Where is the Home Network Manager?

I need to do port forwarding. Can I do this without the Home Network Manager?

No. The home network manager basically just checks if your wireless is secure and then gives general suggestions. You forward ports in what ever router you have. Try here. Just watch out that you don't click on an advertisement by mistake.

Thanks for the suggestion, Trikein. 

I tried the link. When I try to connect to the router via 192.168.0.1 on Firefox, the router page shows up but the default username and password (both "admin") do not work. My own username and password for Cox.com did not work either.

Do you know what username and password I need to access the router? 

No. What kind of router do you have and who set it up? The password will either be the default for that model or it will be what it was changed to during installation. 

Hmm, is this the same thing as connecting to the network wifi? That's the only password that was given to us by the Cox tech who set up the router. It's a Cisco DPQ3925C DOCSIS 3.0 2-PORT Voice Gateway,

Ohhh, you have a gateway 

It might not even support port forwarding. The default user password is just <blank> <blank>. another words you don't type anything in, just hit enter. If its not that someone changed it (urggg, why do they do this?), and you will either have to reset it back to factory default or call Cox and check with their Home Networking department and see if they use any default passwords by procedure. You may want to do that first to see if their firmware allows it too.

Why do you need to forward ports BTW? Can you give some context/background?

I'm trying to use uTorrent.

According to Cox, they do support port forwarding. At least in the text describing the Home Network Manager (HNM) on Cox.com "Internet Tools," it says it I need to access the HNM if I want to do port forwarding:

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How to Navigate and Use Cox Home Network Manager 

Last Updated: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 > Related Articles

4 rated this

Summary

Learn how to use the Cox Home Network Manager.

Solution

This article includes steps to:

• Login and Access Cox Home Network Manager
• View Network Status
• Manage My Networkwhich includes:
  • Viewing Device Information
  • Editing Device Names and Icons
  • Deleting a device
  • Managing Remote Settings
• Manage My Wireless Network
• Add or Delete Port Forwarding

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But when I click on the "Start" button, I get all these incompatabilities. I finally got it to work in Firefox, but then ran into this username/password conundrum.

How do you know that un/pw is blank/blank? I will try that when I get home.

So, you don't think it's the same un/pw I use to hook up to my wifi? That's different?

Hmm, I never knew Cox has a system implemented like that. I don't see how this would work unless cox used SNMP and some method to push config files. If so, I would want to know what kind of security precautions are taken.It's probably some 3rd party Cox software that is buggy but whom the support from is convoluted. Just another reason why I would really suggest a better device if your going to be pushing heavy torrent traffic over it.

Also, the tool would just be a alternate method of the normal procedure of configuring a network device via it's 192.168.x.x. gateway. This way is always preferable since it's a direct representation of the firmware on the device. The blank/blank is the default for all Cisco DPC/DPQ equipment, unless changed during install. That passWORD would be different then the passPHRASE. The password is just to get to the 192.168.x.x gateway, while the passphrase is to connect to the wireless connection. Think of it like the difference between the key to your car and the key to your glove box.

If you do decide to get another device, may I suggest a Motorola SB6141 and a Asus RT-N66U(R). Expensive, but if your going to be downloading all those linux distros  you need something that can take the traffic. On that topic, you might want to look into newsgroups over torrent. More secure and much faster. I can easily saturate my bandwidth and get 4-5MBps on Preferred. What does your Torrent max at, 700k? 900k? And since it's not run by the very people trying to enforce outdated IP laws, your at less risk of...complication.

OK, you are going over my head with all that internet router talk. I was not anticipating having to buy my own modem. You're thinking that this router won't be able to support uTorrent? My previous DSL router seem to work fine. When you say "torrent max," you mean how big the files are? They could be 3-6 Gb easy.  

I don't think I am going to be of any more help then I have tried to be. Overall it's not something Cox supports. Good luck though.

OK, I got it to work. Thanks for the 'blank/blank' tip, Trikein!