RASPPPOE ReadMe for Windows NT 4.

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RASPPPOE PPP over Ethernet Protocol for Windows NT 4.0

(If you are usingWindows95/98/98SE/ME, please clickhere) (If you are usingWindows2000/XP/.NET, please clickhere)

written by Robert Schlabbach

Version 0.98, October 3rd, 2002

Contents
1. Introduction 2. Installing the PPP over Ethernet Protocol 3. Creating PPP over Ethernet Dial-Up Connections 4. Removing the PPP over Ethernet Protocol 5. Advanced Protocol Features 6. Troubleshooting 7. Known Issues 8. Revision History 9. Contacting the Author 1. Introduction
Welcometo RASPPPOE a PPP over Ethernet(short: PPPoE) implementationor Windows95, 98, 98SE, , f PPP connectionsthroughEthernet ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP and .NET. PPPoE as a methodfor establishing adapters is described inRFC 2516 and is used by manybroadband serviceprovidersto allowauthentication and maintainthe familiar - up experience whenconnectingto the Internetthrougha broadband modem. Although "dial " there are other PPPoE implementationsor Windows thisone stillhas its unmatchedstrongpoints: f ,

http://www.raspppoe.com/READMENT.HTM

09/12/2005 11:53:41 AM

. Seamless integrationintothe operatingsystem Thisprotocol makes Ethernetnetworkadapters appear as "modems", allowingPPPoE to be easilyused withinthe standard Dial-Up Networking framework . : Compatibility Thisprotocol supports Internet ConnectionSharing(including on-demanddialing), powermanagement(Standbyand Hibernate) as wellas multiprocessorsystems. ) Completeness: Thisprotocol can not onlyact as a PPPoE Host (client, but also as an Access Concentrator(server), fullyimplementing FC 2516. R Compactness: The completeprotocol is less than250 KB. Yet no concessionswere made inthe implementation . To installthisprotocol, please followthe installation instructions carefully If you have problemsusingit, see . for usingthisprotocol, you can check ifyou findany of the advanced Troubleshooting help. If you are successfully featuresuseful You mayalso want to know about the knownissues. Users upgradingfroma previousversionof . . thisprotocol shouldcheck the RevisionHistoryto findout what changed If you want to get intouchwithme, see Contactingthe Author . - Robert Schlabbach License and Disclaimer Thisdriver installation , filesand documentationis allCopyright(C) 2000-2002 by Robert Schlabbach Allrights . reserved. It is distributedwithoutany warranty Use at your ownrisk. You mayuse and copy it complete and . . , for unmodifiedfree of chargefor non-commercialpurposes only Commercialexploitation redistribution commercialpurposes, especiallyredistribution Internetserviceprovidersas "their serviceto theircustomers is by " , . to . strictly prohibited Internetserviceprovidersmustpurchasea licensefor distribution theircustomers The licensedversionadditionally featuresan installer whichtypicallyrequiresno reboot (except on WindowsNT 4.0) , and leads the user to the firstloginfor an "instant success " customerexperience For licensing . detailsplease contact: Monzoon Networks AG Hardstrasse235 CH-8005 Zurich Switzerland .net e-mail: raspppoe@monzoon .net Web: http://www.monzoon

2. Installing the PPP over Ethernet Protocol

ATTENTION: RASPPPOErequiresService Pack 4 or later for operationon WindowsNT 4.0. If you are currentlyusingan older or no ServicePack, please update your operatingsystemwiththe latest ServicePack available . , , NOTE: Duringinstallationyou maybe asked for WindowsNT files. If possible specifythe locationof the Service Pack you had applied. Thiswillsave you the step of havingto re-apply the Servicepack after installation thisprotocol. of

poses a non-zero risk of WARNING: You are about to installa driver. Sinceany driverinstallation crashingyour operatingsystem and sinceyou need to restart your computerto completethisinstallation , anyway you are advisedto save your work and close allrunningapplicationsbefore proceeding , . Sinceyou are about to installa driver, you willneed administrativeprivileges to performthe installation . If you are loggedon to a user account, logoffand logon to an accountwithadministrative rivilegesbefore p proceeding . If there is alreadya differentPPPoE implementationnstalledon your machine it mightget confusedby the i , PPPoE trafficgeneratedby thisprotocol. Thisprotocol was writtento peacefullycoexistwithother PPPoE implementations n the same machine but other programmersmaynot have been as thoughtfulThus, it is o , . recommended(but not required that you uninstallany other PPPoE implementationsnd reboot your !) a machinebefore proceeding . If you alreadyhave a previousversionof this PPP over EthernetProtocol installed you mustfirstremove , . the old version See Removingthe PPP over EthernetProtocol for details . Unpack the downloadedarchiveto a temporaryinstallation directory Make sure that the following . filesare correctlyextracted: README9X.HTM, READMENT.HTM, README2K.HTM, NETPPP95.INF, RASPPP95.INF, WINPPPOE .INF, OEMSETNT.INF, NETPPPOE .INF, RASPPPOE .INF, WINPPPOE .DLL, RASPPPOE .DLL, RASPPPOE .EXE, RASPPPOE .SYS and RMSPPPOE.SYS. The Intel Itanium64-bit CPU releaseonlycontainsthe filesREADME2K.HTM, NETPPPOE .INF, RASPPPOE .INF, RASPPPOE .DLL, RASPPPOE .EXE and RMSPPPOE.SYS. , . NOTE: Explorermaybe configuredto hide DLL and SYS files so it maynot displaythese files Right clickthe Network Neighborhoodiconon your desktop and selectProperties to bringup the . Network window Clickon the Protocols tab. On the Protocols property sheet, clickthe Add... button. In the Select Network Protocolwindow clickthe Have Disk... button. , In the Insert Disk window type the full path of your temporaryfolder Thenclickthe OK button. A new , . windowopens, offeringthe PPP over EthernetProtocolfor installationClickOK to start installing . the protocol. Duringinstallationyou maybe asked for WindowsNT files. If possible specifythe locationof the , , , Service Pack you had applied. If you specifythe locationof the originalWindowsNT files you willhave to re-apply the ServicePack after the installation the protocol. of Back at the Network window clickon the Bindingstab. , On the Bindingsproperty sheet, selectShow Bindingsfor: all adapters. If you have a networkadapter dedicated to your broadband modem, it is recommendedthat you disable the bindingsto all other componentsand leaveonlyPPP over EthernetProtocolbound. To do this,

