Cable broadband vs Wireless advice needed

Hello all

I just signed up for Comcast broadband cable internet
service at a new house I'm moving into.

My question: I have a Linksys 804G Cable Modem with
built-in wireless router and 4 port wired router.

Should I FIRST hook up a computer and configure the
ISP and get it running 'hard wired' first? Or should I
configure the wireless LAN FIRST - getting the computer
first to talk to the router before I hook up the cable and
run the Comcast software?

Or does it matter either way?

Thanks - any advice appreciated

Dave
devarim at hotmail dot com

"Dave" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) news.com...
> Hello all
>
> I just signed up for Comcast broadband cable internet
> service at a new house I'm moving into.
>
> My question: I have a Linksys 804G Cable Modem with
> built-in wireless router and 4 port wired router.
>
> Should I FIRST hook up a computer and configure the
> ISP and get it running 'hard wired' first? Or should I
> configure the wireless LAN FIRST - getting the computer
> first to talk to the router before I hook up the cable and
> run the Comcast software?
>
> Or does it matter either way?
>
> Thanks - any advice appreciated
>
> Dave
> devarim at hotmail dot com

The cable company will undoubtedly want you to hook up the cable modem with
a single computer first. My cable company, CableVision Optimum Online, will
only troubleshoot with me on the phone if I remove the router. They don't
object to my using a router day-to-day; they just won't troubleshoot with
it.

With my 3Com cable modem, the modem remembers the MAC address of the device
that's hooked up to the customer side. So when I switch from a cable
modem-to-router connection to a cable modem-to-computer connection, I must
power off the cable modem for at least one minute to make it forget the MAC
address.

You mention some Comcast software. You may not need it. I never use cable
company software. If you do want to use it, you'll have to do that on a
computer; the router won't run it.

In short, you can set up the LAN first and hook the router to the cable
modem if you like. But you may want to know that the cable modem works with
just a computer so that you won't be doing it for the first time when the
cable company asks you to.

Ron Bandes, CCNP, CTT+, etc.

> In short, you can set up the LAN first and hook the router to the cable
> modem if you like. But you may want to know that the cable modem works
with
> just a computer so that you won't be doing it for the first time when the
> cable company asks you to.

Thanks Ron - in the meantime I simply called Tech Support at Comcast, and
they said exactly what you did. And no, the software isn't needed unless I
want
to use USB (which I won't). I just need to call them to register my MAC
address
of my modem, and establish DHCP and a TCP/IP connection. Then I'm set.

Again, thanks for the confirmation.

Dave

Don't install the comcast software!

Also, you'll want to configure your router by ethernet because it is
difficult to configure wireless security settings when connected wirelessly
(you'll want to turn on WPA-PSK encryption).

-Yves

"Dave" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) news.com...
> > In short, you can set up the LAN first and hook the router to the cable
> > modem if you like. But you may want to know that the cable modem works
> with
> > just a computer so that you won't be doing it for the first time when
the
> > cable company asks you to.
>
> Thanks Ron - in the meantime I simply called Tech Support at Comcast, and
> they said exactly what you did. And no, the software isn't needed unless
I
> want
> to use USB (which I won't). I just need to call them to register my MAC
> address
> of my modem, and establish DHCP and a TCP/IP connection. Then I'm set.
>
> Again, thanks for the confirmation.
>
> Dave
>
>

Ron Bandes <RunderscoreBandes @yah00.com> wrote:
> The cable company will undoubtedly want you to hook up the cable modem with
> a single computer first.

He said that the cable modem had a built in router, so that wouldn't apply.

Otherwise, the restriction varies by cable system. My Mediacom requires
that the MAC of my PC/router be registered with them. If you connect a PC
directly, this is obvious. Open a browser and it connects to a page that
says you need to register. If you connect through a router, that window
never appears, you just can't connect to the internet.
You can either register your router by phone, or use the "Clone Mac" option
to copy the MAC of the PC used to make the connection originally.

> You mention some Comcast software. You may not need it. I never use cable
> company software. If you do want to use it, you'll have to do that on a
> computer; the router won't run it.

For Cable, the only PC-installed software I've heard of is USB drivers if
you want to use the USB modem port instead of the ethernet port.

That makes it sound like it is a separate modem and router.

--
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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5