I have a highly perplexing problem, and only 1 solution, and a bizarre one at that.

"Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man" (jordaneer1)
10/11/2014 at 20:27 • Filed to: None

So I'm tech support for my family (my mom and me, and sometimes my aunt) and our internet hasn't been working lately, (Time Warner Cable in northern Idaho). We have a really old cable modem, a motorola surfboard sb4100, which if you look up the manual, has references to windows 98, 95 and windows me !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

(Yes I know its old, and we need to upgrade, but we haven't) we also have a belkin wireless n 150 router.

And as I mentioned, the interent been highly unreliable lately, but strangely my computer works perfectly fine when plugged straight into it via ethernet (its a 2011 windows 7 gateway nv laptop with 6 gb of ram, i3 dual core sandy bridge 2.1 gHz processor, and a gigantic 17.3 inch screen, which is wonderful for school). its outdated, but less so than the modem.

but when I plug in my moms computer, (a 2009 or 2010 (I don't remember which) 27 inch iMac with 4 gb of ram and a quad core 1st gen i5 thats like 2.8 ghz or something along those lines and it has Snow Leopard on it) it refuses to connect, even when plugged straight into the modem via ethernet, and so I can't figure out what the problem is.

So the temporary solution until a better one is found is that I have the ethernet cord plugged straight into my computer, and I am running a program al-a connectify style (virtual router plus) and so even though the cable modem is directly next to my moms iMac and the router, there is a 20 ft ethernet cord running to my computer, and her computer is running off of the wifi signal of my computer.

If you guys have any suggestions (other than get a new router and modem, my mother doesn't want to spend money unless its necessary and I have very little money at the present moment). PLEASE HELP!!!!

DISCUSSION (23)

Steve in Manhattan > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
10/11/2014 at 20:40

OK - we live in NYC, and we got a letter (on paper!) from TWC today telling us we'd get 6 times faster internet. All we had to do was request a self-installed new modem, and all would be well. Don't know about N. Idaho, but maybe call the cable company and see if they'll upgrade your modem for free. I've had very few complaints about internet speed, but GF keeps reminding me she's been to Japan and S. Korea and their internet speeds are WAAAAAAAY faster than ours. Like 20 times faster. So I have to keep up.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Steve in Manhattan
10/11/2014 at 20:44

what I have wanted to do, which I don't know how much this would cost, is our city (a college town of 25000) installed a fiber optic ring around the city, and if you go for the highest tier, you can get internet speeds of 100 mbps which is faster than our (really lousy 1 mbps up and down, and no thats not a typo, its 1 megabit up, and 1 megabit down).

Diesel > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
10/11/2014 at 20:45

Sorry all I can recommend is a new modem and router. I upgraded to a Motorola modem and an Apple AirPort Extreme and it's changed my outlook to Comcast Internet. I can reset the modem from my pc, iPhone or tablet. And the router is rock solid. Does Time Warner require PPoE?

DrScientist > Steve in Manhattan
10/11/2014 at 20:45

right, me too. but i think its because we rent our modems. not sure if thats the case in idaho. they told me i just have to bring in my old one in exchange for a newer model, no charge. or schedule an in home service. neither of which i've done.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Diesel
10/11/2014 at 20:46

nope, its dchp luckily, and I don't know if we rent our router or if we own it, if we rent it, I say we totoally need to get a new one.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
10/11/2014 at 20:46

All I can reccomend is a new router. I though they were usually free these days, mine was.

Steve in Manhattan > DrScientist
10/11/2014 at 20:47

Hmmm - our letter said they'd send it to us and let me install it myself. Once I figure out what it is, I should just buy one so they stop charging me rent. Oh, how I hate TWC.

Diesel > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
10/11/2014 at 20:48

Well that makes it easier. Maybe you can flash the firmware on your router. It's been a long time since I was willing to do something like that. I think it's called Tomatoe something. It really sounds like your router is shot and your modem is next.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Diesel
10/11/2014 at 20:51

I don't know if its just a crap router or what, it was the least expensive n router at walmart, but its not 15 years old like the modem is, the router is only around 4 or 5 years old. I can still log in to the router wirelessly, and I tried resetting the firmware, that did nothing, on my moms computer, when i hooked it straight to the modem, it said there was no global IP address, which is not true, I am writing this hooked straight up via ethernet to the said modem.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
10/11/2014 at 20:54

we may rent the modem, but the router we had to buy from walmart.

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
10/11/2014 at 20:55

It could be a driver issue. But that being said, if the modem is as old as you say it is, I doubt youd be able to get the correct drivers. I'd just upgrade the hardware

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
10/11/2014 at 20:56

Hmm my modem and router are one unit and were free to keep.

Diesel > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
10/11/2014 at 20:56

Well if I was you, I would flash the router with a custom build. Then call the cable company to get a new router. If they are charging you monthly for it, you are stupid not to get your own. I got my Motorola Surfboard for around 80 and it only took 10 months to cover the cost that I was paying out in rental fees.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Diesel
10/11/2014 at 21:01

I think we own it, but even my mother doesn't know. I totally agree, we need to buy a new one nonetheless.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
10/11/2014 at 21:03

my thoughts exactly, we don't have comcast, but as I was googling the model, the end of life for comcast for this modem was january of 2008, or it was totally outdated SIX YEARS AGO!!!

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
10/11/2014 at 21:05

Wow, you get your mom to realize she needs new modem yet?

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
10/11/2014 at 21:07

I haven't shown that to her yet, but it may be a good tactic.

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
10/11/2014 at 21:09

Indeed it is

Diesel > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
10/11/2014 at 21:09

I know it may seem expensive, but once you figure out what the amoritization costs are, it is much cheaper to own your equipment and replace it as needed. Sorry I don't have a magical solution. It is just a real problem with your gear. You can ask me for help in selecting equipment, whenever you're ready.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Diesel
10/11/2014 at 21:14

I think the suggestion of if it goes bad, which it obviously already has, we can save enough money to buy a new one every year if need be.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
10/11/2014 at 21:21

Upgrade her to Mavericks. It's completely free, and some intermittent connectivity issues I was having with my mid-2011 iMac (the base model, 21.5", 2.5GHz i5, 4GB ram, since upgraded to 20GB because Solidworks, running Lion but now running Mavericks and Win 8.1) went away.

If that fails, call your ISP. They should be more than happy to come help you actually get the service your mom paid for. If they need to replace their crappy boxes, they'll probably do that for free. If they don't, change ISPs because that's ridiculous.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
10/11/2014 at 21:32

the ratings for our local time warner are really lousy, we never have actually used customer service, so I personally cant comment on it. but out of 29 reviews, they have an average rating of 1.1 stars

Diesel > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
10/11/2014 at 23:13

The combo I have, I expect to last at least 5 years.