double-clickthe dedicated networkadapter inthe listto expand it and right clickeach unneeded componentbelow it and selectDisable. Afteryou are done, allcomponentsbelow that adapter except the PPP over EthernetProtocolshouldhave a littlestop signnextto them. If you have more thanone networkadapter inyour system you maywant to disablethe PPP over , EthernetProtocolfor alladapters but the one your broadband modemis actuallyconnectedto. To do this, double-clickeach networkadapter inthe listyou want to disable the protocol for, right clickthe PPP over EthernetProtocolitembelow it and selectDisable. Clickon the Close buttonto close the Network windowand restart your computerto make the protocol functionalAfterthe reboot, you need to create a dial- up connectionto use it. See the nextsection . for details . and IMPORTANT: If you were prompted for WindowsNT files duringthe installation you specifiedthe locationof the originalWindowsNT files you willfirsthave to re-apply the latestService Pack after the , restart and thenrestart your computeragainto make the protocol functional .

3. Creating PPP over Ethernet Dial-Up Connections

If you installedthe protocol withthe automatedinstaller it alreadycreated a dial- up connectionfor you. If you , installedthe protocol manually you can create a PPP over Ethernetdial- up connectionwiththe Dial-Up , ConnectionSetup applicationprovidedwiththe protocol, whichcreates dial- up connectionswithallthe correct settingsat the clickof a button. Clickthe Start buttonon the taskbar and selectRun... to bringup the Run dialogbox. Type RASPPPOEinthe edit fieldand clickthe OK buttonto run the Dial-Up ConnectionSetup application . If the applicationquitswithan error message followthe adviceit gives , . A dialogbox comes up witha combo box labeledQuery available PPP over EthernetServices throughAdapter: at the top. Select the networkadapter your broadband modemis connectedto fromthe list If the protocol is onlyoperatingon one networkadapter, the box willbe grayedout as there is no . choiceto make. Generally it is recommendedthat you create a connectionfor an adapter, not for a specificservice so , , that it continuesto work even ifyour serviceproviderchangesthe server or servicename. To do this, simplyclickthe Create a Dial-Up Connectionfor the selected Adapterbuttonnow. Shortly afterwards a shortcutto the new dial- up connectionnamedConnectionthroughAdapter Name should , show up on your desktop. If you want to create a connectionfor a specific service, clickthe Query Available Services button. The applicationwillsend out a queryfor offeredservicesand displaythe resultinthe listviewbelow. If an error messageis displayed see Troubleshooting help. Otherwise selectthe desired serviceand the button , for , below willchangeto Create a Dial-Up Connectionfor the selected Service. Clickthe buttonto create a connectionfor thisservice Shortlyafterwards a shortcutto the new dial- up connectionnamed . ,

Connectionto Service Name at Access Concentrator or Connectionto Access Concentrator (ifthe connectionis for the defaultservice shouldshow up on your desktop. ) Afteryou have created the connection you need, clickthe Exit buttonto quitthe application (s) . Double-clickthe desktop iconfor the dial- up connectionyou created to bringup the Dial-Up Networking window . In the Dial-Up Networkingwindow clickon the Dial button. , In the Connect to Connection Name window enter your user nameand password ifyour service , providerrequiresauthentication . Clickon the OK button. If allgoes well you shouldbe connectedto the Internetalmostinstantly If not, see , . Troubleshooting .

4. Removing the PPP over Ethernet Protocol

WARNING: You are about to removea driver. Sinceany driverremovalposes a non-zero risk of crashingyour operatingsystemand sinceyou need to restart your computerto completethe removal anyway you are advisedto save your work and close allrunningapplicationsbefore proceeding , . Sinceyou are about to removea driver, you willneed administrativeprivileges to performthe removal . If you are loggedon to a user account, logoffand logon to an accountwithadministrative rivilegesbefore p proceeding . First, you maywant to removealldial- up connectionsyou created for connectingthroughthisprotocol. To do so, double-clickthe My Computericonon your desktop, and thenthe Dial-Up Networkingiconin the upcomingwindow Select each of the dial- up connectionsyou created for thisprotocol under . . Phonebookentry to dial:, thenclickon the More button, selectDelete entry... and confirm If you had created any shortcutsto these dial- up connectionson your desktop, right clickthemand selectDelete as well . Right clickthe Network Neighborhoodiconon your desktop and selectProperties to bringup the . Network window Clickon the Protocols tab. On the Protocols property sheet, selectPPP over EthernetProtocoland clickthe Remove button. A dialogbox comes up askingyou to confirmthe removal Make sure that you are reallyabout to uninstall . the PPP over EthernetProtocoland clickYes. Back at the Network window clickClose to close the window You willbe prompted to restart your , . . . computer Afterthe restart, the protocol is completelyremovedfromyour computer

, Note: If you do not have any other dial-up devices inyour machine the Remote Access Service willbringup an error messagewhenclosingthe Network window sayingit is incorrectlyconfigured Also, you willget a , . notification a servicewas unableto start upon each restart of your computer If you do not intendto use Dialthat . , , Up Networkingfor the timebeing you can fixthisby re-openingthe Network window goingto the Services tab, selectingRemote Access Service, clickingthe Remove buttonand confirmingNote that the Remote . . Access Service can be reinstalledlatershouldyou need it again

