RCA DCM205 User manual

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CABLE
M ODEM

CAUTION
Disconnect pow er
before servicing.
d o csi s-co m pl i a n t
This product w as designed according t o Data Over Cable Service
Int erface Specif icat ions. It will operat e on any DOCSIS-compliant
Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) cable syst em and offers DOCSISBaseline
Privacy to promot e secure internet transact ions.
SAFETY/ I N FORM ATI ON
CABLE I N STALLER:
This reminder is provided to call your at tent ion t o Article 820-40 of the
National Elect rical Code (Section 54 of t he Canadian Elect rical Code, Part
1) which provides guidelines for proper grounding and, in part icular,
specifies that the cable ground shall be connect ed to t he grounding
system of the building as close t o t he point of cable ent ry as pract ical.
CAUTION
To ensure reliable operation and to prevent overheating, provide
adequate ventilation for this modem and keep it aw ay from heat
sources. Do not locate near heat registers or other heat-producing
equipment. Provide for free air flow around the cable modem and
its pow er supply.
Please fill out the product regist rat ion card that came w ith this modem and return it immediat ely.
Returning t he card allow s us t o contact you if needed.
Keep your sales receipt to obt ain w arrant y parts and service and f or proof of purchase. At tach it here
and record t he serial and model numbers in case you need them. The numbers are located on the back
of t he modem.
Model No. ____________________________________________________
Serial No. ____________________________________________________
Purchase Date: ________________________________________________
Dealer/Address/Phone: _________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Produc t Re gist ration
If you purchased t his product at a ret ail outlet , please read t he following:

1
Ta bl e Of Co n t en t s
i n t r o d u ct i o n ................................................................ 2
Cable Modem Features............................................... 2
Computer Requirements ............................................ 2
Ca bl e M o d em Ov er v i ew ............................................... 3
Cable Internet Service Requirements .......................... 3
What The Modem Does .............................................. 3
What The Modem eeds To Do Its Job ........................ 3
The Right Cable Company .................................... 3
The Internet Service Provider (ISP) ........................ 3
bef o r e y o u beg i n ........................................................... 4
Contact Your Local Cable Company ............................ 4
Co n n ect i n g t h e Ca bl e M o d em ................................. 5
a ct i v a t i n g t h e Ca bl e M o d em .................................. 8
initialization mode ..................................................... 8
Usin g t h e Ca bl e M o d em .............................................. 9
Buttons ...................................................................... 9
Light Indicators – OPERATIO AL MODE ...................... 9
Reset Switch ............................................................ 10
Other Status Lights .................................................. 11
FREQUEN TLY ASKED QU ESTI ON S .................................. 12
Tr o u bl esh o o t i n g ........................................................ 13
Ser v i ce I N FORM ATI ON ................................................. 14
Qu i ck Ref er en ce ............................................................ 15
FCC I N FORM ATI ON .......................................................... 17
gl o ssa r y ......................................................................... 18

