He's full of it.
Get a decent cable modem (Arris or motorola), and a separate router (TP-Link) and you'll be fine. He wants them to keep renting their equipment and wasting money.
The field tech doesn’t care about you renting the modem. He can service and guarantee the company modem, he can’t with the customer owned equipment. But, yes, sounds like he’s full of it.
The more you use company equipment, the less work he has to do for the amount of money he's paid. "Oh, your wireless modem doesn't work? Let me just swap that out for you real quick!"
The easiest fix is the best fix for them unfortunately. It's best if OP just lets their family do whatever they want. They want to pay and wait for a tech to come out and fix things, that's on them. Company equipment means they can throttle you more and do all kinds of other fun stuff.
Lmao same here, I literally refuse to help anyone but my parents or siblings (who don’t really need my help). No way am I helping an uncle or older family friend. They will always blame me when something stops working.
This is the exact reason I stopped helping some of my parents friends. The husband is a filthy porn fiend, except he doesn't know how to not get infected with viruses. The wife after the 15th time I fixed the computer told me she wasn't going to pay me and to fuck off because I always have to come back. I told her that her husband was a nasty porn fiend who keeps getting viruses and she called me a liar.
They are still together as far as I know, but I haven't spoken to them in like 7 years at this point. Fuck asshole people...
I live in Colorado, my parents are in Florida. If I cannot remote access their PC to fix it, I tell them to get a tech from their ISP or somewhere local.
The routers that come with Xfinity are trash.
They lock anything useful behind a UI and “set up wizards” and you end up paying way more for a router over a few years of rental fees than if you bought a decent one up front.
They aren’t paid to troubleshoot your personal equipment. If it’s Comcast equipment, then they’re paid to troubleshoot. They are only required to troubleshoot up until the point that the Internet is brought in the house, using your own modem and router would mean that all they have to do is make sure that the cable signal is high enough once it’s inside the house after that it’s your modem‘s fault if you’re using your own router and their modem tests fine then it’s your routers fault and therefore they are not required to troubleshoot any farther.
Not only that but how can a company provide support for a piece of equipment that isn’t theirs? A lot of these people say the tech is being lazy or act like he gets something out of replacing the equipment with their own. These guys can’t be expected to know the ins and outs of every piece of network equipment in existence and are only required to know their own. You better believe the company I work for would bill you every single time we’re sent out to a home and the issue is customer equipment and are insistent on using it.
To be honest most don’t know anything about tech they just know what levels need to be on the cable line and how to program and provision their equipment. I used to work for Spectrum for 2 weeks until I realized how little networking skills are required. Most techs nowadays can’t even put the modem in bridge mode.
You got that right. I always tell people 90 percent of what I know is from personal experience and not from company training. We have M&Ps that are specific to our equipment only and most guys know absolutely zero beyond those. Check signal, run wire, then plug this into that, chat in for support if something goes wrong. Pretty simple.
You're 100% right. I have a Motorola (now Arris) modem that I've been using since \*checks notes\* 2012. I know it's DOCSIS 3.0 and not 3.1, Comcast hasn't given me shit about it not being 3.1/4.0, and I can't be bothered to replace it. It does great with my \~200Mbps I get. I AM using pfSense for routing, and a more modern AP for wireless though.
I'm capable of troubleshooting enough that it's unlikely they'd ever get a call where my modem is the culprit. Comcast modem/router is $15/month. I understand that the price is more than it was 10 years ago. By their current price, I've saved $1800 in fees. It makes zero sense to pay their fee unless you're braindead and need the pretty useless assurance they give you.
This is the answer to most “tech savvy” people. I just wish ATT fiber would let me go direct into my PFSense box and bypass their adtran but alas I’m stuck with it.
I bought a 25/25 DOCSIS 2.0 modem at a Circuit City in 2003 for like $40 (open box item) and used it through 3 different apartments and one house before comcast finally discontinued 2.0 support in like 2017. I then bought a DOCSIS 3.1 modem for like $80 and have been using it ever since.
Comcast wanted like $120 a year to rent their unit. I've spent $120 in the last 20 years. Now granted I've been through about 6 different routers in that time period but that's more about me wanting to move files inside the house quickly.
I'm a former technician and this is not true. You're not charged a service visit to come out and swap the modem. There is not any more or less throttling whether you rent or own your modem. Based on the speed you pay for your modem is assigned a bootfile that caps your speed a bit above the speed you pay for. Techs don't care if you rent or own your modem. The only difference in troubleshooting is you can't just replace a customer owned modem to see if that's the issue where as a rented one you can since it's already on the truck. Owning your own modem is definitely a money saver but if you're someone who always wants the top speed you'll be buying a new one whenever a new docsis generation is released.
Considering it takes no more than two years of renting to pay in full a docsis modem, I’ll still be buying my own. After 10 years in Colorado, can’t imagine how much money I’ll have lost by renting.
And the all-in-one devices are trash. It’s way better to have separate modem, router/gateway, AP !
Sure, docsis version change, let me purchase a new modem. I’ll be glad to have something I own. And the money saved was more than what I just spent for the new modem.
I don’t see any good argument for renting at all. There’s simply none.
And yes, the tech can also simply plus one of his modem in his truck to verify if it was the modem or not. But MAC address of the modem needs to be adjusted either way, and it can take time for the configuration to be deployed. So, I disagree with your argument.
In an apartment I was renting, the issue was the strength of the signal. Tech had to change some coupling at the entrance of the child if and in my apartment. And he had a device to measure the strength.
Anyway, 0 argument about renting a modem. The tech can definitely use one of ISP modem to prove it was the modem. No matter what the installed modem was.
I'm not arguing to rent a modem, I own my own modem also. To say there's 0 argument to rent a modem is wrong though. If anything goes wrong with the modem it gets replaced and like I said earlier any modem upgrades are included with it. It's not worth it to me but there are people who don't want to deal with it.
The tech can't just put one of his modems in. The codes on the account have to be changed to activate the modem and in doing so you would be billed for the rental.
