I got a Westell Versalink 327 Wireless Router (802.11g/b). I was able to get into the router's configuation screen through an IP address, user name and password. I changed the ESSID, made sure wireless was enabled, disabled the firewall, and made sure WEP encryption was turned off. Problem is:

1) It will only communicate with my wired desktop pc for a couple minutes through adsl-setup.
2) ifconfig shows that adsl-setup added a ppp0 connection to eth0 and lo.
3) wired connection is slow.
4) I cannot do more than connect to my wireless laptop....iwconfig shows my new wireless band and speed is 11 MB/s but I cannot browse the internet with this connection.

This is a Verizon router. They don't cater to Linux and only provide a Win CD-no literature. Does this router need to be activated by this cd? If it does-what does a Linux user do?

What does the windows documentation say? My guess is that it'll have you set the router up as a DHCP server, so that you don't actually need to install or configure anything on your Windows box, and that the Windows-based documentation describes how to connect to it using Internet Explorer....

At least, that's what the documentation that came with my devices did.

If that's the case, then follow those instructions, and set your computer up for DHCP.

If it isn't, then post, in as much detail as you can, exactly what the documentation *does* tell you to do. It could be that it's a proprietary protocol that will only work under Windows. It'd be downright stupid of them to do that, but it is Verizon we're talking about.

....

There is no documentation with this router-except for a card describing how to insert the Verizon software cd and start their software. I've been using Verizon DSL on a wired non-router modem for over a year now. Their protocol is DHCP (that's what I've been using anyway) and does work with Linux.

I'm wondering if there is some setup the router would need to allow users to use it-it's not being set up as eth0 on my wired Netgear FA311 NIC (it gets set up as ppp0 with adsl-setup but is slow for wired and only lasts for a couple minutes). The wireless setup is strange too-it accepts users but won't let them browse the internet.

Let me get this clear, because I think there might be a nomenclature problem...

You bought/rented a box from your ISP that would allow you to connect multiple computers to the high speed internet. This internet is through xDSL, and you've had to use adsl-setup in the past to configure this.

Now, I'm a little unclear on something: are you using adsl-setup on the computers that're behind the router? You shouldn't need to. The router should be able to connect to the internet, and share the connection through a straight ethernet connection/dhcp on the private side.

The router should have two sets of ethernet plugs. One should be off on its own, and labelled WAN. The other should be a collection of plugs that're right next to each other. You plug the DSL modem into WAN, and connect the clients to the hub. Then you access the router's web page configuration and tell *it* how to connect to the DSL (username/password, etc.). From there, to add a computer to the network, you just have to plug it in, and let the router assign configuration through DHCP. Nowhere in that equation do you actually have to install/run RP-PPPoE or any other ADSL client software on your computer.

You're having problems with the wired network as well as the wireless. The first rule of troubleshooting is to only try to fix one problem at a time. The second is to eliminate anything that could be causing the problem. In this case, I suggest you ignore the fact that the wireless isn't working, and focus on getting the internet to work properly for wired clients. My guess is that when you get the wired working properly, the wireless will magically start working of its own volition.

Could you please throw a little light on the situation?


And if Verizon didn't provide you with a real "router" (actually a NAT box), then I suggest you return it and get one from your local Best Buy. You can pay them with $2 bills.

This internet is through xDSL, and you've had to use adsl-setup in the past to configure this.

no-in the past netconfig set this up automatically as eth0 and used DHCP. I tried adsl-setup with this new router and it set up a new ppp0 connection which only lasts for about 5 minutes after boot up and is slower than it should be.

Now, I'm a little unclear on something: are you using adsl-setup on the computers that're behind the router? You shouldn't need to. The router should be able to connect to the internet, and share the connection through a straight ethernet connection/dhcp on the private side.

Not sure what you mean by behind the router-my phone line goes to the modem/router combo and the an ethernet cable connects to my pc NIC card.

The router should have two sets of ethernet plugs. One should be off on its own, and labelled WAN. The other should be a collection of plugs that're right next to each other. You plug the DSL modem into WAN, and connect the clients to the hub. Then you access the router's web page configuration and tell *it* how to connect to the DSL (username/password, etc.). From there, to add a computer to the network, you just have to plug it in, and let the router assign configuration through DHCP. Nowhere in that equation do you actually have to install/run RP-PPPoE or any other ADSL client software on your computer.

And if Verizon didn't provide you with a real "router" (actually a NAT box), then I suggest you return it and get one from your local Best Buy. You can pay them with $2 bills.

I think you're right in that Verizon didn't provide me with a 'real' router....I'm thinking about returning it. It took me 5 minutes to convince the "tech" people that Linux is an OS and has nothing to do with Windoze or Mac.

All fixed. I called Verizon Tech Support again and talked to someone else who also had never heard of Linux but was able to help me on my router's configuration screen in Firefox. Seems I had to set up a connection first which illuminated the dimmed internet light on my router. This gave me an IP address I had never seen before. I am now able to get online wired and wireless and my wired connection speed has doubled to 180 kb/s.

ifconfig still shows 2 different set of IP addresses for eth0 and ppp0. Should I delete the ppp0 connection?

If you're using regular ethernet, then ppp0 shouldn't be loaded at all. Just because it's there doesn't mean it's active.

I'd say that if it's working now, don't mess with it. Probably won't hurt to get rid of ppp0, but I'd just leave well enough alone unless you're *really* hurting for resources.



Yeah, tech. support is iffy that way. I worked in it myself for 6 years before I met one too many MSCE who'd gotten his creds from a cracker jack box, and decided to retire. I would have quit earlier, but I was getting $250/day after tax. I'm 24 now, and studying Philosophy and Applied Linguistics at University. In some circles, you hear all about the stupid customers, and I'm sure everybody's heard the "cup holder" myth. Some of the things that I've seen "techs" do would make your eyes bleed.