Of course, when Wrox disappeared, the "only" suddenly became "I can't afford that!", and I switched over to BT's 512 KB down / 256 KB up ADSL Business Service. It's been quite reliable, and I even got a free upgrade to 1 MB / 256 KB last year. The service isn't cheap at about 100 pounds ($190) per month, but is considerably cheaper than the leased line. And, in the price, I get 16 fixed IP addresses and a guarantee of fast service and repair. Plus, the technical help desk is open 24/7, and not even on a premium-rate number!

However, after three and a half years, the rather cheap and nasty router they installed was beginning to show its age. I usually recycle it (switch off, count to 100, and back on) every month on patch Tuesday, otherwise it becomes slow and unreliable. However, to get it to come back on the last couple of times has involved a combination of banging it against the side of the server cabinet and emitting carefully selected expletives, followed by furiously rattling the on/off switch a dozen times. I think it's probably got a wire loose somewhere (rather like me).

So, I phone the ever-helpful tech support people (at 1:30 AM after installing the latest MS patches) and they promise to book the engineer. He appears the next day, looks at the router, and says "Hmmm... I don't have one of those. I'll go back to the stores and dig about and maybe I can find you one". Now, I'd have preferred him to say "...and I will find you one..." - the "maybe" seeming somewhat ominous. And my suspicions proved correct a week later when he hadn't come back, so I'm on the phone again.

No doubt you've experienced one of these kinds of support calls: after four hours I'd spoken to five different people, telling them all the full story, until I ended up at the Broadband Business Sales desk. The very pleasant and helpful lady there then informed me that "...the service I have is obsolete, and hardly anybody still uses it." Hey, thanks for telling me about that when it happened, or even three hours and forty-five minutes ago would have been nice. It seems that I have an "engineer-installed product" which is no longer supported. So what do they recommend? Well, they won't send someone to replace my existing router, but they can sell me a new USB router for 45 pounds and post it to me, pre-configured for the standard dynamically-assigned IP address business service.

Well that's fine, but a) I connect it up using Ethernet to the ISA Server on my local network, and b) I have a NO-NAT fixed IP address service that won't work with the standard dynamically-assigned IP address router setup. Oh, and c) I'm not allowed to interfere with engineer-installed products that belong to BT, so I can't replace the router myself. In the end, after a lot of threats and shouting ("Resistance is Futile..."), they agreed they would replace the router free of charge, and send an engineer to install and configure it. I suppose they're frightened of what I might put on the end of wire otherwise. And I've only got to wait two weeks!

Needless to say, Microsoft decided two days later to release an emergency patch. I did the install, and stupidly recycled the router as usual. Or, to be mode accurate, I did a "recy" because only half the process worked. Despite a half hour stint consisting of the usual bang-on-side-of-cabinet-swear-profusely-fiddle-with-switch-throw-on-floor-jump-up-and-down-on, it never did reach the "cle" part of the process and start up again. And I thought I'd mastered this hardware engineering thing. Thankfully, I had a spare ADSL router I purchased a year or so ago in the bottom of the wardrobe hidden behind my wife's shoes (so she never knew I'd bought it). It's a neat D-Link 504T, and just needed configuring.

Thanks to several Web sites (particularly http://adslguide.org and BT's own site) I managed to figure out the settings required. Mind you, it's interesting that the login page for the router seems unable to cope with all the usual characters you might use in a proper complex password, meaning I became very familiar with the reset button on the back of the router while setting it up. Come on D-Link, you can do better than that. Anyway, after a couple of hours, I got it all done, plugged it into the ADSL line, and it works! A network instead of a notwork! So, if you have a similar setup (BT Business Broadband NO-NAT and not using the router's DHCP server) and are struggling with a D-Link 504T or the newer D-Link 524T ADSL router (or, in fact most other types of router), you might find the following useful. There are also help pages available for NO-NAT connections on D-Link's site at http://www.dlink.co.uk.

1. In Windows, go to Start | Settings | Network Connections and open the Properties dialog for your Ethernet card. Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the list and click Properties. Select Obtain an IP address automatically, click OK, then OK again.

2. Connect the Ethernet card to the router. If you use a laptop, remember to turn off the wireless connection or you'll get weird connection problems (guess how I discovered that!). Then point your browser at http://192.168.1.1 and log into the router using admin as the user name and the password.

3. Upgrade the firmware for the 524T model only:

• 524T: Click the Tools tab and click the Firmware button in the left-hand column to see the installed firmware version. If you are using a firmware version earlier than 20060621 (at the end of the version number), go to http://www.dlink.co.uk, select Support, select Broadband in the category list, and select DSL-524T in the product list. Download the latest firmware version to a local folder on your computer and unzip it. Click Browse in the router Firmware page and select the file you just downloaded. Click Apply and wait for the router to restart. You may have to refresh your browser and/or log into the router again.

4. Switch off the router-based DHCP server:

• 504T: Click the Setup tab, click DHCP Configuration, select Server and Relay Off, and click Apply.

• 524T: Click the Home tab, click DHCP, select No DHCP, and click Apply.

