Router and a cable connection

dUnKle · 04-02-2009, 1:25 PM

Friend from work wants to get himself a wireless router so he can have more freedom online

He currently gets his Broadband (along with TV and the like) from Virgin using a cable connection. Because of this I belive he needs a cable router (unlike mine which is a bog standard modem router)

Is the procedure for installing though still the same ?

Think he is going to get a Netgear Netgear WGR614 would this work ?

I take it cable routers work completely differently then to normal ones ?

I have the non cable version of the router mentioned in post 1
For me its

Connect to phone line
Connect my laptop / pc to the router

Run the "auto detect" set-up

Enter my broadband login and password

and thats it

**Iccz** · 04-02-2009, 1:33 PM

Cable router has a RJ45 WAN input instead of ADSL's RJ11

They work the same inside and use the same principles.

Ben · 04-02-2009, 1:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dUnKle

Is the procedure for installing though still the same ?

Pretty similar, yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dUnKle

Think he is going to get a Netgear Netgear WGR614 would this work ?

Yep

The main difference is that rather than connecting the WAN port on his router to the phoneline as you do, he'll connect it to the cable modem that Virgin Media supply. As Iccz mentioned, it requires just a normal network cable with RJ45 connections to connect the two.

dUnKle · 04-02-2009, 1:59 PM

Ah
starting to see now

So he retains his Virgin Modem as he has now and the connects the newly purchased router to this via network cable ?

Would he have to confugure the new routers settings (as I do with mine) or does it just take them off the cable thing ?

Basically he just wants to be able to use his 360 and laptop via wireless

grey fox · 04-02-2009, 2:10 PM

I am with Virgin too, and to use my router with the modem I didn't have to enter any settings at all on the router. However it might be a good idea for your friend to check in the instruction manual for the router to make sure.

One thing that your friend must do though is make sure that he reboots the modem after connecting it to the router and once this is done hopefully he will be sorted.

**Iccz** · 04-02-2009, 2:25 PM

Chances are if he's buying a router it'll come with a modem built in, you might want to just ditch the old modem if the router/modem combo works ok, if not just have the router doing the job of routing, the RJ45 from the modem goes into the uplink port on the router and once DHCP etc is enabled anything connected to the router will be assigned an IP and can connect to the internet via the modem, if you just use the modem/router combo on its own that will connect to the internet and do the local routing.

dUnKle · 04-02-2009, 2:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iccz

Chances are if he's buying a router it'll come with a modem built in, you might want to just ditch the old modem if the router/modem combo works ok, if not just have the router doing the job of routing, the RJ45 from the modem goes into the uplink port on the router and once DHCP etc is enabled anything connected to the router will be assigned an IP and can connect to the internet via the modem, if you just use the modem/router combo on its own that will connect to the internet and do the local routing.

Well he has ordered the Netgear WGR614 so not sure how that leaves him

Never had experiance of cable before, my town dont get it

JonMace · 04-02-2009, 2:35 PM

Cable Routers do not come with a modem built in

He will either have to reactivate the connection (user name and password) on the VM web site or Clone the MAC address of the PC that is currently connected

Ben · 04-02-2009, 2:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iccz

Chances are if he's buying a router it'll come with a modem built in, you might want to just ditch the old modem if the router/modem combo works ok, if not just have the router doing the job of routing, the RJ45 from the modem goes into the uplink port on the router and once DHCP etc is enabled anything connected to the router will be assigned an IP and can connect to the internet via the modem, if you just use the modem/router combo on its own that will connect to the internet and do the local routing.

No chance of ditching the existing cable modem I'm afraid. ADSL/BT modems are designed to be connected to a phoneline & DSL/cable modems connect to the incoming cable (coax). You can't buy routers with DSL/cable modems built-in.

Dunkle, as Grey Fox says, if he just follows the instructions, it should be piece of cake. He'll be up & running within ten minutes

**Iccz** · 04-02-2009, 2:41 PM

Amazon.com: Linksys Wireless-G Cable Gateway (WCG200): Electronics

I'm not much into cable modems etc but that seems to be a Cable modem/router combo?

Ben · 04-02-2009, 2:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iccz

I'm not much into cable modems etc but that seems to be a Cable modem/router combo?

Sorry, I shouldn't have said you can't get them. You can in the U.S. & other countries, but not in the U.K. Even if you could ship one over here, it's against Virgin Media's T&Cs to connect any third party equipment directly to their network.

