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Chuft_Captain
new user
Reg'd: Sat
Posts: 14
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I have found this forum by rummaging around the internet for help on Broadband for Newpersons. The set up here seems quite complicated to me and I don't know where to go for advice, as any phone or internet provider will have a vested interest in their answers to my questions, so I am hoping that someone will be kind enough to read through this and provide some impartial answers.
Broadband is coming here in a few weeks when BT upgrade the local exchange. This is a home based office using Macs.
We have two separate phone lines coming in: one is for the house so I can do "friends and family" on that bill, and my computer's dial up uses that line, so my ISP's modem is my best friend number and I get 20% off all my dialling up.
The other Mac's dial up uses the office line. So we get two BT bills per month.
Plus, we have a deal with Cable and Wireless (used to be Mercury) whereby, if we dial memory+recall+9, the phone dials the 14-digit pin into the C&W network, then you dial the no. you want. So we also get a monthly bill from C&W. (Phone calls routed over their network are reckoned to be cheaper than straight through BT though I must admit I haven't inspected this for ages.)
Our ISP is a Mac specialist one (who already host our domain and email service) so I'd be inclined to continue with them for Broadband connection, plus their deal appears to compare very favourably to BT (no minimum fixed contract and cheaper per month).
So, the bits I don't get are: which bill would the ISP's broadband (£20+ pm) replace? I guess it would be the C&W one, which we would stop using? Secondly, would we need two broadband modems - one Mac using house line, the other for the office line? People keep talking about routers too. I think they mean you can connect more than one computer to a single broadband connection using a router.
The start-up and hardware costs are not slight: £50 connection fee; USB ADSL modem £36.99 each - or do I need only one of those plus one Ethernet router with multiple ports for existing LAN £73.99; (we have an Ethernet hub at the moment which connects the two Macs and the network printer); 2 static IP addresses £4.99 pcm each (I don't even know that this is, but it's on their equipment list). What is an ADSL microfilter?
I am getting bogged down with information over-load here! Thanks in advance.
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putasolutions
regular
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 12178
Loc: Infinity and beyond
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You're not wrong when you said it was complicated
Let's see if we can try and save you some money here and a bit of effort as well.
Correct me if I am wrong at any point 
You have two macs, two telephone lines and three bills
Cancel one of the telephone lines,
Buy a router, you would then be able to connect the existing hub to the router.
You would only need one static IP address which would be assigned to the router and the DHCP would assign dynamic IP addresses to the MACs.
You may not need to buy any modems as many of the ADSL broadband routers have a built in ADSL modem,
A microfilter is a small device that plugs into your normal BT telephone socket and splits the line into both a standard BT telephone socket and a ADSL broadband socket
Please post your query to the boards as many hands make light work, and I'm not talking electricians! If your problem is solved, let us know so that others can learn.
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Chuft_Captain
new user
Reg'd: Sat
Posts: 14
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Hallo putasolutions and thanks.
Two phone lines is the absolute minimum here. If I cancelled the home phone then all my friends and family and other personal calls would have to phone the office which is not acceptable.
I'm trying to understand the sequence of devices. At the moment it couldn't be simpler: both computers have independent wires going to different phone sockets. They are connected together and to the printer via the ethernet hub. You say get a router and connect it to the hub. I've just had a look and yes there are couple of free sockets. I'm sorry if I appear slow here, but I haven't even seen a router yet! So, does a phone cable come out of the back of it leading to the phone socket? What does DHCP stand for? I wish there was a drawing somewhere of the devices and wires - is there one on this site for instance?
Regrettably, getting a fix on this scenario is all down to me as our computer supplier has recently closed down, so I have to buy all the kit I need off the internet now. Thanks again.
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greysts
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 17746
Loc: Colchester
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Are you using the t/p line to the office simply for dial up connections or is it also used for voice calls? I got the impression it was only used for dial up and if this is the case you could use Puta's suggestion of a router to direct your BB connection to as many PC's as you like and the filter on the line would be used to take your personal calls. If you need both a personal and a business voice call line then, yes, you will need two t/p lines.
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). Well you did ask! It is simply a method of allocating networking resources to all the PC's in a workgroup. DHCP controls the way the PC's link to each other and to the internet. If you want some really heavy reading, have a look at this.
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Chuft_Captain
new user
Reg'd: Sat
Posts: 14
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Hallo greysts, yes we need both phones for "voice calls" as you put it. (I also don't understand why I don't get email alerts for replies) We don't have PCs we have Macs here. I'm not getting very far with my understanding of how committing to Broadband will decrease the phone bills. I have been onto the BT site and signed up for detailed logging/calls analysis, call it what you will. I'm sure this is a learning curve which other people have climbed so that's why I've appeared here.
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greysts
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 17746
Loc: Colchester
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Can we get back to basics for a moment. Why do you want Broadband in the first place? If you are satisfied with your connection speed and existing system do you need to upgrade?
If you change then as I see it you will need BT to provide two BB connections, one for your business and one for your home. Each line will have an ADSL filter on it which means that one half of the line will carry data and the other half voice. One or both of the BB connections can be used by your MACs. You will now have two t/p numbers, one for the office and one for home and you will pay BT for them. You say you already have a Service Provider who can handle BB so they should be able to continue to offer you their services and you will pay them for that. I see no reason why should not also be able to continue with Mercury service over the new BT line.
What I don't see at the moment is any money saving ideas out of that lot, unless I've missed something.
We've had a few problems with email responses from this Forum but that was with Freeserve addresses. Send a PM to Paul Lomax if the problem persists.
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Chuft_Captain
new user
Reg'd: Sat
Posts: 14
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Hallo greysts. (I wish I hadn't picked this board name now as it's not really my style at all) but anyway, I've done some more rummaging around the BT site and have found that although Broadband has now arrived here, we cannot run if on the office socket as to quote their website "there seems to be a device or function already allocated" or some such Martian-speak. I reckon this means because we have their FeatureLine already on that line, LOL! LOL! So this entire project is academic anyway. Well I assume it is, I have emailed them for clarification but no response so far (24 hours).
Featureline is dead good, as it means that in the office, one person can be on the net, another person can be talking on the phone, and the phone extension still rings with a new incoming call, neat, huh? All off "one" phone line (the other phone number is a magic invisible one which never shows on the phone bills).
I still don't get email alerts. Maybe I've set my settings up wrongly. Am clicking now on email replies........then I'll have a look at my settings.
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greysts
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 17746
Loc: Colchester
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I've just scanned the FeatureLine service on the BT site and I can see why you find it so useful. I can see no technical reason why you cannot keep your FeatureLine service with a BB connection. Broadband will give you 2 separate t/p numbers. One will be used for the Mac connections via a router so you can have all your computers linked to each other and all able to access the net at Broadband speeds. The other number would be the main line into the FeatureLine link so you could continue to enjoy what you already have. As I say it is technically possible but will BT actually offer you that option? Perhaps you could suggest to them what I've described and see what they say.
If you can't get any joy with your emails, PM Paul Lomax.
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