using cable away from home?

Geminiwave · Sep 18, 2005, 10:35 PM

yo I'm going on a trip not too far from here. Just eastern washington. Anyway I kinda need to be able to check my email a few times while im down there and I thought "why cant I just bring the cable modem along?"

well then I thought that this might not work, but I decided I'd ask.

Anyone know if it'd work? They get comcast cable at the cabin I'm staying at (just not cable internet)

Yousaif · Sep 18, 2005, 11:17 PM

Short answer is maybe, but most likely not.

Cable modems are provisioned for specific CMTS areas. If the location you are going is in the same area as your home, there's a fair chance it would work. If not, you would be out of luck.

If you are staying in a hotel, then there is a good chance they would have a hotspot or a LAN in the hotel that you can connect with. If not, a cheap dial up may be your best recourse.

SFOSOK · Sep 19, 2005, 01:54 AM

hell, might as well try

swimtech · Sep 19, 2005, 02:52 AM

The cable company knows and tracks each cable modem - best to call them and ask about the location you'll be visiting GW... If the cable to the cabin is not blocking certain bands (and I'm not certain which band or bands the data portion is transmitted/recieved on) they should be able to provide you service there.

Edit: The cable company can use any unused cable channel up to about 750 Mhz. The quick and dirty of it here:

"...Typically, a cable modem sends and receives data in two slightly different fashions. In the downstream direction, the digital data is modulated and then placed on a typical 6 MHz television channel, somewhere between 50 MHz and 750 MHz. Currently, 64 QAM is the preferred downstream modulation technique, offering up to 27 Mbps per 6 MHz channel. This signal can be placed in a 6 MHz channel adjacent to TV signals on either side without disturbing the cable television video signals."

The cable company is probably free to choose which unused channel it wants to make the download channel on, and the upload channel is on a different channel lower ( according to the above document I cut from...) in frequency.

Geminiwave · Sep 19, 2005, 07:28 AM

cool so we got down that its theoretically possible. Now I gotta find out of Comcast is down with that. I'm betting not, but on the other hand one of my friends moved recently about 20 miles away and he took his cable modem with him. He didnt have to call comcast or anything. Just plugged it in and hes good.

Then again I'm not just going 20 miles away. I'm going a bit farther.

BWX · Sep 19, 2005, 07:39 AM

It could be that 2 blocks away doesn't use the same CMTS... and that 10 miles away uses the same one depending on where the area is..

When I moved to my current apartment - 10 miles away from my previous one, I did not have to cancel my account with Adelphia because it was close enough.. but I did have to re-provision my modem. Before that, when I moved to the apartment I had before that- I had to cancel my account and get a new one.

What you could do is when you get there- try it out. If you need to re-provision, maybe Comcast has that automatic system like Adelphia where you just bring up IE6 (or any browser) and type in you account # and info and your modem will automatically be provisioned.

I just got as new modem and had to do that. -- or if it doesn't work, maybe just call them up and ask them to provision it for you there.. Who knows- they might do it? Then wen you get back home call them up again and tell them you need to re-provision your modem because it lost it's file somehow.. And it will work again. It is worth a try.. you never know, it might work without doing anything.

Geminiwave · Sep 19, 2005, 08:43 PM

well they told me that it was entirely 100% impossible and that there was NO WAY to do what I wanted to do.

it seemed alittle TOO firm a statement for me, buuut I dont think I'll get a different response.

riles9262 · Sep 19, 2005, 09:47 PM

They just don't want you to try, and you will get the same response from their agents I'm sure. To my knowledge, there's no special provisioning for comcast, just provisioning the modem mac id to the specific cmts area. Give it a try, the worst that will happen is a flashing cable light

Yousaif · Sep 19, 2005, 09:50 PM

Just if it doesn't work, don't try and make it work.

**dj_stick** · Sep 19, 2005, 11:44 PM

Gemini: did your modem come wih a setup disc from your ISP that sets up the connections correctly? My ISP gave me a disk that allows me to load it up, input all my details about my account and all, and then it sets the modem up automatically.

