[Cialug] Noob needs help.

[Jerry Heiselman]

Mediacom registers your computer/router MAC address so they know the authorized computer to grant an IP to.  You don't typically need to know it.  Once you've setup the router, you just visit the registration site and you perform the swap out right there.  The site is designed to query your modem for the connecting devices (read: router/computer) and then it records that to their database.  

-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Nuzum <newz at bearfruit.org>
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2009 10:10 AM
To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group <cialug at cialug.org>
Subject: Re: [Cialug] Noob needs help.

On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 9:58 AM, Todd Walton<tdwalton at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 9:24 AM, albus<albus at iowaconnect.com> wrote:
>> No one as yet has told you yet, but you need the MAC of the system that
>> works yet. Maybe you already know you need that and maybe not.
>> Either way you will need it to set the MAC in the router to spoof back to
>> Mediacom. Otherwise you won't have Internet until you spoof
>> the MAC or call them to re-register the router.
>
> I've never needed my MAC address.  This is one point where I'd be on
> the phone complaining without relent to Mediacom, if they somehow put
> me in a situation where I had to use it just to get service.  Just
> because *I'm* tech savvy doesn't mean everyone is.
>
> But like I said, I've never actually needed my MAC.
>

When I was a mediacom customer I had to call in a few times to get
them to reset the modem to work with a change in router or etc.
Initial computer setup was w/out a router so when I hooked up my
router it wouldn't work. Called them and they fixed it in 1 minute.
Then router died and switched to desktop. Call again, fixed in 1 min.
Tried making my own router out of a linux server. Call again. Gave up
and switched to new router. Call again.

I think if you're patient and just wait overnight with the router and
modem unplugged it works OK. I'm not usually patient enough for that
though. Mediacom is not the only company that does it like this.

-- 
Matthew Nuzum
newz2000 on freenode, skype, linkedin, identi.ca and twitter
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