kekss,

You may be encountering an interoperability problem between Comcast and the TrueMobile 2300. There are several long threads regarding the problem, but as of now it's unresolved.

When you connect your laptop directly to the cable modem, the laptop should not need to have a static IP address configured. In fact, that will likely lead to problems if the cable system assigns a different IP address (via DHCP) to the connection than the one that's statically configured. It's not possible to determine the gateway address without knowing how the cable system itself is configured.

When a different device is connected to a cable modem, the cable system needs to detect the new device. In this case, you've switched from the TM2300 to your laptop. The 8600's Ethernet adapter should be configured to "Obtain an IP address automatically". After that's done, shut down the 8600. Then power the cable modem down for about five minutes, then power it back up and wait until it has successfully established its connection with the cable network. Then restart the 8600. That should register the 8600's Ethernet interface as the device connected to the cable system.

One of the workarounds suggested for this problem involves placing the values displayed by "ipconfig /all" after a successful connection to the cable system in the 2300's "Static IP Settings", as described in this section of the 2300 manual. That's pretty risky if the cable system (is it Comcast?) is using DHCP.

So far, Dell and Comcast have not resolved this problem satisfactorily. Some people are purchasing routers from other vendors, and others are using the fix described above, hoping that Dell and/or Comcast will eventually resolve the problem.

Jim

Can you post the output of "ipconfig /all"? That can be done by opening a cmd.exe window (Start/Run cmd.exe). In the window that opens, type ipconfig /all. Select all the output that results, and post the output into a reply. It sounds like you may not be getting an IP address from Comcast's network.

Jim

Jim,

First, thanks for the advice.

However, I followed your instructions, and still no connection.

The cable modem has all the lights on  - Power; Receive; Send; Online and PC Activity blinking.

The little connection icon on the laptop says - Local Area Connection Speed: 100.0 Mbps

When I go to Local Area Connection Status -> Support -> and do the Repair function then it brings up the following message: The following steps of the repair operation failed: Renewing the IP address. Please contact your network administrator or ISP.

When I do ipconfig command it gives me IP address; Subnet Mask but Default Gateway line is blank. The first line - Connection-specific DNS Suffix is blank, too.

Thanks again,

John

And yes it's Comcast cable.

John

See below.

I very much appreciate your help.

John

 

 

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name : kekss

Primary Dns Suffix :

Node Type : Hybrid

IP Routing Enabled : Yes

WINS Proxy Enabled : No

 

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix :

Description : Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller

Physical Address : 00-0D-56-35-93-95

Dhcp Enabled : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled : Yes

Autoconfiguration IP Address : 169.254.156.189

Subnet Mask : 255.255.0.0

Default Gateway :

 

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State : Media disconnected

Description : Dell TrueMobile 1400 Dual Band WLAN Mini-PCI Card

Physical Address : 00-90-4B-17-F7-DA

I can ping the ip 169.254.156.189

I get 100% sent ; received.

Thanks

Unfortunately, what the "ipconfig" output means is that the Ethernet adapter is unable to receive an IP address from the cable system, and so XP is "autoassigning" the IP address 169.254.156.189. The reason there's no gateway is that autoassigned IP addresses cannot be routed.

So we need to determine whether the problem is the cable modem itself, the network cable connecting the PC to the cable modem, or the Broadcom 10/100 integrated controller in the PC. Do you have another network cable you can try? I'm not familiar with the way the LEDs for network activity on the 8600 look, but there are often two LEDs, one indicating the connection speed, and another showing traffic on the connection. Do both of those appear normal? XP sees the cable as connected, so I suspect the LED indicating connection speed will be lit.

If replacing the Ethernet cable doesn't solve the problem, I think contacting Comcast Support would be the next step. There may be a problem with the cable modem, since both the 2300 and the onboard Ethernet adapter are failing in the same way (unable to receive an IP address from the cable system).

How long did you leave the cable modem powered off?

The third possibility is that the Broadcom 10/100 integrated controller has failed. You might try running any diagnostics that are provided by Dell for that device. A relatively inexpensive experiment would be to obtain a 10/100 PCMCIA Ethernet adapter, and see if that works.

Jim

Jim,

I've tried another cable.

I've also tried connecting via USB port.

When I run test on Broadcom Advanced Control Suite, the test on On Chip CPU - this test verifies the operation of the two internal CPUs in the network controller, the test fails. The other components pass the test.

LEDs appear to be normal.

When rebooting the cable modem I usually leave it off for at least 5 minutes.

Could I also try somebody's else cable modem?

My Internet connection first failed a few weeks ago when I came back from a few days trip, then I managed the wireless connection to get working. Last week I left for four days again, and now again I can not get it going. In short, it looks that the connection fails when I don't use the laptop and Internet for couple of days.

Thanks a lot,

John

John,

The data seems to be pointing at the cable modem. I don't know what the partial failure of the Broadcom diagnostic means, but the fact that a USB connection fails in the same way suggests we should focus on the cable modem itself.

If you can borrow another one that's the same model as yours, that would certainly help clarify this puzzle! I wonder if Comcast has any way of remotely testing the modem.

Jim

Why is it important to have exactly the same modem make?

It shouldn't be, as long as all of them are compatible with the same level of DOCSIS specifications. The suggestion was mainly an attempt to avoid introducing any more variables into the situation.

Jim

Thank you Jim,

Why is it important to have exactly the same modem make?

I'll try to get another modem tonight,

Thanks,

John

Nevermind, I'll be able to get exactly the same make model tonight.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks a lot.

John