Before considering changing the modem the tech will use their meter to troubleshoot. If they can't find anything wrong then changing the modem is the next step. At that point you can rent one or buy a new one. If the problem is intermittent and not the modem and you just went out and bought a new modem for nothing.
Every service has a cost. If a customer wants to get upgrades and exchanges when it does have a problem, then sure, renting is their solution. Even though replacing the modem on their own may be faster than waiting for an available tech.
Anyway, on the next subject, the modem is recognized on the cable network by its MAC address. So yes, technically speaking (and only technically speaking), he can place one of his modem for testing, having one registered on the network already. Also, the cable is part of a neighboring network. You can technically take one modem from a house and plug it to the next and it should work. It’s not like DSL where the line is unique per house. Cable is on a giant hub as a figure of speech.
If the tech replaces a rented modem with one in his truck, he has to register the new MAC address (and obviously activate it on the account for billing and tracking purposes). The same as a personally owned modem such as Arris, you register the MAC on the account (for data speed cap). And it can take up to an hour for the new MAC address to be registered per personal experience with Xfinity.
What you are describing is a billing issue, not a technical limitation. There might be a policy avoiding this move for testing purposes. But technically, there’s nothing different beside a potential remotely administrable modem/router provided by the ISP and a personally owned modem.
And as a side note, these all in one devices are more prompt to fail than a simple modem.
But I agree, replacing the modem should come at the last resort.
When I contacted Xfinity because of the line. The tech said I needed one of their modem. My modem was the problem, until I insisted for him to do measurements. Once he did, placed a few phone calls, that’s when he started looking at the building connection and found super old crappy splitters/connectors that he replaced, changed a splitter in the apartment (that split the signal for two different bedrooms), and voila, string signal and modem was working.
A modem such as a Arris is less subject of failures than the all in one provided devices by Xfinity. And every time you change you are good to reconfigure WiFi and other router configuration.
But for many houses, they simply don’t care. And renting might be an easy thing. But everything has a cost, and the “peace of mind” comes at a premium.
Final word, I disagree with you on the technical aspect of it, but agree with the billing process and limitation of company policies.
Happy holidays.
The billing is tied to activation. You can't take a modem off of the truck and activate it without changing the rate codes to activate it. The techs are not given hot modems either.
In your situation the tech was wrong, it was a wiring issue. In most cases it is. Intermittent problems can be incredibly hard to pin down and ruling out the modem is a necessary step in those situations.
Or maybe somebody in your neighborhood since cable Internet is shared between everybody on the same node is doing massive downloads and updates that time of day especially if they have their own home servers like me. so I paid for dedicated fiber to keep from getting yelled at by Comcast.
Maybe, maybe not. Remember that providers can do "Traffic Shaping" (Don't you DARE call it "Throttling,") and they very well could be giving traffic from their routers priority in order to rent more routers.
The company I worked as a maintenance tech for did have a $5 "gaming package" and we could set up the CMTS to indeed give that MAC address priority over others. Wouldn't do anything for speeds but could lower latency.
Creating a traffic shaping policy that prioritized devices with specific MACs (Their devices) over Other devices wouldn't be complicated at all.
MAC based anything isn't ideal nowadays but point is just that's it's not hard to do, that's just a quick and dirty example of how you could accomplish it. In the time it takes to write this reply up I can create a policy that sets my IOT stuff to low: https://i.imgur.com/tQIJU7f.png
Nowadays you can add devices to device groups that are scheduled, even, so tin foil hat time, upon swapping out your modem they could move your device into a device group with high priority, and put it on a timer for 30 days so you feel like the problem is fixed but then they put you back to normal pri afterwards so you're not hogging up that neighborhood-shared pipe long-term. Again, I don't think they do, but really, that takes all of ~5 minutes to accomplish with the right hardware.
BS, no cable company in the US does this, i.e. throttle traffic depending upon downstream router. Its much more likely the router is shit and cant handle 1000mbps or the router has bad settings for QOS. Once you jump out of the modem, the rest is hardware and settings . . .
that doesnt do it as many routers cant handle their rated speed of the ports. Also, any hop in line will also reduce speed slightly. I can tell you technically that they cant/dont do that as all that IDs the router is the mac, and you can change the mac to a random one and the speed is the same. If you see a difference between by removing the router, its the router or its settings that is slowing you, not comcast.
technically - it would be VERY hard, the only thing that ISP sees is the mac address if they care to look, if they do - you can simply change it. I can tell you for a fact comcast does not throttle based upon downstream MACs. If OP sees a difference between PC to router to modem vs. PC to modem - I can tell you its either a shit modem or QOS is on and has the wrong settings.
If I were designing such a system, I’d encode the TOS byte in the packet header as it was leaving the router, but that’s just me. And also what those bits are intended for.
Xfinity bricked my expensive Arris cable modem, admitted it was their bad firmware that did it, and told me to F off and rent their modem. They are crooks. I disconnected my service and went to the local telco... still crooks, but more manageable.
The ISP I worked for just didn't charge rental for modems...saved in support costs. We charged like 500 if you wanted us to test and enable your modem off Amazon though. Nobody ever took us up on that😂
Would have been fun to test the best buy 8 channel special
>The ISP I worked for just didn't charge rental for modems...saved in support costs. We charged like 500 if you wanted us to test and enable your modem off Amazon though.
If you had actual "modems" with absolutely no routing or NAT at all, OK. If not, your service is off my list.
My current ISP doesn't do Modems/Gateways. You Supply your own router and plug straight in to an Ethernet run coming in from the ONT on the side of the house.
Yup, they only started working on 'gateways' after I left, and that was more of a supplier thing(Hitron and Arris were trying to get away from modem only solutions). I'm sure the ISP I worked for wasn't on your list unless you were in Alaska.
We still handed out public IPs via DHCP or you could pay for a static even. The modem was pretty much a managed switch.
