IN THIS CHAPTER
Connecting your FreeBSD machine to the Internet using a dial-up modem or a wireless network is nowhere near as seamless as it is in a modern consumer operating system such as Windows or Mac OS X. Because FreeBSD is designed to be a server platform, its architecture assumes that it will be on a wired Ethernet network with a static IP address, and the vast majority of the administration tools in the system are geared toward such a configuration. This does not mean it's impossible to make FreeBSD work with your dial-up ISP or your DHCP-based 802.11 home or corporate network, however. All it takes is proper configuration of some less well-known utilities in the system, as this chapter will discuss. Note Turn to Chapter 35, "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)," for information on setting up FreeBSD to take advantage of dynamically assigned IP addresses in a home or corporate network. |