Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

excuse my ignornace but... (Broadband question)

P

pauld

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 8, 2003
233
0
Tokyo (London for the holidays!)
is a snow iBook broadband ready or do i need to buy an ASDL modem for it? I always presumed I just had to plug the wire into the ethernet port and hey presto!?

While I'm here what exactly is a micro filter?
 
It is as 'broadband ready' as any other computer. If you are getting ADSL, you will have to get a modem that works with your service. Usually the service supplier will give you a modem. Then you plug the computer into the modem.

The filters are for your telephones, to filter out the carrier frequency of the ADSL signal.
 
DSL is not ethernet. It is a digital signal over ordinary phone lines. The modem built into your iBook is only good for ordinary dial-up connections. You need a DSL "modem" for any computer, but, if you only want to use your iBook, you do not need a separate router.
 
Originally posted by Santiago
DSL is not ethernet. It is a digital signal over ordinary phone lines. The modem built into your iBook is only good for ordinary dial-up connections. You need a DSL "modem" for any computer, but, if you only want to use your iBook, you do not need a separate router.
Click to expand...
Im not sure what your saying but i have dsl and my dsl plugs right into my ethernet connection! ethernet on the ibook should be no different plug and go, but if its a cable then its a different story anyways this was typed over my dsl ethernet connection right to you santiago, no modem no crap just the line into my computer dude.
 
I think he was asking if DSL was built in, hence the question about whether he should buy a DSL modem or not. You connect the DSL modem to your Ethernet port, but you must first have a DSL modem to connect with.
 
Cable works with the 'ethernet plug' route. However, ADSL (at least in the UK) usually includes a USB modem which may or may not be good for Mac. I suggest you go with pipex (www.pipex.net) with the £23/month plan and buy yourself an Ethernet ADSL modem/router.

www.adslguide.org has tons of great inrormation, reviews and some great UK broadband message boards :).
 
very interesting, here in south carolina i have dsl it comes in the house as a thick phone line and plugs right into the ethernet port on your computer, i have no modem or anything just the cable with a ethernet jack, i was very surprised to see how easy it was to hook up the first time.
 
USB DSL? I'd stay away from Broadband through USB, I am not sure about OS X, but with Windows, USB networking is limited to 1 mbps usually and networking between computers wouldn't be nearly as fast. Either way, if you plug whatever connection you have with ethernet into your iBook, it should just "work" unless there is special configuration needed for your ISP. I switch from cable at home, DSL at school, and wireless at B&N all the time and don't have to touch a single setting.
 
usb is 11mb/sec. DSL comes from normal phone line and is decoded through a dsl modem. Some dsl modems have usb, some have ethernet, some have both. If you are not running multiple computers dsl over usb is fine. The actual thru put of dsl is like 0.7kb/sec max. USB can handle 11mb/sec.
 
For some reason when we had a Linksys Ethernet>USB adapter for our PC at home with our cable modem, Windows always registered the link as 1 mbps instead of 11. Downloads were *always* significantly slower on it than if I were to plug it into my PowerBook ethernet port, in which case, the downloads were just blazing. Typically it'd be amazing to get greater than 40-50 KB/s with USB on the PC but through ethernet the same files would fly at 200+
 
$35/month for unlimited 10 Mbps cable modem service plus 7 email addresses with 10 megs web server address each (total of 70). :D If only DSL at my school were as reliable as cable, though. I'm starting to think the IT people at this school are idiots because I refuse to believe DSL is just this unreliable as they say, because if it were, I doubt so many people would be using it. Either way, it beats $20/month for a second phone line plus $24/month for AOL dialup, which ends up being $10/month more than just getting broadband. How does AOL justify that?
 
i think for some reason the DSL modem in his house is built into the house. so there are actually ethernet wall plugs around his house. if so, then yes, just plug that straight into your iBook and it'll work. :) (cool house thou....built in DSL modem...never heard of that before)
 