5. Advanced Protocol Features

Thissectioncovers the advancedfeaturesof the protocol. Averageusers shouldbe perfectlyhappy withthe defaultsettings althoughspecifying linkspeed to displaymaybe of interest Users havingproblemswithVPN , the . softwaremighttry ifoverridingthe MTU reported by the protocol helps. Users withflatrate Internetaccess may be interestedinmakingthe connection"alwayson". If you are interestedinusingthe protocol's server capability , . please see Enablingthe protocol to act as a PPPoE Access Concentrator To bringup the protocol settingsfor an adapter: Right clickthe Network Neighborhoodiconon your desktop and selectProperties to bringup the . Network window Clickon the Protocols tab, selectPPP over EthernetProtocolinthe listand clickthe Properties... button. In the PPP over EthernetProtocolProperties window selectthe networkadapter the protocol settings , of whichyou wishto modifyunderConfigurePPP over EthernetProtocolon Adapter:. Changesto the protocol settingstake effectwhenyou close the PPP over EthernetProtocolProperties windowwiththe OK buttonunlessnoted otherwise . The General tab offersthe following settings : 5.1 LimitTCP MSS MaximumSegment Size (MSS) Option When usingan Internet ConnectionSharingor Network Address Translation(NAT) applicationto share the the Internetaccess ina LAN, the clientmachinesare completelyunawareof the packet size restrictionsimposedby the natureof PPP over Ethernet(incontrastto e.g. modemor ISDN connections whichallowpassingarbitrarilysizedpackets). Typically a clientassumesthat packets of up , , to 1500 bytes can be passed and thusindicatesa MaximumSegment Size of 1460 bytes (1500 bytes minus40 bytes for the TCP and IP headers) whenopeninga TCP session, resultingineitherside of the connectionsendingpackets up to 1500 bytes insize, too largeto pass througha PPP over Ethernet connection whichcan onlypass packets up to 1492 bytes insize. These oversizedpackets are thenoften , , silently dropped at eitherside of the PPP over Ethernetconnection leadingto delays or hangs when accessingthe Internetfroma client . To work aroundthisproblem thisoptionmakes the protocol scan allnetworkpackets it sends and , receivesfor the TCP MaximumSegment Size (MSS) optionand, ifa valuegreaterthaneitherthe default(1492) or the overriddenMTU minus40 for the IP and TCP headers (i.e. 1452 incase of the defaultMTU) is found change it to thisvalue recalculatethe TCP checksumand pass the modified , , packet. Thisoptionis enabled by default If you are not usingInternet ConnectionSharingor .

) Network Address Translation(NAT), you can disable thisoptionto save a little(verylittle CPU power, althoughleavingit enabledhas no negativeside effects . 5.2 Override MaximumTransferUnit By default the protocol willreport an MTU of 1492 bytes, the maximum , possiblefor PPP over Ethernet . However, you can use thisoptionto overridethe MTU initially reported by the protocol. Makingthe protocol initially report a lower MTU was foundto helpwithcertainVPN softwarepackages which "blindly add theirown overheadwithoutpayingany respect to the MTU reported by the driver making " , the networkpackets too largeto pass througha PPP over Ethernetconnection Check the Override . MaximumTransferUnit checkbox and type the MTU the protocol shouldreport inthe Maximum TransferUnit (MTU) edit box. The validrangeis 576 through1492 bytes. Reducingthe MTU by 32 bytes to 1460 shouldgenerallysufficeto make misbehavedVPN softwarework. Note: Regardlessof this setting the protocol willalwayssend and receivepackets of up to 1492 bytes. Onlythe MTU initially , reported by the protocol (the MaxFrameSize valueinresponse to the OID_WAN_GET_INFO request) and, ifenabled, the TCP MSS optionlimitare affectedby thissetting . For any changesto thissettingto take effect you need to restart your computer , . NOTE: Thisoptionwillonly"stick" ifyou enter an MTU other than 1492. If you onlycheck the checkbox, but leavethe MTU at 1492, the protocol willrecognizethe defaultvalueand clear the checkbox the nexttimeyou open the propertiesdialog because the MTU was not actuallyoverridden , . 5.3 Numberof lines (WAN endpoints) The protocol is capable of runningseveralsimultaneous PPP over Ethernetsessionsthroughone adapter. Thisfeaturewillprobablybe veryrarely- ifever - needed. To allowthis, you can configurethe numberof WAN endpoints(dial- up devices) the protocol exposes for a networkadapter. The defaultis 1, and up to 10 WAN endpointscan be configured Thissettingrequiresyou to restart your computerto take effect . . The Advancedtab offersthe following settings : 5.4 Specify Link Speed By default the protocol willreport the speed of the networkadapter you are connectingthroughas the , speed of a dial- up connectionyou make throughit, as it cannotfindout the actualspeed of your broadband modem. However, you can specifythe connectionspeed the protocol shouldreport for connectionsthrougha specificadapter. To do this, check the Specify Link Speed checkbox and type the linkspeed the protocol shouldreport inthe Link Speed (kbps) edit box, inkilobitsper second. If you want to revert to displaying adapter's linkspeed, clear the Specify Link Speed checkbox. Note: the Thissettinghas absolutelyno effecton the networktrafficthroughthisadapter; it is purelya cosmetic setting Thissettingtakes effectthe nexttimeyou establisha PPP over Ethernetconnection . . 5.5 Event Logging options The protocol can informyou about informational events, warningsand errors duringoperationby logging eventsto the System event log. By default the protocol logsall types of events, whichshouldresultin ,

no logentriesduringflawlessoperation If you findthe eventlogfloodedwithrepeated entriesdespite . flawlessoperation you can disableloggingthat type of eventby clearingthe correspondingcheckbox. , Clearingallcheckboxespreventsthe protocol fromloggingany events. received . Log InformationalEvents willlogany vendor-specificinformation . Log Warningswilllognon-fatalwarningsthat do not necessarilypreventsuccessfuloperation Log Errorswilllogfatalerrors that preventcorrect functionof the protocol. You use Event Viewer to viewany eventsloggedby thisprotocol: Clickon the Start button, selectPrograms thenAdministrativeTools (Common and finally , ) Event Viewer. Clickon Log and selectSystem. Look for logentriesfromsource RMSPPPOE there. To get a detaileddescriptionof a loggedevent, doubleclickthe eventinthe viewon the right hand side. , NOTE: If you are usinganother PPP over Ethernetsoftwareon the same machine you willfindthe eventlogfloodedwithWarningsfromsource RMSPPPOE that it receiveda PPPoE packet for an unknownsession To fixthis, eitheruse solelythisprotocol on the machine or disable the Log Warnings . , optionas described above. Beyondthese settings the protocol offersthe following , possibilities : 5.6 Making a dial-up connection"always on" Users who enjoyflatrate Internetaccess mayfindit desirableto turntheirconnectionintoan "always on" connectionthat is establishedonce whenthe machineboots (before any user logsin) and kept until the machineis shutdown. To make your dial- up connection"always on", followthese steps: If your serviceproviderrequiresauthenticationmake sure you have saved the password by , checkingthe Save Passwordcheckbox inthe Connect to Connection Name windowand connectingat least once. Obtaina tool whichallowsyou to run an applicationas a service e.g. the SRVANY tool fromthe , WindowsNT Resource Kit and create a servicewhichrunsthe commandline "RASPHONE.EXE -d "Connection Name"" (note the spelling). ! Alternativelyifyou cannotobtainsuch a tool, you can copy the dial- up connectionshortcutto the , , , Startupfolderof the Start menu whichwill however, requireyou to log in once to establishthe connectionafter the systemhas booted. To do this, right clickthe Start button, selectExplore, in the upcomingExplorerwindow double-clickthe Programsfolder thendrag the dial- up , , connectionshortcuton your desktop withthe rightmousebuttonand drop it on the Startupfolder and selectCopy Here. Finally you need to make a littleregistrychangeto preventWindowsNT fromdisconnecting , when a user logson and offagain : RunREGEDIT and navigateto: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion \Winlogon

