NTL Questions?

staxx

Guys,

A few questions regarding NTL Cable broadband:

1) I'll be attaching a router, is this supported by NTL (i.e. will the engineer connect the modem to this rather than to the PC)?

2) Is there any standards that the router has to support to work with NTL (e.g. in ADSL it would have to support PPPoE etc.)

3) Anyone any experience of using the Ovislink WMU-9000VPN with NTL (or in general)?


4) If the engineer will only connect to a PC will there be any issues with "re-registering" the new router myself instead of using the PCs NIC?

5) How long do NTL take to install BB once requested (they said 4-5 days)?

crawler

1) The Cable Modem comes with a USB and Ethernet port. Depending on your router type you can connect your router to either port. NTL wont support your equipment (as you would expect ) but loads of people use routers with the service

2) Not really, deoending on what you are trying to do! Remember, your IP is dynamic not static!

3) Nope - Netgear or linksys both work fine though...

4) It's the MAC address of the Cable Modem that gets registerted, not your NIC MAC

5) They typically try to arrange a mutually beneficial time for the install - someone needs to let them in to do the work. Christmas is traditionally very busy for them.

MartMax

hi staxx

i totally agree with crawler. i have ntl bb for nearly 4 months and it works greatly. Last month I acquire a simple router/switch D-Link DI-604 and it runs ok (until lately when I messed up with settings and firmware) it crashed all day while router should stay nicely for weeks or months without rebooting.

Don't think the engineer will bother to install the ntl to your router. It is easy DIY stuff, nearly plug n play. Just a little bit of tweaking to get few things done e.g. port forwarding etc.

You need to check if the router supports DSL or cable or both. DSL router only won't work. See posts in Sticky and manufacturers website - there are few good routers mentioned.

There shouldn't be any issue abt registering the MAC address, but when you change the cable from your PC nic to router port make sure you "power cycle" the modem and the router. Normally what I do is power off everything and switch everything on with cable modem first. Wait for few seconds before you have you router up and running. Your router manufacturer should provide you with specific instructions on this.

Physical installation of the cable modem took me less than 1 hour. But trying to get on the phone, arranging appointments and waiting for the engineer - we never know i.e it's NTL.

staxx

crawler, mart_max thanx guys, great info!

I'm currently on the UTV trial, but notified that NTL is in area (3 times dl, twice ul and twice cap for only a fiver extra), unfortunately I had just bought an ADSL router (a very nice 3Com 5 in 1) before I decided to go for NTL, I haven't even opened the ADSL router (tempting though it was!) as I knew I want to go for NTL instead. The Ovislink one I'm thinking of buying doesn't have a modem and it's got most of the feature of the other 3Com one (and a few others, such as 4 usb ports, VPN Server, QoS - upload throttling by app, print server etc.) but is a damn site more expensive. I just wanted to make sure of a few things before splashing out.

So just to recap, pretty much any router without a modem can be used to hook up to an ethernet cable modem?

Coming soon to For Sale: a very nice ADSL Router, Firewall, Switch and Wireless G AP - unopened.

Thanks again guys.

seamus

staxx wrote:

1) I'll be attaching a router, is this supported by NTL (i.e. will the engineer connect the modem to this rather than to the PC)?

Depends on the engineer. The guy who stuck it in for me, wouldn't leave until I got an internet connection, even though it just required me to reboot the router.

So just to recap, pretty much any router without a modem can be used to hook up to an ethernet cable modem?

Pretty much. Any cable router should work fine with it. Most are designed to connect to a cable modem, they don't have a cable modem inbuilt.

How long do NTL take to install BB once requested (they said 4-5 days)?

They should keep your appointment. If they haven't turned up, ring up and be forceful.

darraghn

Hi Guys,

I have bought a new house, yet to be built, and have a chance to customise the wiring specification. I want NTL TV and NTL Broadband in one room, do I need to have two coaxial cables run to the room, or can they use the same cable for both?

Thanks in advance.

seamus

darraghn wrote:

Hi Guys,

I have bought a new house, yet to be built, and have a chance to customise the wiring specification. I want NTL TV and NTL Broadband in one room, do I need to have two coaxial cables run to the room, or can they use the same cable for both?

Thanks in advance.

No, it's taken from the one coax cable coming in. They literally stick a splitter on it

spongebob

He should have co ax running from his 'office ' in the house to the NTL point, the builder will tell him where the NTL point will be . Use good co ax like RG6 .

M

crawler

Spot on Muck -RG6...

Either that or a good wireless AP & NIC

Moriarty

cat5e or similar may also be nice to have hard wired in.