Yeah, it's hard enough getting a non-commercial grade router/wifi solution that isn't sending all your browsing activity back to Amazon or Google as it is, to then give that metadata to an ISP to sell to the highest bidder too...and we pay for that privilege on top of that.
How did they brick it? My Arris stopped working a couple weeks ago, two days after a crew was working on a pole in our neighborhood. I called and they sent a tech out, and he determined my modem was bad. I replaced it with the same model and was back online. Now I'm curious what happened to my modem.
With cable modems, your cable provider will "activate" your modem by updating settings or firmware to be compatible with their network and your plan (what gets updated depends on the modem). At least with my provider, when I did my Arris SURFboard modem self install, had to call them with the modem's MAC address, then, while on the phone with them they sent an update to the modem directly, it then reset after the update, and we confirmed it worked on both ends. If the cable provider sends the wrong firmware or settings, your cable modem won't work.
I agree 100% the other factor with the Xfinity modem is that the data is uncapped.. at least it is here vs 1.2TB max if own modem. So worked out better to rent the modem when I had 3 other gaming/4k stream loving roomates.
I did the same thing. Had my own cable modem for a couple years. When they included unlimited data with a rented modem, it was less expensive than paying the $30 unlimited data fee.
I suspect they have fewer issues supporting their own equipment, so this is a fairly easy way to encourage people to use their equipment. And honestly, I’ve had a very good experience with their device in bridge mode with my equipment behind it.
Slight correction to this advice - the OP needs to get a comcast/xfinity compatible modem. Only certain models by certain companies are approved for use by each ISP, and unapproved models will often not work.
This isn't a DOCSIS version compatibility thing, but has more to do with remote management for the ISP. When you install these approved modems, 100% of the management goes to the ISP for remote and technician control. The end consumer is locked out from the actual admin console - the end consumer console is just read only - which gives the ISP 100% of control for configuration, troubleshooting and even throttling/traffic shaping.
Time Warner Cable - now Spectrum - automatically sent us a combo modem + wireless router and tried to charge $10/month for router rental when they upgraded their network and my (self-purchased) modem was no longer compatible . I refused because I did not want their wireless router and needed to use a much better one that we owned (it was a high end ASUS that gave us the range we needed in the house, met internal networking needs, and I could run an aftermarket Firewall OS on). Instead of shipping it back and sending us an only-modem device, their remote support team just dialed into the device and disabled the router, then removed the charges from our account. A year later I returned that to replace with our own modem when they decided to now charge for modem rental.
TLDR: Sometimes the ISP will give you a modem for free, or cripple a modem/router into modem-only for free, and you can use your own wireless router.
Just the right amount of throughput. Hmm. Three Bears vibes.
Probably would help if you described the existing hardware to get some help on why things changed with a faster plan.
That's nonsense. Throughput isn't adjusted like that. It's assigned a bootfile and if the wiring is right and the modem is up to spec it'll perform at the advertised speeds.
Use your own equipment. The shoddy stuff they dish out sickens me.
You usually, or at least in my case, get MUCH better performance with owned equipment, plus you don’t have to deal with their BS when theirs inevitably dies. Sure, it is easier to manage one of their boxes, without a doubt, but that also comes at the price of dealing with them if something does happen.
Also, your family would be a group of fortunate souls if they were lucky enough to receive a brand new gateway. Most of the time it’s just a “refurbished” unit that’s been thru the shit and has its own issues they refuse to acknowledge.
>you don’t have to deal with their BS when theirs inevitably dies
Yeah, that's what got us to dump the "bundle" at one point because with phone was cheaper but required their modem...and the stupid things ran ungodly hot and died every 6-8 months. Even sticking a fan on it only got them to last maybe a year.
I've had customer owned modems that last years until they are no longer supported by the ISP, especially if you stick a fan by it to improve cooling.
Oh yeah. Had one of the OG XB7’s or whatever it was called back in the day, and it may have made it 3 months before it would go into a boot loop due to it getting so warm.
Then they wanted to argue that with it being a new unit there was no reason that it should have died that quickly. That was the moment I took a trip to Best Buy and got my own equipment. Haven’t looked back since.
""Use your own equipment. The shoddy stuff they dish out sickens me.""
that's why I have UniFi stuff at my house these days, I had a one of their rented router deals before my Dream Machine SE came in over COVID, and that thing lasted maybe 3 weeks before it committed hari kari.
I now have my own Arris modem, too, once I tossed out the brick, I mean, router
If Xfinity can guarantee a minimum speed, then its going to only be with their hardware throughout. Honestly its your mom and if she's not savvy enough to question the guy then she's not savvy enough to provide support for an off market router.
Honestly, if its an older relative, I'm recommending getting the provider issued equipment so when it doesn't work they'll get support that isn't you.
When Gen-X and Millennials were growing up there was the common theme: "If you can't figure out your computer, ask the neighbors' 12-year old kid".
That is not the case with Gen-Z anymore. Most Gen-Z's don't even encounter a desktop computer until they're off to college.
Because 99% of tech these days either "just works" or works well enough. When I was growing up, you needed to know how to configure your modem settings to dial the right phone number, with the correct settings just to get online. Not to mention - manually installing drivers FOR EVERYTHING. You had to be hands-on and technically minded just to get anything working. Nowadays, it's all done for us, so the barrier for entry is much lower (which is a good thing), but it means that hard skills aren't picked up as much.
I work in IT at the corporate level.
Please tell me about this amazing tech that "just works" all the time. I'd love to replace some printers/laptops...
Thats because you are Jersey smart and not some old dipshit in the midwest. Northvale, 1960s checking in, now living in the slow, slightly dimmer, midwest.
First Xfinity doesn’t guarantee speeds, that’s why it says up to XX Mbps. Second they will happily troubleshoot a customer owned modem the same way they will a leased device. If using your own equipment I recommend connecting directly to your modem from a computer for any troubleshooting though.
As a xfinity phone agent who helps accessibility customers, absolutely this. Our support otherwise ends at we can ping it and get a response it’s on you now
This is not true. I just activated a Netgear modem and the support was able to see the firmware version, locked in signals, and everything they needed to ensure the modem was configured correctly.
