Any Apple Macintosh users?

[paint_by_numbers]

Hi

I'm also a Mac user with a G4 Powerbook OSX 10.4. I've just moved over to SA for the UK and it frustrates me to see everyone in here struggling so bad with ADSL especially after coming from the UK where it's so easy and affordable.
I recently bought a D-Link DSL-300T Ethernet modem, Telkom called me on Friday morning to say that my line has now been activated with ADSL. When plugged in I get no ADSL signal - the light on the modem is not lit!! Phoned Telkom and they said that an engineer will be testing the line and they will call me ASAP. No call yet but I am worried that if they say that there is no problem with the line as they have no support for Mac users (one operator didn't know what an Apple Mac was!)
Has anyone experienced any similar problems and overcome them? I need a story of hope!

 

[bwana]

Hi

I'm also a Mac user with a G4 Powerbook OSX 10.4. I've just moved over to SA for the UK and it frustrates me to see everyone in here struggling so bad with ADSL especially after coming from the UK where it's so easy and affordable.
I recently bought a D-Link DSL-300T Ethernet modem, Telkom called me on Friday morning to say that my line has now been activated with ADSL. When plugged in I get no ADSL signal - the light on the modem is not lit!! Phoned Telkom and they said that an engineer will be testing the line and they will call me ASAP. No call yet but I am worried that if they say that there is no problem with the line as they have no support for Mac users (one operator didn't know what an Apple Mac was!)
Has anyone experienced any similar problems and overcome them? I need a story of hope!

Prob nothing to do with your mac. Tech support here can be useless wrt Macs - mweb actually told me once that the internet doesnt work on a mac - hmmmm.

If its not your line it will be your modem - but most likely its a telkom fault.

 

[paint_by_numbers]

I'm very experienced on the Mac and know that my computer is not to blame here. I'm trying not to tell Telkom that I have a Mac because that has nothing to do with the current problem. I don't know anyone here with ADSL so I can't test another modem, so I'm hoping that Telkom have f**ked up and I don't have to buy another modem.

 

[Afrikane]

I use the combo you have except my D300T is on my router. I will test a direct connection to the lan port on the G4 Powerbook and let know the result. I know there was a batch of D300T's that had bad firmware and would not allow one to get in and change the settings.

 

[bwana]

Have you got virtual PC installed? If telkom comes around run that full screen and tell him its windoze.

Eitherway - there's no need to tell them what system youre running. Make it up if they insist. When they came around to test my line they brought their own laptop/modem to test things anyway.

 

[Afrikane]

Ok, tested the D300T direct to lan port on the Powerbook, runs no problem and opening the setup wizard from Safari is no problem either. Perhaps you have a modem from the bad firmware batch that would not take any user name and password to get into the modem.

 

[paint_by_numbers]

I can get into the setup menu now. It took a while but I figured out I had to manually put in the IP settings, the auto DHCP settings did not work. I downloaded the latest firmware from the D-Link UK site - the SA site has only a .exe file for the firmware update. Still no luck connecting. Most likely Telkom is to blame.

Thanks for testing, at least I know that the modem is good. Can it be my modem settings? I thought that it didn't matter for it to pick up the ADSL signal from a phone line.

 

[malec]

mweb actually told me once that the internet doesnt work on a mac - hmmmm.

OMF! bwhahahahahahahaha, they must have hired a telkom techie

 

[Afrikane]

Paint, there are quite a few settings that would need to be entered into the modem eg: username, password, llc settings, dns if your isp requires, change the management password and user name etc

 

[paint_by_numbers]

Yes, I've entered the settings required by my ISP (OpenWeb), changed username, password etc. And now I wait....

 

[bwana]

Can it be my modem settings? I thought that it didn't matter for it to pick up the ADSL signal from a phone line.

Are these the settings you entered?
Protocol Type: PPPoE
VPI: 8
VCI: 35
Encapsultion: LLC

 

[paint_by_numbers]

yes

 

[paint_by_numbers]

actually, how do I set the encapsualtion with PPPoE? It only lets me change that with PPPoA.

 

[bwana]

actually, how do I set the encapsualtion with PPPoE? It only lets me change that with PPPoA.

Cant help you there I'm afraid - I've got a different adsl modem. Just out of curiosity have you tried running it in bridged mode?

 

[paint_by_numbers]

I think I've tried every setting possible. I don't want to leave any stone unturned.

 

[Turtle]

Wierd, I set a wireless network up yesterday with a netgear wireless ADSL router (the one in the mweb blackbox) and had no problem gettin 3 macs connected to it and all 3 got better signal that the 5 desktops that was on the network.

Likewise, my Mac mini (and the rest of my LAN) is behind a Netgear DG384G (wired and wireless) and it works beautifully. You access the router via a Web interface so it doesn't matter what type of computers are behind it, it's all standards. (Afrikane, what do you mean by "syncing issues" anyway?)

 

[Afrikane]

Turtle, I had issues with the Netgear modem syncing the adsl signal. I would lose the connection every 20 minutes or so. I believe it was addressed by a firmware update but by that time I had moved onto Dlink anyway.

 

[Afrikane]

actually, how do I set the encapsualtion with PPPoE? It only lets me change that with PPPoA.

I think it's just an option from a drop down box.

 

[Paddylekker]

What I can't get over is how little Mac hardware there is in this country (I've moved here from Ireland)

My 1024 ADSL line was finally installed on Sunday and I went out in Cape Town this morning to get my Airport Express Base Station, my airport card, a modem and a Wi-Fi card for a PC laptop.

Nobody had any of the Mac gear and they weren't expecting to get the stuff for several weeks. It's a joke.

I even had trouble getting a decent ADSL modem and ended up buying a Belkin adsl modem and router all-in-one package. I've had to settle with just setting up the PC notebook for now.

What I want to know is: Can I just use this Belkin modem/router as a modem and hook it into an Apple Base Station when they finally arrive in SA? Or will they interfere with each other because the router is trying to broadcast wirelessly?

My girlfriend has an account with Mweb, and she is keeping it as a 1 GB because she doesn't want to lose her e-mail address.

I'll be getting a package off Mr Beep or someone similar I reckon. It won't be a problem running both of them will it?

 

[bwana]

@Paddylekker - is there a reason why you would want to use both the AE and the Belkin - apart from the Airtunes. Either way - you wont have a problem using 2 wireless devices. I suspect that you can disable the Belkin's wireless capabilities. Does it have a ethernet port?

There are a few places in CT I used to get my mac stuff from - you can always order if from zastore.co.za. Better still order if from Apple UK and have a mate post it down Thats what I do. Though I try to order from the states where its even cheaper.

Your gf might consider changing her account to Mwebs r70 emailer one. Only lets you dial up 3 hours a month by normal dial-up but that should be enough in a pinch. Save yourself the money.