Netgear 814 & Cox problem

Hi,

I am running Cox cable modem service with Netgear MR814v2 wireless router.
When I clone the mac address using my PC's wireless card, I get no IP from
the cable modem. When I use mac address of some other card which doesn't
belong to me or my network, I get IP address back from the cable modem. When
I call Netgear, they say I need to register the mac address of my wireless
router with my cable company. My cable company says they never register mac
address of any routers (PERIOD). I don't know who to believe. Help!

I can get it working by using a foreign mac address but does that sound
right?
Steve