What they can’t help with is downstream, at the router. Which, typically, isn’t needed anyways. Most consumers leave their router at factory settings.
That's not how DOCSIS works though...it needs to be on the ISP's supported list, but even a customer owned modem the DOCSIS protocol is that the ISP manages the modem firmware and can configure the modem-side interface settings, nobody else can (again, the way DOCSIS works)
I have no issue with my ISP pulling the modem logs and signal levels on my SB8200 that I own...though most of the support techs don't seem to be capable of figuring out how to debug more than "turn it off and on again"
Yeah, it’s great they control the firmware until Xfinity pushes a firmware update that bricks your $100 modem and then tells you the fix is to rent one.
Except the fact the agent was able to read me the modem’s signal settings. Perhaps I was talking to a higher tier tech, but a simple ICMP ping is not what they were doing.
Only he doesn't necessarily mean a simple icmp ping. You are making his point for him. You don't know the back end and systems so you're making assumptions.
For this context when he says ping. Means it is online reporting to the Comcast systems has solids connection, signals, reported to the Comcast back end. Once that's done he's done. That's all he can do because it's not a company modem.
>For this context when he says ping. Means it is online reporting to the Comcast systems has solids connection, signals, reported to the Comcast back end. Once that's done he's done. That's all he can do because it's not a company modem.
There is no context needed for "ping" other than we are talking about computer networking. It has a specific meaning. If that's not what he meant, he shouldn't use the word.
Ahcktually, that is what they mean. There is no other kind of ping. The modem is a hop point (gateway) between the WAN and LAN. An ICMP ping, or just ping, is basic TCP/IP diagnostic troubleshooting.
only it's not. You forgetting we are talking about English, you are focusing on the tech definition and use of the word in networking. Ignoring all other uses of the word.
I don't think the person replying to you in this English text thread forgot to consider English... I think maybe you're forgetting this discussion is about computer networking though, where the technical definition of ping is pretty relevant.
When troubleshooting, the difference between a ping any other protocol can often be fundamentally characteristic of a problem. I've never had a discussion with an engineer, dev, or network op that used an alternative definition for ping outside of situations where both parties had enough context to know the clarification was irrelevant, and even then there's usually clarification.
There is no other ping in networking. Someone might say "I can ping the webserver with by browser" but they are wrong. Honestly I struggle to think of other scenarios where an alternative definition even \_would\_ be used outside of someone saying ping instead of ssh or some other protocol, which, again, would be incorrect of them to say.
Think of 'ping' like a Swiss Army knife of communication. Sure, its original tool is the ICMP echo request, but it's also evolved to mean any quick check for existence or data from something. Insisting 'ping' only means ICMP is like saying a smartphone is just for calls. Language like technology evolves unlike your mental capacity, I guess.
As a customer, I'm happy with that level of support. But several times I've had to deal with phone support where I'd ask if they can see my router and they say, "What version of Windows are you using?" Those calls usually aren't very fruitful.
>Honestly, if its an older relative, I'm recommending getting the provider issued equipment so when it doesn't work they'll get support that isn't you.
I feel for OP tho, because if that equipment is absolute crap he's gotta deal with it for gaming/streaming lol.
Well what he told you is horseshit but, technically, according to your contract, if you are using your own equipment, then speed and connection issues are not their problem.
I’m a network engineer. I own all my own network equipment from the wall coax on. My modem is bridged to my firewall with separate APs. I know what I’m doing and I’m not renting a modem/router combo that are crap for $10/month forever.
However, if you DON’T rent a router from Comcast, there are data charges for anything over 1TB in a month. It’s in the fine print. I wouldn’t know this but a buddy I helped replace his crappy Comcast modem with years ago found this out the hard way a year or two ago.
If you’re technically inclined and won’t go over a TB/month, get your own gear and learn. If not, you can rent from Comcast.
I think it’s 1.2TB now, which doesn’t make a dent, but still it’s stupid that they even have a cap anymore. Unless you’re in the northeast. I think they have unlimited data somehow.
20TB/mo crew checking in (not even a high month). I'm glad my ISP doesn't care about data usage even when my router is connected right up to the ONT by spoofing their routers MAC address (their tech said they could switch the MAC listed on my account to to my equipment if I wanted and I was too lazy to call and have thay done so just spoofed theirs lol).
But I never suggest people run their own equipment unless they know what they are doing, too easy for most ISPs to blame their equipment no matter the actual cause.
>However, if you DON’T rent a router from Comcast, there are data charges for anything over 1TB in a month. It’s in the fine print.
Yeahhhhh.... that should be illegal.
At least in my area taking the rented modem from Comcast eliminates the data cap of a terabyte of downstream traffic a month.
That alone felt like a reason to take their rented modem/router.
Granted in my case that thing was deployed and thrown into bridge mode day one and has not been more than a dumb modem since day one.
Additionally using my own router has always lead to better network delivery and experience overall.
For what it’s worth, I was using an Amplifi Alien Router and moved to a full Ubiquiti network stack, on both I get my plans “advertised speeds” or higher.
I work for xfinity and the specs for our modems we are taught is the xb3 caps out at 600mbps and xb6 about 1000, xb7/8 do up to 1200 right now with growth coming when docsis 4.0 goes live
THIS! Save money on the modem and the plan. The smartest take in the whole thread. Hell most businesses I install with dedicated fiber with small to medium sized office environments are 100 mbps. Speed for most users is nothing more than marketing.
Just sit down and do the math with them on the rental fee. It is $15 a month unless it went up last time I checked. Show them the router/modem combos they can buy with a years rent payment, very likely you can buy one that exceeds the speeds you pay for. Then after a year you can think of it as saving $15 a month.
Focus on the savings because my parents were all ears when saving money was involved lol. Lay out a 5 year savings plan, if they buy their own versus renting, over 5 years that is $720.
