[Dave N]

I got a cable modem installed today and am trying to set up a Netgear MR814. Right now I'm just trying to get the hard wired router part to work.

When I do the browser-based setup, it detects that I have DHCP, runs the "smart" wizard, but then says it can't make the connection to the internet. I tried looking at the manual setup pages, but I have no idea what's wrong. Everything there is set to defaults, autodetect, etc. I pressed the reset button before I began so everything in the router is also is set to defaults. If it matters, I have a Mediacom cable modem.

I know this is pretty basic, but I'd appreciate any help.

Edit: I bought this used -- would any of the previous owner's settings still be on there, even though I pressed the reset button?

[Krusty]

Five things:
Have you checked Netgear's support pages for your router ? Apparently there are two versions ... which do you have ?

Next .. do you actually have to log in with username/password etc to your MediaCom account ? If so, then you can't leave absolutely everything to auto-detect and use just defaults ... you'll have to manually set some settings in the router.

Third ... Yes it possible that there are lingering settings from the prior user.

Fourth ... where do you get the message about not being able to connect ? In the router config itself or from your computer when you are trying to access the internet ? When you start using a router, not only do you have to set it properly, you'll have to change settings on the computers downstream of it (basically, remove all connection info from the computers downstream and set them to be simple DHCP clients).

Fifth ... when you got the cable modem set up, did you do it yourself of did one of MediaCom's "techs" initially set it up ? I'm not familiar with them ... they may have set some things on your computer or in the modem that needs to be "undone".

Sorry if some of this may be obvious, I can't tell from your post if you've ever set up any router/clients in the past. Does the cable modem work fine when its hooked straight to your computer ??

[aaanorton]

Reset the router again by holding the reset button for 10 seconds. This will eliminate all of the previous user's inputs.
Now unplug the power cords from the router and the modem (you can leave the ethernet cables plugged in between the router, modem and computer). Wait 1 minute. Plug the power back into the modem only. Watch the lights. When it looks stable, plug the power back into the router.
On your Mac, go to System Prefs > Network > Built-In Ethernet > TCP/IP tab. Make sure Configure is set to Using DHCP. If it is not, change it and hit Apply Now. You should now have an IP listed there like 192.168.0.x.
Now try connecting to a web site.
If you want to go back into the router's settings, ignore all the wizard steps. Just click on Basic Settings or Wireless Settings or whatever over on the left. I don't know of any cable service that requires log in like DSL, so try it like this 1st.

[Dave N]

Thanks for attempting to sort this out, Krusty. Here are the answers to your 5 questions:

1. Yes, I have the manual. I have the newer (v2) version of the router.
2. No, there is no username/password with the Mediacom modem.
3. According to the manual, the reset button wipes it clean.
4. The "cannot connect to internet" message comes from the router config software (via browser).
5. I had to call a Mediacom tech, who had me go to a website and enter my account number and another ID number, then restart my computer. Other than that the only change I know of was that I set the TCP/IP to DHCP.

aaanorton, I have tried exactly what you said to do several times, but it still doesn't work.

I'm wondering if my cable ISP is blocking the Netgear router from being a DHCP client. When I connect my computer directly to the cable modem, I have the TCP/IP preferences set to DHCP and I get a specific IP, router, etc. from the cable ISP. I took a screen shot of those settings, then hooked the computer up via the Netgear router, restarted, and checked again. The IP and router numbers on my mac had changed to what they should be if the Netgear router is acting as a DHCP server (192.168.0.1, and 0.2). Then I accessed the Netgear router via web browser to see what numbers it had (I'm assuming here that my ISP would supply it with IP and router numbers identical to, or very similar to, what it gives my computer). But even though the Netgear router was set to DHCP (according to the config software), the IP and router numbers were nothing like what my computer gets from the cable ISP via DHCP. So my conclusion is that for some reason the Netgear router is not properly registering with my cable ISP. Is that right? I probably just need to call my cable ISP and ask them about this...

One more question, if I could -- what exactly is it that my cable ISP sees on my computer that allows me to have network access? If I new this then maybe I could start playing with the router settings.

Thanks for any more suggestions.

[Krusty]

Two more things to look at then:

See if your router has "MAC addresses cloning". What this does is represent your router to MediaCom as though it were actually your computer by spoofing the MAC address of the computer. I don't know exactly what your ISP is looking at to confirm your connection .. but it sounds like it may have been specifically set up for your computer rather than thru a router (some ISPs intentionally block routers ... so they can force you to pay more if you want to share a connection in your house).

