[ale] OT: Comcast modem

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi Ed,

I rent mine from Comcast for the same reason that Allen does, so I can 
get them to troubleshoot and / or replace it if there is a problem.  
I've had to have a couple of them replaced over a decade.  Obviously, 
there are some here that own their own equipment and that works for 
them.  By the way, with the equipment they provide, they can do remote 
diagnostics on the modem, loopback tests, and things like reboot or 
reinitialize it.  I don't know if they can do that if you own the equipment.

The one I am currently renting from them is an Arris Touchstone 
Telephony modem.  It seems to work well.  It also provides 4 telephone 
ports that you can use if you get your phone service through them.  It 
has a backup battery that runs the phones only for a few hours in case 
of a power failure.

Having said all that, I don't know if you can buy it on the open market 
or not, but I would think you could.

I have all my routers and the cable modem on an APC UPS, and I would 
recommend the same to others.  Since GA has the 2nd largest amount of 
lightning in the country (after Florida), something like a surge 
suppressor is essential.  I have a nice one of those, designed for 
multimedia equipment, in line before the UPS.  That has something like 
3000 joules of protection.  Most people don't know that UPS's typically 
don't have much surge protection, on the order of 300 joules, but you 
can look at the spec sheets and find out.  Anyway, having the UPS there 
guarantees that my telephone will remain active for a longer time and 
internet connectivity will remain for a couple of hours if the power 
fails.  (Having internet connectivity in the event of a power failure is 
good for checking up on the weather via laptop or tablet, or sending a 
quick email, or closing down work in progress.)

Even with the protective equipment, during really ugly storms, I shut 
everything down.

By the way, since, in my experience, modems and routers tend to get 
flaky over time continuously running anyway, I reboot all my equipment 
once a week whether there is a storm or not.

Sincerely,

Ron

On 2/11/2013 9:44 AM, Beddingfield, Allen wrote:
> I have been renting one from Comcast for about 11 years now.  I have had to have several replaced over the years, but it probably would have still added up to the cost of those in rental fees.  However, the reason I continue to rent one is that I want to avoid the finger pointing (the problem is with your awful device, not our excellent service) sort of issues.  Where I live, Comcast has semi-reliable service at best and horrible customer service, and they have a monopoly on the market.
> Allen B.
> --
> Allen Beddingfield
> Systems Engineer
> The University of Alabama
>
> From: Edward Holcroft<eholcroft at mkainc.com<mailto:eholcroft at mkainc.com>>
> Reply-To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts<ale at ale.org<mailto:ale at ale.org>>
> Date: Monday, February 11, 2013 8:35 AM
> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts - Yes! We run Linux!<ale at ale.org<mailto:ale at ale.org>>
> Subject: [ale] OT: Comcast modem
>
> All,
>
> I have been paying Comcast to rent a cable modem for the last 6 years and have realized I could've owned several for the money I've handed to them over the years.
>
> Has anybody got some advice? What's the best way to go about this? Is it essential to have a "Comcast approved" device or will any cable modem work?
>
> Are there any changes in the pipeline that I need to be aware of for a purchase I make now e.g. IPv6? Is there a single "no-brainer" modem that I should buy? Or alternately, Is there any equipment that I should avoid?
>
> cheers
> ed
>
> --
> Edward Holcroft
> Madsen Kneppers&  Associates Inc.
> 3020 Holcomb Bridge Rd. NW
> Norcross, GA 30071
> O (770) 446-9606
> M (678) 587-8649
>
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-- 

(To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying to former
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Ron Frazier
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linuxdude AT techstarship.com