Ok im trying to setup a computer for someone with comcast cable internet. When we plugged in the network cable we cant get internet. So i called Comcast tech support and they said that we had an invalid IP Address which was a 169.* and that they would have to send a tech out to fix it. SO i did some searching and have tried a Winsock Reset, also tried using IPConfig /release /renew and still it doesnt work. Im sure the computer is set to DHCP and dynamically get the IP from the modem. I tried using a Linksys wired router in the system but that didnt work either.

Im trying to avoid having a tech come out because that would cost the computer owner money for something that i can probably fix for them much cheaper.

Check the TCP/IP settings and make sure "Obtain an IP address automatically" is checked.

Did that not working

I'm no computer expert so forgive me if I'm wrong.

When you sign up for an internet connection, they give you your ip address.
So them saying it's invalid, I would say that's their problem and not yours. Ask them to reset your ip address.

Also, how is your current computer connected to the internet. What's the setup like?
Is it, [Cable from ISP] to [Modem] to [Computer] ? or do you have a router also?

Thanks, sorry if this was of no use to you... I'm very tired right now so I may have read the problem incorrectly.

Comcast is cable internet so its Cable (from outside) to Cable Modem with a standard CAT-5 Ethernet Cable to the PC Ethernet card. When i talked to the tech on the phone they said that i could not reset an ip address myself and they would have to send a tech out to fix it. I want to avoid that because them sending a tech out would cost $$$ for something i can probably do myself and they just wont tell me.

If anyone knows what Comcast considers a valid IP let me know.

hmm I have roadrunner internet and when I asked for them to change my ip address all they had to do was change it from their location, not mine.
They sent the ip address out to my house and I simply receive it via cable modem. There's nothing that I can do to "change" the ip address because they give it to me. If I wanted to change it myself, I would have to walk over to their location and switch settings on their servers.

Ok so you have the incoming cable from your ISP and that's going to your cable modem. Is your modem lighting up showing you that their is an actual incoming internet connection. If it is then you should be able to get internet access. If not, then comcast has to send out a different ip address to your lcoation...nothing you can do about that.

After you connect the CAT-5 Ethernet Cable to the PC Ethernet card, open up a command prompt. Do this by going to start and then go to run, then type in cmd and press enter. If you have vista, press start then type in cmd in the search box, then press enter.

In the black command box, type in ipconfig/all . What kind of information are you getting. Do you have default gateway, dhcp server, dns servers ?

Thanks , hope to hear back from you soon.

my next opportunity to work on this will be thursday, i will try calling comcast and asking them to reset the IP on their end. Basically whenever i talk to them about anything they tell me they need to send a tech out to fix it. The person on the phone said they may try a different ethernet cable to fix it which makes no sense because i tried 3 different ones.