Using a Cable Modem with OS/2

Cable modems in San Diego are available from two cable companies: Cox & Southwestern. OS/2 is being used with both services. Both companies take a laissez faire attitude toward operating systems. They won't install on or support anything but Windows & MacOS, but if you want to switch to a different OS after the installers leave they don't care.

In both cases, you will need to install OS/2 drivers for the network card that is installed in your PC. Then install TCP/IP; configure it to get an address from a DHCP server. Before you start copy down all the server names & addresses specified in your Windows settings. Most of the traditional TCP/IP configuration fields will be blank because the values are retrieved from the DHCP server.

Cox @Home

Cox offers their service in conjunction with @Home, which is a national company. They use Motorola CyberSURFR cable modems, which connect to a standard network card using 10BaseT cable.

You may need to update your TCP/IP stack to get it to work with Cox. To check the version, run inetver at a command prompt. The original Warp 4 TCP/IP stack returns version 4.02e; the latest is 4.02r. The TCP/IP update is available at ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/tcpip/rsu/stack/latestv4.html. This may not be necessary, and there have been some reports of difficulties with it, so I would not update unless necessary.

RoadRunner from Southwestern Cable

Southwestern offers their service in conjunction with RoadRunner, which is owned by Time-Warner (as in Warner Brothers). They use Motorola CyberSURFR cable modems, which connect to a standard network card using 10BaseT cable. RoadRunner was initially installed in four cities. Each one has a different setup, so what is written here is not necessarily valid for anywhere but San Diego.

Southwestern uses a standard TCP/IP setup with addresses assigned by a DHCP server. It works with the TCP/IP stack that shipped with Warp 4.

However, RoadRunner has an additional hurdle that Cox users are spared: you must login in to an authentication server after you get your IP address. The authentication server is between you & the Internet. Before you login it blocks TCP & UDP packets. This means you can ping any computer you want, but you can't surf the web, get e-mail, or do anything else very useful.

A Java login program.

Last updated on 4/29/98.