Change of topic overdue: On Tue 09 Mar 2021 at 00:12:40 (-0500), Felix Miata wrote: > David Wright composed on 2021-03-08 22:37 (UTC-0600): > > On Sun 07 Mar 2021 at 21:37:37 (-0500), Felix Miata wrote: > > >> Having != connected. The extras are spares. :) > > > I realise that, but if your service were to become unsatisfactory, > > then before you complained, you'd want to check that it's not your > > modem at fault. Would you expect your spare modem to work, because it > > has a different MAC from what's expected by the ISP's end of the line. > > > (Similarly, if your modem were to burn out, which is what happened > > to mine after seven years.) > > Whenever I get a mind to, I call my ISP, tell them I'm changing modems, and > what > the new MAC is. It gives me some confidence it's still useful. If there's a > problem they or I think a modem switch might shed light on, I do the same.
Perhaps I'll try that as things settle after the pandemic. I changed our modem within two hours, but that was with a visit to the office (2½ miles), and the replacement one is rented. I'll change it out when not every day is a zoom day. At the moment, the internet is still about as important as running water. On Tue 09 Mar 2021 at 08:12:47 (-0500), rhkra...@gmail.com wrote: > I have DSL service, and a spare modem that I've occasionally put in service > (for testing the "main" modem) and have not had to notify the ISP. (They > were > both provided by the ISP (Earthlink).) > > I don't know if cable modems would work the same -- I don't know if the ISP > sees the MAC address on a DSL line. You may well have login authentication. Perhaps you have the credentials configured in the router, and forgotten that they're there. On Tue 09 Mar 2021 at 13:35:18 (+0000), Joe wrote: > On Tue, 9 Mar 2021 08:12:47 -0500 rhkra...@gmail.com wrote: > > > > I have DSL service, and a spare modem that I've occasionally put in > > service (for testing the "main" modem) and have not had to notify the > > ISP. (They were both provided by the ISP (Earthlink).) > > > > I don't know if cable modems would work the same -- I don't know if > > the ISP sees the MAC address on a DSL line. > > I used to change routers without telling anyone, but that was years ago. That doesn't add a lot of information as you've not mentioned the type of connection. (I presume router means a modem/router combination.) > As an anecdote, I recall a BT service/router which literally would not > work if it detected another NAT on the LAN. It was in a client's > network, and I had to reconfigure things to work without the Debian > server acting as a firewall. If it had been my network, the wretched > thing would have gone back instantly, my network runs through two NATs > and that isn't negotiable. I had a BT service briefly (replacing a plusnet service running over a BT line), and they supplied a Homehub. AFAICT the authentication, if any, was "burnt" into modem and router combination, and the T&C didn't allow for you to swap it out. On Tue 09 Mar 2021 at 10:07:39 (-0500), Stefan Monnier wrote: > > You should be able to change the MAC used by your device, i.e. you > should be able to arrange for both devices to expose the same MAC so > your ISP won't notice the difference. Quite possibly, though I'd rather not have to do that if possible. As well as the MAC, there is also a Serial Number and a Modem Number, and AIUI the device logs changes such as these that are made, at least as long as they stick (perhaps until a factory reset?). What software would I need? For example, how would I alter the MAC address on this Cicso DPC3010 modem? If I connect a computer to its Ethernet port, all I see is the seething morass called the Internet. How do I talk to it, ie to the modem itself? Cheers, David.
