Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips: IP addresses

Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips

Intro & Index.

Update history.
Installer issues.
IP addresses
Registration issues.
Network setup. An IP (Internet Protocol) address consists of four decimal
Mobile setup.
numbers in the range 0-255 separated by dots, such as
Cable Modem LEDs.
IP addresses. 62.253.135.64. Every computer on the internet needs a
MAC addresses. unique IP address. For many of the procedures described
Dead connection. elsewhere on this site it is necessary for the user to discover
System updates. and use various IP addresses: the instructions for finding
Network tweaks.
the following IP addresses are listed on this page:
Ethernet issues.
USB issues.
Surfboard tips. ● the (LAN) IP address of the PC;
CM diagnostics. ● the (WAN) IP address of the PC; Updated 2003 Mar 16
CM config file.
CM tech info. ● the IP address of the Default Gateway;
DHCP issues. ● the IP address of the Cable Modem itself;
DNS issues.
● the IP address of the UBR;
Web proxy issues.
Streaming media. ● the IP address(es) of the DNS server(s);
Gaming issues. ● the IP address(es) of the DHCP server(s);
P2P file-sharing.
● the IP address of the transparent web proxy;
SETI@home issues.
Faster web browsing.
Faster downloads.
Simul down/uploads.
Swapping PCs on CM.
PCs sharing CM. What's my IP address?
Simul dialup & CM.
VPN issues.
Time sync. When you connect to the cable network, your PC/Mac is
Virus security. automatically issued with a unique IP address by means of
Firewall security. DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). The public IP
Speed testing. address allocated by DHCP for the cable connection is called
Latency issues.
the WAN address to distinguish it from any private LAN
Traceroute.
Packet loss. addresses you might be using if you have a home LAN. If
FrontPage tips. your PC/Mac is connected directly to the cable modem, with
NTL/ no intervening routers, then its IP address will be the WAN
BY Tech Support. address.

You can discover the (LAN) IP address of your PC/Mac as follows:

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 Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips: IP addresses

● Win9x/ME: click Start, Run, enter the command winipcfg. Use the pull-
down item to select the network interface for the cable modem (rather than
any PPP dial-up). Look for the line IP Address.
● Windows (any version except Win95): open a command prompt window,
type the command ipconfig. Look for the output section related to the
network interface for the cable modem:

2 Ethernet adapter :

IP Address. . . . . . . . . :
213.107.117.246
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . :
213.107.117.254

● Windows XP: Open Control Panel Network Connections, right-click the

network interface for the cable modem and select Properties, click tab
Support. Look for the line IP Address.
● Apple Mac OS 8.x/9.x: Pull down the Apple menu, select Control Panels.
Open the control panel TCP/IP. Look for the line IP address.
● Apple Mac OS X: any of the following:
❍ Pull down the Apple menu, select System Properties, click Network. In
the pull-down Show: select the network interface in use. Click tab
TCP/IP and look for the line IP Address.
❍ Open a Terminal window, type the command ifconfig en0 (where
en0 is the interface in use) and look for the line inet.
❍ Open a Terminal window, type the command ipconfig getifaddr
en0 (where en0 is the interface in use).

What's my WAN IP address?

If your PC/Mac is part of a home LAN behind a NAT router, then the above
procedures will tell you the private LAN address of the PC/Mac, not the public WAN
address allocated to your cable connection. To discover your public WAN
address, visit one of these sites:

● http://www.all-nettools.com/pr.htm (look for line Client IP).

● http://www.broadband-help.com/cm_diagnose.asp?init=1 (look for IP in
section Network).
● http://dnscheck.blueyonder.co.uk:888/cgi-bin/checker.pl

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 Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips: IP addresses

Your NAT router might also have configuration pages or programs which will tell
you the public WAN address. For instance, for the Linksys routers, send your web
browser to http://192.168.1.1/ and click the tab Status:

IP Address: 213.107.117.246
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 213.107.117.254
194.168.4.100
DNS: 194.168.8.100
0.0.0.0
DHCP Remaining Time: 2:47:44

On the NTL cable modem service, the possible in-service IP address ranges are:

● 62.252.xxx.xxx to 62.255.xxx.xxx.
● 80.0.xxx.xxx to 80.7.xxx.xxx.
● 81.96.xxx.xxx to 81.111.xxx.xxx.
● 82.0.xxx.xxx to 82.31.xxx.xxx.
● 213.104.xxx.xxx to 213.107.xxx.xxx.

