Hi-

I live in Mass. and recently had Comcast Cable Modem installed. After
the tech left, the modem was connecting to their service fine. Upon a
ping I could resolve all internet addresses IPs but got a timeout on
the ping itself. So, I folded and installed their crappy software
that I said I'd never do.

Of, course the connection now worked fine. But the software would
constantly freeze when I booted the computer. And I would say at
least every two days I had to run their crappy support software to
"fix" my connection. I can't imagine what it did but after running it
I could suddenly get on the net again whereas just before running it I
could not get out anywhere.

I finally got my Linksys Wireless router hooked up and uninstalled
both the Comcast software and the support software. Everything was
great, had two computers running just fine.

Then yesterday I could no longer get out on the net with either
computer. Rebooted the modem and then the router then the PCs. The
router is getting an IP address and DNS IP addresses. Each PC is
getting a LAN IP address. A ping will resolve the IP address of
domain names but gets timeouts.

My question is this: I know if I call them they're gonna say they
don't support routers. So, I want to just hook up my PC directly to
the modem. But, will I need to install that crappy software again? I
refuse to run that stuff and reading on this newsgroup leads me to
believe that it's not needed. Is there something I need to configure
if I dont run their software and have a PC connected directly to the
modem?

Also, if anyone has any ideas why I can't get out using the router
when it was working fine for a week, then that would be the best
answer. I'm going to call customer service otherwise but I want to
have the option to hook a PC right up to the modem if they ask me to.

As an aside, the same day the internet connection died, my TV with a
digital cable box died as well. Any TV WITHOUT a box gets TV fine but
the one with the box shows the TV Guide info and stuff like that fine
but the picture is just black. I bypassed the box and went right to
the TV and it works fine. I just think it's weird that the same day
the internet went down the cable box went down too. Any ideas?

Thanks.
-Adam

"Adam" <adam_field@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:5b247e5d.0312090812.1848c3e2@posting.google.c om...
No, you do not ever need to run the software from Comcast. Yes, you do
seem to need a service call with the TV and modem issues. One issue -
disable any firewall, especially the XP firewall if you use it. The XP
firewall is incompatible with a router.

Q

On 9 Dec 2003 08:12:24 -0800, adam_field@yahoo.com (Adam) wrote:

Adam,

Your cable service should be DHCP, so there should be no need to run
the Comcast desktop crap. Installing the crap accomplishes three
things:
1) Configures your network setup on your pc.
2) Installs a desktop connection to the web server on the modem.
3) Installs a lot of crap that you don't need on your pc (customises
your browser, probably inserts an advertising agent somewhere).

As long as your pc is setup for DHCP, it should be able to get DHCP
from the cable service as easily as from the router.

However, if there is a network problem between the modem and the
headend (which is what it sounds like), you may not be able to get
DHCP to your pc either.

If you could call Comcrap and tell them there's a problem, and NOT
tell them you have a router installed, I'd say leave the router
connected. But they'll most likely ask you for connection status,
maybe network diagnostics, that you'll need to get from the Comcrap
desktop agent.

Is your digital video service still down? If so, why not call and
have that fixed. If the problem with that is related to the problem
with your internet service (I'd bet strongly that both are related),
they might fix both with one call.

If that's not a possibility, you'll have to bite the bullet, remove
the router, and install the desktop agent. Unless you can lie to them
really well when you call.

Cheers,

Chuck
I hate spam - PLEASE get rid of the spam before emailing me!
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

you do not need their software, disconnect your router and connect directly
to your modem if it doesn't work
give them a call. tell them nothing about your router and if they send a
tech out leave you computer connected directly to the modem. Once you get a
connection to the net you can hook it all back up.

"Adam" <adam_field@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:5b247e5d.0312090812.1848c3e2@posting.google.c om...

Ok, I figured out what was wrong. Ummmm, errr, ummmm, I forgot to pay
the bill and they shut me off. I paid it and now it's back on. The
thing that threw me off was the fact that all my TVs without a cable
box worked fine. This is because they can shut off digital service
right from Comcast but need to come out to your house to shut off
analog service apparently.

Now to get rid of that stupid Comcast icon in IE after uninstalling
their crap-ware. I found a Microsoft article so I'll follow those
instructions.

D'oh, oh well!

Thanks for your help anyway.
-Adam

Adam wrote:
Hah! I spent three days with ATTBI on a similar service issue. They had
suspended my account due to a double billing for service at the
Excite/ATTBI transition that I, with the agreement of the billing
department, had declined to pay until ATTBI could recover their records
of my payment history. It was tech service people who uncovered the
account suspension. I ended up paying the jerks for the double-billing
anyway just to get my service back.

Q

adam_field@yahoo.com (Adam) wrote in message news:<5b247e5d.0312100641.5bea7ac8@posting.google. com>...
that comcast software icon is part of your service! bid it a fond fairwell.

i did not have the pleasure of installing the comcast brandware