Accessing Modem remotely w/ Charter Communications

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phuz

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Sep 24, 2013
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We have a security system setup on our vacation home and the power/internet went down a week ago and I am now unable to get back in. I have a Dynamic DNS setup through Night Owl's nightowldvr.com but it has not updated, so I am not sure if something is wrong internally. I called Charter's tech support and requested the IP address of our modem. They kindly gave it to me, but it was very different than the normal IP scheme. Normally, our IP addresses are 71.89.XXX.XXX. The one I was given was 10.190.XXX.XXX. And of course, I still cannot access the network even though they tell me the signals are good to/from the modem. Are they seeing a different IP address that what I would see? (It appears that they gave me an IP that has a private route, not a public route.)
Obviously what they gave me is incorrect because I cannot even access the router's config screen.
I am really hoping to resolve this remotely so I don't need to drive several hundred miles to perform a reset.

 
Solution
jeff-j
The only two things I can think of and I am just grabbing at straws here is see if they can assign you a static IP, or reset your modem. But if you do have to go I would recommend doing these two things so if this happens again you and some backup. One if your UPS is capable of it have it setup to alert you by email or text when the power goes out and restored or if your batteries are getting low. Also if you have a computer or laptop that you leave at the house and is connected to the UPS install a program called team viewer on it, it will allow you to remotely access your computer as long as you have internet access, and it does not care about your external IP address.
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jeff-j

jeff-j

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Dec 13, 2013
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I would call your ISP again and see if they give you the same address or not, also they should be able to access the modem from their office. I would see if they can access it. If they are unable to access the modem, then it might not be powered on or might not of powered on correctly. If you have to drive to your vacation house I would recommend getting a UPS at least for your modem/network, this way if the power does go out your modem will stay on, and with your house bring that far away it might be a good investment.
 
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chugot9218

chugot9218

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May 8, 2012
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Generally your Modem is going to have its own external IP provided by the ISP (which changes periodically, I found it to be a greater issue with DSL), so some will buy a static IP which is one or a block of IP's that do not change. From outside, you can only see that external IP, the router you have takes that signal and essentially splits it up into its own internal IP's, for example my router defaults to IP's in the block of 169.168.0.xxx. Those are only available inside your network, traffic to those IP's is handled by the router (so data from outside goes to your modem's IP, 10.190.xxx.xxx in this example, and then the router takes that traffic and routes it to the internal IP designated by the traffic, i.e. 71.89.111.100). Does that make sense?
 
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phuz

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Sep 24, 2013
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@chugot9218: I apologize if what I am about to say comes off as rude, but it's almost as if you didn't even READ my post.

The EXTERNAL IP is the one I am after. To throw some credentials out, I am an electrical engineer who has been around many complicated and semi-sophisticated networks. I am very well aware of how the typical DHCP pool works. We do not have a static IP at this location, which is why I mentioned we use a Dynamic DNS service. (dyndns.org ring a bell??) Anyway, the DDNS never updated, so I only have the last update from 3 weeks ago, before power went out, and now there is obviously a new IP issued and I have no way of knowing what it is.

Jeff, of course we have a UPS. The problem is that when you're without power for several days, it does no good. The power comes back and usually everything restores OK. I called Charter again and I get dealt another brain-dead Tier 1 tech agent who wouldn't know an IP address if it bit her in the ass. She then goes on to claim that they have no way of seeing what our External IP is. I call B.S. right there.
How can I get myself to a tech agent who can actually assist? I find it hard to believe they are all really this uneducated.
 
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phuz

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Sep 24, 2013
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I'll give it a shot, but in my past history, this has never worked with Comcast. Let's hope Charter is different.

Update: I called back and the first person I spoke with states "We don't have a Tier 2 or 3 here. I am the highest level."
She then re-iterates what her previous colleague stated in that they have no way of seeing what the IP is because its dynamic.
I bet you if I started downloading all kinds of illegal software and movies, they could trace that IP to an account pretty quick, huh?


...facepalm! :fou:
 
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jeff-j

jeff-j

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Dec 13, 2013
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The only two things I can think of and I am just grabbing at straws here is see if they can assign you a static IP, or reset your modem. But if you do have to go I would recommend doing these two things so if this happens again you and some backup. One if your UPS is capable of it have it setup to alert you by email or text when the power goes out and restored or if your batteries are getting low. Also if you have a computer or laptop that you leave at the house and is connected to the UPS install a program called team viewer on it, it will allow you to remotely access your computer as long as you have internet access, and it does not care about your external IP address.
 
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Solution
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phuz

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Sep 24, 2013
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They won't assign a static, and they have already reset the modem, twice.
Not a big fan of Teamviewer, but to get in without the IP (back door) is a nice backup option. Thanks for the idea.
 
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