Time Capsule with Teksavvy cable internet connection problem
Sorry for the duplication - I posted this thread in wrong subforum!
Hello:
I just got Teksavvy cable internet service (uses Rogers cable) and cannot get my Time Capsule to connect to the internet (just get flashing amber light, not green). The cable internet works fine when connected by Ethernet directly to my Macbook Pro. Searching the net suggests that the cable modem (Thompson DC425) has to clear the laptop's MAC address before it will connect with a new MAC address (the Time Capsule. I have tried all the suggestions - I have reconfigured time capsule to Ethernet and DHCP, have shut the modem down for several hours, then powered it up, then the time capsule, with the same results, no internet connection. The network assistant says that I have successfully reconfigured and tells me to shut down the modem and restart. When that doesn't work, it tells me I have two unresolved problems, no internet connection and no DNS server. The Time Capsule works fine when configured for and connected to my DSL modem. The speeds I am seeing are are excellent when connected directly to the laptop, but I need to get it to connect to my Time Capsule wireless network! Help will be greatly appreciated! Teksavvy tells me that since I am getting internet with the laptop, that is the end of their responsibility, they don't support wireless routers.
Thanks for responding? Perhaps I am confused, but I thought that you would only use the bridge mode if you were connecting to an existing network (cable modem connected to wireless router connected to TC). I am trying to connect the TC directly to a Thomson DC425 cable modem. In light of a experimentation I did last night, would your suggestion (which I haven't tried yet) still apply?
Tried a different strategy last night. Connected cable modem to MBP, confirmed internet connection, looked up IP address, subnet mask, server address, DNS servers, copied it down, then went into Airport Utility, used manual configuration option, entered this information into appropriate fields. Voila, I now had an internet connection through the TC. Light went from flashing amber to green, able to share connection wirelessly to MBP through TC. Obviously, this is not a long term solution, as I believe addresses expire sooner or later (sooner, last night). My son suggests that Rogers may be limiting its service to only one computer (only one MAC address). When it doesn't see my MBP, it refuses a connection. Is this possible?
Here is my plan of attack.
1. Leave cable modem powered off for 18 hours. (hoping modem or Rogers system will forget MBP address) Then configure TC for Ethernet/DHCP, power down TC. Then power up modem, then connect and power up TC. Hope for green light. If not,
2. Get another router. See if it can make a connection with cable modem. Wait 18 hrs as above if not immediately successful. If successful, buy router, use TC in bridge mode.
3. If this doesn't work, cajole Teksavvy into having modem reprovisioned, this time connecting it to TC first, not to MBP
4. If this doesn't work, cry.
Any obvious faults in my thinking? Any suggestions that would improve the above?
If my DSL connection wasn't so slow and this cable so fast, I would have given up by now.
Hi Lars
Yes, it does. When I used it the first night I was trying to get this working, it seemed to "unprovision" the modem. Not only would it not connect with the TC, it would no longer connect with the MBP through ethernet. It had a good cable signal, but the diagnostics said it had no provisioning etc. At my insistence Teksavvy opened a ticket with Rogers to have the modem reprovisioned. The next morning, the modem worked with my MBP. Probably should have tried it with TC first, but Teksavvy expressly told me to try with MBP first, and I didn't have much idea what was going on at that point. I think that Rogers may not actually have done anything, it was only a matter of 8 hours overnight and from what I hear things don't happen that quickly - maybe the modem normally reacquires the provisioning over time - I really don't know how their system works. So maybe I'll try resetting the modem if neither steps 1 or 2 work. If I cause the modem to quit connecting at all that can be my rationale for Teksavvy to open a reprovisioning ticket with Rogers.
This is turning into a complex ordeal. Surely everyone getting cable internet doesn't have to go through this if they want to use a wireless router?
I now have a workable setup. After trying several hours of shutdown followed by restart and waiting for several hours to see if the MAC address had been cleared, with no success, I went out and bought a new linksys router. At first this would not work either, but I found a Cisco support article and learned how to clone the MAC address of my MBP. After doing this, I now had a functioning wireless router. Next, I connected the Time Capsule to the Linksys router in bridge mode, and I now had a wireless internet network and Time Machine backups working. After getting this working, I contacted Teksavvy support to tell them what the problem had been and to ask them if they could get Rogers to register both my MBP and TC MAC addresses (as far as I know, the TC cannot clone MAC addresses) so that I could take the Linksys router out of the equation. I was very unimpressed with the response - the conversation did not get beyond "we do not support wireless routers". I said that even a simple statement such as "you may need to clone your MAC" address or "only one MAC address is supported" would have saved me hours of frustration, but the service tech would not budge. I have asked for a call-back from a supervisor, so we will see. I think Teksavvy's policy here is extremely shortsighted and unhelpful. Thanks for all the assistance here. If I end up with much faster internet service at the cost of an additional $50 router and a lot of cussing, I guess I'll have to be content!
Rogers does not require you to register any MAC address. Teksavvy may - and if they do, that was your problem from the start.
I think TS is right not to provide support for wireless routers, however, the moment you said you just got a wireless router, they should have immediately told you to provide your TC's MAC address to them. They should not make you go out to buy more equipment when it's their backwards policy to require a specific MAC address - we've moved beyond that years ago.
Thanks for the info. I'll keep that in mind if I ever think about switching from Rogers.
A supervisor from Teksavvy did call back. His approach was much more open and helpful. He said that the techs should be willing to offer some helpful suggestions despite the "no support of wireless routers" policy. According to him, neither Teksavvy or Rogers is recording MAC addresses. Instead, the way Rogers cable works, when a lease is first established the IP address is assisgned to a specific MAC address. It can't be assigned to a new MAC address until the lease expires or is released by the original receiving device. According to this, if I leave the modem and Time Capsule disconnected for some indefinite period up to 24 hours, then reconnect, the lease will have expired and a new lease with IP address will be extended to the Time Capsule. Alternately, I could have the MBP (or modem?) release the lease, then disconnect my existing setup and when I reconnect trying to use the Time Capsule as the router, it would be assigned an IP address. Given my limited knowledge of networking, I can't guarantee that I got all that 100% correct. I haven't tested any of this out yet, and if anyone could give me step by step instructions on how to release the lease, I would appreciate it. I feel a bit better about Teksavvy after having a conversation with someone who genuinely seemed to be trying to help and who was willing to look at things from a customer's perspective. He said he would be talking to a few people. I hope he does, and that it has some effect.
Just as a postscript and wrapup. I left everything disconnected for 36 hours, then reconnected the modem to the Time Capsule and restarted. The Time Capsule had an internet connection this time and after switching from bridge mode it functioned as a router sharing internet connections with all other devices connected to the network. So I guess the magic number of hours to clear the MAC address from the original connection to the MBP is somewhere between 20 and 36 hours. I was able to return the LInksys router I had purchased. I still believe that Teksavvy is doing its customers a disservice by not explaining this simple procedure, or, better still, have a procedure for clearing the MAC address from their end when a customer calls in with problems connecting with a router. This must be a very common issue, and I don't see how hiding their heads in the sand (we don't support wireless routers) is helpful. On a positive note, the speeds I am achieving fully live up to what is promised and are far superior to what I was getting on a similarly priced DSL service. Thanks for the help - all's well that ends well.
Linear Mode