2
IBM PC COM PATIBLE M ACINTOSH* *
CPU Pent ium pref erred PowerPC or higher
System RAM 16MB (32M B pref erred) 16MB (24M B pref erred)
Operat ing System Windows* 95/98/2000/NT Mac OS* * 7.5.3 or higher
Linux
Available Disk Space Minimum 45M B (90M B preferred) Minimum 31M B (69M B preferred)
Video VGA or bet ter (SVGA pref erred) VGA or bett er (SVGA built -in pref erred)
Floppy Drive 3.5” High Densit y (CD-ROM pref erred) 3.5” High Densit y (CD-ROM pref erred)
Ethernet 10BaseT or 100BaseT 10BaseT or 100BaseT
An Ethernet card makes it possible for your computer to pass data to
and from the internet. You must have an Ethernet card and softw are
drivers installed in your computer. You w ill also need a standard
Ethernet cable to connect the Ethernet card to your cable modem.
Ca bl e M o d em Fea t u r es
• Capable of receiving dat a at rat es of up t o 6000K‡(6 Megabits per second, over
100 times f aster t han 56K)
• Ability t o send and receive dat a over t he cable line
• Plug-and-play operat ion f or easy setup and installation
• Compliance to DOCSIS specif ication (see page 12)
• ON/OFF But t on to put t he Et hernet port in st andby mode
• Email w ait ing not if icat ion capability
• Diagnostic light patt erns on the modem
• Ability t o receive aut omatic sof t w are updat es, if init iat ed by your cable
company.
‡The f ollowing may aff ect t he speed of your cable modem: your comput er
equipment and configurat ion (processor speed, amount of RAM, available disk
space); t he number of programs you are running at t he same t ime; t he capacit y
of your ISP; netw ork t raff ic levels; t he number of Ethernet or USB devices in use
on your computer. Your cable company may or may not f ully support the speed
capabilit es of this modem.
Co m pu t er Req u i r em en t s
• Personal computer w it h t he f ollow ing minimum system requirement s (note
that the minimum requirement s may vary by cable company):
i n t r o d u ct i o n
* W indow s is a trademark of the M icrosoft Corporation
* * M acintosh and the M ac OS are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.

3
W h a t Th e M o d em Do es
The RCA Digit al Cable Modem serves as a t w o-w ay high-speed bridge
bet w een your personal comput er and a cable Int ernet Service Provider
(ISP). It convert s information t hat originates f rom t he Internet or your
comput er into electronic messages t hat can be t ransport ed over the same
wires your cable company uses to transport video signals.
W h a t Th e M o d em N eed s To Do I t s Jo b
Th e Ri g h t Ca bl e Co m pa n y
Make sure your local cable company provides dat a services t hat use cable
TV indust ry-st andard DOCSIS t echnology.
Th e I n t er n et Ser v i c e Pr o v i d er (I sp)
Your cable company gives you access t o an Int ernet Service Provider (ISP).
The ISP is your gat eway t o the Int ernet . It provides you w ith a pipeline t o
access Int ernet cont ent on t he World Wide Web (WWW).
Check w it h your cable company to make sure you have everyt hing you
need t o begin; t hey’ll know if you need t o inst all special sof tw are or
reconf igure your comput er to make your cable int ernet service work for
you.
Ca bl e M o d em Ov er v i ew
ca bl e i n t er n et ser v i ce r eq u i r em en t s
• Cable company t hat offers DOCSIS-compliant internet services
power
data
cable
traffic
email
on off
Computer Internet
Cable
M odem
Cable Company
(Internet Service
Provider)

4
bef o r e y o u beg i n
Co n t a ct Yo u r Lo ca l Ca bl e Co m pa n y
You w ill need t o cont act your cable company to establish an Int ernet
account bef ore you can use your modem. You should have the f ollow ing
inf ormat ion (which you w ill find on the st icker on t he modem) ready:
• The serial number
• The M edia Access Control (MAC) address
• The model number of t he modem
CA U TI O N
Your cable company should always be consult ed
bef ore inst alling a new cable out let . Do not
att empt any rew iring w ithout cont act ing your
cable company f irst .
Pl ea se v er i f y t h e f o l l o w i n g w i t h t h e
ca bl e co m pa n y :
• The cable service t o your home support s DOCSIS-compliant two-way modem
access.
• Your Int ernet account has been set up.
• You have a cable out let near your PC and it is ready for cable modem service.
Record your inf ormat ion here:
Serial Number: _________________________
MAC Address: __________________________
Model Number: _________________________
S.N.
MODEL:
MAC:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
DCM205
001095XXXXXX

5
Co n n ect i n g t h e Ca bl e M o d em
NOTE: It is important to supply pow er to the modem at all times.
Keeping your modem plugged in w ill keep it connected to the
Internet. This means that it w ill alw ays be ready w hen you are. To
disconnect just your computer from the Internet use the ON/ OFF
button to put the modem in stand-by mode.
3
1
2
Coaxial Cable
AC Power
Et hernet
Thomson Pow er
AC Adapter
Cable In