Yousaif · Sep 20, 2005, 12:18 AM

I work for a cable ISP. When our modems are provisioned by the account number it sets them up in the geographic area that is denoted by the account number. The reason I said that he shouldn't try to get it to work if it doesn't on the first try there is a pretty good chance (90%+) that it won't work, period.

Sep 18, 2005, 10:35 PM	#1
Geminiwave I Have lovely Breasts Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: In the closet... Posts: 5,395 Rep Power: 63	using cable away from home? yo I'm going on a trip not too far from here. Just eastern washington. Anyway I kinda need to be able to check my email a few times while im down there and I thought "why cant I just bring the cable modem along?" well then I thought that this might not work, but I decided I'd ask. Anyone know if it'd work? They get comcast cable at the cabin I'm staying at (just not cable internet) __________________

Sep 19, 2005, 01:54 AM	#3
SFOSOK 939 Goin Strong Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Ontario Posts: 7,033 Rep Power: 90 System Specs	hell, might as well try __________________ Warning - Explicit Content Preceeding METAL!!

Sep 19, 2005, 02:52 AM	#4
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	The cable company knows and tracks each cable modem - best to call them and ask about the location you'll be visiting GW... If the cable to the cabin is not blocking certain bands (and I'm not certain which band or bands the data portion is transmitted/recieved on) they should be able to provide you service there. Edit: The cable company can use any unused cable channel up to about 750 Mhz. The quick and dirty of it here: "...Typically, a cable modem sends and receives data in two slightly different fashions. In the downstream direction, the digital data is modulated and then placed on a typical 6 MHz television channel, somewhere between 50 MHz and 750 MHz. Currently, 64 QAM is the preferred downstream modulation technique, offering up to 27 Mbps per 6 MHz channel. This signal can be placed in a 6 MHz channel adjacent to TV signals on either side without disturbing the cable television video signals." The cable company is probably free to choose which unused channel it wants to make the download channel on, and the upload channel is on a different channel lower ( according to the above document I cut from...) in frequency. __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it. Last edited by swimtech; Sep 19, 2005 at 03:06 AM. Reason: Quick research on cable frequencies...

Sep 19, 2005, 07:28 AM	Thread Starter #5
Geminiwave I Have lovely Breasts Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: In the closet... Posts: 5,395 Rep Power: 63	cool so we got down that its theoretically possible. Now I gotta find out of Comcast is down with that. I'm betting not, but on the other hand one of my friends moved recently about 20 miles away and he took his cable modem with him. He didnt have to call comcast or anything. Just plugged it in and hes good. Then again I'm not just going 20 miles away. I'm going a bit farther. __________________

Sep 19, 2005, 07:39 AM	#6
BWX unplugged Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,669 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	It could be that 2 blocks away doesn't use the same CMTS... and that 10 miles away uses the same one depending on where the area is.. When I moved to my current apartment - 10 miles away from my previous one, I did not have to cancel my account with Adelphia because it was close enough.. but I did have to re-provision my modem. Before that, when I moved to the apartment I had before that- I had to cancel my account and get a new one. What you could do is when you get there- try it out. If you need to re-provision, maybe Comcast has that automatic system like Adelphia where you just bring up IE6 (or any browser) and type in you account # and info and your modem will automatically be provisioned. I just got as new modem and had to do that. -- or if it doesn't work, maybe just call them up and ask them to provision it for you there.. Who knows- they might do it? Then wen you get back home call them up again and tell them you need to re-provision your modem because it lost it's file somehow.. And it will work again. It is worth a try.. you never know, it might work without doing anything. __________________

Sep 19, 2005, 08:43 PM	Thread Starter #7
Geminiwave I Have lovely Breasts Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: In the closet... Posts: 5,395 Rep Power: 63	well they told me that it was entirely 100% impossible and that there was NO WAY to do what I wanted to do. it seemed alittle TOO firm a statement for me, buuut I dont think I'll get a different response. __________________

Sep 19, 2005, 09:47 PM	#8
riles9262 Driverheaven brewmaster Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 4,842 Rep Power: 72 System Specs	They just don't want you to try, and you will get the same response from their agents I'm sure. To my knowledge, there's no special provisioning for comcast, just provisioning the modem mac id to the specific cmts area. Give it a try, the worst that will happen is a flashing cable light __________________ A beer a day keeps the doctor away.