Apple Computers & Virgin Media Broadband. [Archive]

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muddly001

20-07-2010, 14:46

kwikbreaks

20-07-2010, 15:23

You'll have no problems using your Mac. I have mostly Windows machines but also have a Mac Mini on the network which works just fine and my sons iPad operates using the WiFi.

What comes out of the ethernet cable from a cable modem (or router connected to it) is no different from what comes out of an ethernet cable connected to ADSL. WiFi is WiFi too.

The usual guff about what an ISP supports refers to support staff who probably won't have a clue about Macs and any freebie software is probably Windows only.

Kymmy

20-07-2010, 15:25

I think the lack of MAC support is a throwback to the USB modem days, these days with ethernet modems, wifi & routers it's not a problem

muddly001

20-07-2010, 16:03

Kymmy or anyone.

Thanks for the reply. I assume that I can turn off the wireless element of the Virgin router and connect it by ethernet cable to my Time Capsule for wireless?

kwikbreaks

20-07-2010, 16:35

You can turn off WiFi on the router they supplied me and I assume you'd be able to on any router - even if you couldn't there are 13 channels so you could run your preferred device on one that was free.

Kymmy

20-07-2010, 17:01

Yes you can turn off the wifi on 99% of routers

Peter_

20-07-2010, 17:30

Hi

I'm reading conflicting reports that Virgin Media don't support Apple computers. On their website they still show the system requirements to use an Apple Computer on with Virgin Media Broadband. I'm due to move shortly and are planning to use a Virgin Media package. Does anybody have a view, does anybody use a Apple computer, Laptop or iPhone over the Virgin Broadband.

I am planning to use my Time Capsule for my wireless connection, any thoughts, opinions etc.

Thanks for your help.
Here is the definitive answer with regards to what we support just click HERE (http://help.virginmedia.com/system/selfservice.controller?CONFIGURATION=1002&PARTITION_ID=1&TIMEZONE_OFFSET=&USERTYPE=1&VM_CUSTOMER_TYPE=Cable&CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&ARTICLE_ID=2725)

markharding557

20-07-2010, 22:20

I have used virgin with linux with no problems so i would not see mac being any different

Peter_

20-07-2010, 22:23

I have used virgin with linux with no problems so i would not see mac being any different
The difference is Linux is unsupported by Virginmedia, the are far to many variations and self coders out there.;)

I use Linux and would also find my computer unsupported, but we know what were actually doing though.;)

moroboshi

20-07-2010, 23:19

I have my 50mbit Virgin modem connected to an Apple Airport Extreme router, which feeds a desktop PC through ethernet, and a load of wi-fi devices - including an iPhone 4, an iPhone 3G, an iPad, and an Apple TV.

Everything works fine.

Boabyboy

21-07-2010, 00:54

I have an iMac G5 with an Airport inbuilt card working via wifi to my third party wifi router with my broadband connection, no problems. Apple Mac's works fine on Virgin Cable Broadband as long as you using Mac OS X if you feel the need to contact VM cable TSC to get support on how to setup a Mac with your broadband connection.

RainmakerRaw

21-07-2010, 11:15

The difference is Linux is unsupported by Virginmedia, the are far to many variations and self coders out there.;)

I use Linux and would also find my computer unsupported, but we know what were actually doing though.;)

LOL True. With the greatest of respect (honestly), I think it's true to say that as a general rule most Linux users are capable of providing tech support to 90% of 'tech support' staff. :p: I'm talking industry-wide btw, not picking on VM, and obviously referring to the level 1 script monkey types, but ykwim.

Packets are packets, and provided your chosen operating system can handle TCP/IP you're fine. Provided you actually know how to operate your operating system, anyway. :D I run Windows, Linux and OS X here, no issues at all. I would add though, that it shouldn't matter about variations and 'self coders'. If you understand Linux, even at a basic operating level, you should be comfortable at any *nix system - regardless of what the GUI and distro on top are called. ;)

Stuart

21-07-2010, 12:08

I think the main reason companies limit the amount of devices/oses they support is simple. Training. You can't train someone to do even basic support on every device the customer is likely to plug into the network because the number of possible choices is too great.

On the computing side, we have Windows, OSX, a lot of Linux distros (and there are a lot), a few BSD clones (I count Darwin here because configuring it is different to OSX), and various flavours of Unix.

Then you can bung in the PS3, PSP, Wii, DS (probably, not sure if it has a web browser), iOS based devices (iPod touch, iPad, iPhone) mobile phones (Android, Win Mo, Symbian and any with custom firmware or customised interfaces) and other web enabled media players.

You could also add in an increasing amount of TVs, Blu ray drives etc..

Very quickly, you could reach hundreds of products the person needs training for, all of which have their own methods of setup.

