Cable Forum - View Single Post

jem · 23-03-2005, 11:59

My BB installation was even more minimalist, called CS on a Friday morning to arrange it, they said they could activate it immediately and it would simply be a case of my plugging my laptop into the STB (it was a PACE 1000) via an ethernet cable. One thing they did get wrong though was that they said I would need a straight-through cable which I got, took home from work with me and plugged it all up that evening.

Didn't work!

Quick check on the back of the box indicated that I needed a cross-over cable. Went out on saturday morning, bought a cable, plugged it in and was all working fine and had been for the past three years. Last week got the speed upgraded so needed a Samsung box instead which DO need a straight-through cable but luckily I had already checked this out and was pre-armed.

Now some of this depends on what are you live in. As I understand it if you are in the 'Langley' area then the TV set-top boxes don't work for broadband and hence you will need a separate cable modem and an engineer visit. If like me you are in the 'Bromley' area then you should be able to use your existing set-top box. If this is a Pace model then you are limited to 1Meg, if you want 2 or 3 Meg then this needs to be swopped for the Samsung model and again would need an engineer visit.

If you have the option try to connect your PC up via ethernet and not USB. Ethernet is far more reliable and in addition if the ethernet port on your PC is working then there is no need to load any drivers or install any other software. All you would need to do is 'provision' the box, that is register the MAC address of your network card with NTL so the box recognises it. This only has to be done once.

Good luck

John

23-03-2005, 11:59	#3
jem cf.addict Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: SE London (Bexley) Services: 10 Meg (and can actually hit it sometimes) broadband XL TV V+ Posts: 140	Re: Thinking of getting Broadband My BB installation was even more minimalist, called CS on a Friday morning to arrange it, they said they could activate it immediately and it would simply be a case of my plugging my laptop into the STB (it was a PACE 1000) via an ethernet cable. One thing they did get wrong though was that they said I would need a straight-through cable which I got, took home from work with me and plugged it all up that evening. Didn't work! Quick check on the back of the box indicated that I needed a cross-over cable. Went out on saturday morning, bought a cable, plugged it in and was all working fine and had been for the past three years. Last week got the speed upgraded so needed a Samsung box instead which DO need a straight-through cable but luckily I had already checked this out and was pre-armed. Now some of this depends on what are you live in. As I understand it if you are in the 'Langley' area then the TV set-top boxes don't work for broadband and hence you will need a separate cable modem and an engineer visit. If like me you are in the 'Bromley' area then you should be able to use your existing set-top box. If this is a Pace model then you are limited to 1Meg, if you want 2 or 3 Meg then this needs to be swopped for the Samsung model and again would need an engineer visit. If you have the option try to connect your PC up via ethernet and not USB. Ethernet is far more reliable and in addition if the ethernet port on your PC is working then there is no need to load any drivers or install any other software. All you would need to do is 'provision' the box, that is register the MAC address of your network card with NTL so the box recognises it. This only has to be done once. Good luck John