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Warp Coil

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 4, 2002
18
0
MD, USA
Long-time lurker, infrequent poster here....

I've been using the AEBS with my PowerBook for the last two and a half years with no problems. I was able to set it up to work with my Verizon DSL internet service pretty easily and never gave it a second thought. Until now.

I recently moved, and of course I had to switch ISPs. Now I've got Comast cable internet. The technician came out and hooked everything up. My internet works just fine - so long as I have the ethernet cable plugged into the computer.

I've tried to set it up to work with the Airport but it's not working. I'm clearly doing something wrong (this is what I get for not paying more attention to how these things work).

Anyone else using AEBS with Comcast and would give me simple instructions for how to get this working properly? Much appreciated.
 

~J~

macrumors 6502
Jul 27, 2007
447
0
3rd Rock from the sun
Did u reset the AEBS when you tried to hook it up to your new ISP? It may be still trying to work off of the DSL settings if you havent. Also, make sure you have the latest firmware for the AEBS.
 

wwooden

macrumors 68020
Jul 26, 2004
2,028
187
Burlington, VT
you have it reconfigure it in the AEBS utility.

Mostly likly need to turn of PPoE

Yeah, sounds like you have it set up for DSL, need to switch it to cable, most likely to a DHCP route. I also find that setting up a router with cable is much easier than with dsl.
 

macleod199

macrumors 6502
Mar 10, 2007
290
6
Long-time lurker, infrequent poster here....

I've been using the AEBS with my PowerBook for the last two and a half years with no problems. I was able to set it up to work with my Verizon DSL internet service pretty easily and never gave it a second thought. Until now.

I recently moved, and of course I had to switch ISPs. Now I've got Comast cable internet. The technician came out and hooked everything up. My internet works just fine - so long as I have the ethernet cable plugged into the computer.

I've tried to set it up to work with the Airport but it's not working. I'm clearly doing something wrong (this is what I get for not paying more attention to how these things work).

Anyone else using AEBS with Comcast and would give me simple instructions for how to get this working properly? Much appreciated.

Make sure you reset your modem (if it has a button, or unplug it for a few minutes if not) before you switch devices. Most cable modems 'pair' with a specific MAC address (the physical address that ethernet devices use, on the layer below IP addresses), but a reset will clear it.
 

Stampyhead

macrumors 68020
Sep 3, 2004
2,294
30
London, UK
Because of the crappy way Comcast has their system set up, in order to use a router with their cable internet you need to have the router clone the MAC address of your ethernet port on your computer. I"m not sure how this works on the Airport Extreme, but I'm sure you can find instructions somewhere for doing this.
 

zioxide

macrumors 603
Dec 11, 2006
5,737
3,726
Because of the crappy way Comcast has their system set up, in order to use a router with their cable internet you need to have the router clone the MAC address of your ethernet port on your computer. I"m not sure how this works on the Airport Extreme, but I'm sure you can find instructions somewhere for doing this.

I don't have to do that.

Here's what you need to do: unplug your modem and leave it powered off for 10-15 minutes. While you're doing this, power up your AEBS and do a hard reset (check the manual). Then once the time has passed connect the modem to the wan port on your aebs with an ethernet cable, and once the router is turned on, plug your modem back in. Then it should work (do the easy setup wizard and ****).
 

Squonk

macrumors 65816
Mar 15, 2005
1,370
14
I don't have to do that.

Here's what you need to do: unplug your modem and leave it powered off for 10-15 minutes. While you're doing this, power up your AEBS and do a hard reset (check the manual). Then once the time has passed connect the modem to the wan port on your aebs with an ethernet cable, and once the router is turned on, plug your modem back in. Then it should work (do the easy setup wizard and ****).

For me it was simply a matter of unplug the modem, wait 10-15 seconds, plug it back in. It holds onto the MAC address of the last connected device. The power cycle clears this. Heck, you really don't need to wait the 15 seconds really...

That is the only thing you should need to do. Same thing happened to me.
 

bandit08

macrumors newbie
May 20, 2008
1
0
I was having the same problem with my airport extreme and comcast. I did just what they said in here. Unpluged the modem, hooked everything back up and then I reset the modem and BAM it worked. I wonder why the mac support did not know about this though?? I had to come here to get it resolved. Great advice.
I am still having a problem getting my printer to print wirelessly from my mac book. Any suggestions on this?
 

Donnerpartysf

macrumors newbie
Jan 23, 2010
1
0
Easy fix - just did it and it works!

My IT guy referred me to this thread and he was right - just like everyone else here.

- Unplug the AEBS and let it sit.
- Unplug all ethernet cables too.
- Unplug the cable modem. This might not be enough as power is still in the unit via the battery. I unplugged the battery too (RCA model) and waited for all blank LEDs.
- Re-inserted battery and modem power.
- Replugged in AEBS power.
- Replugged in Ethernet cables.
- Relaunched browser and waited.

