If Broadband is 'always on' then why....

[.Mark]

Do I have to run a dialer to get on the web?

Surely I should just open IE and bingo, my homepage pops up?
I've tried the setting that automatically dials a connection but it doesn't seem to do anything.

I'm guessing I've got something set up wrong?

[liszt]

Beats me. I just open up ie and away I go!

[craigalsop]

.Mark said:

Do I have to run a dialer to get on the web? Surely I should just open IE and bingo, my homepage pops up? I've tried the setting that automatically dials a connection but it doesn't seem to do anything. I'm guessing I've got something set up wrong?

Yes you should just be able to open up a browser & go. (I don't use windows *spit* often, but I'm pretty sure there is a checkbox that you can set/unset which stops the dialling process.

[tuffer]

You need to use the check box that says

"I wish to set up my Internet connection manualy, or I wish to connect to the Internet through a LAN"

Do you have a BB modem connected directly to the PC or do you have a seperate modem/router?

Have you tried reading the documentation that came with the hardware?

[sjg]

It does that because you still need a username and password to connect to your ISP. If you've got a router, you just put in the details once and the router sorts out reconnecting if the connection drops. With the ADSL "modems" it uses very similar dialogs to show it's establishing the connection.

Go into IE, Tools > Internet Options, Connection tab and select "Always dial my default connection" (make sure your ADSL one is set to default). Should then connect as soon as you open IE.

[.Mark]

tuffer said:

You need to use the check box that says "I wish to set up my Internet connection manualy, or I wish to connect to the Internet through a LAN" Do you have a BB modem connected directly to the PC or do you have a seperate modem/router? Have you tried reading the documentation that came with the hardware?

What you are trying to say in a polite way is RTFM

I have a BB Modem connected via USB for when I work from home, hardware was installed by BT, no documentation at all.

[.Mark]

sjg said:

Go into IE, Tools > Internet Options, Connection tab and select "Always dial my default connection" (make sure your ADSL one is set to default). Should then connect as soon as you open IE.

That's the baby, seems to work now I've given it a quick test.
Will be interesting to see what happens when I am in the office and connected to the LAN.

Cheers

[hughjayteens]

If you use the LAN in the office then just tick the 'dial whenever a network connection is not present'.

[Neil_H]

If you're using a USB modem, you will still be connecting by dial-up networking, so you will still have to dial up. If you want to have it start automatically, put the dial-up icon in your start-up folder and it will connect automatically when your PC boots up.

Alternatively buy an DSL/ Router combo and connect to it with a LAN cable (no dialup).

[rich-uk]

It is always on, but you have to log into the network, it just looks like the dial up dialog box.

[squirrelz]

With a USB ADSL modem, it uses the Point to Point Tunnelling Protocol, so that the external IP address appears on your PC.

If you have an Ethernet ADSL modem, you can still use PPTP, and still have the external IP address on your PC, but most people allow the modem itself to have the external IP address, and then you don't need the Dial up connection dialog.

A normal analogue modem uses the Point to Point Protocol (PPP) and PPTP looks similar from a user perspective.

[pbrettle]

Actually most ADSL suppliers in the UK (if not all) use PPPoA - Point to Point Protocol over ATM. Essentially the same, but I just wanted to be pedantic

As for dialing the "internet" for broadband - its basically because you have a contention ratio with other people in your area. Usually its something like 1-10 or 1-25 - which means there is one fat pipe from your area to the rest of the ISP's network for 10 or 25 households. It permanently available, but you need to authenticate to use the service - otherwise you will get some wise-ass with the right kit getting the service for free and probably chewing the bandwidth away.... not nice.

So what you do is authenticate (username and password) to the network and then on to the ISPs network as a whole. In the case of ADSL everyone must do it - either through a USB ADSL modem, or a standalone modem / router. Its slightly different with cable, but that authentication is handled by the cable modem which can uniquely identify each house by the cable loop rather than by a username and password.... although technically so can the phone operators...

The simplest and cheapest way of doing authentication for a connection for a single PC is a dial-up configuration with a USB modem. Its simple, easy and most people understand it.... oh, and its the cheapest way of doing it - hence the wide adoption. However, if you swap your USB ADSL modem for a separate router / modem then you have to fill in your details anyway....

[squirrelz]

pbrettle said:

Actually most ADSL suppliers in the UK (if not all) use PPPoA - Point to Point Protocol over ATM. Essentially the same, but I just wanted to be pedantic

Ah, yes, you're right about that, but only for USB modems. To be completely pedantic PPPoA is only for the connection between the modem and the ISP, the connection between the PC and an Ethernet modem (if you want the external IP on the PC) uses PPTP, well unless Alcatel are lying in their manuals.