HELP! Can't connect!
let me preface this by saying that i know i am an idiot and know nothing about networking.
i've had various dsl/high speed accounts in the past which worked no problem. because i had an account, i knew how to fill in the fields in the os x networking preferences.
but this summer i'm house sitting someone with cable, and i've brought my own computer. all the computers here are laptop PCs and are immediatly online in the time it takes to plug the ethernet cord in the back. no login/password fields, no tampering with server addresses in the control panel. not the same when i plug the ethernet cord into my G4 mac. not only can i not get online immediatly, but it wont recognise the signal no matter what i do in the networking control panel.
do i need to have their account information (which is impossible as i have no way of contacting the owner)
can i set up my mac to connect to the free cable or not!?
again, i apologise if the answer is rediculously simple.
in either case, i thank you for your time.
-moscarda
i've had various dsl/high speed accounts in the past which worked no problem. because i had an account, i knew how to fill in the fields in the os x networking preferences.
but this summer i'm house sitting someone with cable, and i've brought my own computer. all the computers here are laptop PCs and are immediatly online in the time it takes to plug the ethernet cord in the back. no login/password fields, no tampering with server addresses in the control panel. not the same when i plug the ethernet cord into my G4 mac. not only can i not get online immediatly, but it wont recognise the signal no matter what i do in the networking control panel.
do i need to have their account information (which is impossible as i have no way of contacting the owner)
can i set up my mac to connect to the free cable or not!?
again, i apologise if the answer is rediculously simple.
in either case, i thank you for your time.
-moscarda
Comments
Dobby.
Originally posted by dobby
You should be able to set your ethernet network prefs to auto-detect and thats it. You might need to put in a search domain but I doubt it.
Dobby.
can you be a little more specific? where do i change these preferences?
There should be a field with DHCP or auto-setup or something similar. (sorry not in front of a mac at the mo).
Set to DHCP and apply/ok changes and you should be allocated an ip address and have the default gateware setup automatically.
Dobby.
i'm definatly not seeing an "autodetect" button.
i took a screen capture... this is what i see:
under configurations, the other options are as follows:
hmmmmmmmmm. thanks anyway.
You say it's cable? Is there a router? Wired or wireless?
When you plug in and go to http://192.168.100.1 do you see the cable modem page?
That means that the router could be set to only accept a certain list of MAC addresses, and your machine isn't on the list.
Post as much info as you can.
Originally posted by lundy
I just noticed - in your ethernet panel, you have a 10.x.x.x IP address. That is a LAN address, so there must be a router somewhere.
That means that the router could be set to only accept a certain list of MAC addresses, and your machine isn't on the list.
Post as much info as you can.
yes, it is cable. wired. roadrunner. there is indeed a router. i don't know what "your machine isn't on the list." means... what list? how does one know?
i'm not seeing anything on http://192.168.100.1 what exactly is that?
tell me what you need to know and i will try to find the info, but i don't know what we're looking for.
Originally posted by moscarda
yes, it is cable. wired. roadrunner. there is indeed a router. i don't know what "your machine isn't on the list." means... what list? how does one know?
Some routers, when you access their control panel (http://192.168.0.1) will allow you to restrict access to only a certain list of computers. Each ethernet device on the planet has a unique ID, called the MAC address (media access control), also known as the "ethernet address" (not to be confused with the IP address). So if the owner thought they would be cool and use that list and enter all of their computers' MAC addresses in the router, then it won't recognize your machine. This also could have been one of those deals where the ISP "installs" your "home network" and charges you for it, and the technician was instructed to use the MAC address thing as company policy.
Quote:
i'm not seeing anything on http://192.168.100.1 what exactly is that?
That is the IP address of many cable modems. It should put up the cable modem's configuration page from the cable modem's ROM. I think not all modems use that address (mine is an RCA/Thompson and it does), but I can't find what the other IPs are that cable modems use. Of course, the router may be blocking you from accessing the cable modem also.
Quote:
tell me what you need to know and i will try to find the info, but i don't know what we're looking for.
OK - we'll get to the bottom of this. It has to be today because I'm going to Florida tomorrow.
first, what's the brand of the router?
next, can you get http://192.168.100.1 (the cable modem) by using the "known-good" computers (i.e. other than yours)?
Second, can you access the router setup by going to http://192.168.0.1?
- Your Network panel shows that the router assigned you an IP (10.x.x.x), so I think it isn't the problem.
- Do you by any chance have PPPoE set on in the Network panel? If so, uncheck it.
- What kind of connection did you have at home when your computer was working? DSL/Cable, wired, etc.
- In the Network panel, also make sure that Appletalk is off, that there are no proxies set, and that Ethernet is set to Automatic.
- On the back of the router, one of the wires comes from the cable modem. Should be labeled "modem" or similar on the router socket. Just plug the cable modem directly into your computer, bypassing the router, and see what happens. This may not work if RoadRunner is looking for the router's MAC address, but it's worth a try.
Have him verify his ip with "ifconfig" and then get his default route. Run "netstat -nr" in terminal, and the first line should say something like:
Destination Gateway Flags Refs Use Netif Expire
default 192.168.0.1 UGSc 73 486 en0
Have him ping (again in terminal) the IP ("ping xxx.xxx.xx.xxx") listed under the gateway. If it works, move on to issues like DNS, router config, etc. If it doesn't, then he's got some issues. I assume this is hard-wired? (YES) If not, then maybe it's a neighbor's AP (turn off Airport).
To open Terminal, it's in Applications/Utilities/Terminal.
Since that IP address is invalid, it most likely means that you have PPPoE enabled or something else set wrong. Let's check all of your network settings and also make sure Airport is off (Network ->Show-> Network Port Configurations -> uncheck Airport).
Dobby.