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Forum Discussion
The mysterious Netgear Nighthawk CM1150V
SERVICE. DEVICES. OPERATING SYSTEM
Internet Service: Xfinity 500 Mbps
Modem: Netgear Nighthawk Cable Modem with Voice (CM1150V)
Laptop 1: Dell Latitude E7440
Laptop 2: Dell Precision 7760
Cables: Cat8 Ethernet
Operating System: Windows 10 Professional
Everything is hardwired. I do not own a router. I do not use WiFi.
The Dell Latitude connected perfectly to the internet during the previous two years. However, I purchased a Dell Precision one month ago and, since then, the Latitude cannot connect to the internet. (The error message is the following: "Ethernet doesn't have a valid IP configuration"). However, the Dell Precision connects perfectly to the internet.
The problem is not computer hardware or software. The latitude connects perfectly to the internet at any location other than my home. As a last resort, my local computer tech person recently uninstalled and reinstalled Windows 10 Professional.
Does anyone have an idea what the cause of this problem might be?
Thanks in advance.
10 Replies
This is where the concept of a router comes in to play. If you are trying to connect both of the laptop computers to the internet through the modem at the same time it will not work without a router. Your ISP provides you with one IP address and it is taken by the one computer. Some ISP's will provide you with a second IP address for an additional fee.
While you can connect a computer direct to the internet through the modem, it is not a good long term idea. It exposes your computer direct to the internet without benefit of a firewall to protect it.
You do really need to buy a router. If you do not want to use Wi-Fi, just turn it off.
Your Ethernet ports 2, 3, and 4 have very specialized uses. Like link aggregation and a second IP address if your ISP supports a second one.
Hello, Kitsap. Thanks for your reply.
I am attempting to connect only one laptop computer at a time through the modem. I am not utilizing Ethernet ports 2, 3, and 4. Here's the process:
Xfinity > Netgear CM1150V > Dell Precision 7760. Result: Perfect connection.
Then .....
1. Power down.
2. Unplug the ethernet cable from Dell Precision.3. Plug the ethernet cable into the Dell Latitude.
4. Power on.
5. Result. "Ethernet doesn't have a valid IP configuration"
By the way, the Precision and Latitude have ESET Internet Security installed. I have experimented with disabling ESET in the Latitude, but that has no effect. The result is the same, whether ESET is enabled or disabled..
Thoughts?
Kitsap is correct. you need a router.
The problem is xfinity. They only assign 1 public ip address per account. (unless you pay extra for more or have a business grade account).
Usually the procedure you followed works. But the problem is, sometimes it takes xfinity a while to reassign that public ip address. Again, its usually minutes but I've seen it take upwards of 30 minutes before during troubleshooting.
Buying a cheap gigabit router and just disabling its wifi (or leave it enabled) would fix your issue as you could connect as many devices as you wanted. You could get a generation or 2 old router off amazon or craigslist/fleabay for pretty cheap and you wouldn't have to fight the issue you're having.
