I got this Ethernet modem from www.ebuyer.co.uk
It's ok. There's really no problem connecting to it from SuSE because it uses an Ethernet connection to the box and pppoA on the other side to the phone line.
The factory defaults are for a management IP address and a dhcp server assigning an IP address to the NiC.
You use the management IP address in a browser to access the set up pages delivered from a web server on the modem. From there you can set the modem's system time, set up the modem and connection details and away you go. There's a system log and you can save all your system settings so that they'll still be there after a power down.
My ISP delivers a fixed IP address and, even when both the modem and the NiC are set to dhcp, the NiC gets the fixed IP address. The modem seems to act in a bridged mode
<pre>
Sep 8 12:00:06> Valid Configuration Tree
Sep 8 12:00:11> Firewall NAT service started
Sep 8 12:00:11> Bridge Created: br0
Sep 8 12:00:11> Bridge Interface Added: eth0
</pre>
despite the fact I have selected PPPoA as the connection type.
I now use it without dhcp on either the NiC or being served from the modem.
It's not a router and is designed to be connected to one computer. It suits me because I am now using it with an OpenBSD machine acting as my firewall and router for my LANs.
The problems I have experienced are :
The management web pages don't work with Lynx because they've used javascript to process the click on the button.
An inability to change the management IP address of the modem. The whole thing seizes up and despite explicit routes being set, it's impossible to get back to the management interface. Hitting the factory reste button is the only way to retrieve the situation. This means a total reconfigure of the modem.
PPPoA on the box seems to suffer as much as the PPPoA I was using with the Alcatel Speedtouch modem from dropped ISP connections. To be honest my ISP doesn't drop connections that often but I get a message concerning Resource(s) in use in the logs and the modem has to be powered down and then powered back up to get the ADSL line to come back up again properly.
If something is set to be a dhcp server I kind of expect it to be a dhcp server but it insists on passing the fixed IP address thru to the NiC. This makes routing interesting :).
Overall it seems fairly reliable. I have had it since March this year.
