Having fit microfilters to the appropriate phone sockets, the next task is to connect your ADSL modem. For the purposes of this tutorial we’re going to assume this is a combined Ethernet 10/100 modem/router.
The diagram below illustrates the connectivity of such a device:
Connect the ADSL port of the microfilter to that of the modem/router using an RJ-11 cable. Connect an Ethernet port of the modem/router to your network using an appropriate RJ-45 CAT5 cable. Finally, supply power to the modem device and power the device on.
There are two types of 10BaseT Ethernet ports – hubs and nodes. When connecting a node to a hub, a straight through cable is used. When connecting a node to a node, however, a crossover cable is required. Generally, when connecting a multi-port modem/router direct to a network card, a straight through cable is used. In cases where a modem is being connected to a hub or switch, a crossover cable is likely to be required.
Once powered on, you ought to be able to determine whether or not things are working properly from the modem’s LEDs. One or perhaps two of these will indicate the status of the ADSL connection. After a short period of blinking whilst the protocols were performing their handshaking the LEDs should remain solidly on to indicate that the modem had successfully locked on to the ADSL signal and was now ready for data transmission to begin.
You can now confirm the status of the ADSL connection via your web browser.