DirecWay satellite broadband and NetWare

Novell Cool Solutions: Question & Answer

Posted: 30 Apr 2003

Q:
Marc B. wrote: I am using DirecWay satellite broadband to connect to the internet. The system uses a PC running Windows XP operating system with the DirecWay software which manages the satellite transmit and receive modems which connect to the PC via a single USB interface connection.

I want to connect the satellite system directly to my server which is running Netware Small Business Suite 6, so that the Netware server can manage the internet connection and provide internet access to all client PCs on my network.

Do you have any experience with such a configuration? If so, can you offer any advice?



A:
Marc, we don't know much about DirecWay, but we assume it is similar to other broadband systems. The problem is that there doesn't seem to be a gateway modem/router for this product so that it can route independently of Windows XP. We assume it uses IP protocol, but haven't been able to verify that. We recommend you call DirecTV/Way and ask them about a gateway modem/router to connect to their system. If you had that, we'd recommend installing NetWare as a two-LAN card server (multi-homed), and have it route between two networks, one going to your Satellite modem, and the other with a hub going to your clients.

If DirecWay doesn't support a gateway modem/router, the next best alternative is to add a LAN card to Windows XP and configure it as a router, but that may not be possible. Look at http://www.wown.com/j_helmig/w2kprout.htm . Of course, you could do this with Windows 2000, and we believe DirecWay supports Windows 2000. As you can see, this whole operation starts to become expensive and complicated with Windows acting as a router, and your NetWare as a router, too. It looks like hardware-wise you'd need two additional cards (one for NetWare, the other for Windows) and a hub for your internal network.

Before doing anything, you should double check this with DirecTV/Way to see if they've installed with an IP router before. We'd also recommend you contact someone else on how to configure Windows as a router. But certainly, the NetWare part we can help you with.

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