Can't reconfigure Netgear router after modem change

[Jeff]

I've about given up since I've tried everything I can think of. My ISP
won't support the router, and I'm still waiting for Netgear to reply to my
request for technical assistance.

I have a Netgear MR814v2 router for firewall protection. My OS is Win XP
Pro. And not that it matters, but my ISP is Comcast.

Recently I was having frequent connectivity problems over my cable
connection. I thought it was the ISP's problem until I eventually called
and found out that there had been no service interruptions in my area. A
Comcast Tech rep who came out said the problem was my modem (a Toshiba
PCX1100U). Recently I had bought a new D-Link DCM-200 cable modem because
it was only $20 after rebate, and I wanted a backup. So the Tech rep from
Comcast and I hooked up my backup modem, and after calling Comcast to give
them the MAC address of the new modem, my connection was established. The
tech rep and I tried to get the router to work in the connection without
luck. We seemed to have all of the neccessary information: IP address,
Subnet mask, Default gateway, DNS servers. In Network connections the OS
was set for DHCP address assignment. But I cannot get the router to work.
The connection is fine without the router. I've tried spoofing the MAC to
both the computer network interface MAC and to the cable modem MAC, but
neither of these options has helped. I've tried setting the router to get
the IP address dynamically from the ISP without luck. I tried getting tech
support from Netgear on the phone, but by the time the tech rep was done
feeding me instructions, not only could I not ping the router, but when I
took the router out of the path I couldn't connect to the internet anymore.
It took a little while but eventually I thought to use System Restore to go
back a day and my connection was restored.

Does anybody have any advice? Netgear Tech support is somewhere between
incompetent and nonexistent.

 

[Duane Arnold]

I've about given up since I've tried everything I can think of. My
ISP won't support the router, and I'm still waiting for Netgear to
reply to my request for technical assistance.

I have a Netgear MR814v2 router for firewall protection. My OS is Win
XP Pro. And not that it matters, but my ISP is Comcast.

Recently I was having frequent connectivity problems over my cable
connection. I thought it was the ISP's problem until I eventually
called and found out that there had been no service interruptions in
my area. A Comcast Tech rep who came out said the problem was my
modem (a Toshiba PCX1100U). Recently I had bought a new D-Link
DCM-200 cable modem because it was only $20 after rebate, and I wanted
a backup. So the Tech rep from Comcast and I hooked up my backup
modem, and after calling Comcast to give them the MAC address of the
new modem, my connection was established. The tech rep and I tried to
get the router to work in the connection without luck. We seemed to
have all of the neccessary information: IP address, Subnet mask,
Default gateway, DNS servers. In Network connections the OS was set
for DHCP address assignment. But I cannot get the router to work. The
connection is fine without the router. I've tried spoofing the MAC to
both the computer network interface MAC and to the cable modem MAC,
but neither of these options has helped. I've tried setting the
router to get the IP address dynamically from the ISP without luck. I
tried getting tech support from Netgear on the phone, but by the time
the tech rep was done feeding me instructions, not only could I not
ping the router, but when I took the router out of the path I couldn't
connect to the internet anymore. It took a little while but eventually
I thought to use System Restore to go back a day and my connection was
restored.

Does anybody have any advice? Netgear Tech support is somewhere
between incompetent and nonexistent.

When you plug the router backup, can you ping the computers on the LAN?

What IP(s) are being assigned to the computers when they are requesting a
DHCP IP from the router?

Have you tried using one of the router's static IP(s)?

From what I understand, Comcast is not an ISP that looks at the MAC of
the second device behind the modem and no MAC spoofing with the router is
required for the connection to work.

Have you tried doing a hard reset of the router? Maybe, it's still locked
in on the old modem in some manner and needs to be reset to its factory
default settings before connecting it to the new modem.

Are you sure that the router has not become defective in some manner?

Duane

 

[Jeff]

I'm just using the router as a firewall for NAT protection - there is no
LAN.

Comcast only uses static IPs on their cable network (don't ask why - I don't
know).

And I have done a hard reset of the router without any positive result.

And I don't think the router is the problem. When I was having connectivity
problems with my Toshiba modem, the cable light would go out for long
periods along with the activity light. Occasionally one of them would flash
intermittently, perhaps indicating that I had an RF carrier signal. I don't
know that a fault in the router could cause the modem to show an abscence of
an RF signal. I haven't tried the Toshiba modem without the router. But
from what Comcast told me when I was switching modems, they are detecting my
MAC to connect me to the internet, and if I switch modems without notifying
them of my new MAC address I won't be able to create a connection. So
trying the Toshiba modem again would force me to call Comcast and switch MAC
addresses, and then do it again if I had to switch back again to the D-Link
modem.

 

[Jbob]

I'm just using the router as a firewall for NAT protection - there is no
LAN.

