[SLL] Nationwide Internet: melting down?

[Bill Campbell]

On Mon, Aug 13, 2007, Dan Wilder wrote:
>On Fri, Aug 10, 2007 at 08:46:52AM -0700, Ken Meyer wrote:
>
>> Of course, Comcast residential doesn't allow servers, theoretically, and
>> even wants you to pay for additional connections, which is a real crock.
>> And when I call about an outage, they always ask early in the conversation
>> whether I am running a router.  I'm not sure of the proximate significance
>> of that query.
>
>OTOH when I got Comcast installed I asked the installer, "Once we get
>this thing set up how do I replace the Windows box we're doing the
>setup on with a router?"

The trick to handling the Comcast installation/registration using a
non-Windows box is to set your browser to use the IP address of the Comcast
registration server as a proxy server (the IP/hostname that it sends you to
initially).  I've done this with Linux boxes plugged directly into the
Comcast ``modem'', and through LinkSys BEFVP41 VPN routers.  Once the
registration is complete, just remove the proxy settings in the browser.

>His response: "Unplug Windows, power down the cable modem, plug in the
>router, power up the modem." Nothing about "well you're not supposed to do that".
>
>There might be a policy but at least one pair of boots on the ground did
>not seem to feel a need to mention it. 
>
>BTW I've replaced the router three times since then and there has never
>been any difficulty.  I seem to remember a time you had to call Comcast 
>whenever the MAC changed.  No more.

Changing routers might require power cycling the Comcast box so it will
accept a different Mac address, and may result in getting a different
dynamic IP address from them.  All the routers I've seen for the last 5+
years have had the ability to set the Mac address as well, but I've never
had to use that feature.

Bill
--
INTERNET:   bill at celestial.com  Bill Campbell; Celestial Software LLC
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Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority it is time to
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               -- Mark Twain