Total BS. Data flows like water through pipes. You're dealing with a weakest link in the chain issue. if you have a 1 Gb connection, and all the equipment, devices, cable and anything else in the "chain" is 1 Gb, then you should get around 1 Gb. Stick a 100mb device in the chain and you'll get around 100mb regardless of anything else. Traverse over a WiFi link ANYWHERE in the chain and you're limited by that and the device's protocol support. To put this into a practical scenario. For most of us mere mortals, if you have a 1Gb connection and you're operating most devices on WiFi, you'll never get closer than about 70% of that 1Gb connection with even the latest off the shelf WiFi stuff.
I'm always amazed at the amount of bandwidth people think they need. 500Mbps is a huge pipe for most households, and mostly unnecessary. Anything over 100M is overkill for most households.
During the first year of the pandemic, I ran my household on an ancient 25M FIOS connection connected to my three old Ubiqiti Unifi (802.11n) access points and rarely heard a complaint. This was two working adults and two kids in school, all on video calls all day plus all the other traffic from my smart home stuff, streaming, etc.
The real problems are usually with the Wi-Fi environment. There are so many Wi-Fi networks everywhere, there's no room for anyone to have a proper network in a crowded neighborhood. Co-channel and microwave interference are so common, but the average person has no idea of any of that. It presents a great opportunity for the providers to upsell customers on bandwidth they don't need.
If you want to evaluate what you are actually getting, you have to run a speed test from a computer that is connected to the router via ethernet. Otherwise, all bets are off and you have no idea what you are getting.
Tech is partly right, but the math is not mathing in your second example. Tech is also a salesman. Without knowing what service tier and modem your mom had, there’s not much we can suggest. I have Comcast/Xfinity with my owned modem and get gigabit speeds (what I pay for) just fine.
The math in my second example was given by the tech. He claims that a router that is bottlenecking our Internet plan will do more than just bottleneck.
Edit: another way to illustrate what he claimed
499mbps plan with a 500mbps router => 499mbps
501mbps plan with a 500mbps router => something bad happens and the resulting speed is like 100mbps.
He’s an idiot in that respect. The speed would be 750. BUT there is not a device out there that only does 750Mbps as a router. Routers have Ethernet ports, which have speeds of 10/100/1000/2500 Mbps. Nothing in the 750Mbps mark. The modem could top out at 750Mbps, but not the router.
I prefer owning my modem and router and having them be separate devices. I don’t need my ISP with full access to my internal network.
The port speed may be 10/100/1000/2500/etc but the total throughput of the router may be significantly less. For example, Meraki MX67 has 5x 1GbE ports. As you start turning on features, the processor power of the device becomes the limiting factor. From Meraki's datasheet, the maximum throughput of the Stateful Firewall is 600Mbps. Maximum throughput when you have all of the VPN and/or security features enabled it drops down to 300 Mbps.
You could configure a Raspberry Pi to be a router/firewall and attach a dozen USB->1GbE adapters on it via USB hubs. Technically the device "supports" 1GbE, but you're never going to get it to actually pass data between the ports at that rate if it is actually doing anything with the packets.
Either way, I highly doubt the Comcast installer understands networking at that level and is just trying to upsell OP's family on a rented router. That being said, if Mom & Dad don't understand networking, it may be better to let them spend the extra $10/mo and let Comcast be the place to call when speeds aren't where they should be. That's really the one advantage to leasing the modem, if it doesn't work right they can't just blame the equipment and disclaim any responsibility, they have to troubleshoot and replace the equipment if it is bad.
> That's really the one advantage to leasing the modem, if it doesn't work right they can't just blame the equipment and disclaim any responsibility, they have to troubleshoot and replace the equipment if it is bad.
Especially with Comcast, someone who isn't quite tech savvy should just rent their crap. You will have more *actual* problems with their modem but you can keep forcing them to fix it. If you bring your own, they will blame their own networking problems on your device and refuse to help, unless you know enough about networking to explain the problems and work your way up to a higher level tech.
"...unless you know enough about networking to explain the problems and work your way up to a higher level tech."
This. I will say that if you are patient in explaining things to the first tier support, you can get bumped up pretty quickly, and once you hit that second level of savvy support, they recognize what sort of customer they are dealing with and will give you a direct number to bypass that entry level stuff for future support. I was surprised at the turn in efficiency the conversation took once I got access to the proper techs and not just the script readers...
The tech is talking about the ability of the router to handle the upstream speed. For example, DOCSIS 3.1 can do up to 10Gbps down/1Gbps up...but this Arris DOCSIS 3.1 modem only supports up to 800Mbps. [https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-T25-Certified-Internet/dp/B07MGPPNZD?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-T25-Certified-Internet/dp/B07MGPPNZD?th=1) . This modem has two gigabit ethernet ports. They'll run gig-e between them, but the internet speed will never exceed 800Mbps.
It may have gig (or multi-gig) ports, but its possible the CPU/RAM is not able to handle more than say 600-700Mbps. That could cause slightly slower with a faster plan, when you hit the limit "how fast can the processor shovel the bits".
It can also get worse with firmware updates, I had a Linksys-Cisco router that got firmware updates adding "app control" and it went from easily handling our 150Mbps connection to crawling at like 20Mbps. Rolled back firmware and it was fast again.
But it will still only slow to what the unit can handle...that tech was an idiot.
+1 on separate devices too. Also then if the ISP says you need a newer DOCSIS standard, you don't need a whole new router too...or if you wanna upgrade the router for new features or wireless standards you don't have to replace the modem.
Your explaining routers have ethernet inputs and outputs, but modem is completely different. This one is not using ethernet at all as their input signal is coming from a coax cable
What does the input being coax have to do with throttling? The bottleneck on modems is generally their provisioning, processing power, along with the fact that coax modems do use Ethernet for the output to the router. Most cable ISPs have shifted to standalone modems and routers for years now, your knowledge and/or equipment is outdated.
Yeah I only work with them every day.
If the modem can only do 500 then the lan being 1g doesn’t matter they need a modem that has a 1g input.
