ELISA ADSL Diary (Päiväkirja)
David Paul
The information on this page will be of interest to those who wish to implement ADSL on a MAC and especially to those in Finland planning to use ELISA ADSL and the Zyxel Prestige 643 as the ADSL router.
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Summary
Although it took only 15 minutes to get ADSL up and running after the ADSL service was connected it took two months of research and planning beforehand to make it happen. This is my story. I hope MAC readers thinking of moving to ADSL will find it helpful.
May 2002
The essential key task for this month was research, notably researching :
I focused on using Elisa ADSL as our existing phone service is provided by Elisa (formerly the Helsinki Telephone Company). Information about Elisa ADSL can be found here (also in English).
I also focused on the Zyxel Prestige 643 as it gets good reviews in the Mac Forums of the ADSLguide and the user guide is available as a downloadable PDF document to read before any decision to purchase is made.
It was only later that I discovered that the Zyxel P643 is not on the list of Elisa preferred routers. Nevertheless the supplementary instructions provided by Terton, the Finnish distributor, gave detailed steps for connecting the router to Sonera Koti ADSL as well as ELisa ADSL. And the Zyxel P643 does meet Elisa's technical specifications for ADSL.
01 June 2002
I sent email to Elisa on their web-based contact form outlining requirements. Our existing setup is ISDN and since ISDN can't co-exist with ADSL I needed to confirm that we'd lose the 2nd phone number once ISDN goes. I also asked them to confirm that they could provide ADSL service to a MAC connection using a Zyxel P643 router.
03 June
I started to draw up my ADSL implementation plan. I needed to wait to receive confirmation from Elisa about connecting their ADSL service to a MAC using the P643. When confirmed I could then order the router. I also needed to plan an additional change from KPNQwest (my old ISP - it went bankrupt) to Elisa as the new ISP.
07 June
Confirming reply from Elisa received. I'd also need a splitter to separate analogue from ADSL signal
Placed order with verkkokauppa for
1 x 2566 Telewell
ADSL splitter 9.50 euro
1
x 2719 Zyxel Prestige 643 ADSL - 197.00 euro
12 June
Another email received from Elisa Sales :
"In Elisa we have also few network terminals that work with Mac. One is Nokia 5121 (price is 150 eur) and the other is A-link Roadrunner44 (210 eur). If you are going to buy a modem from another place, take note of the requirements of our ADSL. It must comply with the following standards:
According to the Zyxel documentation the P643 does comply with these requirements. I have meanwhile subscribed to Elisa Internet with a dialup modem connection in the event of disruption to KPN Qwest's service following its bankruptcy. The Elisa Internet dialup connection means that
This has however it has meant a fair bit of housekeeping, changing references to my old KPNQwest email address to the new one and updating the mail forwarding on my main web server.
17 June
Elisa dialup (modem 56k) connection up and running. I had no problems in setting it up. Using Location manager I created a new location called Elisa Dialup setting it up with appropriate TCP/IP and RSA settings. Although I didn't need it, Elisa do supply a startup CD kit for Mac users but you do need to ask for it when ordering/registering otherwise they'll send the Windows setup CD and instructions by default.
24 June
All mail forwarding operational and all mail now coming to my Elisa email address.
July
Break in activities (holiday and business trip to Singapore)
12 August
Resumed ADSL project. KPNQwest still active but apart from KPNQWest admin and billing information email and the odd mailing that's already a duplicate on my new ISP mail account everything is spam, so the account can be closed.
15 August
Since the existing ISDN line is in my wife's name she has to contact Elisa to arrange the change to ADSL. Spent the evening drafting a list of things she has to say to ELISA ADSL customer service.
16 August
Started some organising of cables and equipment. I have a couple of Macs and one Windows machine that sometimes need to network with my main G4 (File sharing over TCP/IP) and a localtalk printer that connects to the LAN via a Farallon Ethermac iPrint box through an ethernet hub (Intel 5 port). I set the cabling up so that the Zyxel crossover ethernet cable (the red one) runs from the 643 LAN 1 port to the hub, and the direct ethernet cable connects from the hub to my G4. ( For a direct connection between the P643 and the computer use the grey direct ethernet cable).
Cautionary word of warning: Do not attempt to play around with the router configuration before the ADSL line is activated. You risk changing the configuration so that you will later be unable to telnet in to the router and the only way to reconfigure it is through the local serial console port with terminal emulation. If you have a recent MAC with no serial port this will be difficult to do (HyTerm on Windows will connect you when you use the DB-9 cable supplied with the Zyxel). Correct me if I'm wrong on this observation!
My wife Johanna has placed the order according to the specification I gave her. Decided to order the ADSL filters from the Elisa shop online. They said I needed one for each phone. I ordered two ( 8 euros each).
20 August
Elisa confirms that the ADSL installation will take place on 27 August. As ADSL uses the existing cabling and I'll be doing the 'computer end' myself the installation will be 'wires only' so no engineer will be needed on site - the conversion to ADSL will take place at the exchange.
21 August
Contracts arrive for Johanna to sign. Included are 2 Elisa ADSL CDs - one with contractual blurb, the other with some software but all Windows stuff. They've seemed to ignore the fact that the setup was for a Mac system. Nothing about connecting up to ADSL though.
The 2 ADSL microfilters arrive. But from the blurb it seems that more than 1 phone/fax can hang off the analogue end so the second one was not necessary. Similarly it looks as if the POTS splitter isn't needed as the microfilter splits the ADSL and analog phone line.
For network protection I've installed Norton Personal Firewall. Even with a dialup connection there's a phenomenal amount of intrusive traffic out there attempting to break in to the system.
