Network - Hardware or firmware or ...

  • Thread starter Thread starter JimL
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JimL

If this is the wrong place for this tell me where to go for the answer and
I'll go quietly.

SOMETHING set up some kind of _ethernet_ thing in Network Connections called
(in part) WAN miniport. It appeared after I ran Comcast's Decktop Doctor.
My cable modem is connected via USB. At the same time something also turned
on my wireless - I have nothing wireless going.

To put my question in clear terms, what the ___ is going on here? Is
Comcast making broad assumptions and screwing with my system based on those
assumptions?

Thanks
 
JimL said:
If this is the wrong place for this tell me where to go for the answer and
I'll go quietly.

SOMETHING set up some kind of _ethernet_ thing in Network Connections called
(in part) WAN miniport. It appeared after I ran Comcast's Decktop Doctor.
My cable modem is connected via USB. At the same time something also turned
on my wireless - I have nothing wireless going.

To put my question in clear terms, what the ___ is going on here? Is
Comcast making broad assumptions and screwing with my system based on those
assumptions?

Thanks
Click to expand...

You do not have the power to do anything about Comcast. Or Verizon. Or any
of the others. So you might as well just move on and fix the problem (if it
really is a problem).

The first thing I'd do is disable the offending connection. Does everything
still work properly? If everything works for at least a week then I'd
remove it. Out of curiosity I might run the diagnostic program again. If
the connection appears again then you will have a better idea what is going on.
 
You do not have the power to do anything about Comcast. Or Verizon. Or any
of the others. So you might as well just move on and fix the problem (if
it really is a problem).

The first thing I'd do is disable the offending connection. Does
everything still work properly? If everything works for at least a week
then I'd remove it. Out of curiosity I might run the diagnostic program
again. If the connection appears again then you will have a better idea
what is going on.
Click to expand...


It does appear that Glowing was right. They turned on everything. I'm
turning them off as fast as I can find them, which isn't very fast, because
I never heard of some of them. I spent an hour or so Googling before I
figured out anything about that WAN miniport thing. Turns out it was in
plain sight - once I got the picture (that it was ethernet) - but judging
from the many queries I found about it, it has puzzled a lot of people.

(One thing I never heard of is "Service Name." It was needed in getting
newsgroups on cable in Outlook Express. The OE people thought I had lost my
mind when I asked about it.)

Thanks
 
GlowingBlueMist said:
Sounds like poor diagnostics on Comcast's program. Rather than have to
figure out everyone's configuration it just uses brute force and turns on
everything it can before doing any connection testing. It may have turned
on any modem's ability to call out as well.
Click to expand...


Comcast's "experts" tried to convince me to turn off both my firewall and
malware software. I find myself wondering where they buy their brains. The
firewall icon in my system tray shows activity frequently. The log shows a
couple hundred thousand rejections in the time I've used it (a year or two).

They finally admitted that their Desktop Doctor was buggy and that if I were
going to use my firewall I should turn off the DD. When bean counters run a
technology business it's the devil to pay.

Thanks
 
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