Comcast and AirPort...

Comments

• Reply 1 of 10

  torifile Posts: 4,024member

  August 7, 2003 10:17PM

  Don't know about comcast and airport, but I can tell you about airport in general.
  
  
  
  All you need are two airport cards. One for the powerbook one for the iMac. Why for the iMac, you ask? To have a software ABS, of course. It'll save you a couple hundred bucks, as long as you don't mind leaving the iMac on all the time. Plus, you get a real wireless network to play with. Networked iTunes, printer, and with Panther other USB stuff like scanners and cameras.
  
  
  
  If you don't want to go the software route, you can get a 802.11b or g compliant access point. Linksys, D-Link, etc make them, in addition to Apple's ABS. They should all work fine. You hook the iMac up via an ethernet cable to the access point (which is a router) and wirelessly surf with the powerbook.
  
  
  
  In all, all you need are either 2 airport cards or one airport card and an access point. That's it. Isn't airport easy?
• Reply 2 of 10

  pscates Posts: 5,847member

  August 7, 2003 10:21PM

  Thanks. I was hoping it was something like that. I'd read other threads in the past and people talking about "you need a router and...". I always thought the base station (whatever brand) WAS a "router" and supported/allowed multiple, shared connections.
  
  
  
  Almost seems too easy. Sure there isn't a catch?
  
  
  
  
• Reply 3 of 10

  torifile Posts: 4,024member

  August 7, 2003 10:27PM

  Quote:
  

  
  Originally posted by pscates
  
  Thanks. I was hoping it was something like that. I'd read other threads in the past and people talking about "you need a router and...". I always thought the base station (whatever brand) WAS a "router" and supported/allowed multiple, shared connections.
  
  
  
  Almost seems too easy. Sure there isn't a catch?
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  Believe it or not, no.
• Reply 4 of 10

  1seaside1 Posts: 74member

  August 7, 2003 10:36PM

  Well, I thought that the first generation (gray) ABS were not routers and only supported wireless connections. The white ABS introduced an ethernet port and routing capabilities.
• Reply 5 of 10

  towel Posts: 1,479member

  August 7, 2003 10:38PM

  The cable cord attaches to the... cable modem.
  
  The cable modem attaches to the.... wireless router.
  
  The wireless router attaches to the... [better sing fast now] whichever-computers-are within-easy-ethernet-cable-distance.
  
  
  
  Erm, and plug airport cards into the laptops and any dekstops that it isn't convenient to string a ethernet cable to from the router. Apple's Base Station is the coolest wireless router out there, but you can pick up a perfectly functional D-Link wireless router (I have two DI-614+'s myself) for around 100 bucks. The 614+ has four LAN sockets for wired networking. If you have a large home, D-Link also sells a wireless repeater (DWL-800AP+) which, well, acts as a repeater to increase the range of your wireless network.
  
  
  
  As of my last service call, BTW, Comcast explicitly allowed in-home networking and wireless LANs for their cable modem customers. Even if they didn't, as long as you're only using one IP address (for the router) there's little they could or would want to do about it.
• Reply 6 of 10

  eugene Posts: 8,254member

  August 8, 2003 2:30AM

  Down here, my AirPort basestations have had a slight bit of trouble with Comcast, namely the basestations don't wait long enough to fetch an IP via DHCP so they think there is none. In reality, the Comcast DHCP service is just very slow in issuing IPs. It takes a lot of tries to get the first IP, but once it leases one, it's fine...
• Reply 7 of 10

  towel Posts: 1,479member

  August 9, 2003 5:28PM

  Quote:
  

  
  Originally posted by Eugene
  
  Down here, my AirPort basestations have had a slight bit of trouble with Comcast, namely the basestations don't wait long enough to fetch an IP via DHCP so they think there is none. In reality, the Comcast DHCP service is just very slow in issuing IPs. It takes a lot of tries to get the first IP, but once it leases one, it's fine...
  

  
  

  
  
  Hmm. Last fall my iBook suddenly stopped working with my Comcast/ATTBI cable modem. It was right around the time of the switch-over. The iBook just wouldn't fetch an IP. I wonder if was having the same issue as your ABS. After a couple of months, it suddenly worked fine again - but I started using a router anyway.
• Reply 8 of 10

  eds66 Posts: 119member

  August 9, 2003 6:46PM

  I have encountered two cases this month where Airport Extreme base stations would intermittently loose synch with Comcast cable modems. Resetting both devices (turn both off; turn modem on, wait: turn Baes Station on) would fix the issue temporaily every time. Firmware updates did not help. Replaced Airport base stations with Linksys Wireless Router/signal booster solutions -- all problems gone. This could have been a coincidence, of course, and both base stations may have been defective. But my gut tells me that it's more than a fluke.
• Reply 9 of 10

  scott Posts: 7,431member

  August 10, 2003 8:39PM

  I've had some bumps in the road with Comcast. Nothing major. I did get airport internet sharing between the iBook and Powerbook working. Not too hard.
• Reply 10 of 10

  snoopy Posts: 1,901member

  August 11, 2003 10:35AM

  I have Comcast internet and a four port Linksys router switch. I'm guessing that if I wanted to add an Airport network too, I could connect it to one of the Linksys ports, right? I think they work that way? That should also avoid any connection problems that Airport Base Stations may have with Comcast.
  
  
  
  I have not noticed any difference in service since the switch from ATTBI to Comcast. My only gripe so far is that Comcast raised the price of service $10 in our area for those who do not also have cable TV service. It went from $42.95 to $52.95 for me. I think that may make DSL cheaper.