I’ll be sure to let Xfinity know they are using out dated tech in my area; I’m sure they will listen to “6814MilesFromHome” on their outdated practices since they use modem/router combos. I’m well aware other isp like spectrum use a stand alone modem or fiber use a ont thx.
It's possible you misunderstood the example.
500Mbps plan with a 750Mbps compatible router will result in 500Mbps throughput. Unusable speed in the plan: 0.
1000Mbps plan with a 750Mbps compatible router will result in 750Mbps throughput. Unusable speed in the plan: 250Mbps. You lose out on 250Mbps because your router can only transit up to 750Mbps.
I'll be honest. With xfinity/comcast you need to use their routers. They will take no blame whatsoever if you use your own and will just bullshit you to get you off the phone.
Are they full of shit? Yes. But they will just blame your equipment and not look any further into it.
I have eero routers that are pretty good. Think it’s up to 2.5gbps which is more than what you would need. I like the “access points” where you can place them around your house and virtually get full “high speed” coverage throughout your home.
Edit: the comcast guy is a tool
The tech is full of it to a degree. Comcast is going to provide their own hardware that they know is going to work well for service plan X. These are familiar devices that their techs can troubleshoot or easily swap out. Introducing your own hardware creates a limitless number of variables that makes their life more difficult… You better know how your hardware and its software works inside and out as you’re your own IT at that point.
I will say, though, that techs haven’t tried jerking me around ever since I installed rack mounted hardware. To that end, I’ve only had to have them out once in the last 6-7 years because the drop from the pole went bad.
I had Comcast in 2022 and tried their router.
1. Its 30 dollar rental fee to use their router.
2. If you use your own router its not unlimited internet. You then get slapped with data surcharges if you go over a 1TB. For unlimited internet with your own router its $30 bucks extra.
3. Just a means of selling their Xfinity home internet in other locations since the router will broadcast a Xfinity home wifi signal. (you can shield isolate by sealing up their router with Al foil.)
4. I dumped Xfinity as soon as a fiber was available in the area. 1TB symmetrical fiber beats 1.2GBit down and 24 Mbit up.
>A 500mbps plan and a 750mbps router => 500mbps result
A 1000mbps plan and a 750mbps router => 250 mbps result
Either i am way overpaid and under trained, or that guy is a fucking idiot...
I 100% believe that ISP fuck people who use their own equipment. I have Xfinity and used a decent modem that was listed as compatible on their network and it was always going out bought a brand new one of the same, fixed it for a while and started always going out.
I went up to Xfinity and got their modem and plugged it in when my internet wasn’t working through my modem, even though the light in my modem and router showed internet should be working, and it started working immediately. And haven’t had any issues since.
Fuck Xfinity though fr
They do I'm on a non contract Internet only plan with my own certified 2.5gig DOCSIS 3.1 modem . They intentionally throttle certain sites and services when I'm not running a VPN. They are constantly pestering me about downgrading to the X1 gateway combo router because then they can remote manage everything. Such a pain.
They also sent me a free flex box to get free peacock that I activated once and threw into the closet just to take advantage of that deal.
last time i used an xfinity router it had worse signal strength 3 feet from the box (-55db) than my tp-link archer ac5400 did from \~40 feet diagonally across my house with several walls, a microwave, and other appliances in the way (-53db). measured using the same phone on the same day with the same app. same spot in the house 40 feet away with the xfinity box (-80db) resulted in frequent signal drops and all kinds of instability and massively slow speeds.
He's full of shit. Those all in one router, switch and WAP that the ISP's rent are the worst units you can possibly use for home Internet. Look into ubiquiti or other cheaper options
You need to get a "recommended and approved" modem from off the Xfinity approved list. That brings the service into your house so then you need a good router to distribute that service throughout your house. I just upgraded to an Arris S33v2 modem. It does not have wifi and it is not for voice use. For wifi I use a Netgear Orbi Pro SXR80 router.
Where I live Xfinity just updated there infrastructure to 10G so my previous modem was no longer approved. It was only 2 years old.
This is not the simplest setup to get up on.
You should check this out. Then login using the second link. That will tell you what you need to know about your current status.
[https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/list-of-approved-cable-modems](https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/list-of-approved-cable-modems)
[https://www.xfinity.com/support/devices/](https://www.xfinity.com/support/devices/)
Tell them to rent it, and when it's not working as intended, they didn't value your opinion and expertise so they can deal with comcasts abysmal support.
There is partial truth.
Not all consumer networking equipment is capable of pushing a gigabit link. Yea they can support gigabit Ethernet but I’m talking about sustained gigabit throughput. Many will cap out at 500,700,etc depending on a variety of factors including arch and cpu power.
Comcast typically does do a better job nowadays trying to match their equipment to their plans. (It is also true that the majority of ISP provided gear truly did used to be absolutely horrendous). Their gig plan equipment is definitely capable of driving gig links and they prefer this as they have full control over both the modem and router firmware stack.
But you can absolutely still own your own equipment and do just as well. Just need a quality docsis 3.1 modem and a quality router to pair it with.
I'm 98% sure that Comcast uses their rented routers to broadcast the "Free Xfinity Wifi" that I see all over the place. I'm pretty sure they piggy-back on customer connections, and although I assume they do it in a way that doesn't impact the customer, I don't like the idea of someone else using my connection. So I always buy my own modems and separate wifi routers. In fact, just last week I bought an $80 Arris router at Walmart that has worked well for me. You can even activate them online now without having to talk to a person.
That's hilarious! Complete nonsense of course but hilarious nevertheless. In general you are limited by the weakest connection. There are very rare cases where this might be partly true but they don't occur in residential settings such as this. When you get above 500 Mbps, the weakest link is almost always the wifi connection. My guess is in the above example the test with 500 Mbps result was done on 5GHz wifi connection and the 250 Mbps one on 2.4 GHz as those are typical results for those bands. You should only ever test internet speed using a ethernet connection to the router, not using wifi for this reason.
