Charter Communications Wireless Cable Gateway Features
Thank you for purchasing the DCW725 Wireless Cable Gateway. This device delivers the highest performance in data over cable technology. Ideal for home and small business users, this easyto-use communication device offers reliable connectivity as well as remarkable data transfer rates – up to 600 times faster than a 56K dial-up modem. Once the DCW725 is activated, you are online to enjoy real-time 3D animation, video conferencing, and perform other data intensive tasks.
The Charter Wireless Cable Gateway provides high-speed, reliable and secure transport capabilities and is designed with DOCSIS upgrade ability for both DOCSIS 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0. The gateway offers anti-spoofi ng functions, resulting in greater subscriber privacy and higher system availability. Advanced features such as WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g, NAT, Firewall, VPN pass through and CableHome are also available now and can be configured.
What the Charter Wireless Cable Gateway Does
The Digital Wireless Cable Gateway serves as a two-way high-speed bridge between your personal computer and a cable Internet Service Provider (ISP). It converts information that originates from the Internet or your computer into electronic messages that can be transported over the same wires your cable company uses to transport video signals.
What the Wireless Cable Gateway Needs to Do Its Job
• Charter The Right Cable Company: Make sure your cable company provides data services that use cable TV industry-standard DOCSIS technology.
• The Internet Service Provider (ISP): Your cable company provides you access to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The ISP is your gateway to the Internet. It provides you with a pipeline to access Internet content on the World Wide Web (WWW).
Check with your cable company to make sure you have everything you need to begin; they’ll know if you need to install special software or re-confi gure your computer to make your cable Internet service work for you.
System Overview
The Wireless Cable Gateway is connected between your cable company and the PCs within your home, as pictured previously in the Wireless Cable Gateway Overview. The connection to the cable company is made by a coaxial cable, and is referred to as the WAN (Wide Area Network) side of your Wireless Cable Gateway. The connections to your PCs are made by your choice of several standard home networking methods: Ethernet, USB, or 802.11b Wireless, and are referred to as the LAN (Local Area Network) side of your Wireless Cable Gateway. Multiple PCs can use any or all of the LAN side connections simultaneously to share your single cable company connection, up to a maximum of 254 PCs total.
Unlike a simple hub or switch, the gateway’s setup consists of more than simply plugging hardware together. You’ll need to confi gure your networked PCs to accept the IP addresses the gateway assigns them (if applicable), and you will also need to confi gure the gateway with settings provided by your cable company.
Your PC: Installing a PC Network Card
If your PC does not already support Ethernet or USB, you must install a network interface card. Following is an example setup procedure:
1. Install an Ethernet card on your motherboard, following the card’s directions.
2. Power up your PC and follow the Add New Hardware Wizard’s instructions to install the
driver. When asked to restart your computer at the end of the installation, click Yes.
3. After restarting the system, right-click My Computer on the desktop, select Properties,
click the Device Manager tab, and then double-click Network adapters to confi rm that the
Ethernet driver is properly installed.
Your PC: Installing a TCP/IP Stack
Follow these instructions to install the TCP/IP protocol stack on one of your PCs only after a
network card has been successfully installed inside the PC. These instructions are for Windows Me.
For TCP/IP setup under Windows NT, 2000, and XP, refer to your Windows documentation.
1. Click the Start button. Choose Settings and then Control Panel.
2. Double-click on the Network icon to bring up your Network window. Select the Confi guration tab.
3. Click the Add button.
4. Double-click on Protocol.
5. Highlight Microsoft under the list of manufacturers.
6. Find and double-click TCP/IP in the list to the right (see Figure 3).
7. After a few seconds, the main Network window will appear.
The TCP/IP Protocol should now be listed.
8. Click the OK button again. Windows may ask you for the original Windows installation disk or additional files. Supply them by pointing to the correct fi le location, e.g., D:\win9x, c:\windows\options\cabs, etc. (if “D” is the letter of your CD-ROM drive).
9. Windows will ask you to restart the PC. Click the Yes button.
The TCP/IP installation is now complete.