Posted on 07/28/2006 10:28:58 PM PDT by chuckles
This is going to sound wierd. I need to set up a way for my in-laws to get on the net. Their provider went belly up and they don't have the bucks for DirecTV. They are in the armpit of communication hell. They have a '98 box with dial up and I have and XP box with DSL. My long distance is free.
I need to set them up somehow where I can call THEM on their modem and have it answer when they are ready to log on and use MY DSL connection. If they call me it's long distance charges. I have a router and a DSL modem. I also have a dial up modem if needed. I don't see any other way to get into my network. I want to set it up where they get a DCHP from my router and it would be just like they were on my network. My biggest problem is figuring out how to set it up where I call THEM, instead of the other way around.
If you can help, please put it in detail. I'm more of a hardware kinda guy.
BTW, for all those that want to evade the question with People PC, Net Zero, etc, none, nobody, nada, serve the particular area they live. They would have to move about 5 miles to get out of the phone co. they have and they are too old to move. The only other solution I can come up with is start my own Internet service and go broke like the others that have served this God forsaken place.
Hey chuckles, post #15... cost you $35 for an IBM remote dial in LAN server. It's old, and you will have to look for manuals, etc. But you are just not going to be able to talk a Win98 machine into answering the phone and setting up a PPP connection, IMO.
You could pick up some cheap old Sun box, and spend a couple of months getting it to answer the phone and set up PPP. There's no doubt in my mind that could it be done. No matter what, you'd better have some time on your hands.
Back to the null modem idea. If the 2 modems are talking, can't I direct the '98 box to look at the serial connection? In XP, you check "other" when setting up and it gives you the choice of serial conn. Dial up networking is just 1 way to the net. If I could get it to look at a serial port or even a printer port it should work if the 2 boxes are connected with a cable. The modem connection would look like a null modem,....maybe? The problem is I think '98 looks at the serial port and says its got a modem on it or it will look busy with something else. The linux router thingy might be the easiest since I just threw it in a bedroom when I was finished with it. If it would allow dialing in, then we are set to go.
On the serial connection, I don't think you want to run raw serial traffic between your machines. You would get no error detection/correction, etc. That connection should be TCP/IP, and PPP will take care of that for you.
I thought DSL throughput dropped dramatically with the distance from the CO?
http://www.freesco.org/
It's been years since I went there so I couldn't remember. It says "null modem" down there in the features. It also "RAS's". I think this will do it the easiest. I have an old 486 with 24 megs of ram and a floppy. Doesn't even use a HD or a fan. It worked flawless for a couple of years with 3 boxes on it. It probably can be done another way by a Windoze guru, but that might take weeks of driving back and forth.
Thanks everybody. Freepers gotta be the smartest group in the world. At least now I have something to go on.
....."And you won't have to teach your mother-in-law how to use Linux"..... The Fresco box is just flip the switch and let it boot from a floppy, about 45 seconds and your talking. Doesn't even use the keyboard or monitor after you set it up. It's just a dial up router. If I can make it answer, were done.
My in-laws would be on a dial up in the sticks. They would be limited to about what they had before, 24-28k to their CO. My connection (3 megabits),wouldn't even know they were there.
Yessir, I think you got it. Cool. (Technology rocks!)
I have a dumb question. If they can't call out, then how will your router/server know when they want to get on the internet? Smoke signals?
My mother in-law still thinks anything more advanced than a rotary phone is a plot to confuse her.
Why not just get satellite installed and pay for it. My wife and I got tired of her parent's using dial up at their house, since they were always forgetting they were online and we got busy signals. So we just signed them up for digital cable and got them the lowest priced cable internet access package. We pay the bill every month. It's cheap, given their age and health situation. We need to be able to check in with them frequently.
a v.92 modem & call waiting would've been way cheaper.
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