Cable modem blues

**Lips2001Ad** · June 21st, 2006, 05:23 PM

Hi peeps I have 10meg Cable internet but the modem supplied is incompatable with my router. I know my router is fine because my brother used to use it on his internet conection from the same company... the differance is the modem. I have had a Webstar epc2100 installed and it works fine when no router is used however when pluged in to my router that my brother kindly donated to me the conection is intermitent it cuts off periodicaly. To rule out the router I have tried it on 3 different conections and sure enough 1 of them was a webstar and had the exact same trouble the other 2 however where Motorolla surfboards and the router ran floorlessly !!! anyway I phoned my ISP and asked them really nicely to change my modem but they said they wont because its not faulty and as the router is 3rd party its nothing to do with them

so I had a look around the net for a cheap router but cheep = crap so I have purchased a motorolla surfboard £15 from ebay to replace the crap Webstar but I am worried I know I have to clone the MAC of my existing modem and have aquired the material to allow me to do so but I am un easy as I am sure it is frowned upon by ISP although I am not stealing service in anyway. Can someone please help put my mind at rest about this?

**3fingersalute** · June 21st, 2006, 06:18 PM

Well, I'd be careful, as I am sure what you're attempting to do is in violation of the ISP's terms of service. Have you tried contacting them and explaining that you understand the modem's incompatibility with your router is not their problem and that you have another cable modem you would like to use? They may just ask you for the MAC and let you use it - probably not, but its worth asking to stay legal. Besides being fined, you could also lose your internet connection, and I wouldn't want to lose a 10MB connection if I had one!

Anyhow, I must ask, if you didn't mind buying a used modem off of ebay, why didn't you just grab a used broadband router instead? That would have fixed your problem and kept you legal at the same time. - Just a thought, and depending on what features you're looking for, there are some decent, inexpensive routers out there new as well.

**Ferrit** · June 21st, 2006, 06:45 PM

There may also be some other things insode the modem besides MAC address that are required by the ISP.

**Lips2001Ad** · June 22nd, 2006, 08:19 AM

Hi there thank you all for your input on the situation. Yes looking for a new inexpensive router was my first port of call but the cheapest one I could find was not all that good. The one I got for free off my brother is a very nice very expensive net gear that I wish to keep. Anyway when I asked my isp about If I buy a modem can I use it they catagoricly said No !!! I wouldnt mind but I have a lot of freinds and relatives who have the same service from the same isp and they all got the motorolla surfboards as standard - so why is it so much trouble to just swap mine for me? They said they would only change my modem if it faulty and then there is no certainty of getting a moto modem. Infact my brother has sugested vandalising the Webstar by putting some high voltage into the 9v power conector !!! and I think that might be a bit extreme. Can somebody explain why using another modem with my own mac address and set to my speed cap limits is in breech of my terms of service? surley its like if my tv breaks I buy a new one, because I am still using it with my digital tv subscription and not using the broken one it shouldnt make a differance? I know all to well that uncapping is but that is not what I want to do - I mean if 10M isnt enuogh then theres something really wrong !!!!!

**3fingersalute** · June 22nd, 2006, 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by Lips2001Ad

Hi there thank you all for your input on the situation. Yes looking for a new inexpensive router was my first port of call but the cheapest one I could find was not all that good. The one I got for free off my brother is a very nice very expensive net gear that I wish to keep. Anyway when I asked my isp about If I buy a modem can I use it they catagoricly said No !!! I wouldnt mind but I have a lot of freinds and relatives who have the same service from the same isp and they all got the motorolla surfboards as standard - so why is it so much trouble to just swap mine for me? They said they would only change my modem if it faulty and then there is no certainty of getting a moto modem. Infact my brother has sugested vandalising the Webstar by putting some high voltage into the 9v power conector !!! and I think that might be a bit extreme. Can somebody explain why using another modem with my own mac address and set to my speed cap limits is in breech of my terms of service? surley its like if my tv breaks I buy a new one, because I am still using it with my digital tv subscription and not using the broken one it shouldnt make a differance? I know all to well that uncapping is but that is not what I want to do - I mean if 10M isnt enuogh then theres something really wrong !!!!!

Like Ferrit said - there is a possibility that the modems they provide have a customized firmware for speed capping, diagnostic logins, etc. If they're advising you against it, realize that you are knowingly breaking the TOS and can lose your connection and/or be punished by law if you proceed, especially after being specifically told you were not allowed to do this.

And on a side note, what model is the netgear router? Personally I wouldn't really consider a Netgear router as being a "very expensive" router at all, imho.

**slavedriver** · June 22nd, 2006, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by Lips2001Ad

Hi there thank you all for your input on the situation. Yes looking for a new inexpensive router was my first port of call but the cheapest one I could find was not all that good. The one I got for free off my brother is a very nice very expensive net gear that I wish to keep. Anyway when I asked my isp about If I buy a modem can I use it they catagoricly said No !!! I wouldnt mind but I have a lot of freinds and relatives who have the same service from the same isp and they all got the motorolla surfboards as standard - so why is it so much trouble to just swap mine for me? They said they would only change my modem if it faulty and then there is no certainty of getting a moto modem. Infact my brother has sugested vandalising the Webstar by putting some high voltage into the 9v power conector !!! and I think that might be a bit extreme. Can somebody explain why using another modem with my own mac address and set to my speed cap limits is in breech of my terms of service? surley its like if my tv breaks I buy a new one, because I am still using it with my digital tv subscription and not using the broken one it shouldnt make a differance? I know all to well that uncapping is but that is not what I want to do - I mean if 10M isnt enuogh then theres something really wrong !!!!!

Call your ISP and ask them which brands of modems they accept then buy your own, why pay rent on a modem.