I think I might have messed up

[Craig234]

I have Comcast cable modem, and a Wi-Fi setup.

I had bought a Netgear router for Wi-Fi. A cable modem upgrade might have taken over the Wi-Fi, I'm not sure.

Now, I bought a new cable modem to stop renting one from Comcast (months ago, just now hooked it up).

I noticed that while the old cable modem has two clip connectors (forget the name), one to the PC and one to the router, the new modem only has one, and doesn't have 'wi-fi'.

So right off the top, there's no way to plug the modem into the router like the old one, making me think the new modem just can't provide what's needed for a Wi-Fi setup.

But when I unplugged the old modem, Wi-Fi kept working (tablet using internet).

Also, my phone plugged into the old modem - no phone jack on the new one.

The new modem is the Motorola Arris Surfboard SB6141.

I bought the wrong thing, didn't I.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Also, my phone plugged into the old modem - no phone jack on the new one.

The new modem is the Motorola Arris Surfboard SB6141.

I bought the wrong thing, didn't I.

Yes. If you have Comcast Digital Voice, you need an EMTA, not just a cable modem. What Comcast rented you was an all-in-one box, that was a cable modem, router, wifi, and EMTA in one.

Edit: Btw, it's normal for a cable modem to only have one ethernet jack.

 

[Craig234]

The fact that Wi-Fi continued to work while the new modem was installed has me wondering if maybe it's ok on that, I need to review how that is.

On the phone, I'm interested in cancelling Comcast phone and switching to Ooma which I think might be ok with the new modem?

 

[JackMDS]

So you were using a Combo Modem/Router/Phone Unit and you replaced it with a Modem only and you are surprised that there is ""mesasing"".

May be you should drop 80% of the irrelevant verbiage from your OP and instead describe exactly how the network is configured under the various scenarios (what is plugged into whick specific ports on the devices.

That might help us to help you.




P.S., if the issue is only a missing port on the new Modem then this can help - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...itch 4 port&qid=1447879103&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

 

[Craig234]

Jack, sorry that nine lines is too many not to get a snide comment it's too much from you - for both our sakes, I'd prefer to get no help, so please don't help if that's the type to expect.

As I said before, I wasn't entirely clear how the Wi-Fi kept working with the new modem, which lacked the cable between the modem and the router. I'm going to look right now.

Router has one Ethernet cable going to the old cable modem. It also has an Ethernet cable going to an irrelevant device that has nothing to do with the connectivity.

That's it, leaving me unclear how it was connected to the internet when the coaxial cable modem was moved from the old modem to the new modem.

The old modem has those two cables and an Ethernet cable going to the PC.

What I had not realized was the lack of the second Ethernet port on the new modem to go to the router, and the lack of the phone jack.

In hooking up the new modem, I left the router and old modem cable in place and moved the PC cable from old to new - its only connector.

While neither modem was connected, I think Wi-Fi continued to work, not positive. While the new modem was connected, Wi-Fi worked.

This all leaves me with a few questions:

- How is the Wi-Fi functioning without the cable between the router and modem?

- Is the way it is functioning acceptable, are there any negatives compared to the old setup with the cable between modem and router (which might not been used?)

- I need to look into the Ooma connectivity to confim that with the new limited one-port modem, it can be hooked up somehow.

If the new setup is fine for Wi-Fi and the Ooma can be hooked up, I might have a new setup that's ok and allows cancelling Comcast phone.

If not, I might have wasted the cost of the new modem and need so start over on looking for a replacement to the rented modem.

Edit: I remember possibly seeing that the old modem included a router that might have replaced the external router, but after its coaxial cable was disconnected, and Wi-Fi continued to work, on the same Wi-Fi network named "comcastwifi", I assumed the old modem must not be providing the router.

