Thursday, May 17, 2007
Forcing Comcast To New IP Address With Router And PC
Slow Speed Broadband Connections With Comcast Are Not The NormIf you are experiencing slow speed broadband internet problems you may have the following IP problem.
There does seem to be a situation that occurs from time to time with Comcast high speed Internet that is very peculiar. It seems as though some of the IP addresses provided by the automatic DHCP configuration at Comcast produce a very slow Internet connection. Getting a new dynamically generated IP address from the Comcast system can help improve your connection upload and download speeds issue.
Test your Internet speed using any one of the modem speed tests online. Then check your IP address using the check my IP address websites. Write both of these down to use later for comparison purposes.
How do I get a New Comcast IP Address
If you have a router installed after your Comcast modem, then this next procedure is very easy to get the Comcast system to dynamically generate a new IP address. If you do not have a router, I strongly suggest you get one to have an extra firewall between your computer and the Internet. Most IP addresses given out by the Comcast DHCP system are in a leased mode. This means that if your modem is turned off for several days or more, the IP address goes back to a group of IP addresses to be automatically reassigned to other users. Turning off the modem for short periods of time will not reset the leased IP address because the modem is assigned the IP address based on the original computer's MAC address. Every type of networking hardware has a unique code that is the Media Access Control address or MAC address for short.
Linksys Router Clone Mac Address
Router's also have a MAC address. Once this MAC address is synced up with the cable modem, the Comcast DHCP system assigns the IP address to the online outlet. However, if the MAC address is changed, the Comcast DHCP system assigns a new IP address to the online outlet, because it thinks it is a different location. Each computer, with a network card, also has unique MAC addresses. If a person were to hook up a different computer directly to the cable modem, it is likely that a new IP address would be assigned by powering down and then up again the cable modem. However, with a router it is much easier to assign a new MAC address to the router itself. Most routers today have what is referred to as clone the MAC address. This feature allows the user to make the router look like any one of the computers that reside on the premises. Simply logging into the router through a web browser by typing http://192.168.1.1 for Linksys or do a search for Router IP Address to find your particular brand. Then type in the login name and password. Hopefully you changed these for security purposes (and wrote them down) when you installed them from the defaults. This allows you to login and set up the router using the internal configuration program. Find the area where you can clone your MAC address and perform a clone to a new MAC address. Before you clone the MAC address, write it down. This is so you can put it back to the original if you need to. Once the cloning is done, then you can try a release IP address and renew IP address in the router's programming structure. This sends a release the lease to the Comcast DHCP and then renews with a new IP address. Suggest powering down the cable modem, router, and computer at this time. Then re-power everything back up and you should have a new IP address.
Now go back and check to see what your IP address is and the speed at which you can upload and download from the Internet. Hopefully you are now running at light speed.
Good luck.
Jim at online business solutions. The Internet marketing solution for your business today.
PS This particular problem I have personally seen, and have been able to rectify Internet connection speed issues using this technique. This may not be your particular problem, but it's worth a try. This new IP address solution might also work for other high speed broadband ISP providers.
Labels: Comcast, Hardware, Internet, ISP
posted by Jim Warholic @ Thursday, May 17, 2007
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11 Comments:
I have been trying to get a new IP at Comcast more for
security reasons. Once your surfing habits are known if you hit a site with mal-intent then you are vulnerable, or some hackers get it and then can always find you. The 16 hour unplug did not work. I will try your suggestion. I finally got an iMac and while I have gotten no viruses I am sure I have been hacked several times.
I really like Ubuntu too. It's gui reminds me of a big, homemade, ice-cream cone. I started trying Linux back when Caldera first came out with it. Then Lindows. Ubuntu is really the first I really like and don't have to understand all the syntax that makes dos look like a first grade reader. Gads. How do these people remember all those things: xy- min -x
be sure to apply all the needed primary lines before using this in terminal. ;>(
And be sure to make backups before doing this? :>(
Just in case you need to install a backup in preboot mode. :>(
It just works.
I have just tried the Vista overlay on my XP install. VTP6.zip
Major Geeks might have had it but if you don't have XP it won't do you any good.
