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2. Basics

I know a little bit about Linux. Maybe I can already connect to the Internet with my modem.

Now I have ISDN - and I can't get anywhere at all. Why?

2.1 ISDN4Linux: modem or network?

Forget everything that you know about modems.

ISDN is completely different.

  1. There are no clicks or whistles.
  2. There are no blinking lights.
  3. The connections are made so quickly, that it's possble to spend your entire paycheck within a matter of hours.
  4. It's more fun.

The concepts are different:

  1. the methods of hardware connection
  2. the methods of use
  3. the methods of control possibilities
  4. the methods of configuration

Under ISDN4Linux, the ISDN card is treated as a network card, only with special characteristics.

2.2 Overview of features

2.3 Overview of missing features

2.4 Overview of the tools

isdnlog

isdnlog listens in the background to the S0 bus and logs incoming and outgoing connections for later analysis (including cost control) and diagnosis.

isdnctrl

Sets important parameters specific to I4L (e.g. telephone numbers).

HiSax

The driver (as module or compiled into the kernel) for almost all passive ISDN cards.

hisaxctrl

Controls the HiSax driver.

ipppd

The PPP daemon for ISDN (syncPPP).

messages

ISDN activity is logged in /var/log/messages (or via Syslog) - important for diagnosing problems!

ttyI

Using the terminal devices /dev/ttyI0 to /dev/ttyI64 normal terminal programs can access ISDN - but not analog access!

vbox

The ISDN answering machine.


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