Mind you, even within Windows, you have manufacturers that insist on installing their own networking software , so there can be hundreds of variations there..

At work, we offer a wireless network, but we have been told we can only officially support Windows machines running the official windows wireless software, OSX, and iOS based devices. We are free to offer help on other devices/oses, but are not required to..

BrEEdAA

21-07-2010, 13:56

Kymmy or anyone.

Thanks for the reply. I assume that I can turn off the wireless element of the Virgin router and connect it by ethernet cable to my Time Capsule for wireless?

Doesnt the Time Capusle also function as a wireless router? All you would have to do is plug the Virgin supplied modem into your TC via ethernet, and your pretty much sorted! You may not get any assistance from virgin setting this up, although it should be pretty straight forward :)

horseman

25-07-2010, 16:38

Doesnt the Time Capusle also function as a wireless router? All you would have to do is plug the Virgin supplied modem into your TC via ethernet, and your pretty much sorted! You may not get any assistance from virgin setting this up, although it should be pretty straight forward :)

Except of course the OP may have difficulties in "cloning" a MAC address on WAN side so that depending on (old) franchise area and how well VM's auto-registration process is standing up there can be some "logistical/technical" inconveniences first setting up your quaintly named Time Capusle or Capsule.... ;)
Not insurmountable obviously.... but for that (and other) reason I tend to use mine mainly downstream from my primary router.

muddly001

25-07-2010, 17:05

huxleypiguk

25-07-2010, 19:24

When I worked in Cleppa park I wrote the Mac training back in the ays of PPP and Dial up !

Back on topic, I hooked up an Airport Express to VM Cable Modem but mucked up the settings. VM gave me the Apple Care line and a very very nice Irish girl talked me through it.

In short VM support it, but you may need Apple to help set it up if it goes wrong.

Jonnymeg

25-07-2010, 21:26

Do not worry, macs are fine.

When Virgin speak of not supporting them it is meant from a software side of things and not the internet service. Your system will work fine but you cannot download all the crappy antivirus and other software they supply. That is windows only.
But you don't need it anyway.

Biffs

26-07-2010, 12:06

I've been using Macs on Virgin cable networks for 6 years. Perfect match in my opinion. One iMac is 'hard wired' into the router - My MBPro is wireless and my iPhone just works. We can even bring the 'other stuff' from work home and it connects easily. Very stable. No problems. Ever.

horseman

28-07-2010, 03:31

Sorry, lost me there totally! Could you explain that in lay persons language?

Regards

Gee - if I was a layperson I might be able to... ;) however I'll give it a stab - just re-post if it's still not crystal? Assuming all of it was unclear:

For many (mainly historical) reasons many cable ISP's limited the MAC address (unique factory assigned id) of the network interface card of the equipment connected(reistered) to the cable modem. On domestic service (and specifcally with VM) the connection is limited to 1 device. (as typically defined by "cpe_max" stanza in the CM configuration file downloaded from TFTP server during CM reboot sequence)

When you reboot the CM then the MAC addy will be interogated and compared to a "mac bridging table"..... if it's changed then a re-registration process is required which may also additionally change your IP.

In the old NTL/TW/BY days different franchises had somewhat different ways of doing this ....from allowing so many changes in a set time period to actually requiring customer to contact ISP... :(
VM have attempted to automate (or correlate the different frot ends of) this process recently (within last 18 months) to minimise this incovenience, however occasionally authentication servers do "cough" and you can (albeit rarely) sometimes find yourself in a restricted "Walled garden" with a web page requiring you submit a userid/account number and password that NTL/TW/BY sent to you on your welcome pack a decade or so previous. Thus you only have limited access to VM servers but not the rest of Internet.!!

(In fact on corporate LANs MAC address's were often similarly used for security)

To avoid this (as problem affected many cable ISP's worldwide) then most (but not all) router manufacturers began incorporating firmware over the years that allowed the NIC MAC on the WAN side to be changed (or cloned).

The idea being if you originally registered with your ISP using a specific PC (with it's unique MAC) then you could "clone" that MAC address onto the WAN port of the replacement router. Almost virtually giving you a "hot replacement" facility (but not quite<g>). The CM would still be addressing the same MAC address at the lower physical media level of the ISO stack and and essentially would not be able to detect any difference.

Unfortunately (for reasons debated ad nauseam over the years) Apple Airports Express/Extreme (utilised within a TC) etc have not included this functionality!. AFAIK they haven't' yet produced hardware/firmware version to provide this either - but who knows in the future?.....

Now if VM's "auto-registration" process works as intended this should only be a minor (almost seamless) inconvenience.
However if like me you do get involved in the rare occasional "hiccups" that requires temporarily removing a router and cabling a PC/workstation to CM directly to diagnose an intermittent problem then you should be aware of this limitation.
If like me you don't suffer fools gladly then you won't tolerate some undertrained idiot in Mumbai telling you to reboot your modem because it potentially will promptly overwrite (wrap) some or all the existing error logs...thus loosing valuable forensics as the CM goes thru it's cold start/re-IPL initialisation process.

