Comcast's insisting on an upgrade.

By devnulllore
in Smart Home, Network & Security

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Grand Master

devnulllore

Posted
Posted

Hi,

 

I recently got an email from Comcast insisting I upgrade my modem to better support new speeds. I had tried this before about a year ago and could never get the new equipment to work. i even had a tech come in and he could not get me connected with even 2 different modem. I am disabled and these days I am not to sharp about these things. The modem I have is this: 

 

AR TG862G

Voice and Data Modem

 

And they say the modem I will get is this:

 

Wireless Gateway

Voice and Data Modem.

 

And that's all the info they gave me.

 

I have no idea if it is worth trying. The only problem I ever have with my connection is it drops out the further away I get from the modem.

 

Is this something I want to try again? My current speeds are 250mbps/6mpps

 

Thanks for any info

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Grand Master

jnelsoninjax

Posted
Posted

Do you own the current modem? I own mine and am on the 300 Mbs plan with no issues. This is the one that I have, it's selling for $50, which is a major savings from leasing one of Comcast's gateways, at $12 /month

Grand Master

xrobwx71

Posted
Posted

In my experience, modems, routers and gateways wear out. I'd go for it unless like jnelsoninjax mentions above, you own the current modem or are looking into buying one.

 

Mine, (WOW owned) recently started dropping internet periodically so I requested a replacement. The replacement also moved me from  DOCSIS 3.0 to 3.1 and fixed my issues. Alas, DOCSIS 4.0 is out although the tech has not rolled out everywhere. 

Grand Master

+BudMan MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

So your renting their equipment.. And they want to upgrade your device... Then have them come out and do it.. I am unclear on the issue here?

 

I personally hate all in one devices.. And for $12 a month in a year or so you would pay for your own equipment for sure... Even with buying a kick ass modem and router.. 2 Different devices..

Grand Master

+Warwagon MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted
30 minutes ago, BudMan said:

So your renting their equipment.. And they want to upgrade your device... Then have them come out and do it.. I am unclear on the issue here?

 

I personally hate all in one devices.. And for $12 a month in a year or so you would pay for your own equipment for sure... Even with buying a kick ass modem and router.. 2 Different devices..

THIS! It's the first thing I did when my GF got cable internet. Contacted them and verified the modem I was getting would work, and then pulled the trigger. Then brought a router, in this case Linksys AC1900AC running OpenWRT. It's so nice having just a modem and just a router and not both in 1 box.

 

She only gets 300 gigs per month. so I also installed YAMon usage monitor on the router. Such an Amazing tool for anyone with a bandwidth cap.

Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted
17 minutes ago, warwagon said:

THIS! It's the first thing I did when my GF got cable internet. Contacted them and verified the modem I was getting would work, and then pulled the trigger. Then brought a router, in this case Linksys AC1900AC running OpenWRT. It's so nice having just a modem and just a router and not both in 1 box.

 

She only gets 300 gigs per month. so I also installed YAMon usage monitor on the router. Such an Amazing tool for anyone with a bandwidth cap.

I hate them as well - and I'm glad that they are no longer required for telephony - AND that you can now purchase your own telephony modem.  (I'm also a Comcast customer, and have been for two decades.)  On the telephony side, my recommendation is the Motorola MT7711 - the only 24x8 DOCSIS 3.1 telephony cable modem that is both Comcast-approved AND customer-purchaseable (https://www.amazon.com/MOTOROLA-MT7711-Gigabit-Comcast-Internet/dp/B07GX2ZQXG/).

Don't need telephony support?  There's the ARRIS SurfBoard SB8200 (https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-Approved-SB8200-Frustration/).

 

The latter has the same issue that all the DOCSIS 3.x ARRIS Surfboards have had - excessively bright blue LED lights on their fronts.  (I call them "Blue Thunder" - as in the movie of the same name.)  More importantly, neither has the Intel Puma6 cable modem chipset that has had issues in cable modem deployments; both instead use Broadcom chipsets.  (As hated as Broadcom is, their chipsets get the job done when they need to,)

Grand Master

devnulllore

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 hours ago, jnelsoninjax said:

Do you own the current modem? I own mine and am on the 300 Mbs plan with no issues. This is the one that I have, it's selling for $50, which is a major savings from leasing one of Comcast's gateways, at $12 /month

No I pay a $2.00 rental fee per pay period

Grand Master

devnulllore

Posted
  • Author
Posted
1 hour ago, BudMan said:

So your renting their equipment.. And they want to upgrade your device... Then have them come out and do it.. I am unclear on the issue here?

 

I personally hate all in one devices.. And for $12 a month in a year or so you would pay for your own equipment for sure... Even with buying a kick ass modem and router.. 2 Different devices..

