DSL Modems and Windows Me.

DSL Modems and Windows Millennium:

How to Head Off Trouble

November 2000--Your choice of DSL service and the “behind the scenes" bandwidth tools it uses can have a serious impact on how easily you can upgrade to Windows Millennium (Me).

Many users who upgraded early found that once Windows Me was successfully installed, their DSL connections just weren’t working–a problem that seemed to miss cable modem, dialup, and two-way satellite connection users. The problem wasn’t broken hardware or broken Windows, but a failure of some of the adapter/protocol networking (specifically, EnterNet 300 or WinPoET) to work properly with Windows Me (and its inherent changes to TCP/IP), which left some DSL customers going nowhere fast on their speedy connections.

Afflicted were many Bell DSL customers, either through Pacific Bell or Bell Sympatico (Canada), and as well as others using the same adapters/protocols.

If you’re using these protocols and install Windows Me, you may see one of two error messages:

Enternet 300 has known compatibility issue when installed on Windows Me. It is recommended that you contact your ISP for compatible versions before upgrading to Windows Me.

Or:

Setup has determined that the version of WinPoET installed on your computer has known compatibility issues on Windows Me. Before upgrading, It is recommended that you contact your ISP about obtaining an upgrade to the latest version of WinPoET.

Trying to reinstall the software for these after the Windows Me upgrade may get you this message:

This program does not run correctly on this version of Windows. To continue, click Run Program. To exit, click Cancel. For more information, click Details.

According to information from Network TeleSystems, developers of EnterNet and the NTS PPPoE adapter, it is possible to get their product (v1.34 specifically) and Windows Me to work with one another. Let’s go through their recommendations.

If you haven’t already upgraded, don’t install Windows Me until you remove the NTS PPoE adapter. You can do this by going to Control Panel in Windows, double-clicking on the Network icon, locating the NTS PPoE adapter in the list, and clicking Remove. Once Windows Me is successfully installed, you can re-add the same adapter back again (use the Add Hardware wizard in Control Panel to do so), and you should have working DSL connections.

However, NTS warns that if you upgrade to Windows Me with EnterNet v1.34 installed and running, you’ll get the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSoD). They suggest you can overcome this by starting Windows in Safe Mode, and removing the NTS PPoE adapter as outlined above. Then finish installing Windows Me, and then re-add the adapter.

Also, if you’re using v1.34, you will need to do a little tweaking to make it work properly with Windows Me.

Under Settings/Advanced, you need to change the default Internet Protocol (IP) configuration from Private API to DHCP, and then change the Network Access method from Filter to use the Protocol Driver.

NTS reports they’re in the process of developing an upgrade that will require no such changes. A beta version of this for Bell customers, using the proprietary Access Manager version of EnterNet 300, is not officially supported by Microsoft for Windows Me use, but can be downloaded from Sympaticousers.org.

Those using WinPoET for the same thing are being redirected back to their DSL providers by Wind River, the developers of WinPoET. Wind River develops these for the providers, who are then responsible for supporting their DSL subscribers.

If you haven’t upgraded to Windows Me yet, but plan to do so or you’re using Windows Me and anticipate upgrading to high-speed DSL service soon, save yourself some time and headaches. You can do this by checking with your DSL provider first to make sure their product and service, as they want it set up, will work with Windows Me. Often, this can be accomplished just by checking your DSL provider’s Web site, under the technical sections where Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) may be stored.

And if all of this sounds like network alphabet soup to you, because you haven’t gotten into the intricacies of deeper network configuration, come talk to us in either the Hardware Forum or the Windows 95/98/Me Forum message boards. Members of the community can help point you to more links that may help you understand the problem and, more importantly, how to resolve it.
 

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