Cable Modem Questions:

dstranathandstranathan
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
0) Do cable modems have any ISP specific firmware or programming in them?



1) If I take my (3com) cable modem to my neighbor (who has the same ISP, and the same type of modem as me), will she be able to use my modem to acccess her account?



2) What If I take my (3com) cable modem to another pal's house who has a different brand of modem and a different cable ISP service, will my modem work on his account?



3) What if II take my iBook and my cable modem over to another pal's house who has cable TV, but not broadband access (no Internet), will he be able to log on with my account using my hardware? Same MAC address, etc...



4) Do I have to use the modem my ISP gave me? Is it possible to buy another one if I want?



5) What about DSL? Are DSL modems "hard-coded" with ISP sepcific data?



[ 12-18-2002: Message edited by: dstranathan ]</p>

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    interesting thing about that. i would have thought that the brand ur isp gives u is req'd, and other than that i thot theres nothing to it. my friend, a very scummy character, found a "perfectly good" cable modem in the garbage one day, and tried it out. he got the internet, and everything. it was a different brand and model and everything from the one he [and i] used. he ended up ebay'ing it for a few bucks.



    so, i think:

    0) no.

    1) yes.

    2) maybe.

    3) doubtful. i think there is hdwr in ur house/building that's setup for the cable modem, and if ur friend doesn't have a modem, then lacking that hardware.

    4) possible, but i wouldn't bother. u'd definitely want at least a short warrantee incase it doesn't workout.

    5) i know very little about dsl, or dsl modems.
  • Reply 2 of 3
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    In regards to use your cable modem elsewhere, it is difficult. The other residence has to have cable service provided by your ISP; they really just need to have access to your ISP's lines, and that access needs to be enabled to come into his domicile.



    Furthermore, IP addresses of cable modems are usually assigned corresponding to the hardware address of your computer. This poses issues if you plug it into another machine, though not for all ISPs
  • Reply 3 of 3
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    [quote]Originally posted by M3D Jack:

    <strong>In regards to use your cable modem elsewhere, it is difficult. The other residence has to have cable service provided by your ISP; they really just need to have access to your ISP's lines, and that access needs to be enabled to come into his domicile.



    Furthermore, IP addresses of cable modems are usually assigned corresponding to the hardware address of your computer. This poses issues if you plug it into another machine, though not for all ISPs</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Well, most ISPs in the US use plain old DOCSIS 1.x, so pretty much any modem you find at Fry's or CompUSA should work. If you take your modem provided by ATTBI to your friend's house who has Cox, it would probably work without a hitch. On a few occasions I've had a tech tell me that they had to reregister the modem on their side of the connection, but I don't think they really do anything.



    As far as MAC addresses are concerned, I know ATTBI doesn't use any of those types of restrictions here.
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