Comcast and wireless, problem solved!

[overtona]

I recently had Comcast internet installed and used my laptop to connect through the Ethernet adapter. I then tried to set up my Motorola wireless router and although I could get an excellent connection, I could not get access to the internet. I have been messing with the configuration, cloning mac addresses and such with no luck. Finally, tonight I found a post where a newbie had a similar problem and a simple solution....

Apparently Comcast had registered my laptop's MAC address from my initial use of the connection. So when I hooked up the router, it would not allow it to connect. So just now, I unplugged the cable modem from the power source AND the coaxial cable. I reset the router to factory specs and unplugged it's power as well. I powered up the modem, then the router and lo and behold, I am connected and working!! I can't believe it was that simple... apparently the trick is to unplug the coaxial cable from the modem....

Just wanted to post this, because it took a while to come across this solution and I wanted the next person with this problem to try this first.

This is a great place!

[johnwill]

All you really need to do is unplug the power, but all's well that ends well. You can't change the MAC address of the device connected to a DOCSIS modem without cycling power, it's still looking for the old MAC address.

[49degreesNorth]

I really think that unplugging the cable could be important. I was having terrible troubles from a LinkSys card to a Netgear Wireless router and a "surfboard" modem on Comcast. I could conect to the network but not to the internet. I reset the router to factory specs and unplugged the router and modem. Then I undid the coaxial cable from the modem, plugged the modem in, screwed the cable in, waited two minutes, plugged in the wireless router, turned on the computer, turned on the laptop. Bingo! No cloning mac addresses, no problem.

When I did exactly the same thing but did not unplug the cable, it did not work. I don't know why this would be -- any guesses out there?

Chris

[johnwill]

I've never had to disconnect the cable, but you're not the first person to mention that. Who knows, they're computers!

[PhelanKA7]

Originally Posted by overtona

I recently had Comcast internet installed and used my laptop to connect through the Ethernet adapter. I then tried to set up my Motorola wireless router and although I could get an excellent connection, I could not get access to the internet. I have been messing with the configuration, cloning mac addresses and such with no luck. Finally, tonight I found a post where a newbie had a similar problem and a simple solution....

Apparently Comcast had registered my laptop's MAC address from my initial use of the connection. So when I hooked up the router, it would not allow it to connect. So just now, I unplugged the cable modem from the power source AND the coaxial cable. I reset the router to factory specs and unplugged it's power as well. I powered up the modem, then the router and lo and behold, I am connected and working!! I can't believe it was that simple... apparently the trick is to unplug the coaxial cable from the modem....

Just wanted to post this, because it took a while to come across this solution and I wanted the next person with this problem to try this first.

This is a great place!

Thanks a lot for this. I tried different things, such as the MAC address clone, and turning off the modem/router and rebooting, pulling DHCP data and then setting that information as StaticIP connection... None of that worked.

Turning off my computer, disconnecting the Co-Axial for 2 minutes, resetting the router to factory defaults, and then rebooting worked like a charm.

Thanks again!