Yes I rent and the question is what is an upgrade going to do for me? I am already getting about the specified speed of 200mpbs and everything else is working ok. 

Grand Master

cork1958

Posted
Posted (edited)

If the page I was looking at is correct, it said that modem is only an 8x4 modem. Definitely worth upgrading it in that case. What more channels on a different modem would do is basically increase reliability on the connection. It says the max through put is only 300mbps also and with you being a 250 plan, I'd definitely want more channels.

 

Comcast still only gives you 6mbps upload on that plan? Sheesh, cheapskates!! :(

Edited by cork1958
Grand Master

devnulllore

Posted
  • Author
Posted
4 minutes ago, cork1958 said:

If the page I was looking at is correct, it said that modem is only an 8x4 modem. Definitely worth upgrading it in that case. What more channels on a different modem would do is basically increase reliability on the connection. It says the max through put is only 300mbps also and with you being a 250 plan, I'd definitely want more channels.

Hmm, I will have to ask if they can send a tech. even as little as a year ago I could do it myself but I would not trust myself now, I have a service plan that should cover it. I also use the voice service so it would have to support that as well.

8 minutes ago, cork1958 said:

If the page I was looking at is correct, it said that modem is only an 8x4 modem. Definitely worth upgrading it in that case. What more channels on a different modem would do is basically increase reliability on the connection. It says the max through put is only 300mbps also and with you being a 250 plan, I'd definitely want more channels.

What does 8x4 mean? And by channels are you talking tv?

Grand Master

cork1958

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, devnulllore said:

Hmm, I will have to ask if they can send a tech. even as little as a year ago I could do it myself but I would not trust myself now, I have a service plan that should cover it. I also use the voice service so it would have to support that as well.

What does 8x4 mean? And by channels are you talking tv?

Channels are what the modem uses to connect to internet, I guess is the easiest way to explain it. The more channels, the more reliable the connection, usually. An 8x4 modem is ancient now a days. Nothing to do with tv.

 

All you should have to do to connect new modem, if it's from Comcast, is plug it in and connect to internet. It should automatically go to a page that will automatically register modem.

Grand Master

+BudMan MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

No he is talking about docsis channels... The more you have the less likely for a specific channel to get congested while causing you a slow down - say in prime time where everyone in your area using the internet.  Also I take it that old N wifi aspect of their device will be updated to AC..

 

While you 8 channels might be able to get you the speed your paying for - more channels allow for higher speeds if they update that plan to higher speeds.

Grand Master

xrobwx71

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, warwagon said:

THIS! It's the first thing I did when my GF got cable internet. Contacted them and verified the modem I was getting would work, and then pulled the trigger. Then brought a router, in this case Linksys AC1900AC running OpenWRT. It's so nice having just a modem and just a router and not both in 1 box.

 

She only gets 300 gigs per month. so I also installed YAMon usage monitor on the router. Such an Amazing tool for anyone with a bandwidth cap.

How do you like the OpenWRT? 

Grand Master

goretsky Supervisor

Posted
  • Supervisor
Posted

Hello,

 

The ARRIS Touchstone TG862G is a residential broadband gateway and router with an integrated 802.11n wireless access point (2.4GHz only, though) as well as telephony adapter (for two separate phone lines) and four-port Ethernet (10/100/1GbE) switch.

 

This particular model is branded by ARRIS for Xfinity (aka Comcast) and was, as best as I can tell, released in 2015, so it is now about five (5)  years old, and is compliant with the DOCSIS 3.0 standard.

 

My best guess is that Comcast must be upgrading the CMTS (cable modem termination system)  at their end (aka the "head-end") that your cable modem connects to from DOCSIS 3.0 to DOCSIS 3.1, and is requesting all DOCSIS 3.0 users to upgrade to a modem compliant with the newer standard.  The reason for this upgrade is that the technology used in 3.1 to transfer data makes more efficient use of the channels/spectrum on the wire, and having to support the older 3.0 device slows down the throughput of their cable network.  Upgrading to a newer modem allows them to provide service to more users at higher speeds, as they no longer have to support the older means of communicating performed by your 3.0 modem.

 

At least, that's my basic understanding of how things work.   So, yes, there is a legitimate reason for your cable ISP to ask you to upgrade your modem.

 

The main thing I would suggest is that you make darn sure everything works before the cable technician leaves, including Wi-Fi access as well as your telephone lines.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

  • +BudMan and xrobwx71
  • Like 2
  • 3 months later...
Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted
On 1/15/2020 at 3:30 AM, goretsky said:

Hello,

 

The ARRIS Touchstone TG862G is a residential broadband gateway and router with an integrated 802.11n wireless access point (2.4GHz only, though) as well as telephony adapter (for two separate phone lines) and four-port Ethernet (10/100/1GbE) switch.

