Anyone out there with any T1 experience.

[Allister Fiend Profile Website]

Me and a few friends that I work with have managed to get ahold of a T1 line between our offices. At this point at both ends they have what the phone company calls a CSU with an rj45 connector at both ends. Our question is can we just plug our computers into the connector and play or will we need some sort of t1 router that makes the circuit ethernet at each end. And if we do need another piece of equipment what is the bare minimum that I would need at both ends just so we could play games with our computers or using XBoxes (we are cheap and want to spend the least amount of money ). Any names of equipment vendors or model numbers would be helpful. Thanks for your time.


Allister Fiend

[Edogg]

well i think as long your computers have an ethernet(a.k.a network card) card installed, you should just be able to plug the rj45s right in.

Now if the computer's motherboard doesnt have a built in ethernet card, or if there isnt an ethernet card installed in one of the pci slots, you are going to have to purchase a card for every computer that you want connected.


Someone correct me if im way off here...

[SHWoff Profile Website]

Normally, a T1 DSU/CSU will have a V.35 interface not an RJ45. Usually, an RJ45 is the line interface. In the US, the telco doesn't usually provide CSUs (any more). I'd double-check this with the telco (Bell South in you area?)

If it is a line or CSU only, DON'T PLUG IT INTO THE JACK!!! IT IS POSSIBLE (AND LIKELY) THAT YOU WILL BLOW THE CARD. Once again, double-check with the telco about the interface that was provided.

That said, yes. You will need a router at each end. Some routers have internal DSU/CSUs, some require external ones, and some can go either way.

You have 2 configuration options with the router: 1) you can bridge the 2 sites and use the same IP subnet addresses at each end, or 2) you can route - in which case you will need a subnet for each site and for the link between (in some cases you can use IP unnumbered links). The choice you make will probably depend on your Internet router. If you can configure the internal subnets for NAT-ing, you can route. If not, I'd recommend you bridge.

There are many more considerations....

[Allister Fiend Profile Website]

I found out that the phone company actually calls thier interface a smartjack (NIU, i think). Also just to clarify something else...this T1 circuit is NOT CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET at all, we just have a T1 path from one location to the other and we want to simply connect our XBox or computer to each end and use system link to play games. (basically we just wanted to set this up like if you had two Xboxes next to each other or two computers and used a crossover cable to play games). Will we still need to set up routers with IP addresses and everything. (also being cheap like we are, is their any possibility that if we do need hardware the price of this hardware would be around $100 or less, or will it be much more expensive?)

Thanks for all your help.


Allister Fiend