A friend had WinXP installed with dialup isp. The computer had become so slow as to be virtually useless. So, I wiped the hd with dban and installed Suse 10.2.

Meanwhile, she had signed up for dsl with Verizon, and after hooking up phsically, we discovered a problem apparently in the house phone lines. The dsl light blinks constantly no matter which phone jack we use. The repairman is due tomorrow to check things out.

I anticipate a great deal of problems in trying to connect to dsl with linux. The cd Verizon supplied is Windows only, of course. Trying to log onto the Verizon signup site from my linux box doesn't work as verizon recognizes my non Windows o/s.

I have read that plugging a Win box into the Verizon router will allow signup, and then after that any o/s will work. Does anyone know for sure if this is true?

If push comes to shove, I'll have to reinstall Windows. Any advice is appreciated.

If it comes to that, i wouldn't install windows physically, i'd do it with Virtualbox, installing it virtually.

My provider needed me to go too a website as well, to fill in some stuff, but this worked in linux as well.

Thanks. The serviceman was there, today, and confirmed that there is no dsl into the house. Verizon will work on it. When they get it going, I'll temporarily hook up an old win98 box to try to set up her account. I'll post the results.

Details for Verizon DSL account setup:

The Verizon worker installed a spliter and filter at the entrance box, and also put in a dedicated line to the computer at no charge.

Instructions give a url to connect to, but it doesn't work from Linux. Instructions say that if the url doesn't work, use the CD; however, the CD is Windows only. Just call the help number listed in the instructions and a tech will help with a manual setup.

Other than that, Suse 10.2 recognized the connection and nothing further was required. The Westell router Verizon supplied has four ethernet connections and a hardware firewall. PcFlank shows the computer as completely stealthed.