[ale] Question about cable modem connections

[Brian Pitts]

Jim Kinney wrote:
 >
> All the cable modem crap I've dealt with require a registered MAC 
> address. So the installer sets up the box i.e. - plugs it in) and then 
> phones in to have the new device "approved" witht he MAC address of the 
> WINDOWS PC plugged into it.

I haven't seen this.

> Jeff Lightner wrote:
> 
> I do know that the MAC of the initial PC is not an issue.   The PC I 
> used when I initially hooked up has since been replaced with one laptop 
> and then another with no issues.    Also in that time I’ve hooked up two 
> different brands of wireless router.

This has been my experience as well.

To clarify what others have said- most DSL modems do symmetric NAT and 
thus need to run a DHCP server to give out private addresses. Cable 
modems don't seem to do this, thankfully. Connecting one machine will 
still work out of the box, but you should set up a basic firewall.

-Brian