How to connect cable modem directly to PC - Disconnecting Router?

[skoka]

Hi,

I have cable modem connected to my Windows XP PC through a router. Everything works fine this way. Windows network connection shows up as follows:

Address type : Assigned by DHCP
IP Address : 192.168.123.149
Subnet Mask : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway : 192.168.123.254 (my routers ip address)

Now when I connect my PC directly to the cable modem without the router and reboot XP I get the following network information:

Address type : Automatic Private Address
IP Address : 168.254.226.149
Subnet Mask : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway : (Blank)

How can I make the PC connect to the cable modem directly? I would like to switch between using the internet through the router and direct connection to the cable modem.

Another problem that I have is the network computers (wireless and wired) do not show up in network neighbourhood but I can access them using file://pc-name. Even though they are all part of the same network (WORKGROUP), I get a message that I do not have access to the network WORKGROUP even though I am the administrator.

I would appreciate any help. At present the cable modem / disconnecting cable modem is my major problem.

 

[ojai00]

A reboot of the modem (unplug power from the back for about 5-10 seconds), and then a reboot of the computer will usually work. Hope this helps.

 

[JackMDS]

Could be a matter of cable, some modems use straight some crossover

Use the working cable that is connecting the Modem to the Router, disconnect it from the Router?s Wan and plug it to the computer.

If your ISP uses MAC authentication, make sure that the NIC in the computer is the same as the cloned MAC in the Router.

 

[orion7144]

That is because your Router was giving your computer an IP. Now you have to take the info from your router (WAN SIDE) and put that into your network properties so XP will connect to the cable modem. The cable modem is not designed to asign an IP. There are a few things you need to write down from your router's setup page. Make sure you get the host name, IP, DNS, subnet mask, and gateway then you have to plug them into your TCP/IP protocol settings. I have had to do this numerous times while troubleshooting my networks.

 

[orion7144]

As for your problem connecting to network computers double click on network neighborhood (if its on your desktop) and on the top left hand corner there is a place that say something about setting up a home network (I'm at work and don't have XP here). You need to do this on all PC's in your network that you want to have access to.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

You can't make a blanket statement that the cable modem doesn't assign an IP, because some do. Specifically, my Comcast setup uses the system setup with DHCP to dynamically assign the IP to your machine directly from the cable modem. I can pull the line from my router, plug it into my PC, and reboot the modem and do an IPCONFIG /RENEW, and I'm connected directly to the modem.

With that said, some cable accounts want you to assign the IP automatically, but disable DHCP. This was the configuration that I needed for @home, and a specific computer name was also required.

In short, there really is not a single answer to this question.

 

[skoka]

Thanks to all those who have responded. With a combination of all your suggestions I got the thing to work.

For future searches and references here's what I did:

The problem seems to be with getting the DHCP server name and hence renewing the IP address.

1) Power Off the Cable modem and the router.
2) Remove the network cables.
3) Power On the cable modem
4) After the cable modem is on connect the appropriate network cable (i.e; either the cable connecting the PC's network card or the WAN on the Router).

This has made sure that the correct DHCP server is detected and new IP address is obtained.

Note: I am using roadrunner as my ISP.

 

[orion7144]

Was not aware of any cable modems that had DHCP capabilities. The ones I have worked on do not.