[CS-FSLUG] My turn for being clueless

[Frank Bax]

At 05:20 PM 12/7/04, Ed Hurst wrote:
>Tim Young wrote:
> > Woah.  We have two different understandings here.  Most of the guys on 
> this list
> > have been assuming that you were going to route through the Linux 
> box.  The Windows
> > chap you mentioned assumes you are going to have the XP box connected 
> directly to
> > the Internet via DSL or something (PPoE).
>
>Well, I had to compare notes. That was his advice, and if it's wrong
>I'll have to explain to him why. He's trying to learn BSD and Linux, but
>has little time for it.

When you connect to your ISP with your dialup modem you are using 
PPP.  Part of the initial exchange between the two machine involves some 
authentication.  With highspeed connections, some ISP's (usually telco's) 
felt it necessary to retain this authentication, so PPPoE was born.  Other 
ISP's (usually cable companies) that provide high speed connection feel 
that control over the wires (physical connection) is sufficient, so 
authentication is unnecessary.

PPPoE is used to authenticate a machine connecting to ISP over ethernet 
(hence the "oE").  In your case, the FreeBSD machine will be connecting via 
dialup, so it will handle authentication.  When the Windows machine wants 
to communicate with a machine on the internet, it will send packets to its 
"gateway" hoping that they will get to their destination, it will have free 
access to internet without any authentication.  The Windows machine knows 
nothing about your ISP.

Frank