D-2 User’s Reference Guide
Pricing and support
Compare pricing, service, and technical support service among various ISPs.
ISP’s Point of presence
Check with your ISP for the location of their nearest point of presence (POP) in reference to your site. In some instances, the ISP that you choose may not offer a POP in your local area. If that is the case, you may incur additional fees for
Endorsements
Consider recommendations from colleagues and reviews in publications. Netopia lists Netopia Certified ISPs on our web site at ‘http://www.netopia.com’.
Deciding on an ISP account
Your ISP may offer various Internet access account plans. Typically, these plans vary by usage charges and the number of host IP addresses supplied. Evaluate your networking needs and discuss them with your ISP before deciding on a plan for your network.
The following checklist is a guide to ensure you obtain the Internet service you require.
Setting up a Netopia R3100 account
Check whether your ISP has the Netopia R3100 on a list of supported products that have been tested with a particular configuration. If the ISP does not have the Netopia R3100 on such a list, describe the Netopia R3100 in as much detail as needed, so your ISP account can be optimized. As appropriate, you may refer your ISP to Netopia’s web site for more information.
Obtaining an IP host address
Typically, each computer on the network that requires Internet access requires its own unique IP address. If some or all network computers require simultaneous Internet access, obtain a block of IP host addresses large enough for each computer to have its own address, plus one for the Netopia R3100.
Consider expected growth in your network when deciding on the number of addresses to obtain. Alternatively, you may use the Network Address Translation feature of SmartIP.
SmartIP™
The Netopia R3100 ISDN Router supports the SmartIP™ feature which includes Network Address Translation.
Network Address Translation provides Internet access to the network connected to the Netopia R3100 using only a single IP address. These routers translate between the internal or local area network (LAN) addresses and a single external IP address and route accordingly.
For more information on Network Address Translation, see Chapter 11, “IP Setup and Network Address Translation.”
