Why is my cable modem always having "activity"?

[Quasqueton]

Curious - I have a cable modem. The activity light is almost always flashing, even when I'm not doing anything. This worries me. Is some program on my computer or some server on the Net communicating without my permission?

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Quasqueton

 

[gariig]

Go to download.com and get Zone Alarm. It's a software firewall, so you can see what programs are trying to access the Net. Also, do you have a Router/Firewall setup for your Cable Modem?

Gariig

 

[PurplePCEater]

The activity is probably just casued by your ISP doing a broadcast across their entire network to ensure the cable modem is alive - it's almost certainly nothing to be worried about. I get activity every few minutes on mine and the firewall logs tell me that it's nothing more than a multicast broadcast. (If that means nothing to you, don't worry - it's innocuous)

That said, if you're using an always-on connection (and even if you're not, though dynamic IPs assigned through dialups aren't so likely a target) you really should be running a firewall.

Personally I don't like Zone Alarm - I find it interferes too much and whines incessantly, so I use Tiny Personal Firewall instead (http://www.tinysoftware.com ) on each of the 'doze boxes I've got running. There's a dedicated Linux firewall between the LAN and the cable modem which blocks anything inbound that hasn't been specifically requested from a client machine, but the addition of the firewall software on each of the clients means I can block any outbound traffic that I don't want. It's quite disturbing the number of times a day that a Windows machine wants to access the outside world (particularly to MS). Stops (and identifies, by means of the requested network access) all sorts of spyware and other unpleasantness that can creep in without your knowledge.

 

[Quasqueton]

Thanks.

Thanks for the replies.

I looked at the ratings and reviews for ZoneAlarm, and it didn't look too appealling. I'll check out Tiny Software info tomorrow.

The thing that bugs me most is that the "Activity" light is always flashing. Constantly. Not just every now and then. It didn't used to be like this. It used to just be occasionally, but now, always, it worries me.

Quasqueton

 

[gariig]

Re: Thanks.

I looked at the ratings and reviews for ZoneAlarm, and it didn't look too appealling. I'll check out Tiny Software info tomorrow.

TPF didn't do much better

I've heard Norton is junk, too. O well, I'll stick with what I know works. If you have good news about TPF post it back here.

Gariig

 

[TheAuldGrump]

From what I gather Road Runner at least is always on, keeping the line open. If I recall corectly there were some early problems with a connection being opened but not closed, when you booted up and went online again there were now two open connections and so on. They switched to an always connected state to cut down on the number of opened connections.

Getting a firewall is a very good idea, I remember seeing a demonstration when a friend of mine logged in to another friends computer and printed up files, all without telling the owner of the printer.

The Auld Grump, the only reason you think I'm paranoid is because you're out to get me...

 

[BV210]

I purchased System Suite 4 from Ontrack (although I think another company bought that particular piece of software and took over support). Anyway, SS4 has a pretty decent firewall built in as well as computer diagnostics, defrag, scandisk, etc. I've been pleased with it.

On a side note, I'd tank the cable modem and go with DSL, that way you're not sharing your pipe with the entire neighborhood.

 

[Judas]

Interesting. I've heard that Zonelabs is one of the best. Yes, the interface is kludgy, but it whines at you? It's just doing it's job. Stopping both inbound and outbound processes. If you have a newer Linksys router, you can even give your install key to the router, and it will log back to your zonealarm everything that the router gets hit by.

 

[Silvanos]

I work as a team lead for a cable co. The activity is almost certainly a result of your ISP broadcasting. The modem needs to remain in contact with the CMTS (Cable modem Termination System) router.

Better place to ask is at http://www.dslreports.com

They have very active boards, and boards that are specific to each major and some minor ISP's.

Good luck!

Silva

 

[chilibean]

Is the cable modem also acting as a hub?

If so, a lot of the network protocols out there have admin overhead and it could be just that. If you have the IPX protocol enabled, it keeps the acitvity light blinking regularly, even if 'nothing' is happening.

Also, If you run a LAN at home I would strongly recommend that you use file & print sharing only with IPX and NOT on TCP/IP. Otherwise everyone and his brother can access your computer unless you run a firewall.

It's easy to switch file & print sharing over to IPX in Win98, but it can't but all that more involved in 2000/NT/XP. For Win98, all you do is go into your network settings and add the IPX protocol (it's under Microsoft in the list of protocols). It will automatically be bound to your client and to file & print sharing. Then open the TCP/IP properties, click on the bindings tab, and uncheck file & print sharing. Leave TCP/IP bound to the microsoft client (or Windows logon, whichever you use).

Of course, if you only do this on 1 machine on your network, it won't work. You gotta do this on all your machines for this to work. If you are using IPX and another machine is using TCP/IP, you won't see that computer in your network neightborhood anymore. You need to switch them all to IPX.

People who use a modem to get on the internet, should remove the IPX entry for the dialup adapter (no sense in wasting memory). Also, people who DON'T use a modem, should remove the stupid dialup adapter component it automatically installs whether you have one or not.

Needless to say, if you don't run a LAN, then TURN OFF file and print sharing! Are you asking to get hacked? Who are you sharing it to?