[ale] OT: Comcast modem

[Brian Mathis]

When I was looking into this they made it clear that you need to rent
the modem from them if you wanted to use their phone service, even if
the modem you supply has phone ports on it.


❧ Brian Mathis


On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 10:45 AM, Ron Frazier (ALE)
<atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:
> 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
> messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong
> address.  Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)
>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
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>
> Ron Frazier
> 770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
> linuxdude AT techstarship.com
>
>
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