button on the front to make such registration easier. Included in the box is a quickstart guide, a CD containing some utilities and other documentation, and some documentation with your IP details. The cables and ports on the box are colour coded.
    1. Run the setup CD; it will reboot your computer at the end. Both Windows and OS X versions are available.
    2. Connect the computer and the router by the (yellow) ethernet cable provided (ignore USB cables for the next step).
    3. From the provided software, invoke Connect to router by browser option (if you type 192.168.1.254 in the browser address window you probably do not need to install the provided software at all). The default user is Administrator, and no password is set on this account (you can set it if you wish to prevent inquisitive others from tinkering).
    4. Invoke SpeedTouch/configuration/Save to back up the configuration of the router. If something goes wrong with subsequent configuration, you will always then be able to restore the configuration to the one that Cerberus provided for you.
    5. You may also at this stage wish to personalise the Wireless SSID from BeBox to something more obvious by invoking Home Network/Wireless. This would help differentiate e.g. your network from a neighbour who also has the same box.
  2. Cerberus offer end-users support at 0845 257 1335 or by emailing support at cerberusnetworks.co.uk.
  3. You may wish to test the speed of your new connection. The speed will depend very directly on how far you are from the local exchange. If you are within 2 km, you should aspire to a download speed of perhaps 14000+ kbps and an upload speed of 1000+ kbps. If the line-of-sight to your exchange is much shorter than the actual route (often the case) the speed may degrade quite significantly.

Advanced

  1. Devices on your local network
    If you have requested a Static IP address, and set up a sub-domain name, it is necessary to configure the Thomson Speedtouch 780WL to allow incoming requests. This in effect reallocates the static IP address from the router itself to a specified device on your local network, allowing this device to be contacted externally. To set this up, proceed as follows:
    1. In the router Web configuration, go to Home Network. It will list all computers connected to your network from either the Wireless or the Ethernet ports on the router. Click on the one you want to be able to access from outside.
    2. Assigning applications to one device
      Click on Assign a game or application to a local network device
    3. In the Game and application sharing section, select from the pull down menu the applications you want to enable. In the example shown, FTP, SSH, VNC and Microsoft Remote Desktop have all been enabled. You will enable external calls to these applications to be made to this computer from outside. Remember to switch off any VPN service on this computer beforehand.
  2. To check that the static IP address is correctly allocated to the assigned computer; try either this page or this alternative. Be sure to switch any VPN service off first. The IP address should correspond to e.g. 87-194-37-161 (part of the 87-194-37-161.bethere.co.uk string).

Voice over IP

The Speedtouch router has two VoIP ports built in. An analogue phone can be connected to these and used for Voice-over-IP telephony. Developments are occuring in this area, and will be documented here when more information becomes known.

--Rzepa 10:27, 14-26 April 2007 (BST)

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