StarDestroyer.Net BBS

I'm living with my parents for a few weeks until the contract settles on my house. Thus, I'm trying to get my network working with their cable internet. However, I'm really, really tired after three days of packing/moving - I can't even play Guitar Hero properly - so I can't get my head around it.

My parents cablemodem runs dhcp, and my switch and wireless AP are configured for my old network. The only router I've got is a modem/router. I want to patch my network (which is already working again) into their cable. I've got a cablem modem, a switch, a wireless AP, an ADSL modem/router and half a dozen computers. Help a brother out!

PS I don't want to interrupt my parent's network.

What exactly do you want to do ? If you just want to hook up the 1/2 dozen computers, plug one port on the switch into theirs, and the rest to the computers?

Their cable modem requires my parents computer to be on DHCP, which means crazy ips and no secondary ip. I'm not reconfiguring all the puters to be on the Telstra cable network as that'd probably cause problems, and I don't have a router to control traffic between them. I figure I'll have to throw another net adapter into my parents machine and use it as a router between my network and their cable. Your solution would result in a bunch of networked computers and no net access for any of them.

Since you're not Australian, you won't know about the DEVIL nature of Telstra. The motorola cable modem has been flashed with Telstra-specific firmware, and now it can only connect when prompted by Telstra dial software on a single computer (ie, my parents'). You can't html into the cable modem anymore. The dial software is specifically designed to make it difficult/impossible to share the connection, because Telstra are fuckers.

I've added a network card, so my parents puter has one connected to the cable modem (for dialing etc) and another connected to my switch. Buggered if I can remember how to route in windows, though. Does windows have route tables?

You mean the cable modem isn't constantly connected to the Internet? Jesus christ.

What I'm thinking the best solution might be is to find a really cheap computer (classifieds, or ask your friends if they know anyone with a spare old box they want to get rid of, or ebay?), throw two network cards in it, install Linux, and make the cheap-box a router.

If the dial-software is Windows-only (which wouldn't surprise me although I'd wonder at the business insanity of slicing out every Mac user out there) then that'd sabotage my little plan... you could still pull it off via Internet Connection Sharing (on Win98SE or newer), I suppose, but I've heard bad things about ICS.

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Addendum since you've posted since my preview: what you're looking for is called "Internet Connection Sharing". It's not very configurable, but if you're desperate, it should work.

No, the modem is... it seems...but you've got to poke it with Telstra dial-service. It's fucking shit, but I can't html or telnet into the modem to make it behave and handle the shit itself. Like I said, Telstra wants to make sure you've only got one puter behind the modem, so they make you run a shitfaced little dialer, which monopolises that network interface. GRRRRR.

ICS won't work because it'll want the interface set to 192.168.0.1, won't it? That'll fuck up the modems DHCP. I know there are proper route tables in windows somewhere... but I've got a fucking headahce and I can't find them.

Which version of Windows are you running?

XP on all. If the modem handled the connection itself, or didn't demand DHCP on the local interface, it'd be trivial. But Telstra are cunts and I can't work it out because I'm too tired.

It occurs to me that there should be win32 software that handles non-ICS routing demands, but buggered if I can find it with googling.

EDIT - Bah, there's a default route to the modem's ip that uses the other interface, that'll never work. It's first in the table too. BAH.

Stark wrote:No, the modem is... it seems...but you've got to poke it with Telstra dial-service. It's fucking shit, but I can't html or telnet into the modem to make it behave and handle the shit itself. Like I said, Telstra wants to make sure you've only got one puter behind the modem, so they make you run a shitfaced little dialer, which monopolises that network interface. GRRRRR.

This is precisly the reason why when my parents were looking to switch to Teslta broadband from optus (for a pitance saving of like $5 a month) I flatly told them 'no and HELL no'.

Heartbeat my ass...

Yeah, and they even try it for their ADSL services too. I just sell modems that are also routers and refuse to flash them with the fucking Telstra firmware. It's pretty funny that using that Telstra setup CD basically makes your modem a paperweight that only works with Telstra. BAH!

The only thing I've ever got working like that on a teltra cable setup was with one of the Linksys WRT series routers. They have an inbuilt telstra cable client. I think that there are other routers that support the client software as well, so you may want to check the latest firmware for your router and see if it adds that functionality.

Then it's just a standard NAT setup on your side of the router.

EDIT: I do have a client that has 3 pcs behind the router, with telstra none the wiser

Hrm, interesting (did some googling), what other routers w/ reflashable firmware... stick OpenWRT + BPALogin to circumvent restrictions...http://bpalogin.sourceforge.net/index.php?page=index
(it appears this will also run on Windows... hrm...)
Can't you reflash them back in a fashion similar to debricking a botched flash?


ICS will work- you can change the IP after it changes it to 192.168.0.1 - also that interfaces is supposed to be the one facing your internal network, not the one connected to the modem.

Yeah I tried ICS already, and it doesn't seem to pass traffic properly. I can't ping the modem interface from the other one. BAH.

If I reflash the modem with Motorola-standard bios, I don't think it will work with Telstra at all, since they demand a 'heartbeat' provided by the dialer soft. I'm looking into the BPALogin thing though, I'll see what happens.

This really shouldn't be a problem, but I'm totally trashed. Thanks for everyone's patience.

EDIT - Ho ho, my parents don't even know their login password. There goes THAT idea.

If your modem's firmware has a "Telstra Cable" option then it should be ok with the heartbeat server.

I can only speak for the WRT range though, I haven't used any other routers with a telstra cable connection.