Small Network and High-Speed DSl

[CharliesDaughter]

We are a small, three person, law office. Our fax and DSL service is with AT&T and separate from our office phones which are with a separate company because the Bar Assn. got us a special price; however, as the company could not offer DSL service, our Fax and DSL are with a separate line with AT&T.

Next month we will move into an other suite in the same building and will be sharing space with two other attorneys who say they have highspeed DSL with AT&T. So, we are keeping our existing phones and AT&T is going to run the lines into the new suite so we can keep our phones and phone number - separate from the two laywers already in the space who will also keep their existing phone numbers. We are, however, giving up our forth line as we can use the fax machine already in the new space, and they already have high speed DSL.

The lawyers already in the suite tell me all I have to do is plug my modems's phone cable into the DSL jack already in the office for me and I will instantly have DSL service and our network will also find it's place, and there isn't anything special we have to do to make all this work.

I have nightmares of making this move and finding out we don't have internet access and can't pick up e-mail messages because we did not do something we should have done. The sales rep from AT&T confessed he knows nothing about his; all he's done was sell us a package as though we were new clients since they are picking up the 3 lines with had with the phone company the Bar Asnn. got us a deal on. I think the people in that office don't know much about this because all they did was be sure they had DSL service and everyone one of them uses a different e-mail client and provider - one is using Hotmail; the other AOL, etc.

Assuming they are correct and I plug in the modem and router and everything works, are the people now up in that suite (the other lawyers) going to end up having access to our network simply because we're tapping into their existing DSL, or is it enough that we have the network/router password protected?

Does any of this make sense to anyone out there? Is there something we're missing here, or should I just wait until we actually move up there and see what works and what doesn't?

Thanks

CD

[Claude]

Since you're staying with AT&T you're not really moving, so your DSL username and password will remain the same and you'll simply plug the phone line into your modem which is connected to the router, and as long as you have your wireless network secured there is no risk of the others getting into your own network, not without trying to hack into it anyway.

[StuartR]

This doesn't sound right to me. If they have an existing DSL connection then they will have an existing modem and router. You can't plug a second modem into the same phone line. If they are prepared to share their bandwidth with you then you would have to connect a network cable into their router, but you would also need to think about how to protect you (and them) from the security issues of having a shared network.

[BobH]

The first thing I would do is send the AT&T sales rep packing and insist on speaking with his manager or his manager's manager. That answer is entirely inadequate and the rep is inadequate for failing to have found the answers for you. As someone who spent hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars with AT&T (before Southwestern Bell bought the name), I can tell you that you deserve - and should insist upon - better service from the sales rep. (I would have run one out of the office and off the property using plant security and I would have posted the national office of his incompetence.)

Second, you should do some googling. Apparently there are some types of DSL that are more DSL than others (to twist a line stolen from Orwell). Some DSL facilities can have IP addresses, which - I think - is the determining factor for sharing access to the Internet.

Stuart is, not doubt, more knowledgeable about DSL than am I; however I am a past master at managing AT&T relationships. I even found an error in their coordinates tables for determining distances between points back in the days when we paid mileage fees as part of the rates on leased data lines.

[CharliesDaughter]

So..., I'm back. We moved and actually ended up moving our phone lines (it was a disaster) and while my back was turned, the boss decided to keep the fourth line that we used for our fax and DSL; that's not terrible, I always wanted to keep it. However, I didn't know until AT&T came out that he ordered a switch to Uverse Internet.

So, the technician disconnected my dsl modem and disconnected my Linksys router and installed a Motorola NVG 510 to replace the other two pieces of equipment, and walla! the boss and I both have Uverse Internet Service. I don't see a tremendous amount of difference; it may be marginally faster. My biggest problem is that our 3 computers were on a network so I could access files on my computer if I was working in my boss' office. Now I can't do that and AT&T never left any manuals or anything. The equipment is a Motorola NVG 510 and I can't even find anything on AT&T's website. I called them and maybe it's just too soon but the person I talked to said she couldn't help me because they couldn't even find an account for us under the numbers we gave them! Fun? We've only had the phone system with the for 18 years, less a couple of years.

Has anyone heard of/used this Motorola? Does anyone know where I can find instructions?

Thanks.