[AustinUlster]

Can anyone help with advice about cable broadband connection?

With help of Steve's advice my mini is now up and running except one thing - nothing happen when I plug in my ethernet cable for net access. Broadcom 802.11g fitted and it seems to work OK wirelessly (limited opportunity to test as I don't have wireless), as it also does when I plug in my G/F's 3G dongle. The cable works fine with my desktop.

I have tried endless permutations of internet settings & also run the original Virgin set-up disc which hits error 00.01.1E.003E 'broadband setup could not renew the IP adress for your network adapter (DHCP)'. It's set to find IP address automatically.

Finally gave up and called Virgin. A nice Indian lady told me to switch off the modem and restart but needless to say(?) I'd already done that 50 times. Was then passed to a lady with a Glaswegian accent who didn't profess to have any understanding of 'technical stuff' (Virgin's technical support line !!??) but after consultation with someone I wasn't allowed to speak to said they needed to do something with my modem (configure open ports?) but they weren't touching it unless I signed up to a six month service contract at £10 a month (or if I liked I could shell out £60 up front).

Would be most grateful if someone could
(a) tell me if there's a way I can sort this out myself - my guess is it's probably really simple if you know how?
(b) give me the name of a reliable broadband supplier who actually cares that I receive a service I can use for the £21.50 a month I'm paying them (apparently this is not the case with VIRGIN).

Many thanks
Chris

[holmes4]

Do any of the LEDs by the Ethernet port light up when you plug the cable in? Are you aware that many cable modem service providers remember the Ethernet MAC of the connected device and won't work if you connect a different device? Some providers will let you cycle the cable modem to clear this, some require that you call in and authorize the change. I always have a router attached to the cable modem (or equivalent) that allows me to set the MAC to anything I want.