Edit 2: googling the netgeat router setup, it shows the Ethernet cable between the router and cable modem I thought was the internet connection for Wi-Fi, so it remains a mystery how Wi-Fi was connected when the old modem had the coaxial removed. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe the "comcastwifi" I'm using is a neighbor's and I didn't realize it. Who knows.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe the "comcastwifi" I'm using is a neighbor's and I didn't realize it. Who knows.

With a generic SSID name like that, and the fact that Comcast turned all of its customer "Gateways" into wifi hotspots for the neighborhood, then that possibility is actually pretty strong, assuming that you have neighbors with Comcast.

Otherwise, if you left the original Gateway connected to power, but simply disconnected the coax cable from the back, then it would have continued to transmit a wifi signal... it just wouldn't connect to the internet that way. Your devices would still appear to be connected to the wifi, and might not notice the disconnection from the internet for perhaps 5-10 minutes (in Windows, don't know if Android notices at all).

"Normal" cable modems, only have a single ethernet WAN port on them, that is designed for connecting a single device to the internet. If you want to connect more than one device, you need a NAT router, and if you want wifi, you want a wireless router connected. Plug the WAN port of the router into the cablemodem, and then plug the local devices into the router's LAN ports.

 

[VirtualLarry]

P.S., if the issue is only a missing port on the new Modem then this can help - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...itch 4 port&qid=1447879103&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

Jack, that's a dumb switch. Connecting that directly to a cable modem, will cause each connected device to attempt to pull a separate public WAN IP. What he really needs is a router.

 

[Craig234]

I unplugged the power from the router, and both the PC internet connection and the tablet Wi-Fi connection continued to function. The plot thickens.

What started this is that I bought an Amazon echo and it wouldn't attach to my Wi-Fi network, and Amazon was unable to diagnose the issue.

It sort of started to recognize it, but when I'd say to install, it's get an error during the process. So they speculated maybe the router had incompatible security.

The comcastwifi network it dafults to using, for what it's worth, is the one wifi network identified that doesn't use a password, not sure if that's important.

 

[Mushkins]

I unplugged the power from the router, and both the PC internet connection and the tablet Wi-Fi connection continued to function. The plot thickens.

What started this is that I bought an Amazon echo and it wouldn't attach to my Wi-Fi network, and Amazon was unable to diagnose the issue.

It sort of started to recognize it, but when I'd say to install, it's get an error during the process. So they speculated maybe the router had incompatible security.

The comcastwifi network it dafults to using, for what it's worth, is the one wifi network identified that doesn't use a password, not sure if that's important.

If you're connecting to "comcastwifi" or "xfinitywifi" labeled wireless networks you are not connecting to your home network. You are connecting to the public access wifi Comcast has set up for their customers. Which makes sense if you unplugged your router and they're still connected.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

The fact that Wi-Fi continued to work while the new modem was installed has me wondering if maybe it's ok on that, I need to review how that is.

On the phone, I'm interested in cancelling Comcast phone and switching to Ooma which I think might be ok with the new modem?

Yeah, I use Ooma with my current SB6121. No issues. I've used Ooma for over a year and have been pretty pleased. The modem isn't as much an issue as the firewall; you CAN place Ooma in front of your firewall but I prefer it behind it so one thing I had to do was adjust some QoS settings in the firewall (DIR-655).

 

[JackMDS]

Jack, that's a dumb switch. Connecting that directly to a cable modem, will cause each connected device to attempt to pull a separate public WAN IP. What he really needs is a router.

True, but the OP did indicated that he got a Netgear Router in the mix???



P.S. I guess that many people are still unaware of the Current 11th Commandment.

When thou get a Wireless Router/Access Point, thou should alter the SSID and WPA2 password to ones that are unique to you. Otherwise, the wrath of the Wireless Angel () will come upon you.

 

[VirtualLarry]

OP, here's what you should have connected, FOR INTERNET ACCESS ONLY. Phone would be a seperate issue.

Coax cable from street -> Coax connector on cablemodem. WAN ethernet port on cablemodem, to WAN port on router. LAN port on router, to PC. Wifi on router, remember to set an SSID and password. (And don't use "comcastwifi".)

