Home Networking

Modem Setup

Medicine Park Telephone Company provides adsl2+ modems with service, however you can purchase your own third party modems if you would like. There are a few things you want to look for when making this purchase to be sure it functions optimally with our system.

1. Modem must be an adsl modem. This is much different from a cable modem, in that dsl uses the telephone line.
2. Modems from AT&T services differ greatly depending on when they were ordered. Some of these modems cannot be used due to "branding" by AT&T, and cannot be properly configured.
3. We recommend all customers start using adsl2+ modems, for future compatibility. Adsl2+ is a new standard for dsl and is capable of much faster speeds, and train much faster. With this, the old adsl standard is being abandoned and older adsl modems may not even train at all.

Router Setup

If you have a bridged dsl modem, and you would like to have multiple computers connected, you are probably looking for a router. Although, it is better to have an adsl modem with a built in router, it is acceptable for you to purchase a home router and connect it via ethernet to your adsl bridge. Reguardless of the brand of router you choose, most settings will be the same. Please refer to the manual for your brand/model router and configure with these settings.*

1. Most customers will merely need to have the router set up for dhcp (dynamically configured ip address) as well as have the computer setup for dhcp (Automatically detect... in windows).
2. It is recommended that you setup wireless security if using a wireless router. This will not only stop unauthorized access to your Internet connection, but will secure the information you send over this wireless connection.
3. Some routers do not "masquerade" the dns information quickly and it is sometimes faster to statically add dns server entries either on the computer, or in the router. This is seldom a problem, but is characterized by slow page resolution (seeing "Looking up ..." at the bottom of the browser) and slower connection speeds when surfing from one domain to another. Please ask the system administrator what the dns server settings are if you have this problem.

* Some settings may be different if customers have static ip addresses.

Gaming Settings

Most routers support Universal Plug-n-Play (UPnP) and this service enables your games that are run locally (behind the router) to configure the ports and connections they need. There are far too many different brands of routers to explain how to enable this function on all of them. If your game works automatically, then you probably don't need UPnP or it is already enabled. Below is how to turn on UPnP on our adsl2+ routers.

1. Log into your router by surfing to http://192.168.1.254 or clicking here.
2. Fill in the login credentials. (default username: admin ; default password: admin )
3. Once logged in, click on "Game and Application Sharing", under Toolbox.
4. Check whether UPnP is on here, if it is not enabled, click on "configure" in the top right hand corner of the page.
5. Here you can check the box next to "Use UPnP" and click "Apply". Settings are applied immediately.