Hacking the Cable Modem: What Cable Companies Don't Want You to Know (Paperback)

by DerEngel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Take control of your cable modem

From the Back Cover
What people are saying about Hacking the Cable Modem

"No Starch Press is a publisher with a penchant for finding geeky niches that other publishers won't touch, and DerEngel's Hacking the Cable Modem is a fine case in point." --Linux Journal, October 2006

In the beginning there was dial-up, and it was slow; then ame broadband in the form of cable, which redefined how we access the internet, share information, and communicate with each other online. Hacking the Cable Modem goes inside the device that makes Internet via cable possible and, along the way, reveals secrets of many popular cable modems, including products from Motorola, RCA, WebSTAR, D-Link and more.

Inside Hacking The Cable Modem, you'll learn:
* the history of cable modem hacking
* how a cable modem works
* the importance of firmware (including multiple ways to install new firmware)
* how to unblock network ports and unlock hidden features
* how to hack and modify your cable modem
* what uncapping is and how it makes cable modems upload and download faster

Written for people at all skill levels, the book features step-by-step tutorials with easy to follow diagrams, source code examples, hardware schematics, links to software (exclusive to this book!), and previously unreleased cable modem hacks.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: No Starch Press; illustrated edition edition (September 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593271018
• ISBN-13: 978-1593271015
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #172,768 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #34 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Hardware > Peripherals
  #56 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Networking > Telephony

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, informative, and more than just schematic after schematic, October 5, 2006

By	brian d foy (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

I expected this book to be much more technical than it was. Rather than a collection of schematics and wiring diagrams, DerEngel combines many personal stories with the results of his work. It's quite an interesting read, although I don't know if the book will make hardware hackers out of anyone. Some people may be able to hack their modems with the ready-to-use tools the author discusses, but most people probably aren't going to want to potentially destroy their modems by cracking open the case and messing with the circuit board components. Most of the discussion takes it for granted that the reader is already be familiar with basic electrical engineering and Radio Shack. The tools he uses are Windows programs, so unix users may need to find similar tools to follow along with the hacks.

I wish the book had talked more about the cable companies motivations for various limitations. At one point, DerEngel does admit that some limitations protect the equipment and service for everyone's use, but overall I think he ignores that without commenting on the rather selfish notion that anyone should be able to get better internet service than others on their block. What would happen if everyone uncapped their modems and started uploading lots of data?

Despite my complete disinterest in hacking my modem, I found the book an interesting read and informative.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad book, but don't try this at home!, July 4, 2007

By	Keith M. Anderson (Moss Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I think it's well written, informative, and a great resource if you want to hack into your modem.

But...

1) You will get caught if you uncap your modem. The companies that provide cable modem service can trace unchecked bandwidth, and they'll ban you for life from their service. Uncapping will backfire on you. This has been in the news a lot lately, with stories of people getting caught doing this. It hardly seems worth it to me.
2) There is really no other reason (besides uncapping it) to hack your modem unless you just like tinkering with electronics. If that's what you're after, get the book. For most of us, we wanted to get faster speed, but since that's going to get your busted really quick, why waste your time?
3) Doesn't cover all modems, esp the newer ones (that's to be expected), so be cautious since the hacking methods may not transfer to a newer model (like mine).

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Stuff, March 15, 2008

By	Mr. Luke Mckee (South Korea) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First of all I want to object to the comment titled "How to be a Theif"

This Earlier comment suggests the book should be banned, and it will get you arrested if you follow it's instructions. The truth is in most cases, there is little cost benefit to go after everyone that bends the rules as long as they are not causing a service disruption or running up too much in tarrifs (which don't exist too much these days) Of course in come cases in America and Australia a few people will get sued as a token gesture to scare the masses into submission]. It also varies on your ISP. Some ISP's (as detailed in the book) has deployed various forms of countermeasures. But on HFC networks you can almost get away with murder if you do Mac Cloning.


I've worked in IT 12 years. I'm have a very analytical mind and I love to understand how things work. Is it a crime to be curious? I thought in America book burning and witch hunting finished a long time ago, and since then there has been a few constitutional amendments and a bill of rights. The latter of which not even other democracy's like Australia has.

Maybe he is akin the same guy that wanted to put Phill Zimmerman in jail for allowing everyone to have secure private communications with the advent of PGP. Oh that was published in a book too. And PGP was classified as export restricted military technology at the time. It was declared a lawful act of publishing by the courts. In other words, just on the legal points he has no case to stop anyone reading this, or buying this book.

Right now America and my home country (Australia) lag behind the rest of the world because inferior network infrastructure is being overcharged by telco's raking in huge profits for the better off stock owners.

The customers in Australia for example under Optus get every form of capping there is (snmp metering, rate limiting, filters, strobes for services, etc) and then traffic shaping and off-site network accounting as a backup - because this book was too effective. That's right Optus had to role out more expensive switching hardware to regain control because people didn't like having equipment they own being rate limited, and remotely configured.

Right now I'm in Korea where FTTH (Fibre to the Home) costs only $30 USD a month on a contract (100mbit each way). In Australia they are still mulling over getting FTTN (node street - then VDSL or Docsis 3.0 or slower broadband variants) in the many years to come. Korea's has had it for as long as I can remember.

Do you really think with so much bandwidth on Korea's network they will mind if an artful network Engineer helps get a P2P video conferencing network platform of the ground in his home lab with his 10mbit uplink using a Motorola SB4100 someone threw in the trash it was so old?

My project will in turn allow other users to leverage the nations' network infrastructure for on-line personal development, i.e. education. Then more Asian's can take US customer service roles with impeccable English. That's a good payback for their investment. Damn right! They paid for the network and they have so much capacity in reserve it's not funny. No wonder Korea is already submitting more patents to the US Patent office than Americans. Don't worry, I'll try and recruit American's to teach them too. But unfortunately American's will have to pay about 5 times what the Korean's do to get the same bandwidth, and that fibre connection is limited to only a few zip codes.

So how unethical is someone uncapping in my case going to be? The most I could get is 10mbit U/L, and 30 mbit if in invested in a BlackCat'ed SB5100 cable modem, when everyone else is buying 100mbit for $30 a month.

Then again the poster above thinks your stealing? I'd say the thief's are the cable companies back in the US and Australia. How much government grants did Optus (now foreign owned by Singtel - SG Govt) take in Government grants to roll out their fibre and support AARNET (Australian Academic Research Network), yet the QoS their customers get are a lot to be desired. I just got a customer a $1500 refund from the TIO (Telco Ombudsman) on their Voice over DSL offering. So my prior comments on their other products and services have weight backed up by determination by a government regulator.

If you google it you'll find the posts on whirlpool. Back then there was was a bunch of Telcho phoney's challenging me. But in the end I got the data to prove my case 100%, and won in the tribunal. This is no different.

Get used to freedom of speech ;) It's not outlawed last time I checked.

P.S. I read the great book. Only disappointment, not enough emphasis on alternatives for the Unix users, but hey they usually know what to do anyway ;) It's less of a walk through book as you would expect, and focuses a bit on the theory and his history of experimentation. Next there are the avenues that can be employed to get more from your cable modem, and of course the risks involved. In order words this book will get the ball rolling, educate you and make you ready to carefully make any changes you need TO YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT ;) Merely gaining access to your own equipment is not a crime, however if you configure it to provide you a higher class BE CAREFUL. Remember they have to unplug ever different node in the street to find where you are ;)

After buying this book I'm confident I can get a speed increase I need. Where I am staying because I'm a foreigner I'm not entitled through conventional means to get fastest internet, unless someone gets it in their name for me.