Need Help with Cable Modem Setup

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I need help with accessing the setup page of my cable modem. I can access it fine with one computer, but not other computers.
I hate to rely on only one computer to access the modem setup page, but I am running out of ideas as to what could be the problem.

Here are the details:

I have an Arris Cable Modem and the Admin Setup page can be accessed from a browser by entering the IP address.

I have 3 computers all connected through a Netgear router to the Cable Modem.

One desktop computer can open the modem setup page on 4 browsers: Firefox, Palemoon, IE 11, and Edge.

The Laptop and another desktop get a “Connection has been reset” error on all 4 browsers.

Also, I can open the modem setup page with an Android smart phone via WiFi through the same router (but it is hard to navigate the options).

The desktop computer that can access the modem setup page is running Win 10 version 1607.

The 2 computers that fail are both running Win 10, one version 1511 the other version 1607.

All 3 computers have full access to the internet through the router and cable modem.

All 3 computers are using the same versions of the browsers and the same setup options.

All 3 computers are using Kaspersky Internet Security with the same settings. Pausing Kaspersky has no effect.

All 3 computers have the same settings in Windows Internet Options.

All 3 computers have the same settings in Windows Networking.

All 3 computers can access the router’s setup pages just fine (just not the modem setup page).

The hosts file in the laptop is Microsoft default; in the desktops hosts file eliminates a few sites with invalid certificates.

The laptop fails to open the modem setup page showing the same error if using either wired ethernet or WiFi.

Any suggestions of what I can try at this point to get the other 2 computers to open the modem setup screen will be greatly appreciated.

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Is there anything in the modem setup limiting which devices can connect?

Is the setup page*already open on one PC when*you try to access from another?

--Joe

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I was careful to close the modem setup page before trying to open it on another computer.

I have found no settings in the modem setup that would restrict access to any device. It is interesting that a smart phone will open the setup page. Actually I have 2 Android phones and they both can open the setup page.

I should mention that this is an upgrade of the cable modem starting from factory defaults, so there should be no limitations to connected devices.

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JC: I have an Arris modem also. I can get to the status page from all computers on my network (2 on Ethernet, one on WiFi). Can you ping the modem’s admin page from the PCs that won’t connect to it? Is the address of the cable modem admin page colliding with your router’s DHCP setup (unlikely but thought I’d ask)?

BTW, are you actually able to get to an admin page? I can get to a status page (192.168.100.1) but I figured that administration was restricted by my cable provider. I can’t do anything from the status page but check the status of the modem.

Rob

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Rob: Yes, I can successfully ping the modem admin setup page (10.0.0.1 as this is a Comcast Arris Box) from all computers. The average round trip response is 2ms.

For the Desktop that works, entering the above IP into the browser (all of them) I get to the admin login page. I enter the admin id and password and can proceed to define any available operating parameters (e.g. SSID for 2.4ghz and 5 Ghz, WiFi passwords, Firewall security level, etc).

I just can’t get past the “Connection has been reset” error on 2 computers.

Frustrated, JC

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That implies two computers are not configured properly / the browsers aren’t.
Check the IP config between units – IPCONFIG /ALL
Try a different browser.

cheers, Paul

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If the ARRIS modem is really just a modem the features you described are router configuration settings not modem settings. What model is the Arris box.

--Joe

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Paul: I compared the ipconfig /all data between the working and failed computers and they look the same except for specific addresses which should be different.

As to browsers, as I said in the original post the results are the same with Firefox, Palemoon, IE11 and Edge.

Remember, all computers have full access to the internet through the same Netgear Router and the ARRIS Cable Modem. The browsers all work and the connectivity is fine. All the computers are connected in a local network and can communicate with each other (i.e. file transfer).

Joe: This is a combination Cable Modem, router and Cable Telephone modem supplied by Xfinity/Comcast. I didn’t want to muddy the problem description with the detail of the modem’s full functionality when I made the original post.

The data from the admin setup pages is as follows:

Cable Modem
Vendor: ARRIS Group, Inc.
Model: TG1682G
HW Version: 11.0
Product Type: XB3
BOOT Version: 4.2.0.45
Core Version: 10.0.140

Software:
eMTA & DOCSIS Software Version: 10.0.140.SIP.PC20.CT
Software Image Name: TG1682_2.2p14s1_PROD_sey
Advanced Services: TG1682G
Packet Cable: 2.0

The multi-function capability of the cable modem should not limit the operation of any computer accessing the Modem Setup Pages.
One Computer and 2 Smart Phones can connect just fine.

