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Cable modem problem

post #1 of 10
5/1/06 at 11:41pm
Thread Starter 
Cable modem + Comcast problem.

Ok, so my grandfather has a Motorola Surfboard SB4100 cable modem.

Starting today, the only page he can get to is a comcast page (looks fake.. Pixelated logo, etc) that has a download at the bottom. It tells you to disable all antivirus/antispyware/pop-up blocking software you have and click the link. The link is to Http://cdn/downloadable_install_wizard.exe - which I don't trust at all, as I also have Comcast and I haven't gotten this page, and haven't heard of it before. I've unplugged the modem, router, and all PCs for a while, plugged them back in and got no result.

I don't trust the link because there's no domain. This suggests (to me, at least) that there is some sort of software in the modem that is causing the problem. Connecting to a certain IP address or something of that nature.

Has anyone experienced this or have any ideas what to do? I told him he might as well just talk to Comcast about getting a new modem, because he rents it anyway, but I'd rather just fix it. So, any suggestions?
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post #2 of 10
5/1/06 at 11:58pm
If it were me.... I'd put the Comcast guys on it....

Mark
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post #3 of 10
5/2/06 at 12:16am
Sounds like what your grandfather is seeing might be the result of malware on his PC.

To check for this,. try either/both of the following:
1. burn a bootable CD/DVD that has anti-spyware/antivirus software on it and boot from the disk.

2. Try connecting another PC to that cablemodem, like another laptop. See if the problem stays with the original PC or if the new machine sees the same "download-this-highly-suspicious-software" issue.
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post #4 of 10
5/2/06 at 12:17am
Yeah I agree, call comcast. It sounds like your not accessing the network, they need to do setup on your account.
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post #5 of 10
5/2/06 at 12:23am
Yeah, happened to me also, same exact thing.

Turns out the girl that set up my net on the phone forgot to do some registration on my modem. The sys caught it about 5 months later and shut me off. Leaving me at that setup screen (which is legit). Best bet is to call and have them check into it.
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post #6 of 10
5/2/06 at 12:54am
Thread Starter 
For the person who mentioned malware on the pc, this was the first thing I did. I connected to another network with the desktop and it worked fine. I then connected to his network using my sister's laptop. I then connected to the modem directly with the laptop, and got the same thing, ruling out the theory of it being the router.

He's had Comcast for about 3 years. Could they really have not noticed they messed up the setup after that long, and have been to his house about 3 times because of problems?

He's calling tomorrow, so I guess we'll see.
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post #7 of 10
5/2/06 at 2:38am
Just in case, take a screenshot of the page he's getting. Let a tech come out - Comcast doesn't charge for Tech service calls on HSI - and show it to him. He'll tell you if it's legit. But I'm thinking he was infected by someone in the neighborhood passing around a trojan in comcast e-mails.

I had Comcast for years and never had an issue like that before. Hell I even ran 2 modems in the same house and used a load balancing router which gave me 14megs Down and 1.5megs Up for speed. =)
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post #8 of 10
5/2/06 at 3:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkMcK
If it were me.... I'd put the Comcast guys on it....

Mark

Good plan. Maybe get a new IP?
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post #9 of 10
5/2/06 at 9:41am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JaxChris
Just in case, take a screenshot of the page he's getting. Let a tech come out - Comcast doesn't charge for Tech service calls on HSI - and show it to him. He'll tell you if it's legit. But I'm thinking he was infected by someone in the neighborhood passing around a trojan in comcast e-mails.

I had Comcast for years and never had an issue like that before. Hell I even ran 2 modems in the same house and used a load balancing router which gave me 14megs Down and 1.5megs Up for speed. =)

Wow.. Did you pay the subscription fees for both modems, or did you just plug them in and go?
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post #10 of 10
5/2/06 at 10:30am
That Comcast page is legit as I had the same thing when I first started my service with Comcast - it just means that his account is not recognized by Comcast, or the DHCP lease for the IP address is not valid. If you were to download the files, it it would help you set up his account. Or, as others suggested, call Comcast and they can try to ping the cable modem and set everything up remotely. <--- This is the way I would go.
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