It is quite normal for one UBR to have more than one IP address range assigned
for customers, and these ranges might be quite different in their leading digits.
When you are allocated a fresh IP address by DHCP, it is as likely to come from
one range as another: a change of IP address range is not a cause for concern.

An IP address of the form 169.254.xxx.xxx is an error condition.

Finding the Default Gateway address

The Default Gateway (or Router) is your link to the internet: your PC will send
IP packets to, and receive IP packets from, the Default Gateway (except when the
packet is to or from another IP address on the same sub-net as yourself, in which
case it goes direct). On a cable network, the Default Gateway address is physically
part of the UBR (head-end).

It is very common for the Default Gateway address to end in .1 or .254, with
the first three parts being the same as the public WAN IP address for the
connection.

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 Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips: IP addresses

If your PC/Mac is connected directly to the cable modem, you can discover the
Default Gateway address of your connection as follows:

● Win9x/ME: click Start, Run, enter the command winipcfg. Use the pull-
down item to select the network interface for the cable modem (rather than
any PPP dial-up). Look for the line Default Gateway.
● Windows (any version except Win95): open a command window, type the
command ipconfig. Look for the output section related to the network
interface for the cable modem:

2 Ethernet adapter :

IP Address. . . . . . . . . :
213.107.117.246
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . :
213.107.117.254

● Windows XP: Open Control Panel Network Connections, right-click the

network interface for the cable modem and select Properties, click tab
Support. Look for the line Default Gateway.
● Apple Mac 8.x/9.x: Pull down the Apple menu, select Control Panels. Open
the control panel TCP/IP. Look for the line Router address.
● Apple Mac OS X: any of the following:
❍ Pull down the Apple menu, select System Properties, click Network. In
the pull-down Show: select the network interface in use. Click tab
TCP/IP and look for the line Router.
❍ Open a Terminal window, type the command ipconfig getoption
en0 router (where en0 is the name of the interface in use).

If your PC is on a home LAN connected via a NAT router to the cable modem, use
the configuration pages or program for the NAT router to discover the Gateway
address. For instance, for the Linksys routers, send your web browser to
http://192.168.1.1/, click the tab Status, and look for the line Default Gateway.
See example above.

Finding the cable modem's address

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 Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips: IP addresses

Most DOCSIS cable modems have two IP addresses:

● a customer-side IP address used on the ethernet/USB socket to which the

user connects;
● an ISP-side IP address used on the CATV socket to which the ISP's network
connects.

The customer-side IP address of a DOCSIS cable modem is normally

192.168.100.1. For 3Com Tailfins with early firmware versions it was
149.112.50.65. Firmware can be automatically updated by your cable operator
down the cable, so by the time you read this, most Tailfins will have been updated
to use the standard address. The 3Com CMX does not have a customer-side IP
address.

The IP address 192.168.100.1 will be present even if no web diagnostics are

offered on that address.

The cable modem IP address 192.168.100.1 is not in the same sub-net as the
user's PC. So, when trying to send to 192.168.100.1, the user PC's IP stack will
normally route the packet to the Default Gateway address at the UBR. Since no
routes exist to the private address 192.168.100.1 (and there are multiple
instances of this IP address on any one CATV segment), the UBR drops the packet.
This would mean that in theory the PC could never talk to the cable modem.
However, the Surfboard, the 3Com Tailfin, and the ntl:home 100/120 are capable
of sniffing the passing traffic through the transparent bridge to intercept any
packets addressed to themselves. This only works when the bridge is open, so the
cable modem diagnostics cannot be read when the cable modem is booting up or
failing to remain in contact with the UBR.

