I'm an AT&T Broadband customer. Do I have to pay for additional IP addresses?

[Rick67]

I'm getting ready to buy a router and network two PC's, XBOX and Gamecube. Will I have to pay extra for this?

 

[edblor]

No,

If you know how to setup a network, great...if not:

Broadband connection goes into the WAP of the router...setup the router for you ISP....plug all the goodies into the LAN ports and you are all set!

Before you disconnect your PC from the broadband connection, release the IP manually.....then hook up the router and other equipment!

G/L!

Edblor

 

[jarsoffart]

I bought the SMC Barricade Router and all you have to do is follow instructions, nothing complicated.

 

[Rick67]

edblor,

How do I release the IP manually?

The reason I asked this question was because on AT&T Broadbands site it talks about ordering another IP address for each additional computer hooked up to you network.

Take a look at this .

So how do I get around this?

 

[edblor]

Rick,

Go to a command line (start menu / run....type 'command'), and type 'ipconfig /release all'

That will release your IP. The connect the modem to the router (WAN side), the PCs to the router (LAN side) and you should be set.

I am with Rogers here in Canada (AT&T for the most part) and they too would rather sell you an additional IP then have you network your computers together. What you are doing, and what many others also do, is not illegal at all. You are simply setting up a home network.

Edblor

 

[rw120555]

They want you to buy additional IPs from them rather than use a router. There may be situations in which that is desirable, but it isn't generally necessary. See Basic Options for Internet Connection Sharing if you haven't already. A router is option 3.

See if you can find their service agreement somewhere. These agreements often say that they won't provide technical support for you if you are using a router you didn't get from them, but the use of the router is still legal.

 

[Michael]

From what I understand about AT&T's terms of service, you're paying to attach one computer to the net. If you attach more than 1, you're supposed to pay for the extra IP's.

I know very few people who do. When routers were $200 it took a while for the extra $5 - $10 a month to equal the cost of a router.

AT&T seems to be much more interested in you not running a server or you not soaking up all the available bandwidth than they are in you using a router.

There are two main advantages to using a switch instead of a router and paying for an IP for each computer. The first is that you're not sharing the bandwidth (at least not as much). the second is that each computer has a direct connection to the internet which may make a difference for some games and other application. You need to firewall each computer on your internal network then.

Michael

 

[rw120555]

There are two main advantages to using a switch instead of a router and paying for an IP for each computer. The first is that you're not sharing the bandwidth (at least not as much). the second is that each computer has a direct connection to the internet which may make a difference for some games and other application. You need to firewall each computer on your internal network then.

How does the rest of your home networking work if you have multiple IPs and no router? Can you still share files and printers and so on? If you are firewalling each computer, does it then require some extra steps for your computers to communicate with each other?

 

[mobogasm]

Each computer would not have it's own direct connection, cable is shared bandwidth, it would make no difference at all. It is going through the same pipe, along with your neighbors.

 

[Michael]

From what I understand, you get the entire cap for each IP you pay for. The whole internet is shared bandwidth, so it is moot that you're sharing with others (unless everyone is downloading divx all at the same time on your local loop).

Individual firewalls on each computer can make some networking a little more difficult, but it isn't that huge a deal.

Michael

 

[Rick67]

I'm a little lost. So do I have to pay the $4.95 for each additional IP or does my router take care of all that?

 

[rw120555]

Originally posted by: Rick67
I'm a little lost. So do I have to pay the $4.95 for each additional IP or does my router take care of all that?

Your router can do it. Basically the router assings your machines local i.p. addresses, e.g. 192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.2, etc. See Help me decide how to share my modem for a discussion of Multiple IPs versus routers versus other options.

EDIT: This link will further clarify what a router does. The key excerpt is

"The NAT function in the broadband router allows sharing a single IP address provided by the Internet Service Provider with PCs connected directly to the router/switch or to hub or switch connected to the router by mapping local LAN IP addresses (assigned by the DHCP server or static IPs on the same TCP/IP subnet) to Internet IP addresses and vice versa and translating the address information in the TCP/IP protocol packets."

 

[Rick67]

Thanks, rw120555! That really helps!

 

[JackMDS]

AnandTech - FAQ . Basic Options for Internet Connection Sharing

AnandTechT - FAQ. Hubs, routers, switches, DSL, LANs, WANs...?

 

[mobogasm]

I was told by a friend who works for at&t that each ip does not get it's own cap, it is a cap on your connection basically. He may have been talking out his ass thought so who knows. I don't see you being able to get the effective bandwith of 4x what you would have through one connection if you order 4 ip's when it is all travelling through the same 1 coxial cable into your house. It's not like there are X amount of cables coming into your house that are independent of each other and depend on how many ip's you order. The effective latency will prob be exactly the same with a shared ip compared to if you order X amount of ip's. Just my guess.

 

[boyRacer]

^ i think so too... dunno if it's worth anything but i've tried testing all 3 computers hooked up to the router at the same time and all of them are more or less around the advertised bandwidth... i guess you'll only notice that your connection is choking with an entry level router if you have 10 or so computers all using it at the same time... ATT just jacked up the pricing system too... making it somewhat more attractive if you rent your modem from them because before if you purchased your own cable modem it would only take 10 months before it pays for itself... now i think it would take twice as long because they lowered the monthly rental fee but raised the subscription fee.