Really old MTS Internet drop?
Friends of my parents have had MTS Internet service for a decade or more (probably more). They told me that they have a coax cable in the room with their computer (an IBM Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, to give you an idea of the age of this setup; they had MTS Internet service before that in an older computer) AND that this coax cable plugs directly into their PC.Has anyone seen this sort of setup? I didn't look at it myself; this is just what I got from them over the phone just now. Are they mistaken, or did MTS in the past provide a PC card with a coax connector for Internet access? It's possible that they didn't recognize an Ethernet cable, but I did explicitly ask if it was connected to the computer with a screw-on type connector which they confirmed it was. Kevin
Likely: PC TV-capture card, or they're really confusing an ethernet cable. Very unlikely: ancient 10base-2 NIC to a hub somewhere with their DSL modem. On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 8:40 AM, Kevin McGregor <kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com>wrote:
Friends of my parents have had MTS Internet service for a decade or more (probably more).
They told me that they have a coax cable in the room with their computer (an IBM Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, to give you an idea of the age of this setup; they had MTS Internet service before that in an older computer) AND that this coax cable plugs directly into their PC.Has anyone seen this sort of setup? I didn't look at it myself; this is just what I got from them over the phone just now.
Are they mistaken, or did MTS in the past provide a PC card with a coax connector for Internet access? It's possible that they didn't recognize an Ethernet cable, but I did explicitly ask if it was connected to the computer with a screw-on type connector which they confirmed it was.
Kevin
_______________________________________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
I do consider it quite possible that this is simply a 10Base-2 NIC, and that MTS supplied such NIC's at one time (to match some ancient DSL modem), even though I don't distinctly remember this from my MTS past. A hub isn't needed - 10Base-2 has all the stations (computers, etc.) along a linear cable with T-connectors at each of them, even the two end units, and a terminating resistor on the otherwise open-ended T-connector at each of the two ends. Man, I hated wiring the connectors onto those 10Base-2 cables! Anyone out there old enough to have handled the even older 10Base-5 stuff? You gotta love RJ-45! Hartmut Sager On 5 February 2014 09:50, Colin Stanners <cstanners@gmail.com> wrote:
Likely: PC TV-capture card, or they're really confusing an ethernet cable. Very unlikely: ancient 10base-2 NIC to a hub somewhere with their DSL modem.
On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 8:40 AM, Kevin McGregor <kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com
wrote:
Friends of my parents have had MTS Internet service for a decade or more (probably more).
They told me that they have a coax cable in the room with their computer (an IBM Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, to give you an idea of the age of this setup; they had MTS Internet service before that in an older computer) AND that this coax cable plugs directly into their PC.Has anyone seen this sort of setup? I didn't look at it myself; this is just what I got from them over the phone just now.
Are they mistaken, or did MTS in the past provide a PC card with a coax connector for Internet access? It's possible that they didn't recognize an Ethernet cable, but I did explicitly ask if it was connected to the computer with a screw-on type connector which they confirmed it was.
Kevin
_______________________________________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
_______________________________________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
On 05/02/2014 10:59 AM, Hartmut W Sager wrote:
I do consider it quite possible that this is simply a 10Base-2 NIC, and that MTS supplied such NIC's at one time (to match some ancient DSL modem), even though I don't distinctly remember this from my MTS past.
While I'd have no trouble believing MTS supplied 10-Base-2/T combo cards in the early days, I'd have trouble believing their early DSL modems actually used coax only. But that could be the case. (I'd say you'd have to go back quite a bit more than a decade, though.)
A hub isn't needed - 10Base-2 has all the stations (computers, etc.) along a linear cable with T-connectors at each of them, even the two end units, and a terminating resistor on the otherwise open-ended T-connector at each of the two ends.
Man, I hated wiring the connectors onto those 10Base-2 cables! Anyone out there old enough to have handled the even older 10Base-5 stuff? You gotta love RJ-45!
Ah, memories!... In my first few years in my current jobs (almost 25 years ago now), I did work with some (inherited) 10Base-5 nodes, with the old external transceivers and stinger taps. I don't remember having to actually install one myself, however. We did run 10Base-2 thin coax for a number of years, and I did install a number of external transceivers on that, as well as BNC T connectors for interfaces with internal transceivers. This would include running a temporary bypass cable (which we affectionately called the "hyper-space bypass") between two points, so that we could splice into a section of previously "live" cable to install new connectors for new drops. We got comfortable enough with doing this that we could add new drops on a wire without anyone on that segment even noticing an outage (except for maybe in the room where we were working, which was being bypassed). Fun stuff... I don't miss it at all, though. :) Gilbert
On 5 February 2014 09:50, Colin Stanners <cstanners@gmail.com <mailto:cstanners@gmail.com>> wrote:
Likely: PC TV-capture card, or they're really confusing an ethernet cable. Very unlikely: ancient 10base-2 NIC to a hub somewhere with their DSL modem.
