What's Actually Involved In Provisioning A Cable Modem?

What makes you think you can clone a MAC address to a new cablemodem?

Even if you were able to do this, why would you think a Linksys modem would work with a RCA firmware and an RCA config file? It's more likely that the Linksys would be permanently trashed than it is that it would work.

So what's the point of it all if you're going to continue to rent the RCA?

Why is it that you don't want the cable company to know what modem it is that you're really using? What do you think you're trying to accomplish? What is it that you're trying to cover-up? What do you think you'd be gaining, or what do you think you'd be avoiding by circumventing something as simple as getting a new cablemodem provisioned?

Geessss... Paranoid a little????

I'm converting to the Linksys because it's a modem/router combo. Less clutter on my desk.

If at all possible, I'd simply like to do it myself. The less you have the 'techs' at Roadrunner involved, the less chance they have of messing something up.

Are you always so accusatory?

A_C

I don't know specifically what RR does when provisioning a modem.

It could be as simple as plugging the new modem in and supplying your info to a web page. Or you may have to actually call them.

I would plug the new modem and and see what happens. If it's not obvious that it's being provisioned, make a call and/or put the old modem back until you can.

DOCSIS is DOCSIS.

I've called my cable company a couple times as I've switched out cable modems, and all they ask for is the MAC address. Period. They don't care about brand name or model number.

DOCSIS is DOCSIS, period.

That would have been my impression, but I've never done this before. Who's your cable company?

A_C

As far as I am aware, you cannot clone the RF MAC on the cable modem as you would with your router's LAN MAC to make it appear to be that of your NIC. Should just be able to have the cable co. put your new modem on your account and provision it as opposed to the one they issued you.

WOW.

That may vary with the ISP. In my area (S. Cal), Comcast wants to know the brand and model no. so they can verify that it's on their extensive list of approved equipment. I guess they don't trust a manufacturer's declaration of DOCSIS compliance, or more likely, they don't trust a customer's claim that his/her modem is DOCSIS compliant. But that may also vary whether you speak to a technician or a front office rep. The technician didn't seem to care and he took my word that the modem was DOCSIS 2.0 compliant The front office rep wanted to know the make and model no., but when she couldn't find it, she just agreed with me that if the manufacturer said that it was DOCSIS 2.0 compliant it was OK. I suspect also that since the MAC nos. are assigned to manufacturers in blocks, the MAC no. may tell the ISP the make and model.

Anyway, withing a couple minutes of the tech taking down the MAC no., the modem was functioning.

*TimDaniels*

That is because from the MAC they can tell all they need to know.. maker.. and maybe even model....

hell.. I can at least look up the maker now....

Once you have the MAC address, you can query the modem via SNTP and determine just exactly what it is. So I doubt they need any more than the MAC address to do the provisioning. Asking for the make/model is just giving them info they're about to find out on their own shortly.

Elmo Wrote: "DOCSIS is DOCSIS.

I've called my cable company a couple times as I've switched out cable modems, and all they ask for is the MAC address. Period. They don't care about brand name or model number.

DOCSIS is DOCSIS, period."

Well, sort of. Yes, there are minimum standard things that all DOCSIS ceritified modems have to do. And, yes, most cable companies have a generic provisioning file that can be used by any modem. However, there are a whole slew of vendor-specific options that can be implemented (anyone remember the RCA DCM105 e-mail light? It could be activiated by the .cm file and an SNMP trap). Most of the time, it has to do with port blocking and snmp traps, but just about anything can be done and labeled "vendor specific." We once had a problem that only affected 1 brand of modem, because someone at corporate added a bunch of blocked ports to the config files and all 2000+ of this model decided to quit working one Saturday morning. The modems in question could only handle blocking a few ports, so they just locked up.

The other big problem is when there is a firmware upgrade. This is a flag set in the .cm file telling the modem that a new version is available, and the release ID. The ID is compared to the firmware in the modem, and if they don't match, the modem will retrieve the new file. If you got the wrong type of modem, even a different make from the same vendor, you stand a very high likelyhood of trashing your modem.

Now, there are a few other ways to determine the manufacturer of a cablemodem. One is to use the MAC address

Theoretically, one could determine the manufacturer and product by decoding the assigned MAC address and passing that info on to the provisioning system.

It is also possible to read the make and model number from an SNMP browser, and pass it along to the provisioning system. While this would be very cool, it would require another server to be maintained, and there is the very real possibility of having a MIB report back an OEM instead of the real manufacturer (I recall this happening with Zyxel modem/routers, which reported a totally different modem and would have made them useless as a modem/router had we provisioned them using the other modem's config).

But, why bother? It is much more accurate and reliable to get a human in the loop to read off the model number on the box and get it to the billing system, which then will pass it on to the provisioning system.

Agent_C Wrote: "The reason I'm asking, is that I'm planning to replace the RCA modem Roadrunner provided with a Linksys WCG200."

I can't speak for TW Roadrunner, but with Comcast, this modem will not work without Comcast's firmware (which is not available unless you go with the home networking option). The reason is because the retail version of the software will not pass on a second DHCP request for the router, and will attempt to route using the CM's internal address. They do say " While Comcast will support this modem's connectivity to the Internet, please direct any issues with the router or wireless Internet functionality to the vendor." It will provision, but that's all you'll be able to do (at least as of last summer). Again, this is on Comcast's network. You should really check with TW before you buy it, unless you know you can return it.

Thanks, that was extremely helpful.

A_C