[ale] Cable modem recommendation

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi all,

I know the original post was about a non leased modem.  I can't really 
speak to that, but I thought I'd mention something about the phone 
part.  I have Comcast Xfinity service with HD TV, 20 MBps Internet, and 
3 line Phone.  It ain't cheap, but I really like it.  The way the phone 
works is pretty cool.  Of course, the phone signals come through the 
internet connection using VOIP.  My particular modem has 4 phone ports, 
of which I'm using 3.  The service works well most of the time, with 
only occasional digital distortion and breakup.  So, what we did is to 
have the phone company disconnect the traditional phone line from the 
outside junction box.  Then, I plugged a patch cable from the modem to a 
nearby wall outlet.  The modem drives my entire phone network in the 
house with two lines.  I have a wireless base station in the basement so 
I can have access to the third line.  I'm pretty sure the modem 
automatically provides Quality Of Service functions to automatically 
prioritize phone traffic, but I could be wrong.  Almost all my phones 
have their own power supply, and those that don't are relatively modern, 
so it's not too much power drain on the modem.  I guess I have 6 or 7 
phones operating off of the system.  Some of those are wireless with 
multiple handsets.  So, that's a big advantage of having a modem device 
with it's own phone ports, so you can drive your telephone network all 
over the house, depending on the modem in use.  I don't think something 
like MagicJack can do that.  The other advantage of a modem with phone 
ports is that it will automatically reboot after a power failure.  
Finally, the modem Comcast provided has a battery that lasts a few hours 
if the power is off, so you still have phone service for a while.  Since 
it's connected directly to the cable, I don't have to have a UPS on it.  
Of course, wireless phones are useless without power to the base 
station.  However, I have an old wired phone which I can plug in if 
needed which draws power from the phone line.  I also have my cell phone 
as a backup.  You also have to notify whomever provides the VOIP service 
of any address changes so 911 service will work.  One other neat thing 
about a leased modem is that you can harass the ISP when something goes 
wrong.  Also, sometimes you get new faster stuff when they upgrade their 
system.

I think the Vonage box shown in this link will allow you to do something 
similar to what I'm doing, but I'm not sure.  If you have a device like 
this, you can just plug it into your router, but, if you want service 
during a power failure, you'll have to make sure the phone box, the 
router, and the cable modem are attached to a UPS.

http://www.vonage.com/how_vonage_works_adapters/?refer_id=WEBHO0706010001W1&lid=sub_nav_adapters

Sincerely,

Ron


On 4/18/2012 4:51 PM, Bob Toxen wrote:
> I have a $84.99 Zoom Cable Modem (supporting DOCSIS 3.0, the fastest
> available in the Atlanta area) from MicroCenter that supports ComCast
> and the other Cable SOBs.  I've not yet had time to install it.
>
> It does not seem to support phone access.
>
>
> However, I plan to try:
>
>    www.magicjack.com
>
> It's recommended by Clark Howard, the WSB radio consumer guy.
> I plan to buy a standalone Magic Jack (no Winbloz needed), available
> at MicroCenter.  MicroCenter also has slightly cheaper Magic Jack
> devices that do require Winbloz.
>
>
> Does anyone have experience with Magic Jack?
>
>
> A few years ago I bought my own Motorola Cable modem but it broke within
> a year or so.  YMMV.
>
> On Fri, Mar 30, 2012 at 03:44:24PM -0400, Brian Mathis wrote:>  Is
> anyone on the list using their own (not leased) cable modem with>
> Comcast service?  Can you recommend a good one?  Do any of them>
> support the phone service as well?>  >  Thanks>  >  ??? Brian Mathis>
>
>    


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Ron Frazier

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