On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 8:40 AM, Kevin McGregor <kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com <mailto:kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com>> wrote:
Friends of my parents have had MTS Internet service for a decade or more (probably more).
They told me that they have a coax cable in the room with their computer (an IBM Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, to give you an idea of the age of this setup; they had MTS Internet service before that in an older computer) AND that this coax cable plugs directly into their PC.Has anyone seen this sort of setup? I didn't look at it myself; this is just what I got from them over the phone just now.
Are they mistaken, or did MTS in the past provide a PC card with a coax connector for Internet access? It's possible that they didn't recognize an Ethernet cable, but I did explicitly ask if it was connected to the computer with a screw-on type connector which they confirmed it was.
Kevin
-- Gilbert E. Detillieux E-mail: <gedetil@muug.mb.ca> Manitoba UNIX User Group Web: http://www.muug.mb.ca/ PO Box 130 St-Boniface Phone: (204)474-8161 Winnipeg MB CANADA R2H 3B4 Fax: (204)474-7609
Here's a pic of the first DSL modem they rolled out to customers. http://24.77.241.77/~sean/escape/adsl.jpg I'm pretty sure it was RJ-45. In either case, if the cable plugs directly into the card it's probably cable, if there's a T it's Ethernet. Sean On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 11:18 AM, Gilbert E. Detillieux < gedetil@cs.umanitoba.ca> wrote:
On 05/02/2014 10:59 AM, Hartmut W Sager wrote:
I do consider it quite possible that this is simply a 10Base-2 NIC, and that MTS supplied such NIC's at one time (to match some ancient DSL modem), even though I don't distinctly remember this from my MTS past.
While I'd have no trouble believing MTS supplied 10-Base-2/T combo cards in the early days, I'd have trouble believing their early DSL modems actually used coax only. But that could be the case. (I'd say you'd have to go back quite a bit more than a decade, though.)
A hub isn't needed - 10Base-2 has all the stations (computers, etc.)
along a linear cable with T-connectors at each of them, even the two end units, and a terminating resistor on the otherwise open-ended T-connector at each of the two ends.
Man, I hated wiring the connectors onto those 10Base-2 cables! Anyone out there old enough to have handled the even older 10Base-5 stuff? You gotta love RJ-45!
Ah, memories!... In my first few years in my current jobs (almost 25 years ago now), I did work with some (inherited) 10Base-5 nodes, with the old external transceivers and stinger taps. I don't remember having to actually install one myself, however.
We did run 10Base-2 thin coax for a number of years, and I did install a number of external transceivers on that, as well as BNC T connectors for interfaces with internal transceivers. This would include running a temporary bypass cable (which we affectionately called the "hyper-space bypass") between two points, so that we could splice into a section of previously "live" cable to install new connectors for new drops. We got comfortable enough with doing this that we could add new drops on a wire without anyone on that segment even noticing an outage (except for maybe in the room where we were working, which was being bypassed).
Fun stuff... I don't miss it at all, though. :)
Gilbert
On 5 February 2014 09:50, Colin Stanners <cstanners@gmail.com
<mailto:cstanners@gmail.com>> wrote:
Likely: PC TV-capture card, or they're really confusing an ethernet cable. Very unlikely: ancient 10base-2 NIC to a hub somewhere with their DSL modem.
On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 8:40 AM, Kevin McGregor <kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com <mailto:kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com>> wrote:
Friends of my parents have had MTS Internet service for a decade or more (probably more).
They told me that they have a coax cable in the room with their computer (an IBM Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, to give you an idea of the age of this setup; they had MTS Internet service before that in an older computer) AND that this coax cable plugs directly into their PC.Has anyone seen this sort of setup? I didn't look at it myself; this is just what I got from them over the phone just now.
Are they mistaken, or did MTS in the past provide a PC card with a coax connector for Internet access? It's possible that they didn't recognize an Ethernet cable, but I did explicitly ask if it was connected to the computer with a screw-on type connector which they confirmed it was.
