Additional Information on Cable Selection

• Always use the provided 4 volt power supply.  Do not use any other power supply with the Ally.  When the next step is completed, the following LEDs should be green: Power indicator, WAN/Internet and LAN. The Ally must be powered on to pass traffic

• Power off both devices that are connected to each end of the Ally
  • This step may not be required, but ensures that some network devices, such as DSL or cable modems, do not get slightly confused on routing paths. If you follow the next two steps and have solid connection lights as well as blinking lights (denoting traffic is being passed) but attempts to visit a website are returned as "______ could not be found", then you should power on and off those devices and then continue starting again with the following step:
• If you are installing an Ally ip100:
  • With the devices on either side of the Ally powered on and the cables connected, plug in the Ally and wait at least 30 seconds for it to complete booting up. You should see a solid connection light on each end of the ip100 and probably their companion flashing leds as well (these LEDs flash periodicially as it handles traffic). If one side is entirely dark, you should try the other type of cable than you used this time.
  • The Ally ip100 takes about 30 seconds to boot up. You should see a solid connection light on both ends of the Ally ip100 -- which shows that your cables are correct and the Ally ip100 'sees' the devices on either end. You will also likely see blinking lights on both ends which occur when traffic is being passed through the Ally ip100.
• If you are installing an Ally IP1000, leave it unplugged from the power outlet. Once traffic is flowing you know that you have used the correct cables.

• Upon initial bootup, the Ally begins to pass traffic, but does not apply any security protection until after the EULA has been accepted the first time. To verify that the connection is working correctly, open a browser on a machine located somewhere in the network segment that is connected to the LAN side of the Ally, or on the protected side of the firewall/LAN if the Ally LAN side connects directly to a firewall or other type of secure gateway server.

• In order to access the management interface for the Ally ip100, you must wait AT LEAST two minutes after boot up to connect to the embedded micro-web server built into the ip100. (We've designed the Ally to start protecting your network immediately and only launch other startup services, such as the webserver software, when it has idle time.)

More Crossover Cable Information

Generally, if you think of each side of the Ally's internal NIC as if it were a PC NIC and use the appropriate cable for normally connecting to the intended device, it should work.

Here's a quick link that might help in explaining with pictures:

Crossover cable example using 'familar' home networking gear

A typical installation is to deploy the Ally between your firewall and the Internet. Assuming traffic coming from your ISP first crosses your router then through a switch and then through your firewall or webserver proxy, do the following:

• Use a standard ethernet cable (straight through) to connect the Ally ip100 WAN/Internet side to the switch and a cross-over cable to connect the LAN side to to your firewall. It is very possible that your cable between the router and switch is a cross over cable, so use it.
• Uplink ports are wired as NICs and need a straight cable to connect to another hub (assuming the other hub is not connected via the uplink port).
• Sample Definitions :
  NIC - wired as NIC
  SWITCH (or hub) - wired as NETPORT
  Router with single port - wired as NIC
  Router with built in hub - wired as NETPORT
  Uplink port on hub - wired as NIC
  
• Then use this cable as directed:
  NIC to NETPORT - Straight cable
  NIC to NIC - crossover cable
  NETPORT to NETPORT - crossover cable
  
  In effect, a NETPORT port has the crossover within itself, a NIC doesn't.
  
  As you can see, the purpose of an uplink port is to allow you to connect it to another switch via a straight cable. HOWEVER if you connect uplink to uplink, you're back to needing a crossover cable.
  
  Ignore wall boxes etc. They should all present the same type as the device they are wired back to, so if your wall box is wired back to a normal port on the hub (switch) then it presents itself as a HUB, if it's wired back to an uplink port (Why?) then it presents as a NIC.