Step 1
Does my Internet service provider use PPPoE?
It either does or does not. If you have a DSL modem, your service provider may use PPPoE (for Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet) as the communication language between your DSL modem and the provider’s network. PPPoE is a secure way of connecting your network to the Internet. Your Router supports PPPoE, so all you have to do is set it up to utilize PPPoE. This will be covered later in the manual. For more about PPPoE, see the Glossary of Networking term is the appendix of this manual.
Is my connection bound to a MAC address?
It either is or is not. All network cards or adapters have a unique "serial number", called a MAC address. Your service provider can "see" your network adapter’s MAC address over the Internet. In some cases, the provider will record the MAC address of your adapter and only let that adapter connect to the Internet. This is done for several reasons, one of which is security. It also enables your provider to keep track of how many computers you have connected to your modem. You will need to find out whether your provider requires the same network card to connect to the modem all of the time. In the event that your provider does bind your MAC address, your Router has a feature that will copy the MAC address of your card. This will be covered later in the setup procedure. For more about what a MAC address is, see the Glossary of Networking Terms in the appendix of this manual.
Does my connection have an assigned host name?
It either does or does not. You will need to know if your provider assigns you host name that is required for connection. If it does, then you will need to know the host name. If your computer was assigned a host name by your provider, the next section describes how you can obtain your host name.
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