For cable modems other than the Surfboard, Tailfin and ntl:home 100/120, and
for the Surfboard/Tailfin when their bridge is closed, the only way to communicate
with them is:

● reconfigure the PC by disabling DHCP and manually assigning an IP address

192.168.100.xx, where xx is in the range 2-254, sub-net mask
255.255.255.0, and Default Gateway 192.168.100.1. This has the
disadvantage of being incompatible with normal in-service usage; or
● add a secondary IP address to the PC's network interface, leaving the
primary IP address to be allocated by DHCP. The secondary IP address
should be 192.168.100.xx where xx is in the range 2-254, with sub-net
mask 255.255.255.0. The procedure for adding secondary IP addresses
depends on operating system: for Windows 9x/ME it can be done only by

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 Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips: IP addresses

editing the Registry, see http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/

Q156/7/72.asp.

Note that, with the Surfboard and ntl:home 100/120, when the cable modem is
not online to the cable operator's network, it runs an internal DHCP server which
automatically gives the PC an IP configuration on the 192.168.100.xx sub-net to
enable the PC to communicate with the cable modem on 192.168.100.1.

Finding the UBR address

The UBR in fact has more than one IP address. One of the public IP addresses that
it has is the WAN Default Gateway address that is allocated to your PC by your
cable ISP. You should use this Default Gateway address when you wish to request
a service (e.g. time synchronisation) from the UBR.

The other address for the UBR will usually be a private IP address, which will be
the apparent source of IP packets sent from the UBR itself to your PC. You should
use the private IP address for the UBR, for instance, when configuring firewalls to
permit the UBR to send to your PC, or when using the -ubrip option of the
DocsDiag program. To find the private IP address of the interface of the UBR to
which your cable modem is connected, perform a traceroute to anywhere. The
private IP address of the UBR will normally be returned in hop 1 of the traceroute
results:

C:\WINDOWS>tracert www.bbc.co.uk

Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.224.35]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 67 ms 23 ms 22 ms 172.16.231.254
2 17 ms 25 ms 55 ms cam-cam1-a-fa00.inet.ntl.
com [62.253.129.1]
3 22 ms 17 ms 15 ms cam-core-a-pos200.inet.ntl.
com [62.253.128.133]
4 27 ms 28 ms 33 ms gfd-bb-a-atm100-228.inet.
ntl.com [213.105.172.38]
5 61 ms 31 ms 28 ms lng-bb-b-so-700-0.inet.ntl.
com [213.105.172.142]
6 40 ms 44 ms 61 ms linx-ic-2-so-230-0.inet.ntl.

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com [62.253.184.174]
7 46 ms 47 ms 48 ms rt-linx-a.thdo.bbc.co.uk
[195.66.224.103]
8 28 ms 32 ms 30 ms www.bbc.net.uk
[212.58.224.35]

Trace complete.

If you have a home LAN with a NAT router, then in some cases, the NAT router
inserts itself as a new first hop, in which case the IP address of the UBR will be
returned in hop 2:

C:\WINDOWS>tracert www.bbc.co.uk

Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.224.35]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <10 ms <10 ms <10 ms 192.168.123.254

2 67 ms 23 ms 22 ms 172.16.231.254
3 17 ms 25 ms 55 ms cam-cam1-a-fa00.inet.ntl.
com [62.253.129.1]
4 22 ms 17 ms 15 ms cam-core-a-pos200.inet.ntl.
com [62.253.128.133]
5 27 ms 28 ms 33 ms gfd-bb-a-atm100-228.inet.
ntl.com [213.105.172.38]
6 61 ms 31 ms 28 ms lng-bb-b-so-700-0.inet.ntl.
com [213.105.172.142]
7 40 ms 44 ms 61 ms linx-ic-2-so-230-0.inet.ntl.
com [62.253.184.174]
8 46 ms 47 ms 48 ms rt-linx-a.thdo.bbc.co.uk
[195.66.224.103]
9 28 ms 32 ms 30 ms www.bbc.net.uk
[212.58.224.35]

Trace complete.

