[P1] Networking Across the Street

[albookuser at Phreaker.net]

On 6/10/04 5:41 AM, "Dave Wyman" <davewyman at imountainman.com> wrote:

> Jean-Paul wrote:
> 
>>  There are a finite number
>> of IPv4 addresses out there, and the number of available ones is
>> dwindling.  Therefore, every ISP is going to protect the ones they
>> have, and make sure that every one of them is making them money
> 
> That sounds reasonable to me. But now that Comcast has stopped me from
> using more than one computer on their modem, it wants to charge me to
> network my computers. Comcast wants $5 per month plus a $199
> installation charge. That's for one additional computer, it's $300 for
> 4-5 computers. That doesn't seem as reasonable to me. To rub salt in my
> wounds, Comcast says Macintosh computers aren't supported - whatever
> that means.
> 
Dave:

This is all very puzzling...I'm wondering if each local Comcast entity acts
autonomously or if there is a single Comcast policy covering the entire
country. The reason I wonder is this:

Over spring break I visited a friend who had just moved to the Detroit area
to get her set up with Comcast. The Comcast tech and I talked about the best
place to run the cable for a WiFi base station for the best coverage in the
house. I was amazed to discover that he was quite knowledgeable about WiFi,
routers and the like. At no time did he warn us that Comcast didn't permit
connecting more than one computer via a router and at no time did he try to
sell us additional IP addresses even though he knew we'd be setting up three
computers on the network.

I remember talking to Renee before the trip about her various options and I
think every broadband provider in her area offered a wireless package
including the installation of cards and computer configuration. Of course, a
knowledgeable person could do it all much cheaper. Now the caveat is that
the Detroit area is served by multiple broadband suppliers so that local
Comcast provider might have different terms of service in order to compete.
Dunno, but your experience sure sounds strange.

david