Kevin
-- Gilbert E. Detillieux E-mail: <gedetil@muug.mb.ca> Manitoba UNIX User Group Web: http://www.muug.mb.ca/ PO Box 130 St-Boniface Phone: (204)474-8161 Winnipeg MB CANADA R2H 3B4 Fax: (204)474-7609
_______________________________________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
-- Sean Walberg <sean@ertw.com> http://ertw.com/
Yeah, I worked with Thinnet in the early days. I'm planning to drop by this evening to take a look myself. I'll post a picture of what I find. :-) On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 11:24 AM, Sean Walberg <sean@ertw.com> wrote:
Here's a pic of the first DSL modem they rolled out to customers.
http://24.77.241.77/~sean/escape/adsl.jpg
I'm pretty sure it was RJ-45. In either case, if the cable plugs directly into the card it's probably cable, if there's a T it's Ethernet.
Sean
On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 11:18 AM, Gilbert E. Detillieux < gedetil@cs.umanitoba.ca> wrote:
On 05/02/2014 10:59 AM, Hartmut W Sager wrote:
I do consider it quite possible that this is simply a 10Base-2 NIC, and that MTS supplied such NIC's at one time (to match some ancient DSL modem), even though I don't distinctly remember this from my MTS past.
While I'd have no trouble believing MTS supplied 10-Base-2/T combo cards in the early days, I'd have trouble believing their early DSL modems actually used coax only. But that could be the case. (I'd say you'd have to go back quite a bit more than a decade, though.)
A hub isn't needed - 10Base-2 has all the stations (computers, etc.)
along a linear cable with T-connectors at each of them, even the two end units, and a terminating resistor on the otherwise open-ended T-connector at each of the two ends.
Man, I hated wiring the connectors onto those 10Base-2 cables! Anyone out there old enough to have handled the even older 10Base-5 stuff? You gotta love RJ-45!
Ah, memories!... In my first few years in my current jobs (almost 25 years ago now), I did work with some (inherited) 10Base-5 nodes, with the old external transceivers and stinger taps. I don't remember having to actually install one myself, however.
We did run 10Base-2 thin coax for a number of years, and I did install a number of external transceivers on that, as well as BNC T connectors for interfaces with internal transceivers. This would include running a temporary bypass cable (which we affectionately called the "hyper-space bypass") between two points, so that we could splice into a section of previously "live" cable to install new connectors for new drops. We got comfortable enough with doing this that we could add new drops on a wire without anyone on that segment even noticing an outage (except for maybe in the room where we were working, which was being bypassed).
Fun stuff... I don't miss it at all, though. :)
Gilbert
On 5 February 2014 09:50, Colin Stanners <cstanners@gmail.com
<mailto:cstanners@gmail.com>> wrote:
Likely: PC TV-capture card, or they're really confusing an ethernet cable. Very unlikely: ancient 10base-2 NIC to a hub somewhere with their DSL modem.
On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 8:40 AM, Kevin McGregor <kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com <mailto:kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com>> wrote:
Friends of my parents have had MTS Internet service for a decade or more (probably more).
They told me that they have a coax cable in the room with their computer (an IBM Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, to give you an idea of the age of this setup; they had MTS Internet service before that in an older computer) AND that this coax cable plugs directly into their PC.Has anyone seen this sort of setup? I didn't look at it myself; this is just what I got from them over the phone just now.
Are they mistaken, or did MTS in the past provide a PC card with a coax connector for Internet access? It's possible that they didn't recognize an Ethernet cable, but I did explicitly ask if it was connected to the computer with a screw-on type connector which they confirmed it was.
Kevin
-- Gilbert E. Detillieux E-mail: <gedetil@muug.mb.ca> Manitoba UNIX User Group Web: http://www.muug.mb.ca/ PO Box 130 St-Boniface Phone: (204)474-8161 Winnipeg MB CANADA R2H 3B4 Fax: (204)474-7609
_______________________________________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
-- Sean Walberg <sean@ertw.com> http://ertw.com/
_______________________________________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
As I suspected, it was Cat 5e, misidentified by the owner. The line comes in from outside and connects to some kind of enormous VCR-sized Motorola box which (I'm told by the owner) uses an inordinate amount of power. I was able to insert a Linksys WRT54GS between that box and their computer transparently. Alas, I couldn't configure OpenWRT properly to get the wireless working. It kept reporting "Wireless is disabled or not associated" even though the wireless was enabled. I had limited time and couldn't find a solution before I had to leave. Bummed. On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 12:15 PM, Kevin McGregor <kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com>wrote:
Yeah, I worked with Thinnet in the early days. I'm planning to drop by this evening to take a look myself. I'll post a picture of what I find. :-)
On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 11:24 AM, Sean Walberg <sean@ertw.com> wrote:
Here's a pic of the first DSL modem they rolled out to customers.
http://24.77.241.77/~sean/escape/adsl.jpg
I'm pretty sure it was RJ-45. In either case, if the cable plugs directly into the card it's probably cable, if there's a T it's Ethernet.
