After reading a large number of posts, I wanted to share the solution that worked for me.
The environment was a Verizon DSL Line, a Westel A90-210015-04 modem, and a Linksys WRT54G V5 router. The DSL line was in the old GTE territory which was a critical issue.
After contacting Verizon, their technical support reported that the modem was using the "DHCP protocol". I believe this is typical only if it is in the former GTE area. I surmised from their comments that it was not running PPOE.
The Westel A90-210015-04 modem is a bridge only modem and there is no need to connect to it or alter any of its settings.
I set the Linksys router to DHCP and cloned the MAC address from the computer that had been on the DSL line. I am not sure that is required but it is my habit to do so. There is no place to enter username and password so I am assuming that it authenticates by some other manner.
It is confusing that so many posts refer to setting the PPOE option and entering the username and password. I assume this applies to Verizon DSL lines that were not in the former GTE territory.
There appear to be two really distinct setups and they are dependent, I think, on whether you are in a former GTE area or not.
I hope this helps as I spend a great deal of time sorting out this process. Like many things, this worked in this environment and may not work elsewhere. Also as I have discovered, I am frequently wrong.
The environment was a Verizon DSL Line, a Westel A90-210015-04 modem, and a Linksys WRT54G V5 router. The DSL line was in the old GTE territory which was a critical issue.
After contacting Verizon, their technical support reported that the modem was using the "DHCP protocol". I believe this is typical only if it is in the former GTE area. I surmised from their comments that it was not running PPOE.
The Westel A90-210015-04 modem is a bridge only modem and there is no need to connect to it or alter any of its settings.
I set the Linksys router to DHCP and cloned the MAC address from the computer that had been on the DSL line. I am not sure that is required but it is my habit to do so. There is no place to enter username and password so I am assuming that it authenticates by some other manner.
It is confusing that so many posts refer to setting the PPOE option and entering the username and password. I assume this applies to Verizon DSL lines that were not in the former GTE territory.
There appear to be two really distinct setups and they are dependent, I think, on whether you are in a former GTE area or not.
I hope this helps as I spend a great deal of time sorting out this process. Like many things, this worked in this environment and may not work elsewhere. Also as I have discovered, I am frequently wrong.