5. Set the router/gateway address for your network:

• 504T: Click the Setup tab again, click the Management IP link, enter the default IP address for your ADSL subnet, enter your subnet mask, and click Apply. Your default IP address is usually the last but one of your allocation. For example, if you have x.x.x.240 to x.x.x.255, your default address is x.x.x.254. Your ADSL installation letter contains your IP address allocation and subnet mask details. The default IP address may be referred to as the "Gateway" or "Router" address.

• 524T: Click the WAN button in the left-hand column, select Unnumbered IP in the IP Control drop-down list, and click Apply. Then click the LAN button in the left-hand column, enter the default IP address for your ADSL subnet (the Management IP - see above), enter your subnet mask, and click Apply.

6. Now panic when the next page fails to load because your computer has an invalid IP address compared to the router. Go to Start | Settings | Network Connections and open the Properties dialog for your Ethernet card again. Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the list and click Properties. Select Use the following IP address, enter an IP address that is within your allocation (but not the default Management IP address you used earlier) and your ADSL subnet mask, click OK, then OK again.

7. Point your browser at the default Management IP address and log into the router again using admin as the user name and the password.

8. Turn off the Network Address Translation and Firewall services:

• 504T: Click the Advanced tab, click Advanced Security, wait until the page finishes loading, turn off the Enable Firewall and NAT Service checkbox, and click Apply.

• 524T: Click the Home tab, click the WAN button in the left-hand column, select Disabled in the NAT and Firewall drop-down lists, and click Apply.

9. Change the management login details:

• 504T: Click the Tools tab, click User Managment (notice the interesting D-Link choice of spelling), enter a new user name and password, repeat the password to confirm it, and click Apply. This changes the user name from the default (admin). Make sure you use a complex and secure password, but do not include an ampersand (&) or quotes! You might like to log out and back in again to make sure it's OK at this point.

• 524T: Click the Tools tab, enter a new password, repeat the password to confirm it, and click Apply. You can also change the port number, though bear in mind you must be able to reach this port through your own internal firewall. Make sure you use a complex and secure password. You might like to log out and back in again to make sure it's OK at this point.

10. Select the correct DSL Mode:

• 504T: Click the Setup tab again, click DSL Setup, and make sure MMODE (multi-mode) is selected. If not, select it and click Apply.

• 504T: Click the Advanced tab, click the ADSL button in the left-hand column, and make sure ADSL2+ (Multi-Mode), ADSL2 (Multi-Mode), or ADSL (Multi-Mode) is selected (depending on your line type). If not, select the appropriate type and click Apply. If in doubt, phone your BT Support number and ask them - they can tell you the correct type from your account information.

11. Set the ADSL parameters:

• 504T: Click the Setup tab, click Connection_1, and enter the following, then click Apply:
  • Name: something like BT_ADSL_DLINK, or whatever name you want to use to identify the connection.
  • Type: PPPoA
  • Options: Both NAT and Firewall off
  • Encapsulation: VC
  • Username: Your BT ADSL account user name
  • Password: Your BT ADSL account password
  • Keep Alive: 10 min
  • MAX Fail: 10 times
  • MRU: 1500 bytes
  • Set Route: on
  • VPI: 0
  • VCI: 38
  • QoS: UBR
  • PCR: leave blank
  • SCR: leave blank

• 524T: Click the Home tab, click the WAN button in the left-hand column, and enter the following, then click Apply:
  • PVC: Pvc0
  • VPI: 0
  • VCI: 38
  • Virtual Circuit: Enabled
  • WAN Setting: PPPoE/PPPoA
  • Username: Your BT ADSL account user name
  • Password: Your BT ADSL account password
  • Connection Type: PPPoA VC-Mux
  • MTU: 1400 bytes
  • MRU: 1492 bytes
  • Default Route: Enabled
  • NAT: Disabled
  • Firewall: Disabled
  • IP Control: Unnumbered IP
  • Connection Setting: Always ON
  • ATM Service Category: UBR
  • PCR: leave blank
  • SCR: leave blank
  • CDVT: leave blank
  • MBS: leave blank
12. Other settings for the 524T model only:

• 524T: Click the Tools tab, click the Time button in the left-hand column, and select Automatic (Simple Network Time Protocol). Enter the URL of a time server (such as uk.pool.ntp.org), set Daylight Saving to Enabled, then click Apply. Click the Advanced tab, click the Bridge Filters button in the left-hand column, uncheck Enable Bridge Filters, then click Apply.

13. Commit the configuration to the router's non-volatile memory:

• 504T: Click the Tools tab, click System Commands, and click Save All.

• 524T: Click the Tools tab, click the System button in the left-hand column, click Save and Reboot, and confirm in the popup dialog.

14. Install and test the router:

• 504T: Click the Tools tab again, click Logout and confirm in the popup dialog. Plug the router into your ADSL line and connect your machines to it. Power up and wait for the flashing "Status" light, and the steady "ADSL" light which indicate it's working.

• 524T: Click the Logout button in the left-hand column and confirm in the popup dialog. Plug the router into your ADSL line and connect your machines to it. Power up and wait for the flashing "Status" light, and the steady "ADSL" light which indicate it's working.

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