Alcatel USB ADSL ICS Setup trouble

[Ewan]

I Have the following setup
1. An Alcatel USB ADSL freeserve connection, going into
2. A PC running Windows 98SE , on which is installed
3. ICS and has
4. A PCI networking card installed, which is connected to
5. An ethernet hub, which is connected to
6. A PowerMac and two PC's

I have tried installing ICS but the USB modem does not get picked as the modem to connect to the internet, instead the default Dial-up Adapter is picked by ICS. It correctly selects my PIC NIC as the 'home' adapater.

Is it possible to get this setup working as it is, or do I need some more kit? As far as I can see it should work and I am hoping that I have just configured something incorrectly. Or do I need to get this Vigor2200USB router, which should do the trick, but seems to cost £120. Do I need 2 NICS, or does ICS count as a second NIC.

[Greenstead]

A router is always a better solution because it provides a secure gateway to the internet for all the PCs and does not require any PC be left on for access. But it costs money.

It sounds you have installed ICS on the wrong connection. Try again.

You can get more advice and 'how-to' reading here:
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/qanda.asp?faq=HomeNet

They also have a forum there which is focused on ADSL users.

[Ewan]

Thanks for the response. I will read the site you recommend. With regard to the ICS connection, I was not given any options when I set it up. How should I go about getting ICS to make the correct connections?

[etlstes]

Hi -
The Annoyances.org site is a good place for guides on ICS installation for all Windows OS's: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/ics

I have installed ICS with no confusion regarding NIC/USB ADSL modem (I have an Alcatel Speedtouch), on an XP machine. The guides do say you need a second NIC card if you're also connecting to ADSL via a NIC, but it sounds like you have more or less the same setup as me. That's assuming you've connected the USB ADSL modem directly to a USB port on your ICS Host computer (the Windows 98 machine).

I'm no expert, so have a look at the annoyances guide and see if there is something relevant to your setup - they are very good at specifying all the things you need to start with.

Regards, Steve

[Ewan]

Are they one and the same? To Steve, good to hear that you have done it with a speedtouch and ICS. One question, is the adapter which ICS selects as the 'shared' adapter (which the speedtouch needs to operate- I tried removing the dialup adapter to try to force ICDS to pick speedetouch as the shared adapter, but the speedtouch needs it)on your system, the dialup adapter or have you been able to make ICS pick the speedtouch?

I am pulling hair out treying to get a clear picture of what I actually have. It is an ADSL connection, so is it a DSL? It uses a phone line and needs a dialup adapter, so seems to be a bit of DSL ( ie ADSL) but needs the dialup adapter normally used by a modem. It is not cable, but there is no phone number to dial. Do I hjust happen top have ended up with a product which is tricky to get going..HELP:confused:

[etlstes]

Hi Ewan -
Um Right - well, as I said I'm no expert, but here are some responses:
ADSL is a version of DSL, and I think you can forget about any distinctions for the purposes of installation. I know it's confusing when many instructions seem to assume you are going to connect directly via a NIC - I never quite worked out why I (and now you) seem to have a kind of hybrid - digital subscriber line, supposedly always connected, but using a dial up 'modem' to connect.

I think we just have to assume that this is the way the ISP and Alcatel decided to implement it (By the way, you got your modem as part of your Freeserve connection, I assume. I got the same one from BTOpenworld). If you get the chance to speak to Alcatel technical support they're actually very good, but I don't have a number, I was patched through from BT technical support when they decided they didn't want to speak to me any more.

With regard to your question on the adapters - I am running XP as my ICS host, so I don't know how it looks on a W98 SE machine, but I have only two adapters showing up. The Dial up Adapter IS the Alcatel Speedtouch. The other adapter is the Lan or High Speed Interface Card (the NIC for my local network). The network wizard that I ran had no difficulty in working with the Dial Up Adapter to set up ICS with - so I don't know why your system seems to be distinguishing between Dial Up Adapter and Speedtouch modem. They are one and the same on my system.

If you haven't tried it yet, try setting ICS up with the Dial Up Adapter, and see if it uses that adapter as the ADSL connection. It doesn't have a number - I know it seems weird but it works on my setup. But I can't see what your system is showing so I'm just guessing. Otherwise, have you tried the Annoyances documents yet? They can be quite detailed in some places.

Good luck with it - I know what you mean about tearing your hair out. I was about to commit computer genocide a couple of days ago. Let me know if I can give you any further info (although I'm off to a children's halloween party now...).

Regards, STeve.