The Linksys NAT routers are an example of a router which does not insert an
extra hop. The SMC Barricades are an example of a router which does insert an
extra hop. The documentation or setup configuration of the home LAN router will
normally tell you which IP address range it uses, so that it can be recognised in
hop 1 above. Any 192.168.xxx.xxx address in hop 1 is more likely to be a home
router than the UBR. But some home routers (e.g. Apple Airport) use the 10.xxx.
xxx.xxx IP range, which can be confused with a UBR in the same range. When in

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 Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips: IP addresses

doubt, disconnect the router, connect the PC directly to the cable modem, and try
the traceroute again.

The UBR's private IP address is usually one of the following:

● in the range 10.xxx.xxx.zzz (where zzz is 1 or 254)

● in the range 172.yy.xxx.zzz (where yy is in the range 16-31, zzz is 1 or 254).

For original NTL franchises, the UBR will have a private IP address of the form 172.
xx.xxx.254 or 10.xxx.xxx.254; for ex-C&W digital set-top-boxes, it will be of
the form 10.xxx.xxx.1. For Blueyonder, the UBR will have an address of the form
10.xxx.xxx.1.

Why the UBR address is not always the same as the Default
Gateway

Every IP sub-net needs a Default Gateway defined. All IP packets destined for
hosts off the sub-net will be sent to the gateway for routing onwards. If your IP
address is aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd, then the sub-net usually consists of all IP addresses
of the form aaa.bbb.ccc.xxx, where xxx is any number in the range 1 to 254,
and the gateway address could be aaa.bbb.ccc.1 or aaa.bbb.ccc.254. On a
cable system, the gateway will physically be the UBR itself. On a normal ethernet,
one would expect that packets from the gateway to you would show their source
to be the gateway address. But on a cable system, this is not always the case. A
single cable distribution system can host more than 253 customers, and so
requires more than one customer sub-net active on the cable. A single UBR
interface therefore functions as a gateway for more than one customer sub-net,
each of which might be in different IP address ranges. So this single UBR interface
is labelled with more than one IP address. Each of the customer sub-net public
gateway IP addresses are treated as secondary IP addresses for the UBR interface,
which is given a primary IP address in the private range of 10.xxx.xxx.1 or 172.
xx.xxx.254. [This also enables the UBR to serve as the sub-net gateway for the
CATV side of all the cable modems, which also have private 10.xxx.xxx.xxx or
172.xx.xxx.xxx addresses]. The upshot is that when the UBR originates a packet
to an end-user (such as responding to a traceroute probe), the packet shows a
source address of 10.xxx.xxx.1 or 172.xx.xxx.254, which does not appear to be
an address on the end-user's sub-net, although physically it is. This private UBR
address will have the same MAC address as the customer sub-net Default Gateway
addresses have, because all these addresses are on the same physical UBR
interface.

If you traceroute to the gateway, the public gateway IP address will reply.

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 Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips: IP addresses

If you traceroute through the gateway, the UBR's private IP address will reply.

Finding the DNS server address(es)

You can discover your assigned DNS addresses as follows:

● In Win9x/ME, click Start, select Run, type in winipcfg, select the correct
interface for the cable modem connection (not PPP dial-up) and click the
More info button.
● In Windows (all versions except Win95), open a command prompt window
(you might need to make it longer by typing the command mode con,
lines=50) and type the command ipconfig /all (in Windows 2000, the DNS
Servers are listed in the adapter section, not at the top):

Windows 98 IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . : RDHW-B.ntlworld.

com
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . : 194.168.4.100
: 194.168.8.100
Node Type . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
NetBIOS Scope ID. . . . . . :
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . : No
NetBIOS Resolution Uses DNS : No

