Re: [PLUG] Comcast set up.

[Art Clemons <artclemons@aol.com>]

Arthur S. Alexion:
>The machine currently connected is a win95 with a seriously ill D: 
>partition.  It has an external Comcast modem connected to its NIC via 
>coax.
>
>The Linux machine I want to connect currently uses an external regular 
>modem and PPP.  It has a 3com NIC with just an RJ-45 plug.  It is 
>running Red Hat 6.2.

You could just connect your Linux machine in the place of the windows, 
computer, and configure it for DHCP.  It will come up on Comcast and the 
only difference is that you will likely have a different IP address 
showing.  Adding in a second NIC, you can then run one of the existing 
firewall setups for Linux and use that as the equivalent of a cable 
firewall /NAT box for the rest of your system.

>There is also another windows machine I wouldn't mind connecting.
>
>I have a network hub with 8 RJ-45s and one coax i/o.

Comcast charges extra for each additional IP address it assigns to your 
system.  The cost of an additional expensive NIC in your Linux machine
will quickly be amortized as less than paying each month the 
approximately $5 per IP address that Comcast charges.
You can also buy one of the cable/dsl routers available for $99 and 
less, and set that up.  This is the easiest solution, if you don't have 
your Linux box running 24 hours a day as any such scheme requires that 
the box connected to the Comcast modem be on for the rest to be able to 
connect.  You definitely want some kind of firewall protection for any 
computer connected to an always on internet connection, either one of 
the better Linux firewall setups or alternatively one of the cable/dsl 
router setups as the script kiddies are out there, just waiting for you. 
 I've been surprised by  the number of probes for open ports I've gotten
since getting cable, but from the first day of operation, I had a 
firewall going.

If you're willing to do a minimal amount of work, all you need is 
another NIC, installing that in your Linux box, and then learning about 
NAT et al, and connecting the second NIC to your present router, 
otherwise, just buy one of the cable DSL routers and be done with it.


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