In the ARRIS modem setup pages I have actually disabled the builtin WiFi transmitters and am using the Netgear router for WiFi.

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Do you use the same connection type – wired/less – for machines that work and ones that don’t?

cheers, Paul

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JC: This is a bit of a stumper! Try connecting to the admin page using the Windows Telnet client. We use this at work to find firewall/port problems. From a command prompt, issue telnet 10.0.0.1 80, assuming the page is on standard port 80 (you may have to enable the Telnet client: Control Panel -> All Control Panel Items -> Programs and Features -> Turn Windows features on or off). If you’re not having port/firewall issues, you’ll be able to connect without any error messages. It won’t be an actual Telnet session because the router isn’t a Telnet server but at least it will connect. If you’re having port or firewall issues you’ll get a message like this: “Connecting to 10.0.0.1…Could not open connection to the host, on port 80: Connect failed” although in your case the phrase “connect failed” might be something more meaningful.

Rob

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Paul: The only machine that works is connected by wired ethernet. The Laptop can go both ways and fails with wired or wireless. The other desktop machine runs Win 10 1511 and is wired only; it also fails.

Rob: I will see if I can test the telnet interface and will report back. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Rob: I tested the telnet connection on both the functioning desktop and the non-functioning laptop (both using wired ethernet).

I enabled telnet through control panel, opened a command window and entered: telnet 10.0.0.1 80

The results were the same on both computers. The command window switched to a command window with 10.0.0.1 in the title bar and a blinking underscore cursor. The window would not echo any keyboard input, but jumped back to the normal command window after a few keystrokes.

There were no error messages at all.

I think this describes what you were expecting for a normal connection.

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Rob: I tested the telnet connection on both the functioning desktop and the non-functioning laptop (both using wired ethernet).

I enabled telnet through control panel, opened a command window and entered: telnet 10.0.0.1 80

The results were the same on both computers. The command window switched to a command window with 10.0.0.1 in the title bar and a blinking underscore cursor. The window would not echo any keyboard input, but jumped back to the normal command window after a few keystrokes.

There were no error messages at all.

I think this describes what you were expecting for a normal connection.

JC: Yes, you described a normal Telnet test which rules out firewall/port issues.

Rob

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Your wireless unit is not transparently passing the data, it’s probably double NATting.
http://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-Double-NAT?cid=wmt_netgear_organic

cheers, Paul

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Paul: Thanks for the reference. I understand the double NATing issue, but it does not apply in this situation.

All 3 computers are connected to the Netgear router by wired ethernet. I am not using wireless on the Netgear except for testing connectivity. So any wireless issues do not apply to the problem of opening the Cable Modem setup page.

There is one ethernet cable from the Netgear router to the Cable Modem (plus I have disabled the Modem’s WiFi router transmitters). This is why there is no double NATing going on.

This was a good idea to bring up though. Thank you.

As another test, I tried connecting the laptop directly into the Cable Modem by wired ethernet. The connection attempt to the modem setup page still got the same “Connection has been reset” error on all 4 browsers. So the problem is following the laptop and not the connection topography. This also takes the Netgear router out of the picture as a source of the problem.

As I stated in the original post, all the network settings on the working desktop and the failing computers are the same, so I am stumped as to what is causing the error.

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Have you tried a network reset on either of the affected PCs. See How to Reset Network Settings to Default in Windows 10[/url].

--Joe

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Joe: I had not tried a network reset. Thank you for the suggestion.

I used your link to learn how and completed the reset. Unfortunately, the reset made no difference. I still get the error “The Connection was reset”

I even tested both Firefox and Palemoon in safe mode to be sure the Add-On(s) were not causing a problem. Still no difference, same error.

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JC: This is a SWAG. Is it possible that the failing machines are trying to connect with HTTP protocol instead of HTTPS or vice-versa? I tried connecting to my Netgear router’s administrative page with HTTPS (should be HTTP) and got connection failure messages. It wasn’t a “connection reset by peer” error; each browser had it’s own generic “I can’t connect” message. Just a thought.

Rob

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Rob: That was a good idea for testing.

However, I have been using http:// all along. Yesterday, just for fun, I tried using https:// and got a bunch of new errors relating to missing certificates. It clearly did not like https:// at all. Also, the computer that works has been using http://, so that is the correct way to address the cable modem.

