DSL Connection Type

[BrownOut]

I gave a friend of mine my spare tower. Formerlly, I connected it to my home network with a network adapter using the RJ45 connector. She says it won't connect to her DSL line at home; I say it will. Can someone settle this before she drives all the way back to Cincinnati with it? If there is one thing wrong, she'll never get it working.

 

[Sceadwian]

Depends on if her old machine had a DSL modem built in or if the modem was external. Generally phone companies lease the modem to you as part of the service so it'll have an RJ45 coming out of the back of it to the PC, so it'll work as long as long as it has an ethernet card. Worse case scenario she'd have to buy a DSL modem card, more than likley it's external.

 

[BrownOut]

Naw, she has an external modem built into her phone. I think that pretty much settles it.

 

[Sceadwian]

Yep, then you're all set, if it works at your place, it should work at her place.

 

[kchriste]

Tell her to turn the DSL modem off and back on again. The IP/MAC may need to be reset and cycling the power usually does it.

 

[BrownOut]

On a related subject, is there anything that will allow me to control her computer over the internet? I know as soon as she connects the new tower, 1 million questions will follow. It would just be so much easier to fix things myself. My corporate IT dept used to do this all the time. Thanks!

EDIT: I'd like to re-phrase my question. Is there a free ( or at least cheap ) and easy way to control her computer over the internet?

 

[kchriste]

Yes, there are free versions. Here is one that a buddy of mine uses:
RealVNC - VNC - the original cross-platform remote control solution

 

[Sceadwian]

I highly recommend VNC, it's not perfect but it's VERY small, free, and I think it's encrypted. It's been a while since I've used it, and it was good when I did.
98 supports remote desktop Vista and above integrate it but it can be a real pain to set up. VNC is a nice lightweight simple no frills working tool that you can use with little setup or complexity involved. The single biggest issue setting it up is local and remote firewalls and routers.

 

[BrownOut]

Looks perfect. I'm going to try it out in my home network, then have her install it. Thanks, guys!

 

[BrownOut]

Good news! She connected the tower, and everything worked. I'm still going to check out Real VNC. I know now that she has a working system, she'll quickly get into something over her head