"Newbie" Question

I'm new to this list, so please escuse my ignorance if I'm asking questions that were covered previously.

I intend to sign up with Comcast. I'm using an iMac with Panther 10.3.x, and I'm not a very technically-oriented person:

Can I use my own modem? If so, which one would you recommend, given the following anticipated use: (price is not a controlling factor)

I need the capability to switch back and forth between my current ISP and Comcast, as Comcast isn't too reliable in our neighborhood and can be "out" for hours at a time. I don't want to have to "fiddle" extensively to get back on line with Comcast once it's up again.

I already have a firewall software program installed (IP Net Sentry)

I have more thumbs than fingers < grin >. I'm NOT a super genius when it comes to understanding modem quirks and settings. Ease and simplicity of operation is needed

TIA

George

I agree with what you wrote. Good advice. I think the OP should know that I had numerous problems (intermittent loss of connection) with a Motorola SB5100 on Comcast, though. It took months and many phone calls and "chat" sessions to try to get Comcast to fix it. They even sent a tech out a couple of times to check my lines and told me there was nothing wrong. I finally figured out it had to be the modem. All my hardware was good (different computers tested individually had the same problem), but Comcast swore up and down that their was no problem on their end, or on my line in my house. All that was left was the modem. I bought a Linksys BEFCMU10 (V3) to replace it, and my connection on Comcast has been rock-solid steady ever since. Oh, and my download speeds have greatly increased, also. It's not that the Motorola modem was bad, but the intermittent service outages were maddening. It COULD have been my specific modem was defective. However, as the Linksys is both more reliable AND faster than the Motorola, I'd recommend the Linksys over the SB5100 specifically.

To the OP, I would say: If you have two Internet services, make sure both modems (one for each service) are ethernet style so that you can plop a router between a modem and your computer. Any good router should automatically configure itself for whatever Internet connection you are using, other than entering your password if you need to configure PPPOE (for DSL). So switching from one Internet service to the other COULD be as easy as swapping one cable on the back of your router and then powering up modem, router and computer in that order. I would also recommend Netgear or Linksys router, wired or wireless G. I use a Netgear WGR614 myself (wireless G) and it works fantastic. Haven't tried it on anything but Comcast cable modem, but previous experience with other Netgear brand routers tells me they work great for DSL, also. -Dave

Do you mean dialup and cable? Or do you mean dsl and cable?

Ed

Ed and Dave -

I have a 56k dial-up account with a local ISP that is excellent, and I want to keep that dial-up connection to use when Comcast goes sour.

I'm too far from the station for DSL, and, in this area, Verizon only offers it with a mandatory tie-in to Microsoft - - so I wouldn't touch it anyway.

So, I want to use broadband as primary, and keep my dial-up account as a backup.

George

That should be no problem at all. I have both and am able to switch pretty much seamlessly between the two. I already had a dialler set up through the New Connection Wizard of Network Connections and my computer had both an ethernet card and internal modem. When I got the cable modem, all I did was turn off the computer, plug in the cable modem and let it synch up, then turn the computer back on. It found the modem and everything was pretty much set. All I did was make sure that the LAN properties (the cable connection in Network Connections) were set to DHCP and that some programs such as my browser and email client were configure to NOT dial up automatically.

Now, if I need to use the dialup connection, I just click on the dialler. That connection will automatically take over and I am back on dialup. As soon as I disconnect, I am back on cable again. A program here and there may want to use the dialup connection after that but one "No" and it never asks again. For the most part it really is seamless. You just need to remember to change servers in some cases, such as sending email or accessing news servers.

mady

Was that the thread awhile back where just enough information was provided for us to determine that the problem was NOT the modem?

I seem to remember some of us observing that it looked like the primary goal was to justify a new modem. :)

Oh, you mean the one where the problem mysteriously disappeared when I replaced the modem and made no other changes? Probably. -Dave

I don't know about cable modems, being a DSL customer. For a router I would suggest the SMC Barricade 7004BR. It has an RS-232 port which can connect to an external dial-up modem. I believe one improvement over my SMC Barricade

7004BR is that the dial-up can be configured in "fail-over" mode. If your Comcast connection is dropped, the router will detect that, and automatically connect via the dial-up modem.

In article , George C. Berger wrote: :Ed and Dave - : :I have a 56k dial-up account with a local ISP that is excellent, and I :want to keep that dial-up connection to use when Comcast goes sour. : :I'm too far from the station for DSL, and, in this area, Verizon only :offers it with a mandatory tie-in to Microsoft - - so I wouldn't touch :it anyway. : :So, I want to use broadband as primary, and keep my dial-up account as :a backup.

A cable modem is nothing like your current 56K modem. A cable modem will connect to your RJ-45 network interface ("Ethernet") connector (preferred) or to a USB port. You can certainly keep your existing 56K modem for use with your dialup account. You will need a new cable modem, either provided by Comcast or purchased by you. Check into available rebates if you want to go the "purchase" route.

Ed, Bill, Dave, Norman, Bob and Mady

Thanks for the information on the modem! It's obvious I still have homework to do, bt you have pointed me in the right direction.

Thanks Again, George

Thanks, Jim -

We have a savvy friend that showed me how to switch from cable to dial-up, and back again, depending on which ISP we want to use.

Now, all I have to figure out is which modem to get. Suggestions have been all over the map, both on this list and from friends.

Thanks again,

George