InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
By Jason Levitt
Workarounds
I couldn't agree more. In fact, I have every intention of getting the consumer grade, $45-a-month
cable modem service, even if I only use it for basic Internet access. And there are, of course,
ways to work around the limitations of dynamic IP addressing. Proxy servers, IP masquerading,
and tunneling can all be used to hide your LAN behind your cable modem, or to circumvent certain
problems with the Road Runner system. Now first, a disclaimer: I do not advocate the misuse of
your cable modem service.
There are resources on the Web that address some of the problems with cable modems. Phil
Karn's comprehensive page on the Road Runner
cable modem service is a great resource if you're interested in trying any of the techniques
mentioned above. The site also has a list of current problems with the Road Runner architecture
and software.
At least a few users complained about the NetManage access software that is used to connect to
the Road Runner service and authenticate your machine using Kerberos. Fortunately, there are
ways around that as well. Todd Wilson's RRlogin
(RoadRunner login) program replaces the NetManage software with a small, flexible client.
Several users of the @Home cable system pointed out that
they have static IP addresses--but they're wrong. Like RoadRunner, @Home uses dynamic IP
addressing. The only difference is that with @Home, they assign you an IP address and every time
you boot up your machine and connect to the @Home NOC (Network Operations Center) via DHCP
(Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), you get the same IP address. This gives the illusion of
having a static IP address, though the reality is that the address is being dynamically assigned
every time your machine boots up and connects to @Home.
As with Time Warner's RoadRunner, static IP addressing with the @Work system (the business
unit of @Home) is considered "business-class" service and is priced comparably.
Just a few more months until I get my cable modem service. I'll let you know how it goes.
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ast month's Internet Zone column [July 13, 1998]
generated a lot of heat from cable modem users. First, a recap of my point: I'm a fairly
sophisticated user of Internet access services. Because of the work I do, I have several static IP
addresses and run my own Web server, mail server, and DNS server. I'm in a city (Austin, Texas)
where the cable system is owned by Time Warner and so its Road Runner cable modem system
will be my ISP when it is rolled out this fall. But the consumer rollout of Road Runner only
offers dynamic IP addressing, which isn't compatible with my Internet access needs. What I'm
hearing from Time Warner is that it will cost $500+ to get static IP addressing along with the
ability to run my machines as mentioned above. That price is not very attractive compared to
xDSL and even fractional T1 costs, so maybe this cable modem stuff isn't for me?
Some people felt that I missed the point. They said: a cable modem connection is a big,
inexpensive pipe to the Internet so who cares about running Web servers--I just want to get rid
of this 56-Kbps modem and free up my telephone line.
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