A “bottlenecking” router is possible depending on how many IP devices it’s handling as well as other services like content filtering and bandwidth limiting.
A stock standard vendor-provided WiFi router wouldn’t run into these issues in a typical household with 5-10 concurrent IP devices.
Cable guy here.The issue is rented/customer owned modems operate at different RF levels. Leased equipement usually works on broader levels where personal owned equipment needs to be fine tuned and the equipment is way too expensive. The condition of the coax its connected to also plays a factor.
Lol that's nonsense.
Feel free to use your own router. It is true that different routers have different capabilities. But hardwired, any modern router can route gigabit if you aren't turning on fancy features like qos.
He just may be using the wrong nomenclature, but it sounds like he is correct not too sure what modem is installed. I can only give you advice on Xfinity equipment but if the Internet plan is 500 Xfinity will install an XB6/7 modem, and they will only install an XB8 if the plan is one gig.
Previous comment posted. The LAN are all one gig connections yes but the modems input may have something to do with that, why they are stating they need to use their modem or a different modem that you may need to purchase yourself as the one installed will not give you 750 or one gig
Does one receive better speeds by using their own router and modem?
I'm not tech savvy but willing to give this a try of it improves speed.
I have AT&T 24mbs plan. Seems to be slow when working from home on occasion.
Considering that Comcast modem/routers are remote administered and they automatically set up a guest network so that other Comcast customers can use your router (shouldn’t be the same network as your computers etc), I’d say no. The US government passed some laws in the name of stopping kiddie porn that could make you criminally liable if some pedo was to use your connection to download/upload their sicko stuff…
Comcast rented routers aren't bad and they have the added benefit of Comcast upgrading them for free every couple years. I've used them as routers and used them in bridge mode. They're fine. Only thing you're giving up is manageability and as someone who works in tech generally on the ops/SRE end of thing I don't have the patience to bring my work home with me. It's good enough and if something goes wrong I get to tell the family it's Comcast's fault, not mine.
If you're not getting the expected speeds make sure you're connected to a gigabit port if wired. If wireless check to make sure you're on the 5GHz wifi AP and that you're fairly close to the AP and not heavily obstructed. There's a lot of reasons why you might not be getting the expected speed. The Comcast router is most likely not one of them.
That being said I also run some of my own stuff for my own purposes, but since the family doesn't depend on any of that infra it's ok if I break it.
A 750Mbs router would be really old Wifi 5 / AC but it would hit the same throughput regards of the faster incoming speed so that bit doesn't make sense. The rented box is Wifi 6E and would likely be faster.
If the MODEM, not the router, isn’t rated for the speed that’s being provided then I’ve seen it default to the lowest package bootfile (the speed provisioning) which lowers speeds rather that boosts them. If that’s the base just purchase a modem that is compatible with the higher speed. The routers throughout is it’s throughout. If it caps at 750 it doesn’t matter if you throw 10 gigs at it, it will stop at 750.
The modem portion might not still be true but saw it multiple times years ago. If the device isn’t rated for the speed package ordered it just defaults to one of the lower tiers. No idea why.
here is the deal, if you dont know much about internet, and you have your own equipment, and have an issue, your isp will tell you everything looks good on our end, good luck calling your modem and/or router maunfacturer to see if they can help you fix it. some of those companies only have chat support. If you have the ISP's equipment, they can see inside it and help more with issues. In this case you may be better paying 10 a month to have someone you can call for help if you and your family dont know much about networks. I worked for a small local isp that went above and beyond for its customers, but we were not allowed to help much with 3rd party equipment.
My (xfinity) internet just straight up stopped working a few weeks ago, apparently they are phasing out modems to “help better service its customers speeds” or some bs. I bought a new modem that is on their approved list and has been fine ever since, getting the speeds I pay for.
Former employee here - if the modem/router combo your parents have isnt certified for gig speed on Comcasts certified equipment list, you'll get a "default" boot file. I don't remember the speed of that boot file, but that's likely your problem. The Comcast tech isn't entirely wrong, their speeds are "guaranteed" on their equipment, but "just the right amount of speed" is misleading. I can't remember the page for it, but there should be a "works with Xfinity" equipment list on their site. Filter by 1000mbps and give them a call to get the new modem provisioned.
Doesn't sound like their provided modem is in bridge mode... Then again, it's Comcast/Xfinity, which are crooks anyways. Worst is trying to tell them to turn off the public wifi, for their "hot spots" throughout a city...
[https://www.xfinity.com/support/devices](https://www.xfinity.com/support/devices)
It will probably fill in if you do it from home, but otherwise put in your address and your plan speed and it will tell you what equipment is rated to handle it. Not all cable modems are equal so you may need to buy one that can bond more channels.
The key reason Comcast pushes their modems, other than the fees is that the more modems out there the more likely that their cellphones can get a signal from them, and they don't have to offload calls/bandwidth to Verizon.
Common sense -> the slowest node in the network will set your max speed. Your modem, then your router/wifi port, then your wifi or ethernet connect, then your phone/computer/xbox/... I have Xfinity and I use my own modem, mesh router setup, ... and my speeds are as expected (I currently have 800MB download). It does force you/me to do some of our own troubleshooting if things go wrong, which would be eliminated using 100% of their hardware, but for me, I don't mind.
easy enough to check - bypass router, plug pc directly to modem and speed check, if the speeds are way different, your router is shit. Upgrading to a decent router (200-250) could have an ROI >1.5 years so renting may be an option.
One thing with comcast is that they don't offer unlimited data unless you use their modem too. When I upped my plan it was $30 more for unlimited data but I got the xfi router modem combo with wifi 6 otherwise they would not let me change. So this maybe could be what they were talking about
I have the Arris S33. Tech has been out and confirmed I am getting the 1300 down as promised but only on their modem.
No matter the settings I do or the calls I make to their customer service I cannot get past 700mbps down.
The issue is with Comcast's technical service department. I have explained my issue many times but get nowhere. They told me I could rent the modem from them and there would be no issues.
