[lug] Linux with ISDN

[Ralf Mattes]

On Wed, 26 Apr 2000, Subba Rao wrote:

> 
> I have been hearing a lot about the availability of ISDN solution
> for Linux, but I haven't found a decent FAQ or HOWTO document that
> talks about the setup or issues with ISDN/Linux.
> 
> What ISDN hardware is supported on Linux?


> The kernel compilation has a big section for the ISDN subsystem.
> Yet, on the web I do not find much Linux/ISDN solution in English.

There are several FAQs and HOWTOs. A good start is:

  http://www.isdn4linux.de

The site is in english (as long as you that english as the
prefered language in your web browser). The problem with ISDN
for Linux is that there are two different types of ISDN (well,
actually more than two). 
There's the so-called Euro-ISDN (EDSSS1, a whole set of standards
defined by the ITU, formerly called CCIT). This is the protocol
used in most telecomunication networks today. Unfortunately this
suite of standards was introduced rather late, so some national
telcos introduced their own protocols (1TR6 in Germany for example).
While all european states agreed on the international standards 
the US did not and still uses a 'proprietary' protocol (understandable,
since switching a hugh installation base isn't fun). 
Since Euro-ISDN gives you quite some bandwidth (64Kb - 128Kb) at
a decent price (at least for europe, where lines tend to be expensive)
it's _the_ standard way to connect to the internet (esp. in Germany).
Therefore a lot of development was done to integrate Euro-ISDN and the
hardware supporting this protocol into Linux. 


  Ralf

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| Ralf Mattes                         | rm at schauinsland.com         |==
| Programming, Administration         | rm at ns.aura.de               |==
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