[Velvet_Jones]

I just got my Earthlink DSL service, which works great if I plug the ADSL modem directly into my PowerMac. However, I've got two laptops that I'd like to use at the same time, wirelessly.
I've configed my Airport Base Station properly and I've changed the ADSL modem from router to bridge, per the instructions I found on DSL Reports, but my ABS just doesn't want to connect. When I check its connection status it says, "Looking for PPPoE host"... and yes, I have inputted my PPPoE login correctly. What am I missing?
Any ideas?

[SavageRider]

Do you have a cable modem and router, or just the cable modem?

[Velvet_Jones]

I've got the DSL modem plugged into my Airport Base Station (via WAN port), then have the ABS plugged into a 5-port switch (via LAN port). Everything is connected correctly, all lights are green... but nada, the ABS still says, "Looking for PPPoE host".
When I go directly from the DSL modem into my PowerMac, there are no problems.
I don't get it. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[car1son]

I have Earthlink DSL set up with a Snow (Dual Ethernet) Airport base Station, but not the UHP modem. Is that Earthink's "home networking" option?
When you connect directly to the UHP DSL modem with your laptop, is the UHP modem still set to Bridged and you are using PPPoE in the laptop's network config? That would be the test that the UHP is really acting as a bridge.
Your other try could be to re-enable PPPoE and NAT on the UHP modem and just use the Airport as a bridge. (In the Airport Admin Utility, change PPPoE to Ethernet on the Internet tab and uncheck Distribute IP Addresses option on the Network tab).

[SavageRider]

I've got my setup as Cable Modem > Router Hub > Airport Extreme. Have you tried it that way.

[Velvet_Jones]

With an Airport Base Station, there's no need for a router, as the ABS acts as a router (both wired & wirelessly).

[Velvet_Jones]

I changed the DSL modem back to 'router' and put my ABS into bridge mode. Now my laptop can access the internet fine (wirelessly), but I still have to use PPPoE with my desktop. Also, my ABS and laptop appear to be getting IP addresses (172.x.x.x) from the DSL modem, but my desktop is getting an IP from Earthlink (66.x.x.x).
Things are working for the moment, just not the way I want. At the minimum, I want to have NAT running, but I can't do that without my ABS connecting via PPPoE and running NAT & DHCP services. Ugh, I loathe PPPoE.

[Velvet_Jones]

Yep, there was something definitely funky with my Airport Base Station. I swapped my 'snow' ABS for an older 'graphite' model, and bam... everything works great! I can now share my PPPoE DSL connection to my PowerMac and PC (ethernet), and my PowerBook (wirelessly).
Thanks for everyone's help. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Nobody]

Did any of you other Earthlink customers receive the following email from Earthlink?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dear EarthLink DSL Subscriber,
We are making changes to our network, beginning
June 24, 2003, after which you will no longer be able
to connect multiple computers to the Internet with a
single DSL connection, as you may have done in the past.
We apologize for any inconvenience this network
change may cause you.
The Terms and Conditions of your EarthLink DSL
service only allow for one computer to use your
EarthLink DSL connection at a time.
If you would like to use your DSL connection on multiple
computers at the same time, please check out
EarthLink Home Networking, which will allow all the
computers in your home access to the Internet at the
same time for one low price of $9.95 per month on top
of your regular DSL monthly fees:
http://www.earthlink...nd/homenetwork/

If you have any questions about this policy, or about home
networking in general, please don't hesitate to let us
know. You'll find help in a hurry at the EarthLink Support
Center:

http://support.earthlink.net
Click on "Contact Us By Live Chat" to trade helpful, real-
time messages with a friendly Live Chat representative.
Or to send us an email, click on "Contact Us By Email."
Your business is important to us, and we work hard to
give you the best possible service.
Thank you for choosing EarthLink.
Sincerely,
The EarthLink High Speed Internet Service Team
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I called the tech support number and started asking questions. The guy I spoke with was nice but seemed to be unaware of the above policy change. In informed him that I wouldn't mind pay them an extra $9.95 a month for a home networking solution, but not at the expense of having to drop back to OS 9.2.2 to do it. Apparently the gateway equipment they are using for their home networking still does not support OS X. I have a feeling that this will affect many Mac Earthlink users.

[Velvet_Jones]

That's news to me. I haven't received such an email.
If this turns out to be true, I'll be dropping Earthlink like a bad habit. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

[Nobody]

I posted this same email on the Apple support discussion site. A guy responded as follows:
I cannot believe that you will have a problem if you use a router of your own. You should not need any software from EarthLink to make an OS X box work behind a router and DSL modem.
I asked...
What do you think they may be saying? Are they speaking to someone who has a DSL modem with an ethernet hub on the other side that is tied to two PCs rather than a router? Your thoughts...

He responded...
Are they speaking to someone who has a DSL modem with an ethernet hub on the other side that is tied to two PCs rather than a router?
I guess if the first thing after DSL modem is a router, there won't be a problem.
The first thing that I have after the DSL modem is an AirPort Base Station. We'll see what happens in the June 24th.

[Velvet_Jones]

He's probably right. Even if Earthlink changes to MAC address authentication, all you have to do is give them the MAC address of your Airport Base Station (or other router) and you should be good to go.
I'm not all that worried about it. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[car1son]

Unfortunately, one of the things missing in the Airport base Station is MAC cloning (the ability to tell the router to set its apparent MAC address to another value - e.g., the same as one of your Macintoshes). Since I like to swap between using the Airport and docking directly (for the higher throughput and to get rid of the firewall/NAT easily), if my Earthlink connection was using MAC authentication I'd probably dust off my LinkSys BEFW11S4 router (which supports MAC cloning.)

(Aside: Apple uses the term "Ethernet Address" for what the Ethernet industry calls the "MAC address" (Media Access Layer), possibily in the hope of avoiding confusion with the truncated name of their computer brand. The Apple System Profiler will tell you the 12-hex-digit Ethernet address(es) of your Macintosh. The Airport Admin Utility will tell you the Ethernet address it presents to the DSL modem as "Ethernet (WAN):")

[Nobody]

Car1son,
OK, Thanks for the info about MAC addresses. I checked and my AirPort base is different address from the iMac. The thing that is puzzling to me is why neither you nor Velvet got this email. I've been an Earthlink customer for about a month now. I wonder if this is their way of strong-arming an Earthlink newbe into getting their Home Networking "solution". Problem is, their solution won't work with Mac OS X.