26 August
The day before ADSL installation day.
Post from Elisa arrives with usernames and passwords for email, FTP and webspace. Username and password are not needed for ADSL access, although they are needed for Elisa Internet access via modem and ISDN.
My existing Elisa Internet account has not been transferred but a new email account has been set up under the ADSL contract. This means that I have to change my Eudora email configuration settings, and change mail forwarding once again.
27 August
Installation day.
The following instructions refer specificially for connection of the Zyxel P643 to the Elisa ADSL service.
For other ADSL service providers follow the instructions they give. They are unlikely to be exactly the same as those shown below!
Mac Setup
1. Check the following properties of the TCP/IP Control panel (Note : implementation under Mac OS 9.2.2) :
2. Check telnet configuration parameters. I use NiftyTelnet and I set up a shortcut that will telnet into the router whose default IP address is 192.168.1.1
3. Norton Personal Firewall is on.
4. File Sharing is off.
Cabling and Router Setup
All cables laid out and ready to plug in. Elisa phones Johanna at work to say the ADSL connection is up. I plug in the phone to the phone socket of the filter - the phone works. I Plug in one end of the RJ11 cable to the microfilter's ADSL socket and the other end to to ADSL socket of P643. I power up the P643. Power, Sys and Lnk/Act on Lan 1 are on but ADSL LED doesn't illuminate. I check the cables and find that the ADSL RJ11 cable I'm using has a dodgy connection. I replace the RJ11 cable and the ADSL LED illuminates OK.
Router Configuration
Now I can telnet into the P643 using its default IP address 192.168.1.1 I'm prompted for a password (NiftyTelnet doesn't prompt for a username). Defaults are (User name: admin, if needed) password: 1234. Type this in. You'll be taken to the SMT Menu Interface. In the next few minutes your system is going to be open to the world so you should immediately change the default router password. Type 23 at the Main Menu prompt to change password. Make sure you write the new password down.
Follow the instructions given by the ISP or Router Supplier. The P643 I purchased came with instructions for connecting to Sonera Koti ADSL and ELISA ADSL. The Sonera set up is the same as the ELISA setup except that the VCI number is different.
Refer to the Zyxel User Manual to see how the SMT Menu System is arranged and how to navigate through configuration parameters.
From SMT Main Menu
choose Menu 1 (General Setup)
Make sure the following are set :
System Name=Elisa
Route IP=NO
Route IPX=NO
Bridge=YES
Press enter to confirm
[ Note : The Zyxel User Manual says that you need ROUTE IP=YES to access the internet. In ELISA's implementation of ADSL ROUTE IP must be set to 'NO' - see below]
Choose Menu 3 Ethernet setup -> Choose Menu 2 TCP/IP and DHCP Setup
DHCP Server=NONE
Choose Menu 11 Remote Node Setup -> Choose Node 1
Encapsulation=RFC1483
Multiplexing=LLC-Based
Route=NONE
Bridge=YES
In the option labelled 'Edit IP/IPX/Bridge' toggle the setting to 'YES' and press Enter
On the page displayed (Remote Node Network Layer Options) change to the following settings :
VPI=0
VCI=100
(*note Sonera VCI=33)
Confirm these settings with the Enter key - SMT returns to the Remote Node Setup screen - press ESC
You can confirm the settings with Menu 4 ( a combination of parameters that you set in Menus 1, 3 and 11)
Menu 4 - Internet Access Setup
ISP's Name= Elisa
Encapsulation=1483
Multiplexing= LLC
VPI #= 0
VCI #= 100
Service Name= N/A
My Login= N/A
My Password= N/A
Single User Account= Yes
IP Address Assignment= Dynamic
IP Address= N/A
ENET ENCAP Gateway= N/A
Now check the line status. From the main menu select Menu 24 Option 1 -
Menu 24.1 - System Maintenance - Status
You should see something like the following (actual values will vary)
Node-Lnk Status
TxPkts RxPkts Errors Tx B/s Rx B/s Up Time
1-1483 Up 8021377 8879228 0 11 0 88:42:21
2 N/A 0 0 0 0 0 0:00:00
3 N/A 0 0 0 0 0 0:00:00
...
8 N/A 0 0 0 0 0 0:00:00
On the Node 1 line
if '1483 Up' is displayed then the line is connected,
at the bottom right you should see information about the line speed and status
of the link.
ELISA IP addressing is dynamic (converting to static costs extra). For static IP addressing you'll need to do a little bit more but in my case I'm ready and start to connect in to the wonderful world of broadband. From the SMT Main Menu enter 99 to exit. The telnet connection is closed.
29 August
The ADSL connection has been up and running for the last 2 days. No problems whatsover. ADSL is awesome - broadband TV from China is high quality and 20mb updates that would take hours to download on my old dial up line are down in minutes. Norton Personal Firewall is running and tuned nicely - don't underestimate the amount of unathorised attempts that will be made to access your system. A firewall is essential.
20 September
My ADSL has been up and running for nearly a month now. No problems whatsover with the service. Elisa's pre-sales service is very good (although they never sent me the MAC CDs ..). The line has never been down so I can't comment on responsiveness of post-sales customer service.
As for speed - upload and download is very fast although when tested on a test server the actual download speed ( around 422 kbps) is not as fast as subscribed to ( 512 kbps ). The test report takes into account TCP overheads and one has to factor in the fact that the test server is on the US West Coast. Finnish ADSL users should note that there are some test reports from a few other Elisa ADSL users in Finland (Only obtainable as comparable results when running the test on your own connection).
David Paul
October 2002
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