Problems releasing/renewing IP address on cable internet

doemel

doemel

Mac addict since 1993
A friend of mine has Rogers cable internet access and 3 computers, 2 of which are always connected. She pays the extra 10 bucks to get two IPs from Rogers. Here's the setup:
One Windows PC is always connected and is supposed to stay connected. There are two Macs that she would like to connect on an either this or that basis. They are never connected at the same time. Ropgers keeps track of the NIC addresses on their server and customer support repeatedly said they don't support swapping machines (they can do that because they have a quasi-monopoly Ottawa). They also say I need to release the IP before swapping. Now, I figured that is a pretty straight forward procedure on newer Windows systems but somehow it doesn't work as consistently under OS X (10.2.x and 10.1.5): I have tried to release the IP by deselecting the Ethernet port in the network port configuration (system preferences) and applying the changes. Somehow it worked when I had my PowerBook (10.2.4) attached and switched back and forth to her G4 PowerMac (10.1.5) and to her PowerBook (10.2.x) when I was there at the weekend. But, as so often with troubleshooting jobs, things work when a tech guy is inhouse but stop working when he's gone. Exactly the same issue here. After I left, it stopped working. She called Rogers again today and now it's reset to 2 NICs.

My big question is: is there a foolproof way of getting 3 machines to share 2 IPs in a restrictive environment as Rogers cable internet access? I can't set up any additional DHCP server for her because I'm leaving the country soon and switching to another provider is not an option at the moment.

Thanks for any advice.
 
You could just get her an internet router. I know that the NetGear can spoof a mac address (you give it the ip of the computer that has the MAC that you'd like to spoof). This way the router "looks" like the computer to the isp. She can then share the one ip amongst however many other machines she wants. They usually setup easily, and unless the isp is ultra sophisticated, they can't detect it. However, it _might_ be against her license agreement (you'll have to check) and if it is, she obviously would have a hard time getting support if anything went wrong. If it's not, then this is usually the best way to go.
 
Thank you, binaryDigit for your reply. I considered this but decided not to go for it since it's basically a budget problem. I don't know if a software router would be a good idea. The PC (Windoze XP) is on all the time anyway so that would be the obvious choice for a router, right? Does XP install any sort of router software? I guess it's the Home edition.
 
Sorry, can't help with the XP config (don't have it). I've always gone the router route, time is money ya know (at least it is when both parents work and you have two kids, free time, what's that? ;) I know that there is software to do it, I just am not personally familiar with them. If it doesn't, you could go over to www.stroud.com, they call themselves the "Consumate WinSock Applications" site. They have a very good collection of links to Windows based networking software. Bound to be something there (like WinGate maybe?).

I know that you are price sensitive, but I would highly recommend springing the $40-$50 (at least here in the states) for the router if possible. She can also think of it as saving money in the long run, since she can drop the addtional $10/month charge for two ip's, it will pay for itself in about half a year or so.
 
What router model exactly are you referring to? I have quickly looked at their website and haven't found anything in that price category. If she only needs one IP she'd save some money there, of course.
I was talking about 10 Canadian $, BTW. Roughly translates to US$ 6.75. Still it would take less than a year to pay off US$ 50 that way.
 
I was referring to the LinkSys BEFSR41, it's a router that has a four port switch and I'm pretty sure it does the MAC spoofing. You can readily find it on ebay for $40-$50 and can often find it at retailers for almost that much on special (buy.com and amazon have them for $49.95 after rebate with free shipping, at least here in the states).

I even have a spare one that I'd be more than happy to sell you for $30 + shipping (it's complete) if you have the time to wait for the thing to get to you (I'm in Texas).
 
From http://www.dealmac.com today;

Belkin Cable/DSL Router for $10 after rebate__10:27 am
A reader found the Belkin 4-Port Cable/DSL Gateway Router, model no. F5D5230-4, for $49.99 at CompUSA.com. A $40 mail-in rebate cuts the price to $9.99. That's $20 off our last mention and the lowest price we know to be available. Offer ends tomorrow
 
Originally posted by bobw
From http://www.dealmac.com today;

Belkin Cable/DSL Router for $10 after rebate__10:27 am
A reader found the Belkin 4-Port Cable/DSL Gateway Router, model no. F5D5230-4, for $49.99 at CompUSA.com. A $40 mail-in rebate cuts the price to $9.99. That's $20 off our last mention and the lowest price we know to be available. Offer ends tomorrow
Click to expand...

Good deal, doemel, if you decide to jump on this, first make sure it does MAC spoofing (not an absolute necessity, but will be handy). You can still use it if it doesn't, but you'll have to make sure the ISP resets the MAC's and then the router is the first thing that comes up (so the ISP will latch onto the routers MAC).
 
I have checked reviews for the mentioned Belkin Gateway Router on epinions.com and amazon.com and they are mized. I guess you can't expect perfection from a product this cheap... Anyway, the CompUSA offer is available to US customers only so I'll go with something else instead. Thanks for the tip though!
 
XP actually does have a fairly decent router/NAT (network address translation) option in the form of "Internet Connection Sharing". The WinXP documentation details it fairly well.

Of course, OS X also has a connection sharing feature, though I know very little about it.

Personally, I'd prefer a $45 Linksys router/firewall/NAT box =)
 
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