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Question about routers

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by dseibert

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I am actually using my mothers TR account right now but I need to know why it is routers only allow broadband providers to charge it as one computer using the line.
I am trying to convince my mom to get the D-Link wireless router (not sure of the product number or anything) but she is worried they will find out that there are more than one computers using the line. Adelphia is our provider currently.

Any references, places to look, or your own qualifications would be helpful. Thanks!

3 replies

by thechas

I have a Linksys home router with a built in 4 port switch.

The difference between a 'standard' commercial router, and a home DSL / Cable router is that the home router is set up to log onto your ISP as a single PC.

When you setup one of theserouters, you load your user name and password into the router, and it connects to your ISP when any connected PC requestes internet access.

If your mother is still concerned, you can do the same thing, by installing a second NIC in the PC that connects to the cable modem, and connecting your network to it.

You will need to enable Internet connection sharing, and leave the primary PC on anytime any other PC may need to go on-line.

Either way, your ISP only sees 1 PC connecting to it.Chas

by mrafrohead

Your router seperates your computers and your ISP.

Your ISP can only see the router as a computer. Anything that you have hooked up after that your router can see, but won't allow your ISP to see. This is due to NAT.

If you go to the Linksyswebsite and do a search on how they work, they are very descriptive and easy to follow. Although, if you are only hooking up another computer, I would do what thechas recommended and just use ICS. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than a router and works just the same.

Personally, I have a router hooked up at home with a twenty port switch behind it and six computers hooked up and running, and my ISP only knows that I have one connection;) Computers are a great thing to work with, I love them;) Hehehahaha

Mrafrohead

by lordinfidel

With DSL (and other type of single IP connections), you are NAT'ng the connection when you route other systems thru it.

It does not matter what the NAT'ng device is; could be a win2k/win98 machine with ICS. It Could be a 2K server with routing and remote acces, it can be a linux box with IPMasquerade, or even a hardware solution like a lnksys or netopia dsl router. Or even a cisco router that supports pppoe.

It also does not matter the connection type. You can even nat and share a Dial-up connection.

There is no way for the ISP to ever know that there are multiple computers hiding behind a single IP. Unless they are going to sit there and read every packet that goes across the wire and try to piece together that 5 simulatneous requests to 5 different places coming from the same IP. It is too resource intensive.

The whole "dsl provider selling home networking packages and charging more per system" is utter crap. It is meant to rape and pillage the uniformed/non-technical masses. They want to charge you for additional machines, but will not assign you routable IP's. So they have their cake and eat it to.

NAT is what allows large corporations (and small ones) to connect their entire pvt networks to the
public net without having to buy a routable IP block.

A small company can buy a single line (T1, frame, DSL) and get issued 1 routable IP, and still connect their entire netwk to the net using NAT.
And get charged no more then the guy next door who has only 2 machines.

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