stop ISP's from detecting computers behind your router?

[Genx87]

I didnt see this but does your router require licensing for more nodes? Many professional grade firewalls\routers will require you license above 5 nodes.

 

[JackMDS]

It seems to me that the whole thread suffrs from mistaken Identity.

The screen that was taken from Cox has nothing to do with system behind the Router.

For some undisclosed reason the OP is probably "scared", for Nothing. :shocked:

 

[Dravic]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: Pantlegz1
http://img71.imageshack.us/my....image=coxscreenzu6.jpg
Theres the screen of my cox account online, there are actually 3 PC's on but it's still not picking up the laptop. I don't know if it's based off area but this is infact an issue I'm having.

According to this Cox page, "Multiple Computer Access" refers to attaching a HUB to the Cox modem. As suggested earlier, this means that Cox is providing multiple public IP addresses (and, no doubt, charging for them).

Cox suggests three ways of supporting multiple devices:
1) Have Cox provide you with equipment
2) Set up your own broadband router behind your Cox modem
3) Order MULTIPLE COMPUTER ACCESS from Cox, attaching your devices to an Ethernet Hub.

So there is no bridge since all the PC?s are connected directly to the modem WAN port by way of a hub. This would probably also mean his PC?s are directly accessible from the internet. OP I hope your firewall and antivirus solutions are up to date.

OP .. goto to start -> run -> cmd -> ipconfig /all

If the IP?s listed are not in the private IP ranges I described above, you sir are:
1. Paying for those multiple IP?s.
2. Have your computers directly accessing the internet, a BIG no no.

Your set up should be:

Modem WAN port -> router -> switch -> PC?s

The router will more then likely have multiple LAN ports so a switch at that point may not be needed.


This effectively only uses 1 public IP address, and all the computer behind the router will use a private ip addresses that gets translated (NAT?d) at the router. Depending on the router it should default to serving DHCP addresses, so you may not need to change anything on the PC?s just plug them in behind the router. You may also need to power down the modem when you add the router as it will need time to release the mac addresses that are asking for public IP?s (this is how Cox knows your using more then one PC, each address is assigned to the mac address of the computer that requested it.). Until the world moves to IPv6 if every computer needed a public IP address we would have run out of them by now. This is why Cox is charging you extra to use public IP addresses, they are getting scarce. Home users typically have no need for a public IP.

 

[Pantlegz]

@rebate monger - All of my PC's have one public IP address, this was just verified with www.whatismyip.com; like I said before there is a possibility of an issue with one of the other machines, it's just odd that we were able to LAN fine but they had no internet access since we were all hooked up to the same router. But I am still considering it a possibility.

@genx87 - The router is a shitty netgear router so I doubt there's any licensing.

@jackMDS - I agree this could be mistaken identity, it could have been an issue that I didn't think of at the time, or maybe my router is just stuipd I'll find out a little later. I really dont have any reason to be scared, as far as I know I'm not doing anything wrong.

@Deavic - my IP's, for all 3 machines, are in the 192.168.1.x/24 (typical classful class C) My setup is Moden->Router(has switch included)->PC's. They all have one, and the same, public IP address on all 3 of my PC's.

 

[Dravic]

very odd man.. were you always a cox customer or migrated from some kind of buyout of a smaller company?

sounds like some wierd hybrid world your stuck in. Set up like a normal NAT environment, but being limited to 3 PC's...? I dont see why they would care as long as your not in the 1% of bandwidth hogs..

 

[RebateMonger]

As you might guess, there's something really odd about this problem. I suggest starting from scratch:

Can you please provide a description or sketch of the wiring configuration of your network, starting with the modem?

What is the exact make/model of your cable modem and your router?

Thanks.

 

[Pantlegz]

@rebatemonger -The router is a Netgear WPN824v2 the modem is a Motorola SBV5220. I don't have visio on my desktop so a map will be a lil bit of a pain, I'll see what I can make with paint, lol.

I agree it is odd, and to make it worse I don't think I'll have another computer here today to test it but we'll see.

