Mac and USB ADSL modem

Connecting a Mac to broadband with the D-Link DSL-210 modem

There are few USB ADSL modems compatible with the Mac. As it turns out, the DSL-210 is compatible, but the D-Link support line will never let you hear so. Also I could not find any documentation related to the subject.

This is my experience on how to connect the modem to BSNL broadband (India) using a PowerBook G4. The operating system is MacOS X 10.3.9 but it should be pretty much the same with MacOS 9 or Linux.

Drivers

First, install the drivers from the CD that come with the modem. Do not connect the modem before installing. The drivers are kept in the Driver/MAC Driver/MAC-OS X folder on the CD. Uncompressing the files create a folder called Release which contain the installer. Follow the instructions to install the driver.

After the computer finished rebooting, you can connect the modem to the computer. You should see the "USB link" light become immediately green. After some time, the "ADSL link" light will start blinking, which shows that the driver is properly installed.

If the modem is connected to your ADSL line, the light will become steady. That means an ADSL connection is established. The installation is not finished though! You still need to enter your account details.

Modem configuration page

Open System Preferences and go to the Network Preferences pane. MacOS X will inform you that it detected a new network port; accept it. On my computer the port is called "Ethernet Adaptor (en2)". Make sure that the modem is connected and select "Ethernet Adaptor (en2)" in the list. Press Configure. IMPORTANT: do not run the assistant (Assist Me).

Select the PPPoE tab. Ensure that "Connect using PPPoE" is unchecked. Go to the TCP/IP tab and select "Using DHCP". Leave the other fields blank. Press Apply to validate the changes.

Now start your favorite web browser (eg. Safari) and type the following in the address bar:

 http://10.0.0.2

You should be prompted for a user name and a password. Enter the following values.

 User: admin
 Password: epicrouter

The modem configuration start page will open.

Account information

In the menu on the left of the modem configuration page, select "Misc Configuration". Set the access to "Restricted" and "LAN". In the left menu select "WAN" (Configuration section).

Enable Virtual Circuit.
Choose PPPoE-LLC for the Encapsulation.
Disable DHCP. (with my modem the DHCP setting doesn't work)
In the Static IP address field, remove all contents.
Enter the username and password provided by BSNL broadband in the respective fields.
Set the Disconnect Timeout to zero.
Enable Auto Reconnect.

Submit your changes then click on the link at the bottom of the page to save the changes in the modem memory. Click on "Save & Reboot".

Connecting to the Internet

After some time, the modem will be ready again. Go back to the Quick Start page and click on "Connect". You can also check "Always On" so that you don't have to load the welcome page to connect to the Internet next time.

The page should refresh and display "Connected".

Congratulations! You are now on the Internet.

Problems and solutions

Problem: I cannot open the modem configuration page
Solution: In Network Preferences, open the TCP/IP tab and check that DHCP is selected. The IP address should be 10.0.0.3 and the router address should be 10.0.0.2.

Problem: The modem indicates "Connected", yet I cannot use Internet
Solution: Make sure that the Static IP address contains 0.0.0.0 in the WAN configuration. If that is not the case, empty the Static IP address field and save the changes.

Problem: There is some incompatibility between the modem and Apple VPN implementation. After connecting to a private network using VPN, the general Internet becomes inaccessible.
Solution: I do not know a solution for that problem other than disconnecting and reconnecting to the private network as needed.