Very Computer

Here is what I understand about cable modem, scheduled to be added on
to our existing cable TV link in a couple of days:

The cable guy will provide a modem and ethernet card (he told me this).
He will use my Windows 98 installation to verify that it works.

From reading some of the threads in this newsgroup I've concluded that
when I boot up Linux (Red Hat 5.1) I will be able to find some reference
to the Ethernet card in the boot-up messages. If that happens, it means
that Linux can see the interface and I'm ready to muck about in /etc.
I believe I can learn exactly what to do in /etc from  HOWTO file
in my Linux distribution CDROM. It looks like there may not be one
with Red Hat 5.1, but I happen to have Red Hat 6.2 also, (which I'm
postponing installing to a later date). The HOWTO file, called "Cable-Modem",
is buried in a RPM (I had forgotten about this), so I'll check it out
later.

Oh, and the cable guy said all Ethernet cards are alike.

You might ask that he only install the nic drivers.
The other software kinda kludges up your browser and registery.

Search for uninstall or dll in comp.dcom.modems.cable if you want.

Quote:> Oh, and the cable guy said all Ethernet cards are alike.

His is right, just like all airplanes are alike.  :(
Ask for an ethernet nic not a usb nic.

After you know all is working, get the network settings.
Pop up a dos window
ipconfig /all  

if that does not work, click start, run  winipcfg  and click more info.

These will be used to setup linux.

Redhat 7.2 is out.
5.x and 6.x had pump problems, use dhcpcd to get dhcp lease.

You need a firewall running before connecting to the cable.
People have been cracked within 15 minutes of being on the net.
Cracked boxes are used to crack other sites.

http://www.zonelabs.com had a free firewall for win9x boxes.
http://linux-firewall-tools.com has a ipchains firewall script
generator. ipchains is obsolete in the 7.x release.

You will need to download several security patches from Redhat.com
for your 5/6.x distro.

http://cart.cheapbytes.com/cgi-bin/cart
under CheapBytes CDs (top left)
contains linux x86 Install cds for ~2 each, and up, + shipping

Redhat 7.x x86 install and doc cd (~$4)
Linux Mandrake 8.x  (GPL Version) (~$6)

For people accross the pond,  http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk