SETTING UP LINUX ON COMCAST CABLE MODEM INTERNET SERVICE



2003, September 29


COMCAST uses dhcp server.  My environment is Debian GNU/Linux Woody with dhcp-client package installed.


The RCA Cable Modem's MAC address from Comcast is used for identifying the customer. It is good in that sense that it does not matter which computer you are going to hook to the cable modem,  unlike AT&T broadband, which you had to specifically assign NIC MAC address for the internet service.)


Change the /etc/network/interfaces

#vi /etc/network/interfaces
--------------------------------------------
#eth0 section

auto eth0
ifup eth0 inet dhcp
-------------------------------------------

Then run /sbin/dhclient

#/sbin/dhclient


It takes a while to obtain IP address, DNS, and domain name.

I got

    my IP address            You can see from run ifconfig command.

    attbi.com                    You can take a look at /etc/resolv.conf

    two DNS servers IP    You can take a look at /etc/resolv.conf


OK. Now you have to use browser.  You have to setup your proxy server setting to access SAS server from former AT&T:
SAS server might be very specific to your area. It is the best to contact your regional Comcast support.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Q: What is SAS server?  A: This page will be very helpful to understand. Search the google group for

                AT&T Technical Support [ATTBI]
                Provisioning Your Cable Modem (Official)
                from Newsgroups:comp.dcom.modems.cable
                Date:2001-12-21 19:44:12 PST
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway proxy setting is following:

http              sas.r1.attbi.com           port 8000        # I am in Oregon..
https            sas.r1.attbi.com           port 8000
no proxy :    127.0.0.1, localhost, *.r1.attbi.com


IMPORTANT INFO!

I tried  Mozilla.  it did not even connect to the sas server......
I tried Galeon.  it reached SAS server, and I could go to Contract page but then timed out every time I clicked next button. It should connect to oai.comcast.com.  I struggled several hours.
Then Konqueror did not worked at all.
Then OPERA ( free version ) did magic!

you have to fill in your subscriber number in account number section.

you have to fill in the last 9 digit of subscriber number in confirmation section

    direct you to next page

You will be prompted to check your address and name

    direct you to next page

Then you are prompted to agree the contract page and click next

    Then you are going to be directed to Comcast page

 to fill out user name and password and so on. After everything is agreed by you and finished, then you will be asked to reset cable modem by clicking a link on the screen. And restart computer. In Linux, it is sufficient to restart network.

#/etc/init.d/networking restart

You should be on business.  

Now I checked /etc/resolv.conf, telling me that domain name is now comcast.net

I like to express my thanks to a very kind tech in Comcast who helped me a lot over Linux setting, even Linux setup is not supported in Comcast. 


References:

http://web.brandeis.edu/pages/view/Bio/ComcastInternet

http://micha.bloki.com/index.jsp?name=comcastLinux

AT&T Technical Support [ATTBI]
Provisioning Your Cable Modem (Official)
from Newsgroups:comp.dcom.modems.cable
Date:2001-12-21 19:44:12 PST