Not true (entirely). What Comcast does now is direct all requests from an unauthorized modem to a Comcast web page that you enter your info in and it authorized the MAC address on your modem. Before that with AT&T Broadband, I called up support, told them I had an unsupported OS and asked them to enable my modem for use on their network. They asked for my various information, and 5 minutes later, everything worked. But yes, using the Windows program was probably the easiest way. Fortunately, now anyone with a browser can set things up. Brian On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 18:27:49 -0500 (EST) gboyce@badbelly.com wrote:

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004, Gregory Avedissian wrote:

...

It seems like most of the providers say that you need windows or mac to use their DSL or cable internet. Does this just mean they won't offer tech support for linux, or does it mean that it won't work? I'm planning on using a router and having two computers connected.

When I signed up for a AT&T cable modem (before Comcast bought them), it

was actually impossible to enable your cable modem from within Linux. There was a windows program to do the initial setup. After you get past

that point, Linux would work with it fine.

I luckily had a Windows partition on the machine at the time.

I'm hoping that Comcast doesn't have this same problem for new users, but issues like that are a possibility.

Thanks to all who answered on this one. I called Verizon to ask them about linux, and the person I spoke to had never heard of it. He did manage to spell it right the first time, put me on hold and went to talk to someone else who said that it does work. I also switched my phone plan, and I'm saving $5/month on the DSL and another $5/month on my long distance. I probably will have questions about this when I try to set it up. This will be my first attempt at networking. OK, I thought of one already. I'm running linux, and housemate is running XP. Will each OS just deal with the router, or do I need special software to interact with a windows box? Greg doug waud wrote:

Hi

Gregory Avedissian wrote:

...

It seems like most of the providers say that you need windows or mac to use their DSL or cable internet. Does this just mean they won't offer tech support for linux, or does it mean that it won't work? I'm planning on using a router and having two computers connected.

I have dealt with 3 cable companies.

The first, the local Shrewsbury Cable company wanted a Windows box so their installer could prove/test that the system was working. This is a reasonable position; if you don't draw the line tightly you'll end up dealing with the customer-from-hell and just run up expenses. Incidentally, the guy who came to my house played with Linux at home so the atmosphere was cordial but beside the point since I had a windows notebook for the initial test (and then just reconnected cables once he was out the door.

The second was for my daughter in Southboro. There the cable was Charter. Again, I just had a windows notebook available in the cellar where the cable came in and the cable modem would lie. As with the Shrewsbury cable company the service guy just wanted to confirm that the signal was working and again, I just reconnected cables once he was out the door.

The third was Adelphia up at our cottage in NH. This time I did not get to the notebook stage. I just looked over the service man's shoulder while he installed the signal separator (ethernet/tv) and waved goodbye. I then ran a cable into the house to the cable modem (this time I bought it; cheaper route) and from there to a firewall/router.

In all cases most computers are running Linux (my wife still has a Windows box for games) and all work fine. Once the signal gets out of the cable modem to your router, the os of the connected computers will make no difference.

I cannot comment on phone help from any of the three companies since I have never needed it. I would not expect them to deal with Linux since that would not be cost-effective. On the other hand, this list is an alternative that will trump a low paid telephone responder any time :-)

Get the modem in (and have a windows machine available) and then connect your router and see if you can ping the router etc. If you run into a problem get in touch with the list (or me directly if you wish).

doug

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