If you want to add OOMA, it depends if their device wants to be "in front" of the router, or if it can handle being connected AFTER the router.

If it needs to be "in front", then the WAN ethernet from the cablemodem, would connect to the WAN on the OOMA, and then the LAN on the OOMA, would connect to the WAN on the router, and then the PC would connect to the LAN on the router, as before.

If it's OK to set up the OOMA as a secondary to the main router, then simply plug the OOMA's WAN port into a LAN port on the router. PC also plugged into a LAN port on router, like before.

 

[Craig234]

One interesting thing, I ran a speedtest on the cable modem, and it was 46MB. The next night on the phone with Comcast second level support, she said she made some changes to the modem settings related to the Wi-Fi - it didn't sound like they should affect the internet speed - and I ran the test again and it was 180MB. Again, who knows.

Right now I'm running on the Wi-Fi built in to the Comcast modem (changed off the comcastwif "hotspot" they call it).

Tomorrow, I'll check into whether my 6141 modem can work with the router for wifi - it has no port to connect to the router so I don't see how it could.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Tomorrow, I'll check into whether my 6141 modem can work with the router for wifi - it has no port to connect to the router so I don't see how it could.

Seriously, WTF are you talking about. Did you read anything I wrote? The sole ethernet jack on your cablemodem IS for the router.

 

[VirtualLarry]

she said she made some changes to the modem settings related to the Wi-Fi - it didn't sound like they should affect the internet speed - and I ran the test again and it was 180MB. Again, who knows.

BTW, there are no "modem settings related to the wifi". Modems don't have wifi. Did you mean to say "your Comcast Gateway device" instead?

 

[Craig234]

The Comcast cable modem has a built-in Wi-Fi as I understand. That's what I was referring to.

And ya, the old cable modem had two Ethernet ports - one to the router (plugged in but unused), and one to the PC.

The new cable modem has one, which will go to the router (newly used), and the PC will go to one of the four Ethernet connections on the router.

I have to get the Ooma set up to use the new modem, because my only phone goes through the old cable modem.

 

[JackMDS]

So "sacrifice" the $10 that I suggested in my first Post.

Plug the new Modem to the Switch then Plug the Wireless Router and the Ooma to the switch and give it a Try.

Hopefullythe Ooma can be configured correctly under such arrangement (I aa not familiar with the specific Comcast hardware).

Does not work? If you unpack carefully you can return the Switch to Amazon.




P.S. The switch does not do anything per-se to the network, it just adding more jacks to the Modem.

.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So "scrifice" the $10 mthat I suggeted in my first Post.

Plug the new Modem to the Switch then Plug the Wireless Router and the Ooma to the switch and give it a Try.

Hopfuly the Ooma can be configured correctly under such arrangement (I ma not familiar wit the specific Comcast hardware).

Does not work? If you unpack carefully you can return the Switch to Amazon.




P.S. The switch does not do anything per-se to the network, it just adding more jacks to the Modem.

.

Jack, that would only work, if the OP was paying Comcast for two dynamic IPs.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The new cable modem has one, which will go to the router (newly used), and the PC will go to one of the four Ethernet connections on the router.

Just wanted to add, this is the correct configuration.

 

[kevnich2]

Just wanted to add, this is the correct configuration.

As virtuallarry wrote - this is the correct configuration: SB6141 > New Wireless Router > PC's, Switch, Devices, etc.

Your 6141 is JUST a modem. The device you were previously using from comcast was both a router and a modem. Most ISP's are now calling them wireless gateway's now.

No offense - but you seem to be using devices that you don't know what they are or how they function. When something happens that causes internet not to function, how are you going to know where to begin troubleshooting? Comcast will not support your router. They're support stops once they see your 6141 on their system, that's it.

If you're not really very tech savy and just want things to work, I'd suggest keeping the comcast gateway as it was to keep things simple for yourself. Just a suggestion....