DSL Extreme → Defective ADSL2 Modem

I recently signed up for FUSION and just received a new COMTREND CT-5072T MODEM. My activation is next week but I just wanted to test that the modem basically works. I plugged in my laptop to the ethernet port of the modem,expecting that it would assign an ip address and gateway to my pc. When I run ipconfig from my laptop, no ip address nor a gateway is assigned.

It seems that the DHCP portion of the modem is not working. Does this modem require some kind of activation code from your network before something as basic as DHCP starts working? If not, then I believe this modem is defective.

Do you charge a shipping fee to return a modem?
Is the fusion modem ours to keep since I see that there was a $30 charge with a corresponding $30 rebate on the invoice.

modems shipped by dslextreme come in bridge mode by default, meaning they expect you to hook up a router to the ethernet port and plug the login info into that. comtrend units can be taken out of bridge mode fairly easily, you just need to assign computer an ip range within the range of the modem and the modems default ip, then you can access it and change it over to normal mode.

Demonfang's correct, the modems are bridged by default. While you CAN log into the Comtrend (by setting your computer's IP to something like 192.168.1.5 and gateway to 192.168.1.1), it's not necessary. Once the Fusion service goes live (you'll see the ADSL LED go steady green; the "Internet" LED will NOT light up, so don't be worried about that), you should be able to connect online without any configuration or activation code necessary (your computer will pull an IP and gateway automatically).

You can use a router between the Comtrend and your computer (if you want to have multiple computers connected, or if you wanted to use wifi, for example), or you can just connect the computer directly to the Comtrend; either works fine.

The modem's a lease, so you'll need to return it whenever you cancel service with us.