INDEX:

1. What do the lights on the SpeedStream Mean?
Power = Router has power, must be solid green or else you got problems
Test = A solid green indicates that the router has passed all POST's with no problems
if this light is blinking green rapidly that indicates the router is in a maintenance menu mode and you must hyperterminal in to see what exactly is wrong (or an ethernet cable is plugged into the console port).
Link = When this is solid green this indicates that the ATM signal is present and good. If it is any other color, or blinking green, then the line might have problems, or the ATM interface might not be configured correctly for 1483 (SNAP). I have heard of this light turning red but that usually is an issue with SDSL, and I've never personally seen it.
LanT = Shows data being transmitted to the LAN
LanR = Shows data being received from the LAN
WAN = Show data passing out the WAN (DSL  port). This light will blink even when the router is disconnected from a DSL line (assuming the router is configured correctly) because the unit tries to establish a PPPoE session every 30 seconds, and also sends an LCP echo packet every 60.

2. What is the difference between Interleave and Fast line profiles?
Interleave is a more robust, fault tolerant line shaping protocol. It has much more error checking than Fast and is packaged to be as impervious to noise as possible, at the cost of increased processing and latency. Fast is considered to be delay-sensative, yet noise tolerant. Fast data operates about 10 times faster than interleave data (2ms for fast, and 20ms for interleave), but will generate excessive CRC's if the line is even borderline in terms of "cleanness".

3. What is Attenuation?
Attenuation is the loss of signal strength over distance, and it is measured in db's. High attenuation will cause a connection to be intermittant (frequent disconnects), or down completely. This is usually an indication of a line length being too long, or bridge taps being on the line. Usually any attenuation over 50db on a DSL line will result in problems maintaining a reliable connection.

4. Why can I ping the router and not Telnet to it?
Have you tried telneting to the router using port 4000 instead of the default telnet port (23)? I have no idea how this is getting changed. But I keep seeing it, then again if you were using HyperTerminal you wouldn't have a problem now would you?

5. What is better Telnet or Hyperterminal when reconfiguring a router?
Hyperterminal is always the best choice, because its connection is physical and not dependant upon the ethernet ports configuration in the router.When reconfiguring a router I only recommend Hyperterminal.

6. Can a Cabletron 255 be reprogrammed as a SpeedStream 5861?
Yes and no. The Cabletron cannot simply be reprogrammed for PPPoE, hower, if you flash the Smart Switch's kernel with a 5861's kernel (downloadable from Efficient's website, ver. 4.0.4 as of this writing) then you will essentially have a fully functioning 5861 that you can use my PPPoE script to configure. There in no operational difference between the two at this point. I have actually done this with my own hands and it does work. BUT! be careful, if you make a mistake you can render the router a paperweight.

7. How can I pause the "rem list" command in a 5861 so it doesn't scroll past?
You can't pause the rem list command. That's why immediatly after they connect via telnet. Have them click on "terminal" in the telnet window's menu bar and then on "preferences". In the window that opens up have them change the terminal buffer size from 25 (standard default) to 500. Otherwise, if you don't do this, the rem list just scrolls past you like a dos "dir" command.

8. The E/U is connected, has a valid DHCP IP, but they can't surf anywhere. Why?
Theres a lot of reasons for that, but one thing to try is to remove DNS from the equation. Have them type in an IP address of a webpage, rather than the name, in their browser. Here's a few known good IP's:
216.80.17.17.....................(www.ameritech.com)
198.133.219.25.................(www.cisco.com)
209.123.109.175...............(www.dslreports.com)
192.216.191.128...............(www.chicagotribune.com)

9. How does the SpeedStream 5861 let so many computer connect thru it, and how many max can it support?
The 5861 ustilizes some thing called Network Address Translation (NAT) also known as IP Masquerading, and can support up to 1500 computers connected to it via ethernet. NAT allows multiple computer to use private non-routable IP's (Ex: 192.168.254.2) and similtaniously share 1 globally routeable IP (ex. 64.109.41.243) as a gateway out to the internet. The device manages an internal table that tracks and handles the translations to ensure that only the computer that requested date receives it.

10. How come there's an MLP port in the IPIFS but the IP is 0.0.0.0?
I see this so much its not funny. The fact that the MLP port is there indicates that the customer did suceed in authenticating, but if there are all zeros then it ususally mean that the customer has a static IP address and isn't putting the "static_" after the "@" and before the "ameritech.net". This will of course result in a loss of routing completely. Just changing the username usually fixes this right up. Voila! no need for a truck roll. :) 

11. What the heck is an ATM layer ping, and what does it do?
An ATM layer ping allows someone to generate OAM loopback cells down the ATM pipe to a customers unique VPI/VCI. This deals with layer 2 of the OSI model and removes TCP/IP, authentication, passwords, etc from the troubleshooting picture. Ya see, much like with IP address's, each customer has their own VPI/VCI, and by being able to force the pings down it we can prove that data transport is there, because the only device capable of responding to the pings are CPE's (5861's, 4060's, Westell's, Caymann's, etc.). While not all CPE's respond most of them will. If the test is successful then you can be assured that the line is good and there is sync. This rules out provisioning and then points towards the E/U's computer and/or username.

12. How do I reset the routers password if I can't get in via telnet or hyperterminal?
For routers with the reset button and no dipswitches, you must push the button and hold it for five seconds until the test LED turns amber. At that time the router will accept the six numbers from the serial number label as the password or "admin". The router will not need to be rebooted after you have logged on, the LED will change back to green in a few minutes.

13. Why can't I login to the web interface for my 5861, its asking for User and Pass:
The default username is "login" and the default password is "admin". However this usually only appears in the 5861's with the v4.0.5 firmware (efficient's version not Ameritech's) and the Cabletron Smartswitch 255's.

MORE TO COME! QUESTIONS? SUGGESTIONS? Email me