MTNL Triband
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Pre-requisites
This document assumes that your Triband account has already been activated by MTNL. If not, call their Customer care and ensure the same. Also, this document assumes that the reader has knowledge of setting up network interfaces in Linux or can refer to external resources for the same. An oft used Linux networking resource is linked at the end of this document.
Routers
The following routers work with MTNL Triband:
- GLB-502T - MTNL provides GLB-502T on lease with it's Triband account. This router is easy to configure and set up, but has some rebooting and hanging issues, which have been attributed to overheating. There are patches and fixes being circulated but none so far from the official sources.
It's been recommended by MTNL officers that instead of GLB-502T ADSL 2+ router, we should use the D-Link DSL-502T ADSL router which is easily configured through DHCP during installation.
Configuring your computer for MTNL Triband
MTNL Triband configuration is fairly simple and can be done in two ways, viz. with DHCP or static LAN configuration. Also, the broadband router you use comes with two possible connection ports, viz. Ethernet and USB. The LAN configuration for both is the same. Throughout the document, the sample ethernet interface will be referred to as eth0.
Network Configuration with DHCP
Once your LAN card is added and installed, you must set it to procure its network settings via DHCP. Your computer will then take its network settings from the router on startup.
Static LAN Configuration
You may also choose to manually configure your network settings so that your network settings do not depend on your router. The following configuration elements need to be entered:
- IP Address: 192.168.1.2
- Gateway: 192.168.1.1
- Netmask: 255.255.255.0
- DNS Server: 192.168.1.1
Configuration with USB connection
All configuration is essentially the same with USB connection to the router. The very moment that the router boots up, the USB network device is detected and configured by Linux. The interface, however, is not enabled/brought up by default. To enable this, one can either do ifup eth0 or create udev rules for the network interface. To do so, create a file called /etc/udev/rules.d/z80_mtnl.rules and insert into it, the following text:
KERNEL=="eth0", ACTION=="add", RUN+="/sbin/ifup eth0" KERNEL=="eth0", ACTION=="remove", RUN+="/sbin/ifdown eth0"
USB vs Ethernet
Ethernet scores marginally over USB, due to a critical point; it is easier and more familiar to configure. There is no need to add udev rules to get it working automatically all the time, hence less hacking is involved.
Network configuration is done, now what?
Set up your router to connect to the MTNL Triband service. Directions to configuring various routers are provided on the MTNL Triband website.
Setting Up D-Link GLB-502T WAN connection
MTNL's guides do not provide the setup instructions for D-Link GLB-502T. The guides still use DSL-502T.
- Access the router's admin page through your browser. Go to Setup > WAN Setup > New Connection. See the accompanying screenshot.
WAN Config Screen of GLB-502T
- Enter a name for the conntection - e.g. triband.
- Enter your username and password.
- Finally, enter VPI = 0 and VCI = 32.
- Click Apply. Go to Tools > System Commands. First, Save All and then, Restart.
Further Reading
- Ethernet Howto for networking basics such as configuring, starting and stopping a network interface