Thenright clickthe right hand pane, selectNew -> StringValue, namethe value KeepRasConnections and set it to 1. (or Reboot. WindowsNT willestablishthe connectionautomatically whenyou loginifyou chose the alternativemethod) and keep it untilyou shutthe machinedown. NOTE: The connectionwillnot be properlyterminatedwhenshuttingthe machinedown or rebooting Thiscan cause problemswithserviceproviderswho take verylongto detect such a . dropped connectionand limitthe numberof concurrentconnections See Known Issues for further . details . 5.7 Addressing a specific Service and/or Access Concentrator In most cases, there is no need to address a specificServiceor Access Concentrator But shouldyou . have a need to do so, you can use the phone numberfieldof your dial- up connectionto specifya phone numberformatsare possible : Service, Access Concentratoror both. The following A. Blank or "0": The protocol willconnectto the default Serviceof the first Access Concentrator that replies to the connectionrequest. B. "Service-Name": The protocol willconnectto the first Access Concentratorthat replies offering the requested Service. C. "Access -Concentrator The protocol willconnectto the default Serviceof the named Access \": Concentrator . D. "Access -Concentrator \Service-Name": The protocol willconnectto the requested Serviceof the named Access Concentrator . The RASPPPOEapplicationuses formatA for the phone numberifyou create a connectionfor an adapter and formatC or D ifyou create a connectionfor a specificservice. 5.8 Enablingthe protocolto act as a PPPoEAccess Concentrator The protocol is able to act as a PPPoE Access Concentrator(server). Thisfeaturecan be used for testingpurposes, but also offersa futurepotentialfor advancedproviderserviceslikeinstant messaging or instant e-mail even for users who are offline at the timea messageis received The server capability . is fullyintegratedwiththe operatingsystem Remote Access Service component No PPPoE-specific 's . configuration needed. The protocol uses the currentComputerName as the Access Concentrator is . Name and offersany Service Name requested by a client Note that the protocol willnot offerany servicesuntilyou explicitly enableits dial- up devicesto accept incoming connections To do this, follow . these steps: Right clickthe Network Neighborhoodiconon your desktop and selectProperties to bringup the Network window . Clickon the Services tab, selectRemote Access Service inthe listand clickthe Properties... button. Select the Port (fromdeviceRASPPPOE of type PPPoE) whichyou want to accept incoming , connectionson and clickthe Configure button. Note: If you do not know whichnetwork ... adapter a port belongsto, check the propertiesof a dial- up connectionyou created for that

networkadapter. On the Basic tab underDial using: you willfindthe nameof the port inbrackets after the networkadapter name. In the ConfigurePort Usage window selecteitherReceive calls only or Dial out and , Receive calls and close the windowwiththe OK button. You maynow want to clickon the Network... buttonto configurethe protocolsfor the incoming connections e.g. to definethe IP addresses to use. , Close the Remote Access Setup windowwiththe Continuebutton, thenclose the Network windowwiththe Close buttonand confirmto restart your computer . If you want to disablethe server on a port again simplyset the port usageback to Dial out only. , NOTE: If there are any changesto the numberof networkadapters the protocol is bound to, or to the numberof linesper any adapter, the port usagefor all PPPoE ports willbe reset to Dial out only and you willhave to reconfigureany ports you had configuredto accept incoming connections . For furtherhelpon usingthe Remote Access Service, please refer to the operatingsystem 's documentationon thistopic.

6. Troubleshooting
Thissectionhelpsyou withpossibleproblemsyou mightencounterduringthe installation use of the protocol. and 6.1 RASPPPOEapplicationdoes not list the desired adapter First, be aware that you can use thisprotocol onlyon Ethernetadapters. As PPP over Ethernetonly works over Ethernet the protocol willonlybinditselfto Ethernetadapters (NdisMedium802_3). , Adapters that do not support thismediumtype (e.g. internalbroadband modemsthat do not expose a standard Ethernetinterfacethroughtheir driver) are not supported by thisprotocol. You shouldmake sure that the adapter inquestionis properlyinstalled : Right clickthe Network Neighborhoodiconon your desktop to bringup the Network window , selectthe Adapters tab and check ifthe adapter inquestionis listedthere. Check ifthe adapter is correctlyconfigured Select it inthe listand clickthe Properties... button. : Make sure the configuration matchesthe hardwaresettings . If you changedany settings close the Network windowwiththe Close button, restart your , , computer thenre-run the RASPPPOEapplicationand check whetherthe adapter is listednow. If the adapter stilldoes not show up, make sure that the protocol is bound to the adapter inquestion : Right clickthe Network Neighborhoodiconon your desktop to bringup the Network window , clickon the Bindingstab and selectShow Bindingsfor: all adapters. Double-clickthe adapter inquestioninthe listto expand it and look for the componentPPP over EthernetProtocol. If it has a littlestop sign nextto it, right clickit and selectEnable. If you find it alreadyenabled, try disablingit, closingthe Network windowwiththe Close button, thenreenablingit. If you changedany settings close the Network windowwiththe Close buttonand restart your , . computer

