T1 install, need info

[tileman]

I've signed up for T1 and we are just waiting for our port date now, which should be within 10 days. The tech that came out told me to get a router and a few nic cards before he came back to finish up. He is installing his end of the setup in the garage and will be connecting the cables. He said he would double check to make sure the connections were made but he needed the router and nics in place to do so. My question is, I have a router, Netgear 314 10/100 which is a few years old, will this router be good enough? I plan to buy new nic cards. Not sure if the old ones are still useable as they have been stored and moved several times. Can I buy just any NIC card or do I need to look for something specific? I don't want to sound simple, I just haven't messed with the PC stuff in several years and I'm afraid I'm not up to speed on these things anymore.


Thanks

[YeOldeStonecat]

Any standard NIC will do...10/100. Most new PCs and laptops have them built into the motherboard now.

That router will be OK...it will do the job, if you have a larger network I'd recommend going with something a bit more SOHO/Business grade. For for 20 or less, it'll do. Assuming he'll have a DSU that bridges to ethernet...and you'll be plugging in your public IP address, default gateway, and DNS settings, on the WAN interface of the Netgear.

[tileman]

Thanks for the info

Our setup is real simple. We have 3 PC's that willbe connected for now. I don't plan to do any file sharing or connecting together. 1 of the PC's is for gaming, 1 is for my daughter and 1 is for work ( viewing blueprints and such). Before the big move we had cable and it worked fine with the router, again same basic setup. Now we finally decided to make the jump and get the T1 it will be the same basic setup and I wasn't sure what the difference might be.

I'm not clear on what the tech will be providing. He said that he would be supplying hardware that would be mounted in the garage next to our Home Smart Box ( where our Cat 5 and such comes in) and once he has made his connections then he would connect one of the wires in the smart box, which would be located in the office. This wire would then be connected to the router in the office. Then the router of course would be connected to the PC's throughout the house. The basic system is an integrated T1 with 5 phone line.

Should I ask about dedicated IP's? I believe they offer a dedicated one but I'm really not sure how that works.


Thanks

[rollytan]

unless you want dedicated IP's for each computer you dont need. It will come usually with one dedicated IP and normally it comes with a block of 10 or so with your T1 account. You would just edit your network connections and manually change that or for your entire network you edit your router settings to be static IP vs dynamic. Honestly just let them do their part and you'll find it will probably all work fine with no work on your part.

[tileman]

Thanks for the info guys.

The installer said we only get one ip going to call FDN on that.
But the install went smooth and he stayed and hooked up my router and made sure we had it up to speed.

ron.

[tileman]

Have had time to run this setup and only have one real issue. The connection keeps dropping. I've had to reset my (inside) router a few times today. I know this is not right. I have 2 pcs connected to a NetGear router and I had a feeling it had to do with the settings or configuration. I called FDN and I was told that we are behind their Public Ip and I need a switch not a router. Apparently the router is causing me to be double routing according to the tech. Any ideas on this setup? He gave me an option of getting out from behind them and said he would set me up with a Public IP if I wanted. Which is the best option? Any thoguhts? This is an integrated T1 with a dedicated IP. The tech that came out originally told me that I would need a router and helped me make sure all the connections were there.

Thanks