@Dravic- I have alway been with Cox. I don't use much bandwidth that I know of, most everything I do online is for school or general research. Ocasionally a CS:S game but thats about it, I'm not a big torrent/P2P user.

edit: ok paint looked stupid, maybe this will work better.



Modem->Router-2 PC's (in the same room) wired into LAN ports 1&2
Router IP 192.168.1.1 PC1 IP 192.168.1.3 PC1 gateway 192.168.1.1 PC 2 IP 192.168.1.4 PC2 gateway 192.168.1.1.

The Laptop is also in there(wireless AP on the router) it's IP is 192.168.1.20 with a gateway of 192.168.1.1 as well.

When the other PC's were here, I verified that their IP's were in the 192.168.1.x/24 network and the gateway was correctly set, also set the DNS to 192.168.1.1(same as my other PC's) and was unable to get internet connection BUT the LAN was still working ok. Which is why I assumed, a few weeks later when I ran into the info on my cox page that the issue was with cox.

 

[NesuD]

Originally posted by: Pantlegz1
@rebate monger - All of my PC's have one public IP address, this was just verified with www.whatismyip.com; like I said before there is a possibility of an issue with one of the other machines, it's just odd that we were able to LAN fine but they had no internet access since we were all hooked up to the same router. But I am still considering it a possibility.

@genx87 - The router is a shitty netgear router so I doubt there's any licensing.

@jackMDS - I agree this could be mistaken identity, it could have been an issue that I didn't think of at the time, or maybe my router is just stuipd I'll find out a little later. I really dont have any reason to be scared, as far as I know I'm not doing anything wrong.

@Deavic - my IP's, for all 3 machines, are in the 192.168.1.x/24 (typical classful class C) My setup is Moden->Router(has switch included)->PC's. They all have one, and the same, public IP address on all 3 of my PC's.

What is my ip doesn't tell you what IP is assigned to the individual computers behind a router it will always show the public ip assigned to the routers WAN port. do this: start/ run/ type CMD and click ok/ at the command prompt type the following ipconfig /all this will tell you what private range ip address your router has assigned to that computers NIC. Whatismyip cannot see anything behind the router.

I think maybe your router is the issue or possibly something else. I've never heard of an ISP doing what you are suggesting. Someone suggested it might be a node limitation in the router but I doubt that. Cheap routers don't do that. I ran into something similar at a LAN Party at my house but mine was because My Sonicwall TZ180 had exceeded it's 10 node limit. Did you have a switch in the mix as well? We had a switch cause something like that one time. Gaming worked fine but getting out to the internet was hit and miss until we bounced the switch.

 

[Pantlegz]

I know, but it was suggested earlier that I may have more than 1 public IP from cox, but if I did then one of my machines would have a different ip from www.whatismyip.com .... right.

 

[spidey07]

Rather than all this guessing just call up your ISP and ask them. There are ways to detect how many computers you have behind a SOHO router and maybe they're using it.

 

[NesuD]

No it shouldn't do that if your router is acting as the gateway and dishing dhcp. In that scenario the only IP that the ISP would assign would be the single public ip assigned to the wan interface on the router.

 

[RebateMonger]

Something's weird. Your tests point to a non-routing Motorola modem with a router behind it, using a single public IP address and the router supplying private addresses to the client PCs.

Originally posted by: Pantlegz1
http://img71.imageshack.us/my....image=coxscreenzu6.jpg

This link shows a modem (manufacturer GI (General Instruments = Motorola)) with two computers attached (while you said you have three computers). And it states "Please contact your local Cox High Speed Internet office if you wish to remove a computer from your account".

Any chance you originally didn't HAVE a router, and you were using two IP addresses to get two computers online? Maybe Cox's records are obsolete?

 

[robmurphy]

I've just quickly read this thread so I may have missed something.

One thing that may be causing the problem is lack of IP addresses in the router. On the netgear router I have the wired and the wireless have seperate ranges within the same subnet. If the start of the wireless IP addresses was set too low then the router would not be able to give out an IP adress. Check your router and see what range the wired IP adresses are allocated from.

Rob