6
You need three cables t o make t he necessary connect ions:
•Et hernet cable. M ake sure that t his cable that is straight -w ired (not “ null” or
crossover-wired). How ever, you will need a crossover-type cable if you are
connecting the modem to a hub, or a hub w it hin a port swit ch that provides
the same f unct ion.
•AC adapt er provided w it h your cable modem.
•A standard RG-6 coaxial cable or one recommended by your Cable Operator.
Connecting The Cable M odem To A Single Comput er:
Make t he connections to t he modem in the f ollow ing sequence:
1. Connect one end of the coaxial cable to t he cable connection in the wall, and
the ot her end to t he connector on the modem labeled “ Cable In.”
2. Insert t he cord f rom t he AC adapter into the “ Pow er AC Adapt er #:1544907* ” ‡
jack on t he cable modem. Then plug t he adapt er int o an AC out let .
NOTE: Use the Thomson pow er supply Stock # 1544907* ‡that is compatible
w ith this unit. Using other adapters may damage the unit.
3. Connect one end of the Et hernet cable (straight -w ired, see above) to t he
Et hernet port on the back of your comput er, and t he other end t o t he
connector labeled “ Et hernet ” on t he cable modem’s back panel. Alt ernatively,
a USB-t o-Ethernet adapter w ill allow you t o connect t his modem t o your
computer’s USB port.
4. Insert t he RCA CD-ROM int o your CD-ROM drive t o view troubleshoot ing t ips,
the internal diagnost ics and ot her valuable inf ormat ion.
CD-ROM Cont ents:
•Links to RCA w eb sit es
•Elect ronic file of t his Instruct ion Book
•Usage and t roubleshoot ing tips
•Inf ormat ion about ot her RCA product s
•Third-part y applicat ion soft w are
Co n n ect i n g t h e Ca bl e M o d em
‡Please note that t he last digit of t he stock number on t he pow er supply may
vary. The f irst 7 digit s should match t he number above.

7
Co n n ect i n g t h e Ca bl e M o d em
Connecting M ore Than One Com put er to t he Cable M odem
Yo u ’ll need t he following equipment :
•Crossover-wired, or “ null,” category 5 Et hernet cable
•10BaseT or 100BaseT Hub or Swit ch
•Straight t hrough, or standard, category 5 Et hernet cable (one for each
computer to be connected)
If you have a hub w it h an uplink port * , a straight t hrough cable can be used in
combinat ion with t hat port in lieu of t he crossover cable.
* An uplink port has a small swit ch on it t o change t he polarit y of t he
connection. It can accept eit her a cross-over or a st raight , depending on the
set t ing.

8
a ct i v a t i n g t h e Ca bl e M o d em
1. Tuning –The cable modem is funct ional and searching
for a downst ream cable modem service channel on your
cable syst em.
2. Ranging –The modem is now tuned to a downst ream
cable modem channel and can now receive dat a. Now it
searches f or an upst ream channel so that it can send
dat a.
3. Connecting –The cable modem is now communicat ing
start -up dat a both dow nstream and upst ream.
The cable company is est ablishing IP connect ivity w ith
your modem.
4. Conf iguring – The cable modem received it s IP address
and is dow nloading its configuration f ile from t he ISP.
5. Registering –The cable modem conf igurat ion is
complet e. It is registering its “ as-configured” set tings
wit h your Cable Operat or. Once complet e, t he lights will
stop f lashing and t he modem w ill ent er Operational
Mode.
i n i t i a l i z a t i o n m o d e
Af t er you install t he cable modem and turn it on for t he first time (and
each time t he modem is reconnect ed to t he pow er) it goes through f ive
steps bef ore it can be used. Each of these st eps is represented by a
different patt ern of f lashing lights on t he front of the modem.
Legend Of f On Flashing
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
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