Afterthe restart the RASPPPOEapplicationshouldlistthe desired adapter. 6.2 RASPPPOEapplicationreports "RASPPPOE- No Service Offers Received " whenquerying available services Thiserror messagemeansthat the protocol did not receiveany response fromyour serviceprovider You . shouldcheck the following thingsinorder: 1. Check ifyour broadband modemhas successfully establisheda linkwithits counterpart Most DSL . modemshave a Sync LED on themwhichindicatesthisstatus. If your modemhas such an LED and it indicatesthat the linkis down, contact your serviceproviderfor assistance . 2. Right clickthe Network Neighborhoodiconon your desktop to bringup the Network window , selectthe Adapters tab and check ifthe networkadapter your broadband modemis connected to is listedthere. 3. Check ifyour networkadapter is correctlyconfigured Select it inthe listand clickthe : , Properties... button. If your networkadapter offerssuch settings make sure that the correct Line Speed and duplex mode is selected(most DSL modemsonlysupport 10Mbps half duplex mode). If your networkadapter has severalconnectorsat the back, make sure the correct connectoris selected, whichis most likelyTwisted Pair (TP). 4. Check that the cable connectingyour broadband modemto your networkadapter is properly attached and of the correct type. Note that broadband modemstypicallyhave a "crossed" connectoron them, so you willneed a straight cable to connectit directlyto a networkadapter, whileyou need to use a crossed cable or use an uplinkport to connectit to a hubor switch. 5. Check withyour serviceproviderwhethertheycurrentlyhave a serviceoutage. 6.3 Connectionattempt fails with"Error678: There was no answer." First, you shouldcheck whetheryou can get any replyfromyour serviceproviderwiththe Dial-Up ConnectionSetup applicationprovidedwiththe protocol: Clickthe Start buttonon the taskbar and selectRun... to bringup the Run dialogbox. Type RASPPPOEinthe edit fieldand clickthe OK buttonto run the Dial-Up ConnectionSetup application . If the applicationquitswithan error message followthe adviceit gives , . A dialogbox comes up witha combo box labeledQuery available PPP over EthernetServices throughAdapter: at the top. Select the networkadapter your broadband modemis connectedto fromthe list If the protocol is onlyoperatingon one networkadapter, the box willbe grayedout as . there is no choiceto make. Clickthe Query Available Services button. If an error messageis displayed continuehere for , furtherhelp. If the listviewshows one or more offeredservicesand you had tried to connectto a specific , . Service and/or Access Concentrator make sure the one you had tried to connectto is listed If you findyour serviceproviderhas changedthe ServiceName and/or the Access Concentrator name, simplycreate a new connectionwiththe new name(s) or edit the Phone numberfieldinyour existingdial- up connectionaccordingly . Clickthe Exit buttonto quitthe application .

If you do not want to connectto a specificService and/or Access Concentrator make sure the Phone , numberfieldof your dial- up connectionis reallycompletely blank. 6.4 Connectionattempt fails with"Error691: Access was denied because the user name and/or passwordwas invalidon the domain ." If thiserror occurs despite usinga validuser nameand password, thismaymeanthat the serviceprovider you are connectingwithnegotiatesa lower MTU thanthe one configuredon your machine whichleads , to thisconfusingerror messagedue to thisknownissue. To fixthis, use the MTU overrideoptionto lower the MTU to e.g. 1400 and thentry connectingagain If you can successfully . connectwiththe lowerMTU, you can try increasingthe MTU againto the maximum valuethat stillallowsyou to connectsuccessfully . 6.5 Connectionis successfully established, but some (or all) Internet websites do not load properly Thisis usuallya signof an MTU problem You shoulddeterminethe Path MTU to the problemsite(s) . (Note: The methoddescribed here does not work withallservers. If you get no replyat allfroma server or a numberbelow 548, you cannotdeterminethe Path MTU to thisserver): Connect, open a CommandPromptand run ping -f -l xxxx Address Where Address is the name or IP address of the server you have problemsaccessing For xxxx, start . with1464 and lower the numberuntilyou get a reply. Thenadd 28 to the highestnumberat whichyou get a reply. The resultis the Path MTU. Example: You start gettingrepliesat ping -f -l 1372 Address. The Path MTU is 1372 + 28 = 1400 bytes inthiscase. Normally the Path MTU to allservers shouldbe 1492. However, some serviceprovidersappear to have , a configuration problemwhichreduces the Path MTU. If you determinea Path MTU lowerthan1492 to several(or all) servers on the Internet you shouldenablethe MTU overrideoptionand set it to the Path , . , MTU you determined Afterthat settinghas taken effect allsiteswitha Path MTU greaterthanor equal to the valueyou set shouldload properly . 6.6 The "Override MaximumTransferUnit" optiondoes not remainchecked Thisoptionwillonly"stick" ifyou enter an MTU other than 1492. If you onlycheck the checkbox, but leavethe MTU at 1492, the protocol willrecognizethe defaultvalueand clear the checkbox the nexttime you open the propertiesdialog because the MTU was not actuallyoverridden , . 6.7 The System Event Log contains "Received a PPPoESession packet for an unknown session " warnings Thiswarningmerelymeansthat the protocol receiveda PPPoE packet it couldnot attributeto any of its connectionsand is usuallynot a signof any malfunctionOne possiblecause of thisis your service .

providersendingone more packets after the connectionhas been terminated Thiscan also be caused by . usinganother PPPoE implementation n the same machine In that case, the System Event Log may o . end up beingfloodedwiththese warnings You can preventthisby disablingthe Log Warningscheckbox . inthe protocol's EventLoggingoptions.

7. Known Issues
Thissectiondocumentsknownissueswiththe protocol. 7.1 RAS Autodialservice does not workwithRASPPPOE The RAS Autodialservicedoes not recognizethe dial- up devicesofferedby RASPPPOEand thuswill not automatically establisha connectionthroughit. There is currentlyno workaroundfor thisissue. Background The RAS Autodialserviceonlyrecognizesdial- up devicesof the types COM, ISDN, : VPN and X.25. However, RASPPPOEuses a customtype, PPPoE, for its dial- up devicesto avoid conflictswithexistingmodems, ISDN adapters, VPN softwareor X.25 adapters whenautoconfiguringts i dial- up deviceswithoutthe RAS controlpanel. 7.2 PPP authenticationfails whenAccess Concentratorrequests a lower MTU When the Access Concentratorbeingconnectedto requestsa PPP MRU lowerthanthe MTU configuredinRASPPPOE the PPP authentication , willfail witherror 691 (Access was deniedbecause the user nameand/or password was invalidon the domain To fixthis, use the MTU overrideoptionto .). 's . lower the MTU to a valueless thanor equalto the Access Concentrator PPP MRU requested value . Background The cause of thisissueis undetermined : 7.3 When a dial-up connectionis made "always on", it is not properlyterminatedwhenshutting the machinedownor rebooting When you configurea PPP over Ethernetdial- up connectionto be "alwayson", the connectionwillnot be properlyterminatedwhenshuttingthe machinedown or rebooting Thiscauses problemswithservice . providerswho take verylongto detect such a dropped connectionand limitthe numberof concurrent connections- after severalreboots, you mayfindyourselfto logon to your serviceproviderfor some time To work aroundthisproblem alwaysdisconnect your "always on" connectionmanuallybefore . , rebooting . revealedthat the protocol receivesno indicationthat the systemis going Background Investigation : down. Neitherthe MiniportHalt ), nor the ProtocolUnbindAdapter nor the ProtocolPnPEvent), ( (), ( nor the ProtocolStatus handlerand not even a handlerregisteredwiththe () . NdisMRegisterAdapterShutdownHandler are calledto indicatethe shutdown Thus, it is not () possiblefor the protocol to terminateits open connectionsprior to the shutdown Thisis apparentlya . shortcomingof WindowsNT.

