Connecting Powerbook to High-Speed

boulderbabe

Registered
Hi! I wonder if somebody who knows the ins and outs can help me with this problem. I just moved to a new apartment, and it comes with Comcast high speed internet. I plugged the cable into my powerbook G4 and....nothing. Comcast says the internet service is up and running as far as the cable modem. The problem, they think, is that somehow Airport is interfering with the computer's ability to perceive the Comcast service.

Does anybody have any ideas? I tried disabling Airport. No dice.

Also, is there any way to get to Apple Tech Support for help?
 
So you've connected the Ethernet cable. Go to System Preferences, Network and look at the active ports. Go to Ethernet. Should probably be set to get the IP address automatically. Does it get one? Try Comcast. They should be able to find out why you don't get an IP (if you really don't). AirPort, if not active, should definitely not interfere, and it's Comcast support's duty to find out with you on the phone why their service isn't working.
 
Here's the weird part, though. I can SEE the IP number. It's there, it's definitely being picked up by the Mac. But when I open Safari, nothing happens----it says it can't find the server. (Any server--I tried several).


Any other ideas?/

Elizabeth


fryke said:
So you've connected the Ethernet cable. Go to System Preferences, Network and look at the active ports. Go to Ethernet. Should probably be set to get the IP address automatically. Does it get one? Try Comcast. They should be able to find out why you don't get an IP (if you really don't). AirPort, if not active, should definitely not interfere, and it's Comcast support's duty to find out with you on the phone why their service isn't working.
 
Hmmm..not familiar with stateside ISP networks but I do know over here in Germany that if you're not using a cable/DSL router in-between your computer and the network modem then you might have to enter your PPoE info in the network settings in Preferences for that particular interface (the ethernet one).
If Comcast says the DHCP service is running on their end, that's nice, but it won't tell you jack unless Comcast actually has a way to "ping" the actual modem itself (they should be able to since it will have a MAC address and show up in their switch ARP cache...). Ask them if you have to provide PPoE information to the modem itself or if that is already taken care of. Whichever one it is, it's still going to use DHCP. If Comcast doesn't support DHCP, then go with another service provider...one that's more up-to-date. Static IPs at home should only be used by pros and those that are running dedicated servers or services in the home. Otherwise, you're a target.
Is this "modem" also a router? Is this a DSL or Cable connection?
 
There's DHCP without PPoE, which would mean you don't have to have a DHCP ID... What's the IP you see? Does it start with 169.x? Then it's self-addressed and doesn't count as an IP, it means the DHCP-server couldn't actually give you an IP.
 
cable modems are the easiest to set up..

go to your system preferences, and click on network. Make a new configuration and call it "cable". the tab below, make that ethernet.

click on tcp/ip, and make sure that is set to "dhcp".

Click on proxies and make sure none of them are active.

apply.

dont forget to plug your cable from the modem into your computer..

if you get numbers showing up in the dhcp, you should be done.
 
....or you've got the wrong cable plugged in. i had apparently the same problems as you seem to be having, i was using the ethernet cable that came with the mac. it turned out that although the cable fitted, it wasn't an ethernet cable at all. duh for me!
 
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