Comcast only uses static IPs on their cable network (don't ask why - I don't
know).

And I have done a hard reset of the router without any positive result.

And I don't think the router is the problem. When I was having connectivity
problems with my Toshiba modem, the cable light would go out for long
periods along with the activity light. Occasionally one of them would flash
intermittently, perhaps indicating that I had an RF carrier signal. I don't
know that a fault in the router could cause the modem to show an abscence of
an RF signal. I haven't tried the Toshiba modem without the router. But
from what Comcast told me when I was switching modems, they are detecting my
MAC to connect me to the internet, and if I switch modems without notifying
them of my new MAC address I won't be able to create a connection. So
trying the Toshiba modem again would force me to call Comcast and switch MAC
addresses, and then do it again if I had to switch back again to the D-Link
modem.

First of all there is a LAN side. That is the side your computer is on.
Even if it is only one computer that is still a LAN. The WAN side is the
inbound side to the router. I am on Comcast as well. Comcast issues the IP
based on MAC address of first device the modem see's which typically is the
NIC in the computer. That's why you use that NIC MAC to clone into the
router not the cable modems. For me Comcast will issue me a new IP is I
fail to change my router's MAC address. You said you tried DHCP on router
but that failed. Did you check router pages to see if it had aquired an IP
address from your ISP? The router could have been working but you are just
having trouble connecting with your computer.

Try this to see if it helps:

1. With router connected insure you have all the router settings correct
including MAC cloning.
2. After all connections are established check to see if router has gotten
an IP address from ISP. Try this using DHCP. Be advised to try a DHCP
release/renew on the router. Reverify IP address and/or lease time.
3. If step 2 is successful then perform a DHCP release/renew on computer.
ipconfig / release ipconfig renew
4. If the above steps fail then turn off cable modem and router for an
extended period of time. At least one hour but perhaps as long a one day.
Turn equipment back on and retry steps again.

If these steps fail then perhaps either your ISP has issues or there could
be some compatibility issues bwtween modem and router.

 

[kony]

I've about given up since I've tried everything I can think of. My ISP
won't support the router, and I'm still waiting for Netgear to reply to my
request for technical assistance.

I have a Netgear MR814v2 router for firewall protection. My OS is Win XP
Pro. And not that it matters, but my ISP is Comcast.

Recently I was having frequent connectivity problems over my cable
connection. I thought it was the ISP's problem until I eventually called
and found out that there had been no service interruptions in my area.

Which basically means nothing. Consider that when someone calls
with a problem and is told that there are "no service
interruptions", if they DO have a service interruption, the tech
on the phone just assumes "user error, not our fault" when they
don't really know. A tech should be able to see if you're
(moden) is connected to the network. If they can't tell you even
that it's time to ask for next tier of support. If you need to
ask for a manager, once someone comes on the phone, you even have
to ASK them if they are indeed a manager, else you may just get
handed off to someone else..

A
Comcast Tech rep who came out said the problem was my modem (a Toshiba
PCX1100U). Recently I had bought a new D-Link DCM-200 cable modem because
it was only $20 after rebate, and I wanted a backup. So the Tech rep from
Comcast and I hooked up my backup modem, and after calling Comcast to give
them the MAC address of the new modem, my connection was established.

OK, this is a confirmed working modem, keep using it while
reconfiguring the router, not switching back and forth with the
modems again.

The
tech rep and I tried to get the router to work in the connection without
luck. We seemed to have all of the neccessary information: IP address,
Subnet mask, Default gateway, DNS servers.

Subnet of the WAN or LAN? LAN is typically 255.255.255.0, but
WAN may be different. Gateway needs be correct but forget about
DNS server and just ping IP addresses on the WWW instead of
Domain names.

In Network connections the OS
was set for DHCP address assignment. But I cannot get the router to work.

Can you ping the router from the PC?

The connection is fine without the router. I've tried spoofing the MAC to
both the computer network interface MAC and to the cable modem MAC, but
neither of these options has helped.

Do not clone the router's MAC to be same as any other connected
device... not the PC, not the modem. _IF_ you told Comcast the
MAC of your PC's network card as a requirement for service then
you either need to tell them switch that to the MAC of the
router, or use a different network card and clone the PC network
card's MAC to the router (assign router the MAC assigned to the
network card you have removed and aren't using anymore).

Check any connection lights for link between router and modem.
After Comcast tech tells you they can or can't see your modem (a
tech that has the ability to check that), have someone try to
ping the router over the internet. Of course if the router has a
setting to disregard pings, that setting should be disabled.
Basically you need to go step by step testing links between each
part of the chain till you find where it stops.

opening a command prompt window on the PC (type "cmd" in windows
2K/XP run box) and do a traceroute...

