I didn't realize you were not going over there with it. But, as with anything, where there is a will, there is a way. If you knew she could get a basic PC that had USB on it over there, you could build IPCop on a HDD here and just send her the HDD and NICs from the PC you built it on. Label each NIC as to what it connects to (e.g. Red NIC, internet, Green NIC, local Network). If she is capable of following some basic directions and using a screwdriver, it is doable.

Another alternative might be, looking to see if there is a Linksys device that can connect to a USB DSL modem. Just a thought.

Ethernet based DSL modems can be had for less than $50 on ebay I think. You could even buy from a person in England and have it shipped directly to her.

Just trying to give a complete picture of your options.

Brian Kelsay

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Jonathan Hutchins <> 01/25/05 10:04AM >>>

On Tuesday 25 January 2005 07:33 am, Brian Kelsay wrote:

What is the brand of the modem? It may be supported by the IPCop firewall distro. IPCop is used in the US and in Europe and they have some fixes added for specific modems. You would just have to use an old PC that has USB on it.

Trying to remotely build a new PC with firewall just to support a stupid USB modem isn't a good idea. What I need is something that will connect to the existing, working Ethernet card.

We had some new clothing that was a Christmas gift shipped there, and the import duties were about 30%. The town we're in is _very_ rural. Think middle o' Kansas. More cows than computers.

I have a couple of PII 400's there that could be built into firewalls, but no monitors for them - I was going to use an ATI All-in-Wonder and a TV, but I found out that it's not easy to get the TV-Out working, let alone make it the primary video.

My wife is a Microbiologist. She's no dummy, but building computers is not her thing. What she has is an older, pre-USB IBM laptop with Windows98 and Mandrake 9.x on it, and a working ethernet card.

Local phone calls in the U.K., including calls to a dial-up ISP, are usually charged at 5¢/minute - one of the ways British Telecom tries to clamp down on the competition. _______________________________________________ Kclug mailing list Kclug@kclug.org http://kclug.org/mailman/listinfo/kclug