8. Revision History
Version 0.98, October 3rd, 2002 First releasewithWindows95 and WindowsNT 4.0 support The Windows95 versionuses a ! differentdriverbinary whileWindowsNT 4.0 runsthe same binaryas Windows98/98SE/ME/ , 2000/XP/.NET. Added: Windows95 support. RequiresMicrosoft Dial-Up NetworkingUpgrade1.2 or later on the originalWindows95 release(4.00.950). Figuredout how to make the fragments of NDIS Intermediatedriversupport inNDIS.VXD version4.00.1111 work and how to installthe driver. Created two new INF filesfor installation added installation and support to WINPPPOE .DLL to installand removevirtualminiportinstancesas needed. Wrote function replacementsfor NDIS functionsnot availableinWindows95. Changedthe functions NdisMIndicateStatus(), NdisMIndicateStatusComplete NdisMResetComplete (), (), NdisMWanIndicateReceive(), NdisMWanIndicateReceiveComplete() and . NdisMWanSendComplete frommacros back to imports Added () NdisRecalculatePacketCounts() and NdisQueryPacket() macro invocationsfor compatible packet initialization . Added #ifdefs to the driversource so that the Windows95 driverbinarycan be compiledfromthe same source. Added: WindowsNT 4.0 support. RequiresService Pack 4 or later. Also requiresa reboot after installation sinceWindowsNT cannotstart NDIS miniportsdynamicallyWrote a . completelynew OEMSETNT.INF installation scriptfromscratch whichinstallsand removes virtualminiportson demandand automatically initializeshe RAS TAPI devices exposed by the t driverwithouthavingto go throughthe RAS configuration panel. Added a standalone exported , f WindowsNTControlPanel unctionto RASPPPOE .DLL whichis invokedfrom of OEMSETNT.INF for configuration the protocol properties. Changedand expanded the TAPI withWindowsNT 4.0. providerportionof the driverfor compatibility Fixed: In Windows2000/XP/.NET, the protocol propertiesdialogcouldnot retrievethe current protocol configuration ifmore thanone lineper adapter was configured Fixedthisby strippingthe . "lineX" suffixfromthe TAPI linenamebefore the stringcomparison . valuesgreater Fixed: In Windows98/98SE/ME, the protocol propertiesdid not allowspecifying than3276 kbps for the Link Speed optiondue to improper16/32-bit handling Fixedthisby . cleaningup the string -to-integerconversioncalls Now linkspeeds up to 65535 kbps can be . entered inWindows95/98/98SE/ME. Fixed: The MiniportQueryInformation handlermade a callto () NdisUnicodeStringToAnsiString whichis not allowedat the IRQL the handlermaybe (), invokedat. Fixedthisby movingthe callto the ProtocolBindAdapter) handler . ( withthe running Changed: RASPPPOE .EXE now uses TAPI version1.3 to communicate protocol for compatibility withWindows95. , Changed: RASPPPOE .EXE now changesthe characters[ and ] to ( and ), respectively and stripstrailingspace characters fromthe connectionnamewhencreatinga dial- up connectionfor compatibility withWindowsNT 4.0. Version 0.97, August 23rd, 2001 Added: An applicationmanifest for RASPPPOE .EXE to enablethe WindowsXP visual style inits user interface .

Changed: The self-deleting code inRASPPPOE .EXE (fully licensed version only) was changedfroman x86 assemblyroutineto a CPU independentmethodthat is also compatible withWindowsXP. . Fixed: The IA64 versioncaused STOP errors due to data misalignment Fixedthisby padding data structureswhere possibleand by usingthe UNALIGNED compilermacro where misalignment cannotbe avoided. Version 0.96, May 29th, 2001 First releasewithIntel Itanium64-bit CPU support The IA64 versionis distributedina ! separate archivefor now. , Fixed: Some code paths inthe ProtocolReceivePacket() handlerreturneda non-zero value whichwouldnot returnthe receivedpacket to the networkadapter driver, eventually causingit to run out of packets, makingunableto operate. Fixedthisby ensuringallcode paths returnzero. Changed: The watchdogtimer that checks every ten seconds whetherany packets have been receivedwillnow send up to three LCP Echo-Requests before terminating connection Thus, the . a connectionloss willnow be detected within40 to 50 seconds. Thisshouldcure the disconnectionproblemsa numberof users have been suffering fromdue to the watchdogtimer beinga bit too sensitivefor some serviceproviders . Changed: When connectingto the unnameddefault service, the protocol willnow connectto the first offered service even ifit is not unnamed Thisenhancescompatibility , . withservice providerswho are not fullyRFC 2516 compliant . Version 0.95, December 29th, 2000 Added: A no-reboot installer (fully licensed version only) that installs, repairs or upgrades the protocol froma single self-extractingexecutable typicallywithoutrequiringa reboot on any of , , the supported platforms Additionallyit creates a dial- up connectionand thenpromptsthe user to . , connectto allowan "instant success " experience The protocol willbe added to the listof . installedprogramsinAdd/Remove ProgramsinControlPanel for convenientand complete uninstallationOptionalcommand . -lineswitchesallowsilent installationupgradeand removalfor , licenseeswho wishto providetheirown installerfront- end. . Added: Server capability If one of the dial- up devicesexposed by the protocol is configuredto accept incoming connections the protocol willofferthe unnameddefault service on the , correspondingadapter and use the computername set inthe networkingconfiguration the as Access Concentratorname. If the connectionis accepted, the protocol willdo a left to-right (big-endian comparisonof the adapter's MAC address withthe one of the connectinghost, and ) generatean even (LSB 0) session identifieris the adapter's MAC address is lower, or an odd (LSB 1) one ifit is higher, to ensurethat two machinesconnectingto each other simultaneously o d not generateidenticalsessionidentifiersThe server is not industry . -strength. There is no limiton the connectionsper MAC address, nor is any encryptionbeingused inthe Access Concentrator user on the same Ethernetsegment could Cookies generatedby the protocol, so a malicious occupy all incominglines witha denial-of-service attack, but do no harmbeyond that. Great care has been taken to minimizethe load on the systemifsuch an attack is made. , Added: Timers. The protocol now timesout connectionrequestsand resends requeststwo times once after one second, thenafter two seconds, and three seconds after that indicatesno answer. Incomingconnectionsare offeredfor five seconds before beingrejected. When a

