Sharing Broadband Cable Modem (Windows XP/Win98)

Self Vanity

[SamAdams76]

Okay, I just spent the whole afternoon pulling out my hair. I figure there's got to be some Freepers out there with some XP/Cable Modem experience so maybe you can save me some aggravation when I tackle the problem some other day (I've had enough for today).

First, some background. Over the Christmas holiday, I got a new Windows XP system and I gave my old Win98 system to the kids. I bought a cheap 5-port hub, a couple of patch cables, threw a NIC (network interface card) in the Win98 system and using the Windows XP Network Setup Wizard, I was done in about 15 minutes (my new system has a NIC built into the motherboard). The XP Network wizard even created a floppy that I used to configure my old system to see the network - it was that brainless.

It was great to be networked. I shared out the ZIP drive on my old system so I could use it with the new system. I shared the printer off my new system to the old system. I even shared out the dial-up ISP connection so that both computers could be online at the same time. It was great to not have to compete for internet time with my kids, but it was s-l-o-w sharing a 56k connection between two computers.

So I finally gave in and called up AT&T Broadband to have a cable modem installed. Over the phone they asked me if I had my own cable modem and NIC. Stupid me said no, I didn't have the cable modem but I did have a NIC.

Well they came today to install the cable while I was at work. I came home early to test it out. It was phenomenal, incredibly fast! I downloaded a 2.8MB file in 15 seconds where before it would take me 15-20 minutes. But I noticed to my dismay that they had unplugged my hub so I had no more network. There was no place on the cable modem to plug in a patch cable. Not that it would have mattered. For they took over my NIC and configured it to be part of their network.

For the hell of it, I tried plugging the cable modem into the hub. I was able to still access the Internet with my new computer. But my old computer couldn't even see the network, never mind share the connection.

I think I have it figured out. I need to get another NIC card and install it on my new system. I will then use the Networking Wizard to connect my two computers just as before. But will I be able to share the cable connection on the old computer? If anybody has had to deal with this before, I would appreciate some advice.

I'm a little upset with AT&T for not telling me that they were going to be disconnecting my home network when I told them I had a NIC. Otherwise I would have had them bring their own NIC. But what's done is done. At least I have a fast internet connection. And it is incredibly fast. It runs streaming video, the online radio stations sound awesome and when I need to download a program or large file, it is done in seconds!

[Leroy S. Mort]

Also, AT&T mentioned something about paying an extra $9.95 a month to hook up another computer. I'm assuming that if I provide my own equipment, I can share the one cable connection I am paying for like I did with the dial-up ISP.

There's no extra charge for using a router. It's just like the hub you had, except the cable modem also plugs into it so the other computers on your network can share the connection and also communicate with each other.

[fleur-de-lis]

See if a Linksys BEFSR41 will do the job for you. It is $79.95 at Fry's website www.outpost.com. Also see http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?prid=20&grid=5 and http://www.linksys.com/products/group.asp?grid=23.

For another vendor see http://www.netgear.com/product_view.asp?xrp=4&yrp=12&zrp=55 and http://www.netgear.com/categories.asp?xrp=4&yrp=12.

[hoosierboy]

Also, AT&T mentioned something about paying an extra $9.95 a month to hook up another computer

I don't pay it and most people here on their network I am sure don"t pay it either. With the router you can have as many as 4 people share the connection. you can add an uplink and add more users too.

[Hagrid]

I have no personal knowledge, but a computer geek who sets up home networks for friends says that Linksys is indeed the solution to most problems, plus their website supposedly explains things.

I have to connect a PC and MAC to a DSL. The MAC is on an airport, but the darn airport has no plug for the PC. I'll deal with it when I get the time.

[Leroy S. Mort]

I just checked and it says that AT&T will allow up to 3 additional IP addresses for $9.95 a month.

No, no, no! You only need ONE IP address when using the Linksys router. Connect up to 253 computers to it if you wish. You still only pay for ONE IP number.

[DugwayDuke]

I agree with the advice on getting the router from linksys. I use one myself and have been very happy with it. I use it to link three home computers to the internet using one cable modem. Now I'll tell you what your problem is.

The cable company assigns an IP address to each user, in your case to the computer hooked to the cable modem. If you want to use more than one computer you'll need either a hub or a router. If you get a hub, then the cable company will assign an IP address to each computer. I did this with my old setup and each additional IP address was about 10 bucks a month. If you go with the router, the cable company assigns an IP address to the router and the router further assigns additional addresses to each computer. My cable company doesn't know, doesn't care, and doesn't charge extra for additional computers hanging off a router. Probably yours won't either. You'll probably have to notify the cable company before installing the new router so they'll recognize it and allow it on their net and you'll probably have to tell them what you're doing so you'll find out if there are additional charges.

The bottom line. You'll either have to get additional IPs from the cable company or get a router. Get the router. BTW, if you get the router you don't need a software firewall. If you stick with the hub, you'll need to get a firewall. ZoneAlarm lets you download theirs for free for personal use. Do a web search and you'll find their home page. It's free. Either way you should visit their website to learn about hardware and software firewalls.

BTW, welcome to the world of high speed access. No need to bitch about lots of threads with lots of pictures. You made a good choice.

[hoosierboy]

http://www.computers4sure.com/linksys/store/att_wired.asp

Here is the link to buy the router for 43 bucks

[Leroy S. Mort]

Linksys has a real simple TECH HELPER presentation that shows you exactly how to hook it up.

[SamAdams76]

Actually my XP computer did work when I plugged the cable modem into the hub (and attached a patch cable from the hub to the XP PC). It was the Win98 computer that didn't work even though a known good patch cable was connected to the hub. I know why, because the NIC card on the XP computer was reconfigured by AT&T for their network while my Win98 still had the original 192.168.0.208 address, obviously installed by the XP networking wizard.