If your computer acts as a simple DHCP client when directly connected to the cable modem, that tells me that you need to turn OFF the DHCP server on your router and let it act as a passive switch rather than as a true router. In other words, I don't think your router can act as both a DHCP server and a client simultaneously. However, if you turn its DHCP server function off, it should still be able to distribute signal amongst multiple downstream connections.

I have a similar setup here ... a land line Netgear router connected to my ISP. Downstream from that, I have a wireless Netgear router (with a landline connected computer AND wirelessly connected laptops) that are fed from it. To get it to work, I had to turn off its DHCP server on the wireless router and let the wired router handle all of that. You may have to do the same with your ISP and let their service act as the DHCP server. I have login-type DSL service and am not totally clear on how cable service works ... but I always heard that it works on the "shared" type setup where you and your neighbors are all clients to a local DHCP server.

[aaanorton]

Originally posted by Krusty:
If your computer acts as a simple DHCP client when directly connected to the cable modem, that tells me that you need to turn OFF the DHCP server on your router and let it act as a passive switch rather than as a true router.

Do not do this. This will turn your router into a switch, basically.
Did you honestly UNPLUG the power (not reset, not powering off with the power button) to BOTH the modem and the router?

4. The "cannot connect to internet" message comes from the router config software (via browser).

But did you ever just try opening a web page? I really think you should ignore all the wizard stuff in there. Set it up exactly as I described and open a web page. If this doesn't work, then you will need to do MAC address cloning. Go to Basic Settings in the router set up pages. At the bottom there should be Router Mac Address fields. Try Use Computer MAC Address 1st. It should put the MAC address of your computer's ethernet card in there. You can find this in System Prefs > Network > Built-In Ethernet > Ethernet tab (Apple calls it Ethernet ID), among other places. Make sure you use the ethernet card address as described, not the Airport card address. Or you can try Use This Address and just type in the correct MAC address. But don't bother trying ANY of this until you have unplugged everything, reconnected, checked your IP address and tried a web page. These are made to just work. You should be able to plug it in and use it without ever going to the set up pages. And most cable providers are moving away from MAC address filtering, so it's more likely that yours does not do this. Unplugging the modem clears it of the MAC address it is associated with, so that it looks for a new one on restart.

[Dave N]

Did you honestly UNPLUG the power (not reset, not powering off with the power button) to BOTH the modem and the router?

Yes, I've tried this several times, in several different orders. Also, I did try opening several web pages despite what the router config was telling me, and they would either just sit and spin, or it would bump me back to the Netgear wizard.

I tried cloning the MAC address and it worked to some degree, but things are still buggy. I can get to some pages, others will only half load, and others will bump me into a Mediacom registration page (when then tells me that I am already registered). I haven't installed my airport card yet -- I'm wanting to keep things as simple as possible until I get this working.

Mediacom had some information in their help pages about routers, so I'm assuming that they allow them. It seems that this is a problem with my ISP, so I will call tech support and try and find out what I need to do to "register" my router.

Thanks for all your help.

[aaanorton]

Originally posted by Dave N:
It seems that this is a problem with my ISP, so I will call tech support and try and find out what I need to do to "register" my router.

Agreed. I'm confident that your router is working and set up correctly now, so any problems are probably ISP related. Instead of "registering" your router, try this... Call them and tell them that you just bought a new computer to replace your old on. Then tell them that you need them to update their records with the MAC address of your "new computer". When they ask what the address is, give them the MAC address listed in the router's web page called Router Status, under the Internet Port section. This should be the same MAC address as printed on the sticker on the bottom of your router. There is no way for them to tell the difference, but it might take a little time for the new address to propagate.

[Dave N]

I called my ISPs tech support and they did something that got it working (although I have no idea what). The tech had be reset the router to all defaults, so I'm using the Netgear MAC. Some pages were still a little buggy -- for example, the Apple home page would come up with missing graphics and sometimes I would get bumped back into the Netgear config when using command/back-arrow. I emptied Safari's cache and that took care of everything. It seems to work flawlessly now. Kind of makes me wonder if it would have worked before if I had emptied the cache...

Anyway, I'm glad to have it working so hopefully now I can set up the wireless part and be on my way. Thanks, guys, for your help.

[Dave N]

Woo-hoo! Now got my Airport working, encryption and everything