I have had this on my to do list for over a month now, and instead watching a movie or some anime I decided to work on rewiring my broadband setup since some items have reached the end of their lives and started acting screwy. I ordered a D-Link DSL-2640B to replace both my Thompson (Qualitynet Modem) and Buffalo Airstation Router. I took a look at the area behind my desk and computer and its nothing short of a nightmare to try to figure things out. I had a few items that I wanted to disconnect and rewire but that would require shutting down everything and doing it the right way so I left that for later, just the network cables alone add up to more then a dozen wires. So I unpacked the D-Link modem and powered up to configure it before plugging in the RJ-11 (telephone) cable, and as usual I tried doing things from memory, but I messed up Qualitynet’s setting so I called them up and got these details:

• Login type: PPPoA
• VPI: 8
• VCI: 35

Configured the modem which logged in right away, while on the phone the guy told me that I entered the wrong password and asked if I want to set that as the password, which was helpful but I prefered to keep the old one after remembering it. Then I went on to configure a few port forwarding, the wireless, the DMZ zone, and a few other details. This modem is pretty good with lots of customizing capabilities, the menu is a bit lacking in ease but if you figure your way around there is a lot you can tinker with in the device. After 20 minutes I got a call from Qualitynet on my mobile telling me my connection disconnected and they were asking if everything was ok, I was pleasently surprised, I told them I kept messing around with it and it had to reboot every time I made a major modification. Overall I’m very happy with this setup, initially I haven’t seen any problems so I’m hoping that things go smoothly and it turns out to be a solid modem/router.

Disconnected:

• 6 year old Maxtor Network Hard Drive (250 GB) which was a lot back then
• Thompson ADSL Modem from Qualitynet – Didn’t have any features and was acting up a bit
• Buffalo Airstation – Lasted me a good 4 years before giving up, I think the 2 meter fall from a high shelf ended its life span.

This helped free up some sockets, I got rid of a lot of wiring, I cleaned up the rear area of my computers which was still dust filled. I’m trying to lessen the amount of cables and equipment I have, minizing after knowing your needs is a lot harder then it seems.