We have quite a few new houses going up in Florida that have DSL built in provided by Bellsouth and some with that powerline networking/home automation system all pre-wired. Some of the technology is pretty insane like the alarms that give you realtime status to your Palm Pilot letting you know when your alarm is armed, goes off, if any motion sensors are tripped, etc.
 
i know there are automated and tech houses around...but i've always lived in a traditional style house with the good old phone line and cable wirings. :D


apple should create a tech home concept. that would be perfect for their digital hub idea. :p
 
I wouldn't mind seeing an 80" HD widescreen built into the house powered by a PowerMac/Xserve G5 cluster for the ultimate in home integration. I can just imagine iTunes shared libraries being able to play different music in any room of the house, scheduling of choirs, tv/multimedia streaming, etc.
 
Be careful

Paul
Hope this is not too late. It is NOT straightforward to work the answers out for going ADSL, so don't be embarrassed - we've all been there. While this maybe a great forum, is is open to the rest of the world and everybody has different standards (eg DSL vs ADSL - these are different).
So I would listen to Aldo's advice. GO TO THE ADSLGUIDE site and subscribe to the Apple discussions forum. This is a great site for UK ADSL Mac users.

I would also go further than some here:
1. On NO account get a USB modem. While they can work with Mac's they require drivers to work. Drivers cause problems, especially when OS's change - like going to 10.2. USB modems are popular because many PC's still don't have ethernet. Pretty much every Mac in the last 10 years has had this built in and this is the way to go. There are many other reasons to go for an ethernet modem/router which you can find on the ADSLGUIDE site, but this is the most important. (I use a modem/router with a wireless hub and have instant-on broadband anywhere round the house with my Powerbook).

2. I WOULD personally always get a modem/router. This will give you more flexibility. Costs of basic ones are no more than about £60 - again check the site - there are loads of reviews, and ask questions there.

3. As for ISP's this is where I would differ with Aldo. Pipex may be a reasonable bet, but there are others too, some of whom are better with Mac's. I personally use Metronet.co.uk which starts at £10 per month (yes, £10 per month) and has worked brilliantly for me. However, Zen, Plusnet, Easynet etc are all reasonable for Mac users I think. Just avoid going for one which throws in the USB modem as part of installation - get your own equipment.

Hope this helps
Ian
 
Re: excuse my ignornace but... (Broadband question)

Originally posted by pauld
is a snow iBook broadband ready or do i need to buy an ASDL modem for it? I always presumed I just had to plug the wire into the ethernet port and hey presto!?

While I'm here what exactly is a micro filter?
Click to expand...
I am in the UK + I have an ethernet ADSL router (which I had to buy). Once your phone line has been activated then you just plug a filter into the phone line + one phone plug connects to the router. In my case, the modem then connects to the computers via ethernet.

In summary, you will need a modem of some sort. I believe that BT is doing an offer at the moment where they will give you a free modem. However, I wanted a good make (netgear) + was happy to pay for a router. I am not too keen on USB equipment.
 
Thanks a lot for the information guys, especially Ian - you have all been really useful and I'd be lost without you.

I'm quite attracted to offers that don't have 12 month contracts since I may move home sooner rather than later. The one I've been thinking of is THIS ONE from Virgin Broadband.

It does come with a USB modem but has no activation costs.

Has anyone heard anything about it?

thanks again,

Paul
 
Paul
Well every isp is different and you must look at your needs. I would normally consider Virgin a player in this market.

However, if you check the site I mentioned, you will see some stories in the last month about them which do not bode well. Performance has been quite poor recently, and customer service levels are very low (so are some of the other big names). Given your level of expertise (don't take that as an insult), you may require some assistance, and I think Virgin has the audacity to charge for their poor level! You may want to skip them this time round till they fix these problems.

There's no such thing as a free lunch of course, so work out your total package cost carefully over the period you expect to run it. At the end you'll still have equipment if you go the router way, which can be reused. I know Metronet is a monthly service, and Freedom2surf also (a good service though I experienced billing problems with them). Both allow your own equipment.

Again, check the adslguide forums in detail for what people think of each isp (there is a separate board for each isp as well as one for Apple Mac's).

Ian
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back