OK, this just beats all.

[lihan161051.livejournal.com]

Just talked to someone who had two computers, both connecting to the Internet, but clearly not on the same subnet because their peer-peer services wouldn't see each other. I figured it was just a couple of stacked NAT routers .. but I was wrong.

One machine was connected through a cable modem via a wireless NAT router.

The other machine was directly connected to a DSL modem.

I can't figure out if she just didn't tell the DSL sales people she had another machine already on a cable connection with everything she needed to put that second machine on the LAN with the first one, or if she did and the jerks set her up with a separate DSL anyway just to make a few bucks off of her. Because it was painfully clear that this person was in about ten feet over her head even with basic navigation on either machine, and I'm willing to bet that she had *absolutely* no idea what she was doing when she set up the second machine. Or she has multiple relatives/friends with strong opinions about which type of Internet connection she should be using.

Needless to say, the DSL modem is now sitting there connected to DSL and no longer connected to either of her machines, which are both now happily chatting with each other on the private side of the NAT. I hope she calls the DSL provider and gives them a piece of her mind for selling her DSL when she clearly didn't need it .. or beats her "tech support" relatives about the ears a bit ..

Comments

[ptomblin-lj.livejournal.com]

Around here, DSL and cable modem come from different companies. That would be a very strong disincentive for the DSL company to mention that she could share the cable modem between the two computers.

[hisamishness.livejournal.com]

Too bad one of the load-balancing routers is so many hundreds of dollars... (last I looked)

[garpu.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain. someone on my friend's list was convinced by her ISP that she needed a separate phone line for DSL so she could be on the phone and on the internet at the same time. Why do they screw over the clueless? I know buyer beware, research, and all, but there's a huge chasm between stupid and being preyed upon.

And don't get me started about "tech support" relatives.

[squigit.livejournal.com]

You can set that up just about anything Cisco with 3 Ethernet ports, (not sure the going price for something with 3 ports able to run 12.4 on eBay) but I agree, it would be nice if the consumer level ones could handle it.

[hisamishness.livejournal.com]

I recall one consumer / SOHO box that could do it. As I recall it was something like $500 or $800 a few years back. I think it had a red case.

But, yeah - letting a consumer box load-balance would be nice. Unless you have to support it. Can you imagine the buck passing? Sorry, it's your DSL provider - Sorry, it's your Cable provider - Sorry, it's your box manufacturer - Sorry, it's your laptop manufacturer - Sorry, it's your wireless card manufacturer, Sorry, it's your DSL provider...

[http://users.livejournal.com/hub_/]

same here.

[http://users.livejournal.com/hub_/]

most of the time techsupport relatives know jack-shit. they just know a bit more than the other.

[http://users.livejournal.com/hub_/]

I meant "techsupport" with the quotes, off course.

[neferde.livejournal.com]

One of my clients, a very sweet old lady who's finally dipping her feet into the realm of non-AOL email, called me up the other night. She had the Q*est DSL telemarketer on the other line and he was trying to convince her that the dedicated fax line running into her house wouldn't be needed anymore and could be canceled, thereby saving her money, if she switched to DSL. His reasoning was that she was still using dialup because the fax line was in their records as having once been used as a 56k line! She's been on cable internet for the last 3 years now and has a firm grasp of the cable modem (and her bill from the cable company for providing the line) and yet she was utterly confused because this guy kept throwing all these buzzwords and technical terms at her which she didn't know the definitions for. When I saw her next she was still furious that she'd almost given in to the guy before realizing something was up and calling me for clarification. I'm beginning to believe that when it comes to selling DSL nowadays companies like that are relying on confusion and pressure to get customers.

[geekgrrl-ca.livejournal.com]

I used to have dsl (free from work) and cable (faster then dsl) hooked up on the same network... the network diagram wasn't pretty but it worked... the dsl was mostly used for direct connections to the internet (back when nat broke everything) and the cable was for anything that didn't have a pppoe client installed

[commonsensehere.livejournal.com]

wtf are you talking about?