Full functionality on both desktop (cabled to modem through AEBS WAN/LAN port) and wirelessly through the Powerbook - simultaneously!

Good luck!
 

49erfan

macrumors newbie
Dec 17, 2011
1
0
Success

Thanks for the advice in this string. Comcast recently made Broadband available in my neighborhood. Prior to Comcast I had my Airport Extreme connected via ethernet cable to router provided by previous ISP (wireless broadband). When I moved the ethernet cable from the old router to the new Surfboard cable modem I could not access the internet. I powered down the cable modem, did a hard reset on Airport Express, powered everything back up and the problem was resolved. Thanks to all!
 

DaveTheRave

macrumors 6502a
May 22, 2003
782
368
Earlier this year I bought and setup an AEBS for my parents who have Comcast. All I had to was reboot their cable modem and it worked fine. And they're a Windows-only household. No problems at all. It's been solid.
 

chanjunsung

macrumors newbie
Jan 28, 2012
1
0
OMG it works.

We had to do a factory default reset before we had success.

Turn off router for 15 minutes.
Do a hard reset or factory default reset (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3728)
Turn router back on.
Reenter Airport name, password and security info.

After being on hold for over an hr and getting hung up on twice from two reps, and then having them try to charge me for Xfinity Signature service so they can remote login to my computer and sniff around (which I did NOT pay for), I figured it out using the above advice.

The trick was to NOT use the old profile settings on my Airport Extreme (that I guess were still associated with the old modem before I moved) and re-enter all the settings again. (Hard reset by holding down the reset button for 10 seconds - light will blink very fast amber)

Here's my workflow on what I did.

Modem plugged into computer (INTERNET WORKS)
Computer connected to Wireless Router (SIGNAL SEEMS GOOD)
Modem plugged into router (INTERNET DOESN'T WORK - Flashing amber light)
Called Comcast and on hold for 30 min.
Get transferred to Signature service
They try to sell me Signature tech support at a "highly discounted rate".
after refusing to pay them and telling them it's not a wireless network issue, it's the modem, I get "transferred" to Modem Support.
I hear 3 beeps and they hang up on me.
I swear loudly
I call again.
20 minutes on hold after the automated service says 3 min wait.
I hang up and swear viciously.
I call again (the masochist in me) and get to a live person by pressing the menu options to cancel my service.
I tell them how long I've been waiting and everything that's happened. I just want to get to Modem support group.
They put me on hold.
I point my finger up at the sky and curse the gods. Then I hang up.
I go onto Macrumors and try power cycling the modem. Fingers crossed.
Now the amber flashing on the Airport Extreme turns GREEN. Success!
Just Kidding. Now Macbook says there's an internet connection problem
I begin to cry.
Then I keep reading, on my knees, one hand in prayer, one hand paging down.
I try restoring the router to factory settings, and power cycling modem again.
Router light is still green, and now Macbook says connection is solid.
I check facebook.
GREAT SUCCESS!
Step 3 : Profit!
 

Tsqr

macrumors newbie
Feb 2, 2012
1
0
Success: Apple Extreme Router works w Comcast Modem

Thanks to Forum for straightforward input.
I got a new Comcast cable modem from Comcast. Setting it up over the computer worked but then it did not work when plugged into Apple Extreme Base station.
Pulling the power plug on the Comcast modem, reconnecting the Ethernet link to the Apple Extreme Base station, and repowering the Comcast modem made everything work fine.
As someone noted, the Comcast modem must be brain-dead and does not adapt to new device connection. Pulling the power plug must cause it to reset to the whatever device it is currently connected to.
Interestingly, this was NOT a problem with older comcast modem that it replaced.
 

Ccrew

macrumors 68020
Feb 28, 2011
2,035
3
Because of the crappy way Comcast has their system set up, in order to use a router with their cable internet you need to have the router clone the MAC address of your ethernet port on your computer. I"m not sure how this works on the Airport Extreme, but I'm sure you can find instructions somewhere for doing this.

Don't think so. My Comcast works fine without it.
 

Hud2u

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2012
1
0
Comcast modem & airport

Thanks to Forum for straightforward input.
I got a new Comcast cable modem from Comcast. Setting it up over the computer worked but then it did not work when plugged into Apple Extreme Base station.
Pulling the power plug on the Comcast modem, reconnecting the Ethernet link to the Apple Extreme Base station, and repowering the Comcast modem made everything work fine.
As someone noted, the Comcast modem must be brain-dead and does not adapt to new device connection. Pulling the power plug must cause it to reset to the whatever device it is currently connected to.
Interestingly, this was NOT a problem with older comcast modem that it replaced.

I'm considering switching from Verizon DSL to Comcast cable:
I've been told by Comcast that if I want to use an Airport, it's better to use their modem without a router vs the "Gateway" version that includes a built-in router. Do you know if your new Comcast equipment was the "Gateway" and that may have been part of the problem?
 
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