New Cable Modem

[joel.mrtn1]

I've been experiencing problems with our comcast cable modem so I purchased a new one. I called comcast and had them add the MAC address of the new modem to our account. Everything went good there. The problem I'm having is with our server. The old modem had a configurable ip address and I had it set to 192.168.2.1. The server was 192.168.2.2. Server was running DHCP server to all the computers on the network. The new one does not have a configurable ip and it is 192.168.100.1. What do I need to change on the server side to get everything to work? The modem also does not have the option to turn off DHCP.

[waynehoskins]

Are you using a router? Is your server (what kind of server?) serving as a gateway router for your network?

The conventional solution is to put a router between the public line and the network, and let it handle DHCP assignments, NAT, and all that. Pick your favorite subnet.

[joel.mrtn1]

Just clicked after I read your reply! The old modem must have had a router built in. The new one does not. Is a hardware router better than having the server handle everything. And if I have the server handle it, I need 2 network cards installed correct?

[waynehoskins]

Originally Posted by joel.mrtn1

Just clicked after I read your reply! The old modem must have had a router built in. The new one does not. Is a hardware router better than having the server handle everything. And if I have the server handle it, I need 2 network cards installed correct?

A hardware router is certainly simpler than configuring a server as a router, which yes, would require two network cards. It's better in that there are fewer ways to do it wrong. If you don't need complex routing -- which most of us don't outside of data centers -- it's the way to go.

[joel.mrtn1]

Awesome thank you so much! I have everything figured out except for network drives. I assigned the server a static ip address through the router with it's mac address. For some reason now the computers on the rest of the network can't access the shared drives on the server. I set the DHCP server on the router for 192.168.2.100-199. Then I set a static one for the server at 192.168.2.2. Is there something I am missing?