Hi Lisa,
I highly recommend this configuration (bear with the ASCII art):
Cox ---- modem --- firewall --- hub/switch ---- computer
+--- computer
+--- computer
+--- computer
+--- computer
The main benefit here is that your ISP only sees one MAC and
you can have as many computers on the backside as you have
money/electricity to support (my record was 10 computers on
a cable modem service that only allowed one computer per IP
address).
Another benefit is when the CSR tells you to reboot Windows,
you log into the firewall (of course it's a Linux box, right?),
type (as root):
ifdown eth0; sleep 10; ifup eth0; ifconfig -a
(assuming eth0 is the public side) then go to your workstation,
play the Windows boot up music so they think you've rebooted,
and then you can get down to troubleshooting the real issue.
The firewall uses DHCP on the public side, private IPs on
the backside, and is a Linux box with NAT enabled. I have
two examples of this setup on my web site (one for cable and
one for DSL).
Regards,
George
Lisa Winkler wrote:
>
> I have been using 2 @home ips. They stopped working yesterday. I couldn't reach a DHCP server, so I couldn't get a cox ip.
>
> I finally got through to tech support (the wait is 1.5 hours) and the guy told me to plug the modem directly into the computer instead of going through the hub. I know this is on their standard list of things to tell the user to do and explained to the guy that it wouldn't solve anything if the DHCP server was unreachable. Finally I agreed to do it anyway. I was connected instantly!
>
> The t.s. guy explained that the software on their DHCP server (it's probably running windows!) is having problems when the modem reports that there are 2 different MAC addresses behind it. Apparently when this happens it just refuses to respond to my request. He says they are working on it, doesn't know when it will be fixed, but until it is you won't be able to have 2 computers with real-world IPs connected because if they are both up at the same time the DHCP server will refuse to assign them ips. I guess this is my official kick in the ass to try to get NAT working (instead of a bridge as I am currently using).
>
> Anyway, just a public service in case anyone else is dead in the water but still reading mail!
>
> Lisa
>
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