connectionis established a watchdogtimer checks every ten seconds whetherany packets , been received and generatesand sends an LCP Echo-Request to the peer ifno packet has been , receivedsincethe last check. If at the nextcheck stillno packet has been received, the connection is terminatedwithno answer. Thus, a connectionthat was dropped by the other end without properterminationwillbe detected as lost within20 to 30 seconds. Added: In Windows98/98SE/ME, RASPPPOE .EXE now checks whetherDial-Up , Networkingis installedand givesan error messageifit is not. Additionallyit checks if , NDIS.VXD version4.10.2222 is installed and warns the user to installfixQ243199 ifit is. Added: In Windows98/98SE/ME, WINPPPOE .DLL now adds a new valueto the Packet Size settingof the Dial-Up AdaptercalledPPP over Ethernet, whichsets the packet sizeto eitherthe default(1492) or the overriddenMTU. Fixed: RASPPPOE .EXE wouldshow erroneous queryresultsifmore than one Access , . Concentratorofferedservices because the driverwas returningan incorrectqueryresultlength Fixedthisby correctingthe lengthcalculationinthe driver . Fixed: In Windows98/98SE/ME, RASPPPOE .EXE was unableto properlyretrievethe names of networkadapters whichwere 58 charactersor more long whichled to it displaying blank , a adapter nameand beingunableto create a dial- up connectionfor the adapter. Fixedthisby increasingthe sizeof the retrievalbufferand limiting sizeof the passed name. the Fixed: Windows98/98SE/ME was unableto tellapart the dial- up devicesexposed for two networkadapters of the same name. Fixedthisby appendinga "#X" suffixto the dial- up device nameifthe protocol is alreadybound to a networkadapter of the same name. Fixed: In Windows98SE/ME, NDIS.VXD versions4.10.2224 (fromfixQ243199 for Windows98SE) and 4.90.3000 (includedinWindowsME) randomlydroppedpackets received fromthe NE2000 or the Realtek RTL8029(AS) driverwithoutindicating themto the protocol for an unknownreason. Worked aroundthisproblemby adding NDIS_PACKET _TYPE _ALL_LOCALto the packet filterifWindows98/98SE/ME and one of these two driversis detected, whichmakes NDIS.VXD work reliableagain . Fixed: If TAPI requested to dropa call, the protocol wouldnot transitionto the idle callstate, because I had misunderstooda paragraphinthe DDK documentation Thismightalso have been . the cause of TAPISRV.EXE causingcrashes inRPCRT4.DLL inWindowsME. Fixedthisby reviewingallTAPI callstate transitionsand makingsure the behavioris compliantwiththe DDK documentation . Fixed: When runninga repairor upgradeinstall on Windows2000, the protocol couldcrash the operatingsystemwitha bluescreen indicating RASPPPOE that .SYS was unloadedwithout cancelingpendingoperations Investigation . revealedthat Windows2000 was tryingto callthe protocol's ProtocolPnPEventHandler functionafter it had been unloaded because the protocol , () had not been deregistered Furtherinvestigation . revealedthat the ProtocolUnload handleris () nevercalledinWindows2000, whichis not documentedinthe Windows2000 DDK documentation Fixedthisby providinga DriverUnload handleragainto deregisterthe protocol, . () and by puttingthe pointerto thisfunctiondirectlyintothe driverobject inDriverEntry to omitthe () NdisMRegisterUnloadHandler call, whichis not availableinWindows98. The () ProtocolUnload handleris stillprovidedfor Windows98/98SE/ME. () Changed: RASPPPOE .EXE now displaysa differenterror messageifthe user tried to query availableservicesthroughan adapter whichlineis alreadyinuse by an activePPPoE session , explaining the user needs to disconnectthat sessionto be able to queryservices that .

Changed: If more thanone WAN Endpointis configuredfor a networkadapter, "Line X" suffixeswillnow be appended inWindows2000 as well Previously theywere onlyappended in . , Windows98/98SE/ME. Changed: In Windows2000, the protocol no longerlogsquery resultsto the eventlog. RASPPPOE .EXE made thisfunctionobsolete. Changed: Removedthe NCF_NOT_USER_REMOVEABLEflagfromthe WAN miniport (PPP over EthernetProtocol) INF filefor Windows2000, allowingmanualremovalof any miniportinstancesleftbehindinDevice Manager. Changed: Replacedthe previouslyimportedstrncmp and _strnicmp kernelfunctionswith () () inlinefunctions Removedthe need for the _snwprintf) kernelfunctionby generatingthe "Line . ( X" suffixesdirectlyinthe code. a , Changed: Duringprotocol initializationnd shutdown the MiniportQueryInformation (), MiniportSetInformation), MiniportReset() and MiniportWanSend handlersnow return ( () NDIS_STATUS_ADAPTER NOT_READY insteadof NDIS_STATUS_FAILURE. Changed: The protocol servicenameand the driverbinarynamewere changedto RMSPPPOE and RMSPPPOE.SYS, respectively to enhancecompatibility , withfutureWindowsversions . Version 0.94, May 17th, 2000 First releasewithWindows98/98SE/ME support No thanksto Microsofts complete lack of ! ' documentationon NDIS intermediatedriversinWindows98/98SE/ME. Added: Windows98/98SE/ME support. Figuredout the INF formatfor NDIS intermediate driversinWindows98/98SE/ME and where WAN.TSP expects an NDIS intermediatedriver 's . TAPI registrysubkey to be located inthe registry Added a 16-bit WindowsDLL (WINPPPOE , .DLL) withan NDI procedureto create that registrysubkey upon installationset the Dial-Up Adapter's IPMTU registryparameterto the MTU for PPP over Ethernet (Windows98/98SE/ME was foundto ignore the maximum framesizereturnedby the driver) and offerthe protocolproperties GUI. Changedthe driverunloadfunctionto ProtocolUnload (), sinceNdisMRegisterUnloadHandler is not supported inWindows98/98SE/ME. Removed () the NdisIMAssociateMiniport() callfromthe DriverEntry function sincethat callis not , () supported inWindows98. Added: RASPPPOE .EXE user-mode applicationfor easy dial- up connectionsetup. Added: LimitTCP MSS Optionto make MTU changeson Internet ConnectionSharingclient machinesunnecessary A new functionscans allincoming outgoingpackets for the TCP . and MaximumSegment Size (MSS) optionand, ifnecessary, limitsit to eitherthe default(1492) or the overriddenMTU (see below) minus40 for the IP and TCP headers (i.e. 1452 incase of the defaultMTU) and recalculatesthe TCP checksum . reported by the driver. If an override Added: MTU Override optionto overridethe MTU initially valueis specified it willbe reported as the MaxFrameSize inresponse to the , OID_WAN_GET_INFO request. In Windows98/98SE/ME, the Dial-Up Adapter's IPMTU registryparameteris also set to the overridevalue It willfurthermorebe taken intoaccountwhen . report a lower MTU was foundto limitingthe TCP MSS option. Makingthe protocol initially helpwithcertainVPN softwarepackages which"blindly add theirown overheadwithoutpaying " any respect to the MTU reported by the driver. Added: WAN EndpointsGUI optionto easilychangethe numberof dial- up devicesexposed for a networkadapter.

