This is how I set up my ADSL connection and home network. I found the options quite confusing, even though I do this sort of thing for a living, so I hope this page helps you!
BT and the ISPs have made the process a little easier now, but you should still expect stubborn and contradictory statements from BT and your ISP if you want to get a new phone line and ADSL at the same time, or move house.
These are some resources that I found useful while setting up my ADSL Connection:
First choose your Internet Service Provider. Even though BT will supply your ADSL connection, your internet service (and the bill) is provided by a separate ISP. I chose Eclipse on a recommendation for their service, and because they supply a static IP address at no extra charge. They are also a bit cheaper than most of the competition.
After you've placed an order with your ISP, they will check that your local telephone exchange has ADSL equipment installed in it, and then ask BT to test the signal quality on your line. Sometimes noisy telephone kit in your house can cause the test to fail. If your line test fails the first time, unplug any potentially noisy equipment (answer phone, Sky box, ADSL router, ...) and ask for the line to be retested.
It's best not to buy any ADSL hardware until your ISP has confirmed that they can supply the ADSL service to you. I decided to get an ADSL ethernet router rather than an ADSL modem so that I can use the connection more easily with more than one PC in the house.
This is how I connected everything together:
This is the ADSL router that I bought from Dabs.com:
It is an AMX-CA64E with 4 ethernet connections; the AMX-CA61E is identical in function, but with only a single ethernet port. It's worked flawlessly for me since I got it, however, it does get very warm, and the "READY" light blinks continuously. I've coloured the blinking light in with a blue marker pen to make it less distracting.
The router has an ADSL modem, 4 port 100 Mbs ethernet switch, and a USB network interface all built in. The HTML configuration pages allow you to set up DNS relay, a DHCP server, and NAT routing. I rely on the NAT as a basic firewall. 18 months later, my only gripe is that it doesn't have Universal Plug and Play support (UPnP) or Virtual Private Network (VPN) server pass-through. I've never actually needed those features, but one of them would usually be needed to use voice or video phone software behind a NAT firewall.
This is my BT Master Socket:
Because the ADSL modem/router came with a BT-style connector, I've plugged it straight in to the master socket (the grey wire), otherwise I would have plugged it in to the ADSL port of the microfilter.
This is the microfilter that I bought from Eclipse (my ISP):
The microfilter is needed to separate the high frequency ADSL signal from the lower frequency voice signal. Without it each time you try to use the telephone you can hear a hissing noise, and the ADSL router stops working. It came with a BT connector on to plug in to a telephone socket, but for no good reason I chopped that off and wired it in to the master socket as though it was extension wiring.
Each phone on the telephone line must be separated from the ADSL router by one of these filters. In the picture above, you can see an analogue modem, a telephone, and (the white wire) extension wiring for the rest of the telephones in my house, all plugged in to the bottom of the microfilter. You may have to use more than one microfilter if you aren't able to intercept your extension wiring at the master socket.
I've bought the microfilter faceplate now. I needed to change the cable that the router uses, and I've also stopped keeping my analogue modem plugged in, because I never use it. Now the wiring looks like this:
As well as the wiring looking neater, my cheap Caller ID Display (CLID) phone works reliably now too -- the more expensive filter really is better!
This set up works for me because my PC is next to my master socket. The Clarity web site also has some instructions for sending an ADSL signal around your house via telephone extension wiring.
Copyright Steven Mackenzie 2002, 2005