**Iccz** · 04-02-2009, 2:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben

Sorry, I shouldn't have said you can't get them. You can in the U.S. & other countries, but not in the U.K. Even if you could ship one over here, it's against Virgin Media's T&Cs to connect any third party equipment directly to their network.

Fair enough, i've never had the need to look to much into them, I stand corrected.

**IronGiant** · 04-02-2009, 5:32 PM

As a slight side issue, (hope you don't mind me asking, dunkle) our cable modem is apparently getting a bit flaky in its old age. Do the Virgin V+ boxes have a cable modem built in and if so is it a simple matter to swap over to it?

Dave

Newton's Ring · 04-02-2009, 6:00 PM

I'm a Virgin and I used to have a Netgear WGR614 v4 (58mbps) - worked a treat. I sold it recently and bought another Netgear (I forget which model) - 108mbps - it seems faster and the range is noticably better (the 614 wasn't great for range).

I've done installs for others on a BT line (via various 3rd parties) before and find the cable versions much easier, troublefree and easily swappable whereas with an ADSL line you might run into problems if you want to upgrade the modem (MAC address probs).

Ned Senior · 04-02-2009, 6:15 PM

Hi I had cable for about ten years.. as long as you have a dedicated cable router you take ethernet out from the virgin modem to the ethernet IN on the router then there are usually 4 ports to connect other ethernet cables to your pc's and ps3's etc. also there are wireless versions available which still have the 4 ports out BUT also can connect wirelessley some models are more easy than others to set up via wireless getting the pc's to connect with wep/wap encryption to keep your network secure from bandwidth thieves and spies
I had a linksys and it was a bitch it kept dropping the connection to the wireless pc!!!
Much prefer a wired network personally but then my flat is not massive and was easy to setup although my son has a imac and ps3 connected wireless to the modem router that o2 sent out when I jumped off wirgin and went to adsl

Ben · 04-02-2009, 6:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IronGiant

As a slight side issue, (hope you don't mind me asking, dunkle) our cable modem is apparently getting a bit flaky in its old age. Do the Virgin V+ boxes have a cable modem built in and if so is it a simple matter to swap over to it?

Hi Dave. IIRC, the V+ does have an integrated modem, but the firmware on the V+ doesn't allow you to use it. I'd suggest giving faults a call & get them to send a replacement modem. Bearing in mind you rent the equipment, it should be FOC. My remote stopped working recently & they sent one no probs

DVD-Man · 05-02-2009, 7:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iccz

Amazon.com: Linksys Wireless-G Cable Gateway (WCG200): Electronics

I'm not much into cable modems etc but that seems to be a Cable modem/router combo?

I've got one of these and it is indeed an all in one solution but it's only configured to pick up US Broadband!

The UK will seem some to the end of this year, I am desperate to get one, you can get one right now from the US, search Ebay for Surf board motorola and look for one with an etc little bit sticking out the top, that will do Eurodocsis but is about £100 to get and ship over here.

Liam

benwillcox · 05-02-2009, 10:03 PM

I'd advise ringing Virgin and get a price for a wireless router through them, friend of mine just got a Netgear wireless router via Virgin for £7.50 due to him already having Virgin cable, so cheaper than buying the router from a normal retailer.

Cheers,
Ben

Ben · 06-02-2009, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DVD-Man

The UK will seem some to the end of this year, I am desperate to get one, you can get one right now from the US, search Ebay for Surf board motorola and look for one with an etc little bit sticking out the top, that will do Eurodocsis but is about £100 to get and ship over here.

Out of curiosity - what are the benefits of having a combined cable modem/router, apart from neatness?

Cyland101 · 06-02-2009, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IronGiant

As a slight side issue, (hope you don't mind me asking, dunkle) our cable modem is apparently getting a bit flaky in its old age. Do the Virgin V+ boxes have a cable modem built in and if so is it a simple matter to swap over to it?

Dave

I had issues with my Virgin cable modem just after new year with intermittent connectivity problems. I called support and the support person said that he would ship one out to me. 1 week later it never arrived, so I called again and spoke to a different chap. He basically gave me the option on having another one sent out or to get a engineer to come round the next day. I booked the engineer, he came round on-time, and swapped it out with the comment that my cable modem was way old.... (i had that one for 8+ years)

So I guess what I am saying is get the engineer round as they carry spare modems with them.