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xsrwx · Jun 6, 2005, 08:45 AM

I have been having problems connecting to the internet wirelessly using a Powerbook 1GHZ (Tiger 10.4.1) and a Graphite Basestation (the connection is fine if it is wired directly to the laptop).

Saturday I had Comcast come out and install a new modem. When they installed it the tech had the cable plugged into the ethernet port on the laptop not in the basestation. Everything was fine. Saturday night I tried to put the ABS back in the loop and could not connect to the internet. I immediatly called Apple support figuring I messed something up.
Troubleshot the system for over 2 hours and everything seemed to be ok as far as the ABS working properly. The tier 2 tech mentioned that Comcast now records the MAC address when they provisioned the new modem and that was why I could not connect. He suggested calling Comcast and giving them the MAC address off of the ABS and everything should be ok.

The next call was to Comcast. Got the typical response that they do not support routers but would try to help. I explained to the the provisioning discussion and they said that is not true anymore, the modem remembers the LAST MAC address only. We went through the powercycle procedure and nothing worked. They said the problem must be with the ABS.

I called Apple back to troubleshoot further and came across this...The cable modem was not supplying the router address in the Airport Admin Utility (the right led light on the ABS flashes red).

I have no idea how to get my point across to Comcast what is happening.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks, Steve

ghporter · Jun 6, 2005, 06:42 PM

Turn off the cable modem and the base station. Let them sit for several minutes. Now, turn on the modem and let it initialize. After it's had at least a measured 60 seconds to stabilize after all the lights stop flashing and so on, turn on the base station. This should cause the modem to connect to the base station and assign it an IP address.

Have you tried connecting your base station to a friend's cable modem to make sure it really does work? The graphites are pretty old...

xsrwx · Jun 7, 2005, 07:44 AM

I must have powercycled the modem that exact way at least 10 times in the last three days.

I have suspected that the Graphite Base station might be bad. First the right led on the base station is flashing red. Second, in the Airport Admin Utility, the router address is blank. I thought that address was assigned by the modem, which led me to believe it was a comcast/modem issue.

fulmer · Jun 7, 2005, 09:44 PM

my brother recently connected a graphite to his time warner cable modem.
We had some trouble at first, but he called tw and they walked him through a procedure.
I think it was that he powered off everything--modem, base station, and computer.
Then he powered on modem, then base station, then computer, IIRC.

amazing · Jun 8, 2005, 03:27 PM

flashing red light on the graphite seems to indicate that it's dead, probably with the capacitor issue that the graphite is prone to. Just go out and get a 3rd party wireless router, since you can find even a "G" wap for around $10 after rebate.

f1000 · Jun 11, 2005, 08:12 PM

Originally Posted by xsrwx

I immediatly called Apple support figuring I messed something up.Troubleshot the system for over 2 hours and everything seemed to be ok as far as the ABS working properly. The tier 2 tech mentioned that Comcast now records the MAC address when they provisioned the new modem and that was why I could not connect. He suggested calling Comcast and giving them the MAC address off of the ABS and everything should be ok.

No, this isn't right. Comcast doesn't care about the router's MAC address. They only care about the modem's MAC address.

I vote for dead ABS as well.

tooki · Jun 12, 2005, 04:50 PM

Comcast used to use MAC addresses for authentication, but they haven't done that in a LONG time. It's been years. Now the only thing they need to know is the MAC address of the cable modem.

I concur with the diagnosis of failing base station.

tooki

xsrwx · Jun 12, 2005, 04:56 PM

You guys were right. I went and bought a new Airport Express and everything worked fine. i guess I owe the Comcast tech support people an apology.

thanks for all the help/suggestions.....

ValVashon · Jun 14, 2005, 09:16 PM

xsrwx-

I'd be willing to take your old graphite base station off of your hands if the price is right. I'm experienced with fixing and modifying them for better ventilation.

PM or reply.

Val

amiesue · Jul 5, 2005, 07:06 AM

I just moved where I have Comcast as the cable provider, previously having had Time Warner with no issues. Here I was unable to hook up my snow (non extreme) base station without first hooking the cable modem directly to the G5 for the install process and then doing the power cycling mentioned above. While I do have an internet connection I am unable to use my iSight in iChat now as the other end times out trying to find my IP, which in the settings is showing that the Base station has no IP addy. It actually says I am using PCI slot 2 - unknown. I have no idea why it isn't providing an IP address, I know that it is working as I am connected to my base station and have internet access. Ideas?