Who uses Comcast Cable Broadband in here?

beyonddc

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 25, 2002
Messages
417
Hey, just a quick question.

I am having Comcast to setup cable broadband Internet. I remember back in the days, I always clone my MAC address of my primary computer's NIC in my router. Do I still need to do this? or Comcast dropped that already?

Thanks
 
Only MAC that matters to comcast is the original cable modem address that they use to provision/authenticate you.

...and yea, that's a fatal flaw when it comes to cable system spoofing and hacking.
 
Only MAC that matters to comcast is the original cable modem address that they use to provision/authenticate you.

...and yea, that's a fatal flaw when it comes to cable system spoofing and hacking.

okay, so I don't need to clone my MAC address on the router.

I am not sure why I have to clone my MAC address previously. Maybe it was always a misconception on my side. I have been cloning my MAC address on my router since 2000 when I first get my cable broadband Internet.
 
Dunno why you felt the need to clone in the past, they didn't bind your account to your MAC.

You do not need to clone the MAC...they don't keep track of your MAC address upstream. The cable modem memorizes the first MAC address it was setup on...IE your computer if you plugged that into the modem unprotected (yikes)...or hopefully..your router.

If you change devices...like a new PC plugged into the modem .meaning new NIC..meaning new MAC, or your change your router...meaning new MAC...all you need to do is:
*Power off modem for a minute, this will dump the RAM and it will "forget" your old MAC.
*Plug new device into modem
*Power up modem..allow a minute to "synch"...and it will detect your new MAC and memorize it
*Power cycle your router, or release/renew from your computer

All said and done, that took less than 2 minutes to do it the proper way, and now there's no paper cup, bubblegum, and string setup with MAC spoofing and all the junk.

*If you have Comcast VoIP setup with the "Arris MTA" instead of the usual Motorola modem, the one thing extra you have to do in step 1 of powering off the modem, is reach under the model, snap the cover off, and slide out the battery. //insert proper warning that no calls like 911 can be made during this moment while the battery is out and the modem is unplugged.
 
Dunno why you felt the need to clone in the past, they didn't bind your account to your MAC.

You do not need to clone the MAC...they don't keep track of your MAC address upstream. The cable modem memorizes the first MAC address it was setup on...IE your computer if you plugged that into the modem unprotected (yikes)...or hopefully..your router.

If you change devices...like a new PC plugged into the modem .meaning new NIC..meaning new MAC, or your change your router...meaning new MAC...all you need to do is:
*Power off modem for a minute, this will dump the RAM and it will "forget" your old MAC.
*Plug new device into modem
*Power up modem..allow a minute to "synch"...and it will detect your new MAC and memorize it
*Power cycle your router, or release/renew from your computer

All said and done, that took less than 2 minutes to do it the proper way, and now there's no paper cup, bubblegum, and string setup with MAC spoofing and all the junk.

*If you have Comcast VoIP setup with the "Arris MTA" instead of the usual Motorola modem, the one thing extra you have to do in step 1 of powering off the modem, is reach under the model, snap the cover off, and slide out the battery. //insert proper warning that no calls like 911 can be made during this moment while the battery is out and the modem is unplugged.

I'm pretty sure the modem just uses it's own MAC since that is how they approve it for access at the office. Back on comcast a few years ago, when I switched from a link sys modem to a motorola surfboard, I had to call in and have the MAC updated.

It was the real printed-on-the-bottom MAC, not a cloned.
 
Comcast (and other Cable Providers) sometimes blocked connectivity if the person attached to the device wasn't the original subscribing computer. In order to have multiple PCs on the network it was required to spoof the mac address of your PC onto the router in order to get connectivity on all attached devices.

Least this was my experience.

OP, I'd just try without first, if necessary. try it.
 
In the past if you switched the device that was directly behind the modem it would be bitchy about giving out another IP right away, I'm guessing as some sort of protection to make sure it's only giving out one public IP address at any given time. Usually all it takes is for you to reset your modem but in the past some have sidestepped the issue by cloning their computers Nic MAC to their router when they added a router.
 
Comcast itself didn't restrict by MAC in my area, but some of the companies that they took over did. Maybe that's where he had the idea. I used to have MediaOne which DID, and then AT&T took them over and they kept that system, at least for a while. I think it was gone by the time it became ATTBI (and then Comcast).

All you need to do is unplug the modem for a minute or two.
 
got my bill yesterday, they jacked up their rates across the board 10%. Yay for monopolies. Fucking bastards.
 
If I remember correctly, back in the day when Optimum came out, they did NOT want you sharing the modem to other computers. I think they were trying to push to have a separate modem per computer or some dumb crap like that. Then when routers and wireless routers came in full blast, that went away. Hell, originally when we first got it and broadband was basically new, I was using one computer acting as a router for the rest of my network.
 
*If you have Comcast VoIP setup with the "Arris MTA" instead of the usual Motorola modem, the one thing extra you have to do in step 1 of powering off the modem, is reach under the model, snap the cover off, and slide out the battery. //insert proper warning that no calls like 911 can be made during this moment while the battery is out and the modem is unplugged.

They have a reset button in the back that will reset the mac learned by the modem. No need to be pulling cords and batteries.
 
Back
Top