[ale] Cable modem recommendation

[mike at trausch.us]

On 04/02/2012 08:33 AM, Lightner, Jeff wrote:
> Does anyone know if there is a special device required for Comcast
> telephone and if so would they be charging an extra monthly fee and
> if so if one can buy one rather than rent as they can with cable
> modem?

It is indeed some form of VoIP.  That said, just like many of the VoIP
providers, they typically require that you use an MTA that is provided
by them and therefore provisioned through them.

I don't know what Comcast's rules are; I'm not sure if they allow you to
swap out for your own dedicated devices or not.  I know that many other
providers do not, because of the recent requirements that they provide
certain services in the same way as landlines (e.g., 911 service).
Therefore, they likely require that you use their own device so that
they can control the configuration and such.

The advantage to Comcast's MTAs (which are built-in to the cable modem
itself) is that they have a battery back-up contained in the box, too.
This makes them bigger and heavier, of course, but it means that during
short power outages, you still have telephone service.

The disadvantage, of course, is that you don't have control of the
thing.  I know that on the business class services, you don't get to buy
your own cable modem, at least not yet.  They have told me that they
plan to allow this in the future, but it seems that for now, they rely
on having control of the device in order to setup whatever tunnel
mechanism they use to deliver static IP blocks to the customer premises.

	--- Mike

-- 
A man who reasons deliberately, manages it better after studying Logic
than he could before, if he is sincere about it and has common sense.
                                   --- Carveth Read, “Logic”

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