 

This particular model is branded by ARRIS for Xfinity (aka Comcast) and was, as best as I can tell, released in 2015, so it is now about five (5)  years old, and is compliant with the DOCSIS 3.0 standard.

 

My best guess is that Comcast must be upgrading the CMTS (cable modem termination system)  at their end (aka the "head-end") that your cable modem connects to from DOCSIS 3.0 to DOCSIS 3.1, and is requesting all DOCSIS 3.0 users to upgrade to a modem compliant with the newer standard.  The reason for this upgrade is that the technology used in 3.1 to transfer data makes more efficient use of the channels/spectrum on the wire, and having to support the older 3.0 device slows down the throughput of their cable network.  Upgrading to a newer modem allows them to provide service to more users at higher speeds, as they no longer have to support the older means of communicating performed by your 3.0 modem.

 

At least, that's my basic understanding of how things work.   So, yes, there is a legitimate reason for your cable ISP to ask you to upgrade your modem.

 

The main thing I would suggest is that you make darn sure everything works before the cable technician leaves, including Wi-Fi access as well as your telephone lines.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

As of now, Comcast has been requiring that DOCSIS 3.0 and earlier cable AND telephony modems be replaced with DOCSIS 3.1 gear since 1 January 2020; this includes their own telephony modems.  While I have an ARRIS SB-6183 cable modem - we also have a leased (from Comcast) telephony modem; that is the next planned replacement; hence my interest in the Motorola MT-7711.  The problem is that the price of the MT-7711 increased - largely due to the COVID-19 shutdown.  (And I wish I were kidding; look at the price merely on Amazon since 1 January of 2020.)  The SB-6183 AKA "Blue Thunder" is not only still running like a steel trap, Comcast actually bumped up the throughput on the cable modem side (from Performance Pro to Blast) at an extra cost of none (COVID-19 again).

  • goretsky and +Kyle
  • Like 2
  • 9 months later...
Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted
On 01/05/2020 at 16:49, PGHammer said:

As of now, Comcast has been requiring that DOCSIS 3.0 and earlier cable AND telephony modems be replaced with DOCSIS 3.1 gear since 1 January 2020; this includes their own telephony modems.  While I have an ARRIS SB-6183 cable modem - we also have a leased (from Comcast) telephony modem; that is the next planned replacement; hence my interest in the Motorola MT-7711.  The problem is that the price of the MT-7711 increased - largely due to the COVID-19 shutdown.  (And I wish I were kidding; look at the price merely on Amazon since 1 January of 2020.)  The SB-6183 AKA "Blue Thunder" is not only still running like a steel trap, Comcast actually bumped up the throughput on the cable modem side (from Performance Pro to Blast) at an extra cost of none (COVID-19 again).

FOLLOWUP - the MT-7711 I posted on is returning to pricing sanity - $199.99 (Prime); I'm pulling the trigger when President Biden sends my next bribe (Covid-19 stimulus check).  (My criticism of the payments is *not* due to President Biden; I had the same opinion - low - of the same policy under Bush the Elder.)

Grand Master

xrobwx71

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, PGHammer said:

FOLLOWUP - the MT-7711 I posted on is returning to pricing sanity - $199.99 (Prime); I'm pulling the trigger when President Biden sends my next bribe (Covid-19 stimulus check).  (My criticism of the payments is *not* due to President Biden; I had the same opinion - low - of the same policy under Bush the Elder.)

https://www.amazon.com/Docsis-3-1-Xfinity-Modem-Voice/dp/B07MGPPNZD

Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, xrobwx71 said:

https://www.amazon.com/Docsis-3-1-Xfinity-Modem-Voice/dp/B07MGPPNZD

Thanks for the heads-up - the T25 was not available when I chose the MT-7711.

 

Also, I flat-out love my SB-6183; as I stated, the darn thing is a *tank*.

 

(The two DOCSIS 3.x modems that we have had (one leased, then the SB-6183) have been from ARRIS - and have been Broadcom-powered.)

 

The T25 has one flaw - no wireless support; our current telephony modem does have that.  However, there IS an ARRIS wireless telephony modem that checks all the boxes - the ARRIS SVG-2482AC. ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XDGWKSB/ref=emc_b_5_t)

 

 

Edited by PGHammer
Grand Master

Brandon H Supervisor

Posted
  • Supervisor
Posted
17 minutes ago, PGHammer said:

The T25 has one flaw - no wireless support

generally it's better to have a separate router for WiFi anyway as modems and modem/router combo devices generally are horrible about getting updates for very long if at all which is bad if security flaws are found

  • xrobwx71, +BudMan and goretsky
  • Like 3

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