can't connect to comcast with my network

Sorry, tried to post to an old thread. hope this helps,

I've just purchased comcast and received their box. The tech came out and installed check to see that it works. He used his laptop to set it up and it worked.

When I tried to open IE with my computer a dell dimension 3000 it wouldn't connect.

I called comcast and the tech support guy tried to get me to run ipconfig which wouldn't run (unless I typed "ipconfig.exe") and he said my OS was bad for some reason. SO, I've completely reformatted and installed the OS again.

I've installed I believe all the common network drives from the disk and everything seems to be fine.

automatic dns/dhcp/ip etc...

Still wont' connect.

What I have

Dell Dimension 3000 w/ WinXP Home SP2
Connect w/Ethernet
I have the same IP address IMK's
"For the IP address, I am getting a 169.254.144.XXX. The subnet mask is coming up as 255.255.0.0."

on ipconfig I don't show a dns number
ip router enabled : NO (does that matter?)

When I try to renew IP address it says it has a problem with "renew IP address".


It says' I'm connected sometimes at 100mbps but I can't get online.
Where do I start?

thanks for the help,
mavedog21

 

could it be that I need a static IP address?

 

I don't think that you should have had to reinstall your OS, that's just misinformation from tech.
Tech should have helped you with your machine, not his laptop.

Try pressing the reset button on back of the modem (the Comcast box), wait a few minutes until box is finished resetting, then boot up your machine.

 

I've tried that a few times. Nothing changes. It still won't allow me to get online. Any other ideas?

 

elbiatcho1? most techs dont support a customers home network. So by hooking up the techs own laptop and it working, proving it to be a problem on the costumers network setup or pc. Pretty common for most field techs i know. Now to the original poster. Assuming windows xp service pack 2, goto start then run, then type cmd and hit enter, then type netsh winsock reset and hit enter, if done right should say reset requires a reboot or something, reboot and try again.

 

Colemanguy, thanks for helping out.

That did not cure the problem.
Right now I'm working on an old laptop using the cable modem and inpluging/reseting the box and plugging into the dell cpu to test stuff.

Now I'm home I can provide more info.

Do I need a DNS?

when I cmd >ipconfig /renew
it says "An error occured while renewing interface Locdal Area Connection : unable to contact your DHCP server. Request has timed out."

My ipconfig info is...
connection-specific DNS suffix :
Autoconfiguration IP address : 169.254.XXX.XXX
Subnet: 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway:

Dhcp: yes
Autoconfiguration enabled: yes
Description: Intel (R) Pro/100 VE Network connection

should I cmd>ipconfig /renew EL* -- renew any connection thats name starts with EL

or cmd>ipconfig /release *CON* -- release all matching connections

any other ideas?
mavedog21

 

sounds like your network card drivers need reinstalled.

 

sorry, had to go prep the bird for tomorrow.

ok, I've installed the network drivers (again) from the drivers disc. Is there anything I should have to do?

 

Just a general unplug the power to yout modem and then back in, reboot windows, and try getting online.

 

Tried that, I also have another way to connect to the modem using a usb cable. That works! I can get online using that. It says connected at 12mbps.

But the ethernet cable still doesn't work. That's what? 100mbps?

There is an orange light lite when I plug into the network card along with a green light. Does the orange light mean anything bad? Bad card? I've installed all the drivers and searched for updates and found one. But when I installed the updated driver the network card stopped working all together. So I uninstalled the drivers and then reinstalled the network drivers again from the disk. Nothing happens.

So, could it be a bad card? to old? If I bought and installed a new card would that work or would it be a waste of money?

Your thoughts?

mavedog

 

ok, came back from thanksgiving tried the ethernet cable again... didn't work. Tried the usb cable. Still works!

I called comcast back. The lady said the 169.254.xxx.xxx number is not a good sign because that usually means the computer is making up its own ip address. I asked if I could get around that she said "yes" but she was not able to give help with that.."Too technical" she said.

Lastly, when I ipconfig /all it says I have dhcp not enabled but when I go to the network connections and check it out it is checked.

Now what?

i went to www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/ and check out how fast I was connected using the usb cable it says 1.29 mps. what would an ethernet cable connect at?

any thoughts to why my usb works but my ethernet cable doesn't? I have a feeling it has to do with automatically assigning a ip address or that the dhcp is not enabled even though it says it is.

thanks for helping me on this questions.

mavedog

 

I guess it depends on the area. 4 techs had to come out to a friend's place and none had laptops (or they left them in their trucks), 2 were actual Comcast techs. One tech pulled out the network setup cd and said to install and run the program on a machine that is connected to the modem.

The strange problem was that the modem cached information of the network device so when we plugged in a different device there wasn't any network discovery (local resolution). We had to discover on our own about resetting the modem.

Anyways, Mavedog21, is this the driver you used for your built in ethernet?

 

Actually your connection between the internet and you won't be fast enough to require use if a ethernet, might as well just use usb if it works, unless you have a specific need for ethernet?

 

Not really, I guess. If the speed won't change much.
So then, even though the network cable doesn't work just use the usb. Gotcha. One last thing... Is there a way to recognize the modem automatically when my computer starts up? I'm having to reset the modem everytime I start the computer. Is there some setting I can change to pick up the usb item automatically.

thanks,
sky

 

Elbiatcho1, that looks like the driver that came on the disc. Is that one the correct one. I also used another updated driver from the intel site but it worked even worse. It wouldn't even turn on the green/orange lights when I plugged it in.

I'm guessing usb is the way for me.

Thanks guys.