You have a Desktop PC and a laptop at home, your cable company provides you with a free modem to connect to the Internet, that leaves you with no wireless laptop internet connection (WiFi). So lets say you are somewhat competent and you understand the way things work in this world, you don't want to connect your modem to a router then have the router connect to the computers which should get Internet access, this causes unnecessary clutter and more wires to have around.- Instructions
- First you purchase something called a wireless cable modem gateway.
- Next you connect this wireless cable modem gateway to the cable outlet on the wall, or perhaps you have cable and have a splitter, just connect it there then.
- Read your installation guide/cd for your wireless cable modem gateway and follow the instructions sequentially.
- Afterward, make sure your wireless modem is connected to your PC by ethernet cord and powered on, you will want to restart the pc and the modem when this is correct.
- Next, try to access a web page, you may see a message that says you must give "an agent mac address" or media access control address, this is an Internet installation page, basically it says to call your cable company and let them know the MAC address of the wireless cable modem gateway so they can register it on their network so you can have access to the Internet from your own purchased Wireless modem/router.
- Finally, call your cable company's customer support number and tell them you bought your own modem and would like to use your own instead of theirs, make sure you tell them you would like to use the one you purchased rather than the one they want to lease you, make up some excuse or just say you don't like their modem for various reasons...
- They will try to talk you out of it, they'll try to get you to change your mind and just use theirs. Do not let them change your mind, they may sound convincing and they will surely say things that will make you feel a bit pressured, regardless of what they tell you.. Let them know you bought your own modem and you want to use it, tell them you'll return the one they provided you and all will be fine.
- The technician or professional on the other side of the phone will ask you for a MAC address, give him/her the Wireless modem's HFC MAC ID located underneath the modem, they will ask you to do restarts and what not.. do them.
- Finally, once they set up your modem on their network, you should have Internet access. Congratulations, you just saved money on your cable bill!
When you have standard internet from your internet provider it is okay, but when you want wireless, they will usually slap a fee on to your account monthly, this fee is usually $10-$12 extra. That's just for wanting to have wireless from your provider.
You don't need to pay them $10 for this, that is hysterical. You can invest your own money in a $100+ wireless cable modem gateway which acts as both a standard cable modem and router (for Wireless Internet).
I recommend if you're interested in this and saving money that you follow the steps above and purchase a Motorola SBG900 this thing might be pricey ($141.00) but it sure is worth it, this way no matter what internet provider you choose you can use your own modem and have wireless free of charge since your provided it yourself and this takes out the $10/mo for wireless, and the $50 installation fee (since you did it yourself).
When you think about it, setting up a modem or wireless modem or router really isn't difficult and even a well educated 7th grader with a manual can set it up in a snap.
Another tip is, don't be rude to the technician on the phone be as nice as can be, but be sure to let them know you want to use your own modem, the one I mentioned above works just fine and comes with a CD with automatic setup, if you buy it be sure to install it first.
Remember there's always ways to save money and sometimes it just takes someone with a little bit a knowledge and courage to find it.
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