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<p class=MsoNormal>Because of recent conversations on this list about comcast versus
world, I feel compelled to tell this story:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I have a friend, who is very computer proficient. He
called me up to talk about an IP address conflict on his home network. He
told me he has comcast, and he has access to login to the comcast router, and
the router is configured to give out IP addresses via DHCP, and the dynamic
range is from 192.168.0.10 to 192.168.0.14. So they only give you 5 IP
addresses, and if you try to connect a 6th computer, you can't. You get
an IP conflict, and somebody gets booted off the network.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I told him, "Well, why don't you just change the
dynamic range?" He said you can't. He said he spent hours on
the phone with comcast, and they told him "Call netgear." I
couldn't believe him. So he initiated a screen sharing session, and
showed me. We considered flashing a nonstandard firmware onto the comcast
router ... which seemed risky ... I suggested maybe looking up the
factory reset for the router. He said he already did that, and it just
resets to Comcast factory condition.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>He's got a home server, a printer, two laptops, and two
desktops. He can't use them all at the same time. Nevermind, god
forbid, he should have anything like vonage, or a PDA, or a couple of teenage
children with computers.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>We concluded there's only one possible solution: He
needs to buy another router, and hook the outside of his new router to the
inside of the comcast router.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>We concluded there is one, and precisely one, possible
reason for comcast to be stingy with the 192.168.x.x IP addresses. They're
just being d**ks and there is no other possible explanation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Oh - Get this - While all his other computers and stuff were
on, and his laptop had an IP conflict which was preventing him from starting
his screen sharing session ... I suggested that he just assign himself a
static IP address, 192.168.0.15. He did this. He could ping the
gateway. But he could not ping outside the gateway. So in addition
to the dynamic range being pathetically small, they also apply a filter to
prevent you from using any static IP outside of the dynamic range. D**ks.<o:p></o:p></p>
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