Thanks for the creative thinking, JC

BTW: I am not familiar with the term SWAG. Please expand.

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JC: I can’t think of anything left to try except an exorcism. I know you’ll get to the bottom of this sooner or later and nobody will be more interested in how you solved it than me. In a flash of brilliance I was going to suggest you plug one of the problem machines directly into your Arris cable modem but I see you’ve already done that.

Googling the phrase “connection reset” sometimes turns up the phrase “connection reset by peer” (I don’t know if that’s exactly what you’re seeing) which means that what you’re connecting to objects to the connection and terminates it.

Have you tried issuing ipconfig /all in a command prompt on the machine that works and a machine that doesn’t work, comparing the way the network adapters are set up?

As far as SWAG goes, Paul’s link explains it except in my neck of the woods, the word “scientific” is replaced by “silly”.

Rob

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…I have been using http:// all along. Yesterday, just for fun, I tried using https:// and got a bunch of new errors relating to missing certificates…

You should not need the “http” (Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol); “http” is an Internet protocol so is likely to be problematic when accessing devices on a local/private network.

…I can successfully ping the modem admin setup page (10.0.0.1 as this is a Comcast Arris Box) from all computers…

Since you can successfully ping the modem using 10.0.0.1 you should be able to access the modem’s setup page by typing just the 10.0.0.1 IP address into the browser’s address bar.

The modem/router’s IP address is the “Default Gateway” IP address in the results listing after running ipconfig.

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SWAG (probably).

cheers, Paul

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Rob: Thanks for all your ideas. I will certainly report back if and when I find a solution.

As to ipconfig /all, I tried that and the results were the same on the working and non-working computers except for IP and MAC addresses which I would expect to be different.

I also googled “The connection has been reset” and found several ideas which did not pan out. I am about ready to uninstall Kaspersky in case it’s “Pause protection” option does not stop everything.

I’ll keep on testing….

JC

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Coochin: Thank you for the idea.

Actually, that is what I initially entered into the address bar. When I saved the URL to a favorites folder, the browser added the http:// to the address. When I select the saved URL from the folder the browser is smart enough to remove the http:// (according to what is displayed in the address bar).

Anyway, just to be sure, 2 minutes ago I opened each of the browsers again and entered just 10.0.0.1 into the address bar and clicked “go to page” for the browser. In each case I still got the “The connection was reset” error or it’s equivalent for that browser.

JC

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JC
Are any of the computers set to be on a DMZ? Do you use a PPPoe connection? The computers are all set for DHCP ? I was all set to ask that first question for the Netgear but you have already by passed that for the laptop. I would be curious to know if you could get a connection going by shutting everything off (after actually logging into the Modem and choosing LOGOUT if available after connecting on the working computer) and only connecting the ethernet cable for the ‘not connecting wired’ one and then turning on the Cable Modem and waiting for that to ‘authenticate’ with your ISP, then turning on the Netgear and then the ‘not connecting wired’ computer. Just USWAG but that is the way my mind works after many years of trouble shooting.

:cheers:

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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Wavy: Thanks for the ideas. None of the computers are set for a DMZ and I don’t use a PPOE connection.

Yes, all computers use the default DHCP settings and they all match.

As to initializing the Modem connection from cold boot to the non-working computer by direct wired ethernet, no I have not tried this. However, since I can connect to the cable modem with one computer via wired ethernet and by 2 separate Galaxy S5 smart phones via WiFi all through the same Netgear router, I do not see that direct authentication of the non-working computer is the problem.

As a side note, I was playing around with comparing running services on the working and non-working computers and found one that was not started in the non-working Laptop. When I enabled that service (unfortunately I don’t remember which it was), the message displayed by Firefox changed from “The connection was reset” to “Unable to connect”. The message on the other Desktop (non-working) stayed as “The connection was reset”.

So I am still testing to see what is different.

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On each device, open a command prompt as administrator and type:

Code:

arp -a

Compare the ARP tables between the working and non-working configurations. If the physical address (i.e. MAC address of the network adapter) is different then clear the ARP table using:

Code:

netsh interface ip delete arpcache

Try to connect to the router’s admin interface again. (Or don’t bother comparing and just clear the ARP caches anyway; they’ll be re-built automatically with fresh mappings to physical addresses.)