"tracert 210.120.128.117"

(or substitute any IP you want, know is a system with active
internet connection)

You should see (after a few seconds) a list of times and
addresses. First address should be the router, usually default
for router is 192.168.0.1. If you see _any_ IP addresses after
the router, your router is connected properly to the Comcast
equipment. If you see only the router IP, the router to modem is
the problem. If you can't even see the router IP, then the PC's
TCP/IP settings are not correct. I"m probably leaving out a few
details but it's easier to work backwards and find out exactly
what is and isn't working rather than trying to speculate every
potential issue.

I've tried setting the router to get
the IP address dynamically from the ISP without luck.

Does Comcast support doing that?
What happens when you set it to do that?
On the router's configuration menus, does it show it succeeded in
retreiving that info?

I tried getting tech
support from Netgear on the phone, but by the time the tech rep was done
feeding me instructions, not only could I not ping the router, but when I
took the router out of the path I couldn't connect to the internet anymore.
It took a little while but eventually I thought to use System Restore to go
back a day and my connection was restored.

Does anybody have any advice? Netgear Tech support is somewhere between
incompetent and nonexistent.

Basically what you need to do is pretend the router IS the PC.
Whatever settings Comcast instructed to set on your PC (beyond
merely installing TCP/IP and binding it to the network adapter)
are settings that should be configured on the router, wherever
possible. Then with router as DHCP server, after PC boots it
should show it's IP address as one assigned by router, in
addition to Subnet mask, gateway. At that point, try pinging
things from the PC in order- Ping yourself (the PC's IP
address), then router, then address I listed above in tracert
example.

 

[Jim Berwick]

Comcast only uses static IPs on their cable network (don't ask why - I
don't know).

This is entirely not true. I have been a comcast customer since they were
Comcast@Home and they have /always/ handed out dynamic IPs

 

[Kaveman]

Actually comcast uses dynamic addresses.

 

[Leythos]

Actually comcast uses dynamic addresses.

I agree, while the IP may not change for months, if you change the MAC
of the connecting device, your IP will change.

 

[Jim Berwick]

I agree, while the IP may not change for months, if you change the MAC
of the connecting device, your IP will change.

Exactly. It is dynamic in that it is DHCP assigned. Just because you
always get the same address doesn't mean you should just statically assign
it.

 

[Jeff]

The router has two settings, Use the following IP Address, and Obtain IP
Address dynamically from ISP. I've tried both, using both my NIC MAC
address and my Modem MAC address. Each time I did turn off the modem and
router in between trials for five minutes as had been suggested to me a
longtime ago when I was first installing the router. And I have used the
router reset button to clear all settings so I could be sure I was starting
fresh. When I connect the router in the network I can't ping anything
(except maybe the router itself).

 

[kony]

The router has two settings, Use the following IP Address, and Obtain IP
Address dynamically from ISP. I've tried both, using both my NIC MAC
address and my Modem MAC address. Each time I did turn off the modem and
router in between trials for five minutes as had been suggested to me a
longtime ago when I was first installing the router. And I have used the
router reset button to clear all settings so I could be sure I was starting
fresh. When I connect the router in the network I can't ping anything
(except maybe the router itself).

Set it to obtain the address.

Don't be vague about "maybe" what you can ping. Missing these
exact details could be why it's not working yet.

Forget about having internet access for the time being and focus
on what i wrote prevously. Your router should have all the
settings comcast provided for your pc, set to it instead. Your
pc should no longer use thoose settings. In other words, if
Comcasty provided a host name then you can't have both systems
named that. You can't have two devices with same mac.
Substitute the router for the pc, and undo all configuration to
the pc, pretend the pc is not connected to cable internet at all,
simply have it set to obtain DHCP settings as it would in any lan
with a DHCP server (which on your lan, is your router).

Once PC can ping router, login to it and see what it's settings
are.

 

[Jeff]

I have set the router to all the settings given by Comcast to define the
connection - IP address, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, DNS primary and
secondary server. And I can login to the router at 192.168.0.1, which means
its effectively communicating with the PC.

My PC Network setup is configured to "Obtain an IP address automatically"
and "Obtain DNS Server address automatically". Under IP addresses DHCP is
enabled. The advanced DNS settings are to Append primary and connection
specific DNS suffixes, Register this connection's address in DNS, WINS is
set to Enable LMHosts lookup and NetBIOS is set to Default (Use NetBIOS
settng from the DHCP server). The Options tab is set to "Allow TCP/IP
filtering", but the filtering is set to "Permit All".

And with the computer connected directly to the modem and therefore to the
network, checking my Network Connection Details shows that all the
information I've been entering into the router settings is correct.

And I'm still waiting form Netgear to respond to my case after four days.
If I don't hear anything on Monday I'm going to call Customer Support (not
Technical Support) and register a complaint.

