Set Up a Home PC With Multiple Modems and Phone Lines

This is how to setup a home PC and/or network with two modems and a phone. This can increase the speed of dial-up users in remote areas.It requires a minimum of Windows 98 or above, two phone lines, one dial-up connection with two logs-ins allowed.

Steps

  1. Find out if your local ISP supports Multi-Link accounts. If not,let them know that they can have a market from those without the access to broadband for better connection speeds over rural areas.
  2. Get a second modem (almost all computers come with one installed) using a version of Windows or Linux. You will also need a separate phone line for each modem.
  3. Use the dial-up creation dialog if you're using Windows XP.
  4. Click next, and it will ask for what network type. Just leave it at the default setting (connect to the internet).
  5. Click next, and choose the type of service you would like to use. Setup your account manually; this works under both Windows and Linux.
  6. Click next and select "connect using dial-up modem".
  7. Click the next button; give the dial-up connection a name (this can be anything you want).
  8. Click next, and enter the telephone number needed to access the net. Make sure that it's not a long distance number or toll charges will mount pretty quickly.
  9. Click next and enter the user name and password, which will be used for logging into their server. Most any service provider uses PAP or CHAP authentication, though you may have to manually setup the primary and secondary IP addresses again depending on the type of service they are willing to provide.
  10. Click next and make sure that the check boxes are set up the way you want them to stay.
  11. Create the dialog. You can also put a check in the box to have windows create an icon to launch it from the desktop.
  12. Make sure both phones are clear in tone with no noticeable static or wavering noises.
  13. Connect the phone lines to each phone line junction box. Click finish. Now we are ready to edit the dialog for a specific setting.
  14. Double click on the name of the icon created for your connection. You will default to the general tabbed window of another dialog box, it is here that we want to change some settings.
  15. Hook up two computers using a CAT5 cable through a 5 port Switch. Setting up a local address should be in the range of 192.168.0.1 through 192.168.0.10. Although it is a very long subject, each network card should have its own IP address.
  16. Click on the properties button on the connection dialog. Click on the networking tab in the dialog box and click on the settings button right below the "Type of Dial-up" settings. Another smaller dialog box will appear with three check boxes. Only two should be set and they are:
  17. Enable software compression, and negotiating multi-link for single dial-up. Leave "enable LCP extension" alone unless required by your particular service.
  18. Click the ok button, and if needed now you can set up whatever IP address is used for your connection. Some are best left as default unless you need to setup a separate DNS number such as a static IP address on your local internet service.
  19. Setup one computer for the gateway dial out (use the advanced tab for this). This is the one with the two modems. With the phones connected to the modems going to their own jack,dial up your service for an attempted connect. It should login with one of the modems first and then it will negotiate a multi-link session. If everything is setup correctly at your ISP, and you have followed these steps both modems should connect. Now if you would like to test the speed, go to Google (Google is your friend) or which ever search engine you choose. Look for the phrase "test my connection speed". Several sites will give you the chance to test your download and upload stats in a couple of clicks, or if you’re a privacy nut, you can just find a single big file and download it. The download dialog may start out at the max speed that you can expect from this particular session.

Tips

  • Some of the best modems to use are two USR external 56K modems. You may have to go through the pains of writing an initialization string into each modem to tame them down a bit, as they are aggressive connecting devices.

Warnings

  • Unless you have a need for faster connection speeds, this can be cost prohibitive.

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