Sean
On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 11:18 AM, Gilbert E. Detillieux < gedetil@cs.umanitoba.ca> wrote:
On 05/02/2014 10:59 AM, Hartmut W Sager wrote:
I do consider it quite possible that this is simply a 10Base-2 NIC, and that MTS supplied such NIC's at one time (to match some ancient DSL modem), even though I don't distinctly remember this from my MTS past.
While I'd have no trouble believing MTS supplied 10-Base-2/T combo cards in the early days, I'd have trouble believing their early DSL modems actually used coax only. But that could be the case. (I'd say you'd have to go back quite a bit more than a decade, though.)
A hub isn't needed - 10Base-2 has all the stations (computers, etc.)
along a linear cable with T-connectors at each of them, even the two end units, and a terminating resistor on the otherwise open-ended T-connector at each of the two ends.
Man, I hated wiring the connectors onto those 10Base-2 cables! Anyone out there old enough to have handled the even older 10Base-5 stuff? You gotta love RJ-45!
Ah, memories!... In my first few years in my current jobs (almost 25 years ago now), I did work with some (inherited) 10Base-5 nodes, with the old external transceivers and stinger taps. I don't remember having to actually install one myself, however.
We did run 10Base-2 thin coax for a number of years, and I did install a number of external transceivers on that, as well as BNC T connectors for interfaces with internal transceivers. This would include running a temporary bypass cable (which we affectionately called the "hyper-space bypass") between two points, so that we could splice into a section of previously "live" cable to install new connectors for new drops. We got comfortable enough with doing this that we could add new drops on a wire without anyone on that segment even noticing an outage (except for maybe in the room where we were working, which was being bypassed).
Fun stuff... I don't miss it at all, though. :)
Gilbert
On 5 February 2014 09:50, Colin Stanners <cstanners@gmail.com
<mailto:cstanners@gmail.com>> wrote:
Likely: PC TV-capture card, or they're really confusing an ethernet cable. Very unlikely: ancient 10base-2 NIC to a hub somewhere with their DSL modem.
On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 8:40 AM, Kevin McGregor <kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com <mailto:kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com>> wrote:
Friends of my parents have had MTS Internet service for a decade or more (probably more).
They told me that they have a coax cable in the room with their computer (an IBM Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, to give you an idea of the age of this setup; they had MTS Internet service before that in an older computer) AND that this coax cable plugs directly into their PC.Has anyone seen this sort of setup? I didn't look at it myself; this is just what I got from them over the phone just now.
Are they mistaken, or did MTS in the past provide a PC card with a coax connector for Internet access? It's possible that they didn't recognize an Ethernet cable, but I did explicitly ask if it was connected to the computer with a screw-on type connector which they confirmed it was.
Kevin
-- Gilbert E. Detillieux E-mail: <gedetil@muug.mb.ca> Manitoba UNIX User Group Web: http://www.muug.mb.ca/ PO Box 130 St-Boniface Phone: (204)474-8161 Winnipeg MB CANADA R2H 3B4 Fax: (204)474-7609
_______________________________________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
-- Sean Walberg <sean@ertw.com> http://ertw.com/
_______________________________________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
On 14-02-06 08:14 AM, Kevin McGregor wrote:
As I suspected, it was Cat 5e, misidentified by the owner. The line comes in from outside and connects to some kind of enormous VCR-sized Motorola box which (I'm told by the owner) uses an inordinate amount of power. I was able to insert a Linksys WRT54GS between that box and their computer transparently. Alas, I couldn't configure OpenWRT properly to get the wireless working. It kept reporting "Wireless is disabled or not associated" even though the wireless was enabled. I had limited time and couldn't find a solution before I had to leave. Bummed.
That's the original MTS TV service - SD, not HD, "analog" for certain meanings of that word. I worked with most of the people who implemented in at nGage and ... some other company that MTS spun off to develop the service, can't remember its name now. Basically it's a dead-end product, but eminently suitable for, er, "sunsetting" users ;-). -Adam
participants (6)
-
Adam Thompson -
Colin Stanners -
Gilbert E. Detillieux -
Hartmut W Sager -
Kevin McGregor -
Sean Walberg