CISCO DCP3825 -- Two major problems (orange light, and 192.168.0.1 access..)

Question

First problem: When I attempt to connect to 192.168.0.1 it does not connect. I run an ipconfig /all and my ethernet stats are:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : phub.net.cable.rogers.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR8151 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.20)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 50-E5-49-E6-85-F6
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 99.*.*.21(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.254.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : September-30-12 11:20:14 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : October-01-12 12:20:13 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 99.*.*.1   
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 173.34.66.1   
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 64.71.255.198   
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Not sure what I've done, but I can access other pages perfectly fine.

Second problem: I was originally trying to set-up my router to work with the modem. When the router is plugged into the modem both seem to function fine, but an orange light is shown on the modem for the port I've plugged the router in.

Answer 1

The information you provide above, via ipconfig /all, appears as if your PC/laptop is plugged directly into the modem. You aren't going to be able to connect to 192.168.0.1 because that isn't a valid network (which you can access).

The Cisco modem is "bridging" you (apologies to fellow network geeks) onto the Rogers cable network. Your PC is getting IP services from Rogers and not from a device with visibility to a 192.168.0/24 network.

I suspect you are trying to connect to 192.168.0.1 because you are used to being behind a router which offers that network via NAT (network address translation)....

...which leads me to your second question: The orange light? Normal and expected.

After plugging your router into the modem, plug your PC into an ethernet port on the router. Assuming your router is configured correctly (and your modem), your PC/laptop should get an IP address (a NAT address) from the router and not from Rogers. I'm also assuming you're using a standard consumer router and not a commercial router.

In the interim, you should be trying to connect to the ..21 address you gave.