Hope this clarifies a little better...

caph

28-07-2010, 21:53

Except of course the OP may have difficulties in "cloning" a MAC address on WAN side so that depending on (old) franchise area and how well VM's auto-registration process is standing up there can be some "logistical/technical" inconveniences first setting up your quaintly named Time Capusle or Capsule.... ;)
Not insurmountable obviously.... but for that (and other) reason I tend to use mine mainly downstream from my primary router.

Cloning was from a bygone era and only applied to broadband through set-top boxes. You can safely forget about all that now that VM use standalone modems.

Breeda was just saying that the OP could just plug his existing time capsule router in to the modem and there would not even be any need for any VM router. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Peter_

29-07-2010, 21:42

sometimes find yourself in a restricted "Walled garden" with a web page requiring you submit a userid/account number and password that NTL/TW/BY sent to you on your welcome pack a decade or so previous. Thus you only have limited access to VM servers but not the rest of Internet.!!

If you are in the walled garden then you will only have a private activation IP which will only give you access to the activation screen and nothing else.

If you cannot get out of the walled garden on a new installation using your postcode and account number or if the system drops you into the walled garden, then you have to call technical support who can then manually remove you from the walled garden and you will then need to reboot the modem at least once in order to receive a public IP address.

We never had this process on the Telewest side as it was originally only a NTL foible now both sides have the walled garden for activation purposes.

Web-Junkie

01-08-2010, 01:35

Posting this via OSX Snow Leopard 10.6.4 on my Hackintosh :)

Been using OSX for a few months on my Virgin connection with the Netgear WGR614 router, no problems at all. Wired Ethernet and Wireless work fine! STEAM also works as I've downloaded all my Half Life 2 games for MAC now and they play fine as well.

OSX only cost me £23 from Amazon, far far cheaper than Windows 7 :D

The PIT

01-08-2010, 20:05

I use Linux and a mac as well as mine window pc's.
Really upsets tech support when they say it must be spyware or a virus. I then tell them a Linux box and a Mac is effected as well. Out goes there script.

Lord Nikon

05-08-2010, 00:51

I hate to think how many operating systems I have connected to the system here.

Reminds me - laptop to reinstall, hard drive password to remove heh.

horseman

05-08-2010, 06:22

I....

We never had this process on the Telewest side as it was originally only a NTL foible now both sides have the walled garden for activation purposes.

I'm obliged for the historical correction.... ;)

foddy

05-08-2010, 15:11

OSX only cost me £23 from Amazon, far far cheaper than Windows 7 :D
... but illegal?

Chris

05-08-2010, 15:18

Not necessarily - could have been a Marketplace seller offloading an unwanted copy of an earlier version of OSX. I've got rid of all my older iterations of the OS via eBay.

Peter_

05-08-2010, 18:42

I'm obliged for the historical correction.... ;)
No idea what you mean as only NTL had the Walled Garden and now everyone has it.

Web-Junkie

05-08-2010, 19:02

... but illegal?

Nope, not illegal. It's the full retail box with install media: OSX 10.6 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mac-Snow-Leopard-10-6-DVD/dp/B001AMHWP8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1281029347&sr=8-1)

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/2498/osxj.th.jpg (http://img709.imageshack.us/i/osxj.jpg/)

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/7299/invoicel.th.jpg (http://img185.imageshack.us/i/invoicel.jpg/)

The version I got was the later 10.6.3 version. What might be illegal is running it on non-mac hardware though?

foddy

05-08-2010, 22:44

Nope, not illegal. It's the full retail box with install media: OSX 10.6 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mac-Snow-Leopard-10-6-DVD/dp/B001AMHWP8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1281029347&sr=8-1)

The version I got was the later 10.6.3 version. What might be illegal is running it on non-mac hardware though?
I'm not going to argue whether installing mac software is legal on the non-apple hardware or not, as it's an incredibly complex legal issue ... but the Snow Leopard software is sold as an upgrade to Leopard, not as stand-alone software.

Even if you have a copy of Tiger (10.4) on Apple hardware, you're supposed to buy the £132 box-set to upgrade it.

Personally, I don't care what other people do with the software - I just think the comparison with the cost of a full version of Windows was unfair. It's a great operating system which can stand on its own abilities, without being misrepresented as cheap.

It really is a fabulous operating system, but it's even better on Apple hardware! :)

Web-Junkie

06-08-2010, 20:08

Sorry, thought you meant 'illegal' as in pirate copy off a torrent or car boot!!

My conscience is semi-clear then as I did buy it :)