Specifications

Chapter 5 Connecting to an ISP
Connecting via Cable or DSL Modem
Niagara Release 2.3
Niagara Networking & Connectivity Guide Revised: May 22, 2002
5–27
• “Installing and Configuring the RAS Software,” page 4-27
• “Granting Dial-in Permissions,” page 4-31
Work with your ISP to configure RAS to meet their network requirements.
Connecting via Cable or DSL Modem
As mentioned in the “Niagara Considerations” section on page 5-1, you may be able
to use cable and DSL modems on Niagara hosts to dial an ISP. However, the
following notes apply:
• With DSL or cable, the connection to the Niagara host is via the Ethernet
connection, rather than the dial-up connection (as it is with a traditional
modem). On a JACE-4/5 this means that the ras.properties and the
ispConnection object (both used with the dial configuration) do not apply.
• Most cable and DSL connections are “always on” so there is little need to
implement software that redials on disconnect. If necessary (when a dynamic
IP address is assigned), DDNS can be implemented on JACE-NPs or Web
Supervisor, but not on a JACE-4/5, as its DDNS implementation works on the
dial interface only.
• Neither scenario has been tested by Systems Engineering. We recommend that
you set up a pilot to test either before implementing in a live job.
Note Be sure to review the information in the the “Niagara Considerations” section on
page 5-1 for information on using NAT and proxies, selecting an ISP, and security
considerations of attaching hosts directly to the Internet.
This section provides a general overview of configuring a cable or DSL connection
to an ISP, as follows:
1. Install and configure the modem using the documentation provided by your
vendor.
2. Using the Admin Tool, configure the network settings with the information
provided to you by the ISP.
3. To implement automatic reconnect (if necessary) and DDNS on your host,
consult the documentation from the software vendors you choose for each
function.