When I connect to my own router using just its IP address, the webpage displaying the router admin page shows the IP address automatically prefixed by http://. If I remember correctly, when I do the same on a friend’s TP-Link router, the webpage displaying the router admin page shows http://tplinkmodem.net instead, i.e. using DNS translation internal to the router. I can also just use the URL to connect to her router.

I have no experience of your particular router but if yours does the same internal DNS translation then, on one of the non-connecting devices, flush the DNS cache as well then try to connect to the router’s admin interface again.

Code:

ipconfig /flushdns

Hope this helps…

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Rick: Thanks for the suggestions.

I tried all the commands you suggested, but, unfortunately, they made no difference.

My router is a Netgear N750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router (WNDR4000)

I can connect to the Netgear router from all computers just fine using 192.168.1.1 (which displays as http://192.168.1.1/ in the browser). My problem is when I try to go through the router to the Cable Modem admin page (10.0.0.1). This is a Comcast Arris TG1682G combo Modem/Router/Telephony device. It supplies my telephone connection as well as the Internet connectivity. Here I can connect with only one of 3 computers and 2 smart phones all through the sane router. I just can’t figure out what is stopping the other 2 computers.

All other web pages I open with the browser (Firefox, Palemoon, IE11, and edge) work fine. That is, I have full access to the internet from each computer through the Netgear router and through the cable modem without any problem. I can connect to the router admin page without any problem. I just can’t connect to the cable modem admin page from 2 computers.

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JC
Sorry we are coming up empty. I was testing connections and discovered on browser on my Axon & android phone could login to my router and the other could not, go figure

I think I know the answer but just to be sure, you are connecting all computers by Ethernet cable to the Netgear and the lap top wirelessly to the Netgear. The laptop could not connect to the Cable Modem even when wired directly to the Cable Modem.

And your Cable Modem’s wireless is not being used.

BTW did you use any 3rd party s/w to setup your Modem?

Can you connect the computer that does work to the Cable Modem directly and see if it still works?

:cheers:

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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wavy: It sounds like you found a similar connectivity issue, but with your router.

Your summary is correct, however I generally use the Laptop with a wired ethernet connection and only use the WiFi for testing (makes no difference).

I have disabled the Cable Modem’s wireless transmitters (2.4Ghz and 5.0Ghz).

I did not use any 3rd party s/w to setup the modem. Just Firefox on the working computer and followed all the forms in the admin setup pages.

BTW: The Laptop could not open the modem admin page on the initial installation of the modem while the Comcast technician was here. So the problem started before any of the modem’s pages were changed (i.e. right out of the box with factory default settings).

I have not tried direct connect of the working computer to the Cable Modem. I’m not sure what that would prove. Could you expand your thoughts on this before I try it? I hate to mess with my only working computer interface to the modem (in theory it should not make any difference, but…)

JC

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It was a bad installation of Kaspersky Internet Security.

In post #22 I said I was about ready to uninstall Kaspersky Internet Security. Well I finally decided to try this after I noticed a Kaspersky Service for Anti-Virus that was disabled; and I got an access error message when I tried to start it manually (even running the services app in admin mode).

I did a complete uninstall of Kaspersky and started Windows Firewall and Windows Defender. A quick test with Firefox and it loaded the Cable Modem admin page within 3 seconds. I tested Palemoon and the results were the same.

A few minutes ago, I reinstalled Kaspersky on the Laptop from scratch. Firefox still loaded the Cable Modem admin page.

My conclusion is that when I upgraded from Kaspersky Internet Security 2016 to the 2017 version, without uninstalling the older version first, something went wrong on the Laptop, but did not go wrong on on my working computer. It is funny that all other websites visited on the Laptop worked just fine. That is why I did not suspect Kaspersky as the primary culprit.

I must give many thanks to all of you who gave me ideas of how to troubleshoot this problem. Your help is most appreciated.

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YAY!;)

Glad you figured it out.

I’ve had similar adventures with AV products and decided to go “vanilla” with Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium v3 (on Windows 10). Way less complicated.

Rob

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I’m having a similar problem. The above reply didn’t work for me. What’d you end up doing? Thanks

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I’d un/re-install on the good computer too.

cheers, Paul

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Paul: I took your advice and un/re-installed Kaspersky 2017 on the working desktop computer. All went fine, I can still access the Cable Modem admin page.

I did notice that one of the Kaspersky network setup pages was different after the re-installation. So it was good that I took your suggestion.

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