I suppose I would need to get a compatible IP address from AT&T to join their network but I'll need to pay the $9.95. I don't like that solution because I will be doing file-and-printer sharing between the PCs, and with the cable modem plugged in the hub, I am essentially putting my home network on AT&T's local subnet.

[Leroy S. Mort]

You'll probably have to notify the cable company before installing the new router so they'll recognize it and allow it on their net and you'll probably have to tell them what you're doing so you'll find out if there are additional charges.

Not necessary with the LinkSys. ATT recognizes the MAC address of the NIC in the computer they originally installed to. When you set up the router, you just "clone" this address to it, plug in the cable modem, and bob's your uncle.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Dittos to what everyone says about the Linksys (and of course there are some other comparable products out there, but I have a Linksys and it just plain old works).

Here is the extra piece of advice though. Your mileage may vary, but my cable company registers MAC addresses on their system. What does that mean? It basically means it "remembers" which NIC card its cable modem was talking to when things were initially set up. You might think, for example that you could pull out one NIC card and put in another and that things would work fine, or replace one computer with another, or for that matter interpose the Linksys router. In some cases, maybe you can, but in the case of my cable operator you very definitely cannot.

Fortunately Linksys offers a way around this problem by "cloning" the Mac Address. In this way you allow the Linksys to spoof the cable operators network and make the network think that it is really the original device that was registered with the network.

The Mac Address Cloning window can be found under the "advanced" secion of the Linksys web config utility. A Mac address looks like 12:ab:89:4a:54
(i.e. 6 pairs of hex digits). You can get the address that your cable operator is expecting by issuing the command

ipconfig /all

on the machine that is currently connected to the network. Then you clone this mac address displayed as the "physical address" onto your linksys router and presto, you are done. This doesn't cause any problems on the network, and I have used this trick any number of times and it always, always works.

No need to do this if you can interpose the linksys router and things work OK, but if they don't this is worth doing. The other thing to keep in mind is that whenever you change your network connections, you should power all devices down (cable modem, linksys, all PCs) and then power them on in order i.e cable modem first, then linksys, and finally all PCs.

[kezekiel]

Not to add just ANOTHER voice to the Linksys router chorus, but trust me - that's the way to go. I haven't seen the Sygate software route discussed, but I've done that and didn't like it at all. If you try to use one of the computers on the network as a host, you'll have a few problems: 1) more complicated network setup; 2) less security; 3) more headache; when your computer locks up (not if, but WHEN in Windows), anybody else on the network loses their connection; 4) less reliability. My Linksys has been up 24/7 for about six months, and I only had to reset it ONCE. There's also a free router program that runs in Linux ("Freesco") that only requires a system with a network card and a floppy drive, but I never got the damn thing to work. I had a crummy old system sitting in the corner that I thought would be perfect for it, too...

[Thud]

I've had my Linksys BFR141 router for 18 months. We had three computers going on our home network. Then my sons left for college so my daughter suddenly had access to one of our two library computers whenever she wanted and no longer needed a space-hogging desk in her room for the third computer, so we closed that down.

But it is still nice to have DSL access from both of two computers. I love that router.

[SlickWillard]

Linksys is probably the easiest solution. Plus, it puts a hardware layer between you and the bad guys [if you put two NICs in the XP box, one of them is exposed].

[lelio]

I'm not sure about that program you mentioned for linux, but I'm happy with my linux box and 2 NICs running Netfilter (aka iptables the update to ipchains). Course I do this for a living and can configure it all day (and I have) so I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.
Another benefit of getting a NAT router is that it also acts as a primitive firewall that doesn't allow new outbound connections in. So you won't have to worry about someone trying to connect to your SMB (file sharing) port unless you allow it through the router.

[agitator]

Get the Netgear as is post #15. Real computer equipment comes in metal boxes with square corners - Really real computer equipment is rackmount. You plug the Netgear into the cable modem, your computers into the Netgear. Fix the address of your primary machine at 192.168.0.2 and the rest set at .3, .4, .5, etc. You could just use the dhcp that the router provides but specific port forwarding from the outside only works on the first machine so you're better off fixing the addresses. Bingo, you're on. You use one dynamically assigned address from the cable modem on the external side of the router so the cable company won't squeeze you. The router is always on so you don't lose your dynamically assigned address when you turn your computer off for a few days.

[Looking4Truth]

"(my new system has a NIC built into the motherboard)"

Mistake number one. I do not recommend any built in stuff like sound cards network cards, etc. Too many bad experiences.

I don't know 98/or XP, but can't you use TCP/IP for broadband and NetBEUI for local? It's been a while since I've done any networks.

[SamAdams76]

Not necessary with the LinkSys. ATT recognizes the MAC address of the NIC in the computer they originally installed to. When you set up the router, you just "clone" this address to it, plug in the cable modem, and bob's your uncle.

You just answered the question I was about to ask. Thank you! I know the cable company took the MAC address of the NIC on my XP computer. I was worried that if I got a router, I'd have to change the configuration through AT&T and get charged more money.

I will go to CompUSA tomorrow and look for this Linksys router. Otherwise I'll get it online. Thanks for all the help!

[Cultural Jihad]

The router is good bet, but have you tried this first?

• Plug the XP, 98, and cable modem all into the network hub
• Re-run the network wizard on XP
• Run the new setup disk on 98

If it still won't work, then I'd look into the Internet Settings for the 98 machine, to manually tell it to look at the LAN for the internet. But the use of a router is always the best bet.

[Cultural Jihad]

CompUSA tomorrow and look for this Linksys router.

CompUSA also sells a cable modem for $150. If you own your own modem you pay AT&T $10 a month less. It pays for itself in 15 months.