[NTLUG:Discuss] Linux on AT&T cable

[Rick Matthews]

> I use an old P166 with 32 MB of
> RAM as a gateway router/DHCP server/Squid caching proxy server and I've
> even set up a simple caching DNS server on this machine too (just to play
> with).

You forgot to mention your ipchains or iptables firewall. Didn't you?

>  Now, my FQDN is
> <my-full-IP-address>.client.attbi.com, so I can't really get around the
> dynamic address thing like I could before, since technically I don't
> really know what IP address I have at any given time.

Check out http://www.mynetwatchman.com/. (You'll find the background info here:
http://www.mynetwatchman.com/vision.htm). I run a small perl agent that watches my
firewall log and reports certain entries to my NetWatchman so they can be reported in
aggregate. Makes a lot of sense.

Anyway, a side benefit of running that agent is that the my NetWatchman site always
knows my current ip and they provide (once you've logged in) a "Personal Web Server"
link back to your ip (there's also an ip history for your enjoyment). Works great
from the road!

Rick

> -----Original Message-----
> From: discuss-admin at ntlug.org [mailto:discuss-admin at ntlug.org]On Behalf
> Of Courtney Grimland
> Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 12:10 PM
> To: discuss at ntlug.org
> Subject: Re: [NTLUG:Discuss] Linux on AT&T cable
>
>
> I've had my cable modem (I live in Arlington) for about a year and a half
> (back when it was on @Home's network).  I use an old P166 with 32 MB of
> RAM as a gateway router/DHCP server/Squid caching proxy server and I've
> even set up a simple caching DNS server on this machine too (just to play
> with).  No problems.  Except for the 3 days we were down when they were
> moving everything over to AT&T's network, I haven't had a single minute of
> downtime.  There have been as many as 8 computers on the inside (4 right
> now) with no bandwidth/throughput issues.
>
> The external interface plugs into the cable modem, and I have used both
> dhcpcd and pump as the dhcp client.  Both work fine.  With @Home, I had to
> specify '-h <hostname>' with pump (didn't use dhcpcd back then) using the
> hostname they assigned me.  AT&T doesn't require that.
>
> Now, if I could only get a static address...  With @Home, my FQDN was <my
> hostname>.alntn1.tx.home.com, and it always resolved to the correct ip
> address (which never changed, by the way).  I had no problems accessing my
> router away from home when it was like that.  Now, my FQDN is
> <my-full-IP-address>.client.attbi.com, so I can't really get around the
> dynamic address thing like I could before, since technically I don't
> really know what IP address I have at any given time.  However, the
> address that I have has never changed since since I've been on AT&T, so I
> guess it's really no different than before.  Anyways, I'm rambling.
>
> I did notice a bandwidth drop when we were moved to AT&T.  I used to
> consistently get 1.2 to 1.5 Mb/S (that was nice), and now I'm averaging .6
> to 1 Mb/S.  Still pretty good for $40 a month.
>
> All in all, I've been perfectly happy with my cable modem, and I wouldn't
> ever be able to go back to dial-up.
>
> On Thu, 9 May 2002 21:35:55 -0700 (PDT)
> Minh Duong <minh_duong at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Is anybody out there connecting with AT&T cable?  I
> > want to create a home network with a linux
> > firewall/router but I'm not sure if AT&T requires
> > special protocols like NetBios in order to make the
> > connection work.  I know that for a while @Home
> > requied NetBios to keep track of the users because
> > they didn't want to employ other means.  Since AT&T
> > absorbed @Home users last year, they may be still
> > using that technique.
> >
> > Personally I always believed this was thoughtless.
> > Since cable is already somewhat insecure, using
> > NetBios as an ID tag is like keeping all your doors to
> > your house unlocked so that people looking for you can
> > walk in and inspect it to identify you personally
> > rather than looking at your street address.  But
> > that's just my opinion.
> >
> > __________________________________________________
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> >
> > _______________________________________________
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>
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