Comcast Internet service

[caryrae]

Right now I use Qwest for internet and can only get speeds up to 3mbps. I think I want to switch to Comcast Internet, I don't want to lease a modem so i'm thinking about getting the Motorola SB6120 modem which works with Comcast. I have several things in my house that use WiFi so I would need a wireless router. How do I find one that works with the modem and/or Comcast? Or is there an all-in-one option that is a modem and is wireless?

[DizneyRox]

First off, I hate Comcast, their Customer Service has been horrible for me and everyone Iknow that's had to deal with them. I just want to put that out there...

Now, onto your problem...

I'm not sure I would suggest buying your own modem, for several reasons.

a. As technology progresses, your modem purchase may end up being money badly spent. Currently, DOCSIS 3.0 in being rolled out, I'm not sure if your area supports it yet, or not, if not, I bet it will be rolled out within the life of any modem you buy. I don't know how compatible they are, etc.
b. As soon as you have a problem and call, they will want you to verify that it's not the problem before they do any diagnostics on their end.
c. If the above isn't enough to scare you away, you will need to check on comcast's site for compatible models with their network. Once obtained, they will need to allow your modem on their network. This process may have changed, it used to be called provisioning the modem. I had at least two occasions where they removed THEIR modem that I was renting from their system, I'd hate to imagine how often a modem they don't own would fall into that black hole. This problem leads into the nightmare customer service experience I had which I will save you all from.

So, if you are able to manage the above with relative ease, I would say, go ahead and purchase your own modem. the problem is then at current costs and rental fees, it won't start paying for itself for 2/3 years at which time, you'll probably need another modem anyway.

Any router should work, I would get a seperate router not something that handles the cable modem functions as well as the router. I'm partial to Linksys right now, they've been holding up pretty good for me. I just got a DLink print server that's been working pretty good, but I've got no experience with their routers. Haven't been happy at all with NetGear products though. Really, just make sure it supports your wireless devices. If you have something that needs 802.11a, then make sure the new router supports that. The new routers are wireless-N, but I doubt you really need that kindof speed, but it wouldn't hurt if you wanted to spend the money. I'm very happy with my wireles-g network in my house, one router with 4 wireless PCs, a wireless print server, and two wireless laptops, and a couple of iPones all connecting. I stream movies to my home theater PC routinely (you haven't seen Wall-E until you've seen it in HD!) with no issues. Everything is running wireless-g with WPA-PSK encryption.

Now, to probe a little further, why is a 3 meg pipe not enough? In my neck of the woods that's the fastest I can get without going to cable and it's more than enough for me (I'm a web developer by trade). If your connection is slow, it could very well be your pipe is saturated with requests from malware/virus infestations on your personal computers.

I've run into a few infestations lately (called rootkits) which are undetectable (mostly) so while your sytem may be reporting clean, it can't be trusted.

There was a recent thread about e-mail being sent without your knowledge, which I beleive you posted, I forget now. These may be related...

The proper way to remove a rootkit is to format the hard drive, blow out the partition table and master boot record(s), and rebuild the machine from scratch. A recovery disk or virus removal tool is not an acceptable way to remove such infections.

Something to think about and good luck!

[caryrae]

That's some great info. I decided just to rent their modem ($5/month) plus when I do I can lease a wireless router for free and no extra monthly charge. One reason I switched was price I can get the triple play (internet, phone, and cable) for $100 for 12 months then after that it's $129/month which is still cheaper then using Qwest for phone and internet and Comcast for cable, which for those two is about $157/month.

3mbps is enough most of the time but we download a lot of movies from amazon or through my Xbox 360 and also stream movies through Netflix. Also do online gaming on Xbox 360. So for a little less then what I pay now for all 3 services I can get 12-15mbps intead of 3.

For me so far after having Comcast for about 3 1/2 years I have nothing to complain about but then again I have only had their Cable service.

I do want to thank you for the info about my problems with e-mails. So far using the suggestions nothing has been sent to everyone in my address book without my knowledge since I posted that thread.

[RockinRobin]

I have to say how happy we are with our Comcast first off we have bought our own modem and have never had a problem with it. We have WiFi thru out the house we have a desk top and 2 lap top computers and every thing works fine. I wish I could tell you what kind of modem and router but my daughter did it all her self we have never had to deal with customer service because every thing has worked fine. It my have to do with the area you are in I don't know but why waste the $5 a month when you can buy your own.

[DizneyRox]

IN that case, yeah, the triple play is a different box that handles phone as well. You may not be able to buy one that will work with the phone.

I had the triple play for a year, and when that term was up, I switched over to AT&T DSL and DishTV. I can't complain about the triple play too much, other than I wasn't happy with their digital cable lineup. Internet and phone was pretty solid.

Customer service though as I mentioned, was a nightmare. Quickly... They had me jumping through hoops to "fix" a PC that wasn't connecting to the Internet, including reinstalling Windows (during which I lost e-mails on the machine, pictures, etc) only to find out it was that they had lost the "provisioning" on the modem. Two minutes after they reprovisioned it, everything was fine. I knew it wasn't the PC, but they read by a script and won't continue until you give them an answer on their sheet.

Was I charging my parents for the serivces (I wasn't) I performed on their machine (ala Geek Squad) it would have cost them hundreds of dollars and they probably would have lost more. People who don't know any better would absolutely get taken to the cleaners for their [Comcast's] ineptness.

[Hammer]

First, let me say I work for Comcast as a software tester. I test Cross Platform Applications, which means applications that cross over more than 1 line of business, such as remote DVR (scheduling your DVR through the Comcast web page) or Universal Caller ID for TV or PC (caller ID popping up on your TV and/or PC). I have nothing to do with customer service. Trust me, I've had good and bad CAEs when I've called and my account comes up as an employee! I find that Comcast customer service is no better or worse than any other I've had to call.

Now regarding your question, I agree with leasing your modem, especially since you got the wireless router for free. If you are in a Docsis 3.0 area (that was tested and certified at my office by a different test team) see if you can get one of those eMTAs as it gets even faster download speeds ( around 20 mbps).

[TheVBs]

Question for Hammer.. :mickey: What is the cause when you get a black screen on your tv with the message Low Signal Strength? Is it an internal cable, external cable, something else entirely?

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. :blush:

[Hammer]

VB, I sent you a private message to try and help you out and still keep the thread on track. Just send me a PM if you have further questions.

[kakn7294]

We have Comcast Triple Play. I've been happy with their service and for the most part the customer service as well. We lease their modem and I bought a Cisco Linksys wireless router. I just have a basic set-up - no home theater or complicated computer network - so I was able to easily set it all up myself once the initial installation work was done.

[TheVBs]

VB, I sent you a private message to try and help you out and still keep the thread on track. Just send me a PM if you have further questions.

Thanks so much! :mickey: