USB or NIC connection for DSL ?

[Mark]

my mom got Bellsouth DSL installed this week after useing dialup for way to many years, she lives in gainesville, florida.
they used a USB cable to hook to her PC, but i thought useing a NIC was the best way to go, right ?

her biostar mobo has an onboard NIC that i had disabled in bios as she didn't need it at the time.

my question is, will her DSL modem have a NIC port so i can bring her a cat5 cable and get it off of the USB port, she needs all the USB ports she can spare.

or will she have to get a different modem ?

her modem is a westell windriver C90-610030-06 if that helps.

i am going up to her house this weekend and want to make sure what my options are.

any advice anyone can give me ?

thanks

[YeOldeStonecat]

For the average user...there's really no performance difference between a PCI/Onboard NIC, versus a USB NIC. I've done enough side by side comparisons on 6 meg pipes to see them download at the same rates.

USB was semi-flakey in the Win9X days..but since 2K..I've not even seen the stability issue be valid anymore.

For hardcore online gaming...sure you want a good hardware controller PCI or onboard NIC...less CPU utilization. But for the average user......

However...I do prefer a CAT 5 connection..so I can get behind a router..and sit behind that NAT protection. That's reason enough. :thumb:

[Mark]

will i have to change any networking settings going to a NIC ?

they only have 1 PC there, no router or anything like that, so can i just swap to the cat5 cable and be done with it ?

i have never used DSL so not sure what to expect, i did have her make sure the windows XP firewall was running for some protection.

[YeOldeStonecat]

will i have to change any networking settings going to a NIC ?.

That sort of depends on her setup, what modem she has. I've changed systems from USB to RJ-45 before..but also was adding a router..having the router take over for the PPPoE login.

Many DSL ISPs are shipping modems now that do the PPPoE login for you..and even run NAT. So...without seeing more of the setup..hard to tell if it's as easy as just swapping cables...or a few more steps are needed.

[Mark]

okay i guess i can always call bellsouth tech support if i get in a jam doing this and lose her internet, thanks so much for the advice :)

:thumb:

[Mark]

okay here is how it is hooked up,

phone line > PCI phone modem > a little DSL filter that splits it to either a phone connection or to a DSL connection > to USB input of the DSL gateway box thingy > to a USB port on the PC.

does this have to go through the PCI phone modem, or can i bypass that.

her download speeds are only about 70kbs