Overview
As of July 25, 2005, Spartan Village has cable modem service available for Internet access in many of its apartments; this cable Internet access will be hosted and supported by MSU. Spartan Village cable internet access should be set up and used in a similar fashion as standard wired ethernet, with the exception of instructions listed in this document.Residence Halls users with questions about cable TV service should refer to article 4944 for further assistance.
What equipment will I need?
-
Provided by the Housing Office:
- Cable Modem
- The cable modems that are being placed in Spartan Village are wired Motorola SB5100 Surfboard Cable Modems. The cable modem has an ethernet jack that can be connected directly to the PC via a twisted pair ethernet (CAT5) cable, and it has a USB connector that can be used to connect to the PC provided the necessary driver software is installed.
- AC Adapter/power cable
- Coaxial Cables
- MSU Housing will provide two coax cables to each Spartan Village user.
- Coaxial Splitter
- See note below about this connector.
- Terminator
- This should be connected to the "Out" connector on the Coaxial Splitter.
- Ethernet cable
- The user will be provided with an ethernet cable in the cable modem's box.
- USB Cable
- We do not provide support for cable modem USB connections; Spartan Village users should connect solely via the ethernet port on back of the cable modem.
Note: If you live in Spartan Village, have a cable modem, but did not receive that cable modem from the University Apartments office on Service Road, you will need to go to that office to pick up a new cable modem. The cable modems that worked on the Comcast system will NOT work with the MSU system.
If you did receive your cable modem from the University Apartments office, follow the instructions below to enable your internet access.
Are the cable modems routers as well?
No. These cable modems are designed to support only one computer. If you wish to have more than one computer connected to the Internet, you will need to purchase and configure your own router.Techbase article 8884 includes information on the proper way to set up your wireless router for use within MSU Residence Halls (including University Apartments). If the instructions in that article do not work for you, Help Desk staff will ask you to remove the router from the network and connect your computer directly to the wall port (or in the case of some Spartan Village users, to the cable modem). Contact the manufacturer of your wireless router for technical assistance with that device.
Step One: How to hook up the coaxial splitter
- The "In" Connection:
- The coax cable coming from the single wall cable jack should be connected to the "In" connector on the provided splitter.
- The "Tap" Connection:
- Connect one coax cable from the "Tap" connector on the splitter to the "Cable" port on the back of the cable modem.
- The "Out" Connection:
- If you want cable TV access, attach the second coax cable from the "Out" connector on the splitter to your TV
- Important: If you do not wish to have TV access, keep the terminator attached to the "Out" connector instead (it should come pre-attached). If you do not connect the cables correctly, your network connection may not work properly.
- If you want cable TV access, attach the second coax cable from the "Out" connector on the splitter to your TV
Note: If your splitter does NOT match this picture, return it to the University Apartments office for an exchange.
Step Two: Hooking up the cable modem to the computer
Your cable modem will already be connected to the coaxial cable from Step One above. Connect the provided ethernet cable from the "Ethernet" port on the back of the cable modem to the ethernet port on your computer.
Step Three: Turning on your cable modem
When you turn on your cable modem, the five main lights activate a few at a time, in order from top to bottom, and may take 3-5 minutes to fully activate. A cable modem with a proper connection will have on its front side a column of four solid green lights, plus a fifth, orange light marked "Activity" that should blink periodically while connected.
There is also a Standby button located on top of the cable modem; if you press that button, the last light at the bottom of the column, marked "Standby", will light up solid orange. None of the other lights will be on. You will not be able to connect properly until you press the button a second time; the standard connection lights will quickly come on, and your connection should work again.