2 Ethernet adapter :

Description . . . . . . . . : Intel DC21041

PCI Ethernet Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . : 00-60-1D-F6-7E-5C
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . : 213.107.117.246
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . : 213.107.117.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . : 62.253.128.3
Primary WINS Server . . . . :
Secondary WINS Server . . . :
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . : 07 26 01 21:22:01

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 Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips: IP addresses

Lease Expires . . . . . . . :

● Windows XP: Open Control Panel Network Connections, right-click the

network interface for the cable modem and select Properties, click tab
Support, click button Details. Look for the line DNS Servers.
● In Apple Mac OS 8.x/9.x, pull down the Apple menu, click Control
Panels, select TCP/IP. Look for the item Name Server addr. [If
necessary, pull down the Edit menu, select User Mode, and check Basic].
Usually only the primary DNS server will be shown.
● Apple Mac OS X: open a Terminal window, type the command ipconfig
getpacket en0 (where en0 is the interface in use) and look for the line
domain_name_server.

Finding the DHCP server address(es)

You can discover the address of the DHCP server from which your PC/Mac obtains
IP address leases by:

● In Windows, proceed as in Finding the DNS server address(es) above,

reading the DHCP server address instead of the DNS server addresses.
● Windows XP: Open Control Panel Network Connections, right-click the
network interface for the cable modem and select Properties, click tab
Support, click button Details. Look for the line DHCP Server.
● Apple Mac OS 8.x/9.x: use the DHCP Lease tool of IPNetMonitor.
● Apple Mac OS X: open a Terminal window, type the command ipconfig
getoption en0 server_identifier (where en0 is the interface in use).

If the PC/Mac is on a home LAN behind a NAT router, then the DHCP server
address obtained above might be the LAN address of the NAT router itself,
providing a local DHCP service. If you want to discover the WAN DHCP server
address of your ISP when your PC/Mac is on a home LAN:

● Inspect the configuration of your NAT router (but the Linksys does not give
this information);
● With a Surfboard or Tailfin cable modem, the DHCP server address can be
discovered from the cable modem's internal diagnostic web pages: the
Addresses page of the Surfboard, or the Operation Configuration page of
the 3Com Tailfin (not possible with CMX or TeraJet, unless you use the
DocsDiag program with the -vv option).

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With NTL stand-alone cable modems, there was originally just one DHCP server
per region, but there will be a steady conversion to having two DHCP servers per
region, starting in 2002. Each will act as a backup to the other. If you are writing
firewall rules, you need to trust both DHCP servers. You can find the address of
one of them by the procedures above. To find the address of the other:

● Take the known DHCP server IP address as found above, and look up its
DNS name: the result should look something like dhcpN-XXXX.server.ntli.
net where:
❍ XXXX is a region code of 3 or 4 letters;
❍ N is either 1 or 2.
● In that DNS name, alter the N field to its other possible value, then look up
the IP address for that name. This will yield the IP address of the other
DHCP server. If the lookup fails, there isn't a second DHCP server for your
region.

With NTL digital TV STBs, there are two DHCP servers per region, each acting as a
backup to the other. Their IP addresses will be of the form 10.0.xxx.70 and 10.0.
xxx.71. The methods above will tell you the active one for your PC, enabling you
to discover the value of xxx. If you are writing firewall rules, you need to also add
the other one of the pair.

Blueyonder users have two DHCP servers, each acting as a backup to the other.
They might be the same as your assigned DNS server addresses, but can be
different. If you are writing firewall rules, you need to trust both DHCP servers.
To determine the other address:

● take the known DHCP server IP address as found above, and look up its DNS
name: the result should look something like pXXsNNNo.blueyonder.co.uk
where:
❍ XX is one of the two-letter codes listed in Decoding your DNS name.
❍ NNN is either 001 or 002.
● In that DNS name, alter the NNN field to its other possible value, then look
up the IP address for that name. This will yield the IP address of the other
DHCP server.

Finding the address of the transparent web proxy

cache

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 Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips: IP addresses

See Which is my web cache?

Return to Index.

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