223 lines
6.6 KiB
HTML
223 lines
6.6 KiB
HTML
<HTML
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>Appendix: The Alcatel SpeedTouch USB ADSL Modem</TITLE
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>DSL HOWTO for Linux</TH
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><A
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NAME="SPEEDTOUCHUSB">9. Appendix: The Alcatel SpeedTouch USB ADSL Modem</H1
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><P
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> The Alcatel SpeedTouch USB modem is one of a very few non-ethernet modems with
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Linux drivers. This modem is quite popular in Europe (Alcatel's home turf),
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and is widely used elsewhere as well. Hats off to Alcatel! </P
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><P
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> For this to work, you will essentially need three things: the Alcatel modem
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firmware and management utility (supplied directly by Alcatel in
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closed source, binary form), a properly configured kernel and PPP daemon,
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and the Linux modem driver and related configuration. The modem driver itself
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is open source. There are currently two distinct, unrelated drivers available. </P
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><P
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> When drivers were first released, the installation process required a fair
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amount of patching and rebuilding to make things work. Since then, things
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have progressed, and it can now be done without any patching (see below).
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How well all the pieces go together may depend on how old your Linux
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installation is, the kernel and PPP versions, and possibly what patches your
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vendor may have applied to their own packages. Recent Linux releases
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<EM
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>probably</EM
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> have most, if not all, of this already done,
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and hence you may not need to do any patching. I believe this is true of
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recent SuSE, Mandrake, and Debian (and probably others as well). You still
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need the Alcatel binary firmware, and a driver for the modem (if
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your distro does not include this). I would suggest checking your distro's
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web site, and search their archives for documents relating to this modem, and
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go from there as a first step. YMMV. </P
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><P
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> One obvious requirement is a kernel with USB support. USB and ATM support are
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better in recent kernels, and I would suggest if not using a very current
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Linux distribution, then at least get a recent kernel. And a quick note
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on kernels and patching: if using the kernel source supplied with a Linux
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distribution, it is most likely very heavily patched already. Applying
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patches to these can be hit or miss. </P
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><P
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> As always with Linux, there is more than one way to skin a cat. This is
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true of this modem and is resulting in some confusion since there
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are various documents circulating on this modem with various approaches
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taken. Some are more current than others too. Keep this in mind if you run
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into conflicting recommendations. Again, your distribution is probably the
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best source of documents.</P
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><P
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> There are two separate driver projects for this modem. The installation
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and configuration are completely different, as is the code base. Both are
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open source and GPL. One is a kernel module solution, originally developed by
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Alcatel, and now maintained by Johan Verrept. His HOWTO is located at <A
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HREF="http://linux-usb.sourceforge.net/SpeedTouch/howto.html"
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TARGET="_top"
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>http://linux-usb.sourceforge.net/SpeedTouch/howto.html</A
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>.
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I think most would agree that the installation of this driver is the more
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complex of the two, and more than likely will require some patching (unless
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your distro has already done this). But, it may have some slight performance
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benefits since it runs mostly in kernel space.
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This driver can potentially support both PPPoE and PPPoA connections. </P
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><P
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> The other driver is by Benoit Papillault and friends. This one has a less
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complicated installation, and can be done with <EM
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>no
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patching</EM
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>. All the important parts here are done in user space. For
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inexperienced users, or just plain ease of use, this may well be the most painless
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way to go. The home page is <A
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HREF="http://sourceforge.net/projects/speedtouch"
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TARGET="_top"
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>http://sourceforge.net/projects/speedtouch</A
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>
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and related docs are <A
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HREF="http://speedtouch.sourceforge.net/docs.php"
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TARGET="_top"
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>http://speedtouch.sourceforge.net/docs.php</A
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>.
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This driver can also work with 2.2 kernels (2.2.17 or later). PPPoE is not
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an option with this driver at this time. This driver also does not use
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the management utility that is part of the Alcatel supplied binary package.
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It extracts the modem firmware, and then does its own
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<SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"management"</SPAN
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>, so less dependent on proprietary code. Mandrake is
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reportedly including an RPM of this driver now. </P
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><P
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> Since this modem potentially supports both PPPoE and PPPoATM connections,
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which one is better? Which ever is supported by your ISP, and then
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which ever works best for you! If your ISP supports both (some do and
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some don't), you might try each approach and make your own decision.
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There is no absolute right or wrong on such things. There are just too
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many variables. Theoretically at least, PPPoA should utilize a little
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less overhead and system resources. </P
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><P
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> There are other USB modems on the market that use an Alcatel chipset,
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such as the Efficient Networks 4060. Do not expect either of these drivers to
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work with other modems. They won't. You should get a compatible ethernet
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modem in such situations. There are other USB modems with Linux drivers also.
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See <A
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HREF="http://eciadsl.sourceforge.net/"
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TARGET="_top"
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>http://eciadsl.sourceforge.net/</A
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>. </P
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>Appendix: Miscellaneous</TD
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