Thanks for all the help you've all given so far.

 

[kony]

I have set the router to all the settings given by Comcast to define the
connection - IP address, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, DNS primary and
secondary server. And I can login to the router at 192.168.0.1, which means
its effectively communicating with the PC.

The point of login to the router is to confirm that IT has
obtained DHCP settings from Comcast. Router should have a 2nd
WAN IP. As I mentioned previously, you want to ping or tracert
the router, then if/when that is successful, ping or tracert an
IP on the internet. The crucial point which you seem to keep
missing is this:

You should not be double-checking every possible setting on every
piece of equipment. Instead you should be using TCP tools like
ping, tracert, to determine where the communication is stopping
along it's path, THEN focusing on that broken link.

You have confirmed that you can connect to router. Next step is
to determine if router can connect to Comcast. This is why you
need to login to router and confirm that it's obtained DHCP
settings from Comcast. If it has not, then you need to look at
why, things like MAC address, host name (of the router, they
should be unique to it). If these settings are correct then try
pinging something outside your LAN on the WAN (for simplicity's
sake, ping something on the internet, a known web server's IP is
fine).

Along with this was the suggestion to see if a Comcast tech can
see your equipment on their network. Forget about what a web
browser can't access, that is the LAST step, once you have not
reached yet.

 

[K2NNJ]

If you call Phone: (408) 907-8000 and ask for Level 2 support the
receptionist will connect you.

Make sure you are armed with a case number!

 

[Jeff]

THANK YOU!!!

I now know the problem lies between the router and the modem.

Without the router there is no problem. When I use the router, I have to
use an additional RJ45 cable - one from NIC to router, and one from router
to modem.

I've checked the cables by interchanging them, and both cables are good.

When I connect the router in the network, I can ping the router and connect
to it on 192.168.0.1. But when I use the auto configuration wizard, the
error message is that the router does not detect an internet connection.
And when I try to ping my ISPs DNS server the connection times out.

So the modem definitely works and both RJ45 cables work. I've carefully
followed pages 7-4 and 7-5 of the Netgear MR814 Full Manual, Troubleshooting
the ISP Connection. The router cannot be manually configured to so that the
modem recognizes it by power recycling the modem or by MAC spoofing. And
I've done a hard reset on the router to factory settings before doing all of
the above.

So I've done everything the Netgear Manual has suggested, as well as making
sure I don't have bad cables.

And unfortunately, my Sygate Personal Firewall notified me that I received a
minor port scan today from an entity in Canada. The Whois check didn't tell
me much. I really want my hardware firewall back.

Thanks again.

 

[kony]

THANK YOU!!!

I now know the problem lies between the router and the modem.

Without the router there is no problem. When I use the router, I have to
use an additional RJ45 cable - one from NIC to router, and one from router
to modem.

I've checked the cables by interchanging them, and both cables are good.

When I connect the router in the network, I can ping the router and connect
to it on 192.168.0.1. But when I use the auto configuration wizard,

Hold on there, what are you trying to autoconfigure?
The router should be fine with factory default values, except the
specifics provided from Comcast. Don't go reconfiguring the
router, simply input what Comcast provided and nothing more.

the
error message is that the router does not detect an internet connection.
And when I try to ping my ISPs DNS server the connection times out.

You never did mention if the router was receiving correct Comcast
config via DHCP.

So the modem definitely works and both RJ45 cables work. I've carefully
followed pages 7-4 and 7-5 of the Netgear MR814 Full Manual, Troubleshooting
the ISP Connection. The router cannot be manually configured to so that the
modem recognizes it by power recycling the modem or by MAC spoofing.

Power cycling is often mentioned but seldom if ever needed on
modern equipment... at worse it'd need rebooted, but never
powered off then on again.

The modem isn't supposed to be trying to recognize the router.
You keep mentioning MAC spoofing but do you know what you're
doing? If you spoof _any_ mac, it should only be IF you supplied
your PC's network adapter MAC to Comcast. If you did not supply
Comcast with the PC's network adapter MAC, _DO_NOT_ spoof a MAC
on the router. I'm not certain of Comcast's setup but most
likely they had you give them the modem's MAC, so when you
changed modems you needed to give them the new modem's mac, but
then that would be the end of your dealings with mac(s).

And
I've done a hard reset on the router to factory settings before doing all of
the above.

Try doing a hard reset then not doing any of the above.
What info did Comcast provide to you, that is, specific to your
end? Did they provide any info on how you needed to configure
your PC? If so, focus on that, but also UNDO those config
changes you made to your pc, as they don't apply to it anymore.


You're certainly entitled to ignore me, but it seems you keep
doing same thing over and over again expecting a different result
instead of looking at the issues I mentioned.