How To Connect a Computer to Comcast Internet

Comcast Corporation is a Philadelphia based company that provides cable television, broadband internet, telephone service, etc to various domestic and commercial users. It has about 17.4 million users of its high-speed internet worldwide and has various plans like the Economy plan (1.5 Mbps), performance starter plan (6 Mbps), extreme 50 plan (50 Mbps) and the extreme 105 plan (105 Mbps). As a feature of the Comcast Corporation, it provides a dynamic IP address to each customer who uses the high speed internet service. In May, 2011, Comcast launched its Metro Ethernet services which include four such types: Ethernet private line, Ethernet Network Service, Ethernet virtual private line and Ethernet Network Dedicated Access. Each of these offers a different speed to work with.

Comcast encourages the use of Windows XP as they claim that their internet works best with this version. Also, it is a must for the computer to have at least 1 GB RAM and 1.5 GHz processor speed. When both these conditions are met with, Comcast internet speed is up to the mark. Running the disk defragmenter as and when possible is recommended. Comcast’s TCP optimizer is a useful tool to enhance the connection of the computer to the internet. And as every analyzer suggests, using an updated version of good anti-virus software is always the utmost care that must be taken by the user to maintain the speed of the internet. Comcast also offers its high speed connection called Xfinity. A little navigation on the main page of Comcast.com would lead the user to find the option of ‘Faster internet’ which can be clicked upon to learn about the various internet options. The update that one requires can be downloaded by clicking on ‘Add to my Cart’ option.

Connecting to Comcast cable internet service requires the user to get a special cable modems. These modems are sold by Comcast along with their connection. The consumer can also choose to buy his own modem. Installing the modem is not much of a problem but there is a slight difference in the procedure; one must also connect the router to it so as to enable the connection of other computers to it at the same time. Therefore, installing a Comcast connection begins with three basic necessities: The Ethernet cable, the coax cable and the cable modem that is compatible with Comcast. The Ethernet cable is responsible for transferring data at a high speed between the modem and the computer in use. The steps for installation include connecting the coax cable from the wall to the modem, plugging off the computer and connecting the modem’s power supply to the modem and connecting one end of the Ethernet cable to the cable modem and its other end to the computer’s Network Interface Card (NIC) port. Now the computer can plugged back in and turned on. This process suffices the needs of a single computer.

In most office areas and commercial places, more than one computer is connected to the internet connection at a time and that would require what we call a router. A router basically is important to direct the stream of traffic competently. Connecting the network and the router is slightly different from connecting the single computer to Comcast. The initial two steps of connecting the coax cable and unplugging the computer remain the same. The difference lies in connecting the Ethernet cable. This cable has to be connected to the cable modem through the link port of the router. Connection to the NIC card of the computer would require another Ethernet cable which would be connected to the NIC card on one end and an open port of the router on the other end. It would take approximately ninety seconds for the modem to initialize and just about the same time for the outer to begin functioning. Once the user has given enough time for both these tasks, he can plug in the computer and turn it on.

Thus, the Comcast connection is a very user-friendly broadband connection and as mentioned earlier there are various schemes and speeds available to suit the various users. One must carefully choose the speed as required. Making connections is a simple task. The only difference between a normal broadband service and a Comcast service is the use of the special modems!