W2K is probably better than XP but when I went to the W2K MS opening at FSU or USf Tampa,2000, to get my free W2K they were out. I emailed them but I think due to some of my complaining emails they refused to send me my free copy. Shouldn't have flamed them with my displeasure over their practices. Updates? Etc.
Thanks for article. Will try to get new IP and then use
Secure-Tunnel.com to try to keep it safe and private.
Cheers.
Thank you so much! Your tutorial is the best!
Works beautifully!
This did not work for me at all. I am very familiar with all of these settinsg and options. Uisng a DI-707P router (DLink) I went into Home - WAN and clicked Clone MAC Address. Then went to Status - Device Info clicked DHCP Release followed by DHCP Renew. The router never did re-establish connection with Comcast. On that Device Info screen I did notince that the LAN MAC Address remained at the old value while the WAN MAC Address had changed to the cloned one. Any hints?
A couple of questions and observations in your description of what you did.
First off, did you do a complete reboot of the Comcast modem? You might have to completely reset the Comcast modem with the reset button from the back side. Normally this reset button is recessed and requires a small paper clip to push it in. Simply unplugging the Comcast modem is not good enough because the new ones have battery backups built in to them.
FYI, I have still used this option to get an IP address a number of times since I originally wrote this article. The process has worked for me.
Try restarting both the DLink router and the Comcast modem at the same time. Just remember you would want to do a hard reboot reset on the Comcast modem.
My Comcast modem is the Motorola SBV5220 Cable Modem. It has digital telephone, cable TV, and high speed Internet built into one unit. I am using a Linksys SRX200 Wireless G Broadband Router.
Give it a try, let us know what happens.
Good luck.
it works. it's a miracle. :)
thanks for info.
Thanks a lot! Worked perfectly.
ok so if i wanted to do this more then 1 time (because it worked beautifully the first time!) would i have to fully reset my router or what would i have to do? i tried to do it again just for kicks and it wouldnt allow me to connect to the internet if i even so much as changed 1 number or letter on the cloning of the mac address option. when i hit the "clone" button on the setup it only gives me 1 sequence of numbers and letters and thats it. so i guess im just wondering how i would go about doing it again if i ever needed another new ip?
PS. once i disable the mac address cloning option in the setup the internet stops working. any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated also as im definitely new to this.
thx in advance -Explodey
A couple of points here.
First off, I don't think you can just change the MAC address by one alpha number or digit and expect it to work. I suspect it has to do with MAC addresses in general and how they are verified by the system. I've tried to do that in the past myself, and it doesn't work. It's as though the MAC address has to be a good MAC address, and the system somehow knows that the MAC address number being changed by a number or two is not valid. I think it is because the MAC address is both hardware and software verified. For example, a NIC card (Network Interface Card) has the MAC address hard coded into the hardware.
With the router MAC address cloning option provided by most router manufacturers, the routers have a built in software cloning program that makes a valid MAC address using a verified MAC address to begin with from your local computer NIC card.
However with changing the MAC address the first time, and wanting to change it again in the future, I went to another computer that I had on my local network, (that was previously assigned the MAC address to the router) and reapplied the IP process change, by cloning the MAC address of this old computer (with the old NIC card), and the Comcast DHCP system gave me a new IP address, even though that was once a MAC address used in the past with the Comcast DHCP networking protocol.
I suspect the DHCP system provides another IP address because of the extended amount of lease time between using that MAC address in the past and the new one in the present.
I would suggest not changing this MAC address too often. Don't ask how much too often is...
Now, if you disable the MAC address clone on the router, you might not have a valid MAC address to begin with.
I've done a little bit of research and found some interesting downloads at CNET for various aspects of MAC addresses and helpful networking utility programs. The page is MAC Address news, reviews, and downloads on CNET.
I have not tried any of those MAC address programs myself, so you are on your own with those.
Good luck, and do the right thing.
This worked so damn well that I want to nominate you for President (at least one candidate would have done something that works). I have been trying to reset my IP address for months... you are the man!
Worked awesome! I can flag things off craigslist by myself now!
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