UPC - using an unprovisioned/unsupplied modem

leo738

Hello,

I notice that many on this site have expressed the opinion that connecting a modem not supplied by UPC directly to the network does not work. Have they tried & failed?

Some have mentioned that it is because of MAC address, but this is a trivial issue to solve. Is there something else? Such as a boot code, encrypted handshake protocol or other?

Modems such as the Fritz!Box 6360 (http://www.avm.de/en/Produkte/FRITZBox/FRITZ_6360_Cable/index.php) would seem far more preferable to their own supplied modem.

Leo

ED E

With true bridging now possible why would you bother really?

leo738

• Cleaner setup
• Unnecessary power consumption (small I know, but still)
• Out of interest

DECEiFER

I think the only way you'll find out is by trying. Just make sure that you don't damage the packing and that there's a reasonable cooling-off period / returns policy in place in case it doesn't work at all. The reason you're not getting a whole boatload of replies is because the chances of many people trying it out are slim to none at best.

leo738

Well, I did a little looking around & it seems that no, it's not possible, not without arranging it on UPC's side. Here's a link on how DOCSIS cable modems work:

http://volpefirm.com/blog/docsis-101/docsis101_modem-registration/

& you can see near the end of the connection setup the modem sends a file upstream which is checked against a known file, if they don't match, no connection.

Seems that COMCAST in the US allows users to register their own modem, but you must give the certain details to them:

http://computerrepairsacramentoca.net/knowledge-base/replace-comcast-modem-with-my-own-computer-repair-sacramento-ca/

demanufactured

leo738 wrote: »

Hello,

I notice that many on this site have expressed the opinion that connecting a modem not supplied by UPC directly to the network does not work. Have they tried & failed?

Some have mentioned that it is because of MAC address, but this is a trivial issue to solve. Is there something else? Such as a boot code, encrypted handshake protocol or other?

Modems such as the Fritz!Box 6360 (http://www.avm.de/en/Produkte/FRITZBox/FRITZ_6360_Cable/index.php) would seem far more preferable to their own supplied modem.

Leo

Thats a router , not a modem.

leo738

From the website:

Fast Internet thanks to the integrated cable modem compliant with the latest transmission standards (for over 100 MBit/s)
WLAN N router for up to 300 Mbit/s, supports the conventional standards 802.11n/g/b/a

FoxT

It will work if either:

1 - you tell UPC the MAC address of the modems cable interface,and they agree to provision it.

OR
2- you can spoof the MAC address.

Option 2 is likely to work, but may not in some cases.

As part of the cable modem registration process, the CM will issue a DHCP request. The DHCP response for cable modems is different to a normal DHCP response to say a PC, laptop, or printer, The DHCP response to the cable modem will include a link to a Cable Modem Config file, (CMCF) which the CM must download from a UPC-owned tftp server.

Among other things, the CMCF will tell the modem what upstream & downstream speeds it will have. Cable operators assign bandwidth to cable modems by specifying what CMCF each modem can download.

If the MAC address of the cable modem is unknown to the DHCP server, it simply will not respond...so the CM will never come online.

If it was me, I'd ask UPC to see if they would provision a new modem for me. I doubt that they will.

Option 2 is to get a decent AP & connect that to the existing UPC/Cisco box.

-FoxT

leo738

From other threads on this forum it seems others have tried & failed to get UPC to provision they're own modems so option 1 won't work.

Option 2 would be nice to try, I'm not sure spoofing the MAC address would be sufficient. It would be a couple of quid to try. www.ebay.de has Fritzbox 6360 going for about Euro100.

Leo

roast

leo738 wrote: »

From other threads on this forum it seems others have tried & failed to get UPC to provision they're own modems so option 1 won't work.

Worked for me at one point.

leo738

Really? Do you know if they're still doing it?

Leo

roast

leo738 wrote: »

Really? Do you know if they're still doing it?

Leo

Nope, highly doubt it. Never heard of any other success stories like that, bar my own experience! Shame, but understandable in a sense.

leo738

OK, a shame as you say.

Leo