. Fixed: Dial on demandinWindows2000 nevertriggereda connection Windows2000 apparentlyonlydialsmodems ISDN and X.25 deviceson demand. Changedthe devicetype of , the dial- up devicesexposed by the protocol to ISDN to work aroundthisbug. Fixed: The protocol couldlose one of its internalpackets each timean NdisTransferData() call failed untilit wouldeventually unableto receiveany data. It appears that neveractually , be happened to anyone though , . . Fixed: The PPPoE versionand type fieldswere reversed inthe declaration As the currentPPPoE versionand type are both 1, thisbug went unnoticed . Changed: The protocol willnow no longerloga warningto the eventlogifit receivesa PADT packet for a sessionthat does not exist(or no longerdoes). Changed: The Event Logging Options now defaultto loggingall types of events. Thisshould now produce no logentriesduringflawlessoperation . Version 0.92, February6th, 2000 establishing connection The protocol was a . Fixed: No data transferpossibleafter successfully corruptingdata packets it had to retrievethroughNdisTransferData(). I had made the incorrect assumptionthat NdisTransferData() woulduse the ByteOffset parameteron the destination bufferas well but insteadit just starts at offsetzero inthe firstbufferchainedto the passed packet. , Fixedthisby chainingan additionalbufferdescriptorpointingto the desired destinationlocationto the frontof the packet before callingNdisTransferData(). Fixed: ConnectionError "Openingport... Error797: The connectionfailed because the modem(or other connectingdevice) was not found." after wakingthe machinefromStandby. There were no OID_PNP_XXX handlersinthe protocol. Additionallyit turnedout that TAPI , requestsOID_TAPI_PROVIDER_INITIALIZEafter returningfromStandby, althoughit never shutsthe providerdown withOID_TAPI_PROVIDER_SHUTDOWN. The protocol did not allowre-initialization ithoutshutdown Fixedthisby addingthe missingOID_PNP_XXX w . handlersand allowingTAPI providerre-initialization ithouta prior shutdown w . Version 0.90, January30th, 2000 First releasethat actuallyworks! A wholeheartedThankYou! to Jerome Whelan who invested so muchtimeto provideme withthe comprehensivefeedback that I needed to make thisprotocol functional . Error "Couldnot add the requested component The erroris: Invalid Fixed: Installation . . access to memorylocation." on some machines On those, the loader crashed whenloading . RASPPPOE .DLL, because I had linkedit withthe /align:16 linkerswitch Removedthe switch fromthe buildsettings . Fixed: ConnectionError "Disconnected. Error619: The specified port is not connected." on . all connectionattempts NDISWAN failedto recognizethe PPP frameswithinthe complete receivedEthernetframesthe protocol passed to it, althoughI had specifiedthe HeaderPadding correctlyas outlinedinthe DDK documentation Fixedthisby settingthe HeaderPaddingto zero . and onlypassingthe portionof the bufferwiththe actualPPP frameto NDISWAN. Fixed: Ping Timeouts withcertain packet sizes. NDISWAN passes up to fourbytes more to a WAN miniport send handlerthanthe WAN miniportindicatedas its MaxFrameSize. 's Apparentlya WAN miniportdriverwriteris expected to make assumptionsabout the PPP HDLC overheadNDISWAN adds before passinga packet to the miniport- fourbytes of simplePPP

HDLC framing(Address and Controlfieldsand Protocol Identifier. Fixedthisby adjustingthe ) maximum frameand totalsizesaccordinglyand changingthe sizelimitcomparisons . Version 0.80, January15th, 2000 Initialpublicrelease

9. Contacting the author

Beforecontactingme, please bear inmindthat you are gettingthispiece of softwarefor free. You cannotexpect me to spend mytimeproviding"tech support". If you have a problemthat you cannotresolveafter readingabove documentationthoroughly please do the following , : 1. Check ifthere is updated information a newer versionof thisprotocol availableon the RASPPPOE or Home Page. 2. Check the System Event Log for any eventsloggedby the protocol: Clickthe Start button, thenselectPrograms thenAdministrativeTools (Common thenEvent , ), Viewer. In the upcomingEvent Viewer window open the Log menuand selectSystem. , Look throughthe listinthe windowfor any entriesfromsource RMSPPPOE. Double-clickeach entryyou findto bringup the Event Detail window . If the eventDescription stilldoes not helpyou findthe culprit please includeall logentrydata in , your e-mail : Right clickinthe fieldunderDescription:, selectSelect All, right clickagainand selectCopy, then paste the text intoyour e-mailto me. Right clickinthe fieldunderData:, selectSelect All, right clickagainand selectCopy, thenpaste the text intoyour e-mailto me. Of course, developersuggestionsfor fixing knownissues success stories(please mentionyour service the , provider, so that I know whichones thisprotocol works with or just "thankyou" notes are alwayswelcome ) . You can contact me viathe e-mailaddress: Robert.Schlabbach @gmx .net.

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