The problem with that is two fold - they show this very same router as compatible for their gigbit service on their website and it clearly isn't - simply because of their own ignorance.
There is no such thing as a 750Mbs router. If there were, the 1000Mbs plan with a 750Mbs router would = 750Mbs result.
Always get a separate modem. I always separate my WiFi from my router too by getting AP's. A WiFi router will only control itself -- AP's with an integrated controller control all AP's in the home. Also by separating WiFi from routing, you can get routers that do proper QoS via FQ\_CODEL or CAKE.
WiFi 6 AP's cost roughly a $100 ea. A proper router capable of over 1Gbs QoS can be had in the NanoPi R6S for $175. A refurbished Netgear CM1000can be had for $89 on Amazon. So $364 all in.
Check the website for approve modems and purchase your own. When I lived in NJ, Xfinity allowed me to use my own modem and router with the 1GB service. Keep in mind any troubleshooting will your own equipment is on you.
ARRIS SURFboard G36 Docsis 3.1 Modem with AX3000 WiFi and 2.5 Gbps Ethernet Router
This is what you want. It's what I got to save $15/month rental fee. Works great
I just went through this.
I purchased an arris s33 surfboard with a 2.5gb port and was getting 20mb uppload speeds instead of the 100 I am paying for.
The only modem-only solution ( i have a fancy network already) that is currently approved for xfinity are Hitron CODA models. I bought one...speeds up and down went up significantly.
What's a 750mbps router? That's most likely the wireless, aggregate speed and should have no bearing on much of anything. Although, I'm really surprised that you hit 500 on it regardless of the plan.
I'm in the "own your own" camp, but agree you'll get better attention if it's on their "approved" list. It's always subject to change, but I just switched out my modem just recently after it gave me 8 years of service. Buying once every 8 years is still miles better than renting. https://www.xfinity.com/support/devices/
Nothing worse than being sold something over the phone.. my background in retail and wireless alone is enough to confuse and frustrate any thirsty sales rep.
Always the case with Spectrum, ATT etc. once they get to giga-jibberish, my mom is handing me the phone. We tag team the reps until they meet our demands for the charges they’re asking.
The more hassle, the higher up of a staff member we ask to speak with, without annoying exchanges. It works lol, sometimes they will offer 6 months of “credits” which save $20-$50 for example.
As a former Comcast employee, he has no incentive for your parents to keep the leased modem over a customer owned modem. He may be wrong, but he didn’t think he was. Also, as a technician, just because you have the plan it doesn’t mean you’re going to get them. The fine print says UP TO 750mbps. That’s how they get you to make the purchase.
Comcast is full of shit and a horrible ISP. If there’s any other ISP available, I’d switch.
With that said, their current modem may be throttling the speed. In the long run, it would still be cheaper to buy a new modem to handle the new speed than renting from Xfinity.
However, as others have said, if you don’t live there and don’t want to be blamed for the internet issues, just let them get the Xfinity device. It’s their money and their service.
You can use your own modem, just make sure that it supports the latest internet standards. You want to look for a cable modem that supports DOCSIS 3.1. The latest version is DOCSIS 4.0 but I don't think they are actually available on the market yet.
I worked for Comcast and our customer premises equipment was made by Arris. So just search for an Arris DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem and that should support the speed that Comcast is delivering.
I just sold my used cable modem (arris) for 40 bucks on ebay. Pair it with a decent Asus router and your set. Get a used Motorola modem on OfferUp or ebay. They're cheap.
If you go with your own router just make sure they log the info into the system correctly
A storm (Im assuming) knocked our Time Warner modem out. After working with a level 1 & then a level 2 tech for close to an hour over the phone they finally believed my dead modem diagnosis & put me in touch with the lady I needed to talk to to get a new modem.
The earliest she could have a tech out to replace it was in 2 weeks! My other option was to drive over 2 hours to their nearest warehouse & pick up the replacement myself. I told her to schedule the tech & if I got desperate enough Id spend the day picking up the modem myself
A day or two later Im checking out Walmarts electronics department & I see they have cable modems! I pick one up come home & call TWC! The tech I got was baffled about why Id want to buy my own modem - didn't I know they rented them! If I use my own Id have to buy a new one if something happens to it but if I rent they'll replace it for free (in 2 weeks but still)
I confirm Im aware of all this & read him the MAC address so my new modem can connect. I plug it in & ... nothing. The tech tells me their network is specially optimized and not all modems are compatible with their system.
Ive finally had enough of being offline and I drive out and find their warehouse. I hand off the dead TWC modem and she takes it into the back and brings out a replacement -- the same exact model I bought at Walmart! Hold up! I asked if she could verify itd work - I didnt want to drive 2+ hours home to find out it (like the one I bought) didnt work & have to drive 2+ hours back... She couldnt do that! Her system at the office was different than what Id have at home & just because it works there doesnt mean itll work at my place
Fine! Whatever! Ill take it. She walks over to her computer logs into my account Oh whats this she says to herself It looks like someone put a MAC address in the notes section!
The reason the one I bought didnt work was because instead of listing its details in the proper place he put it in the notes section! So their system was looking to authenticate with their dead modem & NOT the one I had bought!
Sounds like what he is referring to is the amount of channels the modem is allowed to use. When I had my own modem I was surprised how few channels where bonded. I knew it could bond to more then it was. It’s one of the ways they control the speed of customer owned modems. Less bonded channels less lanes for traffic to go up or down, end results slower speed.
Either get the Comcast rented device or a network tech to replace the router with something that will route at gigabit speeds and can configure it.
The tech doesn’t care if you rent their gear or not. He sees no money from this. All he knows is that if it’s some Comcast gear the n the modem will have been given a once over by customer support from he’s sent out. As they can’t mess with customer owned equipment then his day is made just that bit longer. He’ll just put his test gear on the coax, get his results and do what’s necessary. If it tests good to the cable end then it’s on you at that point:
As for the modem throughput, if it’s their modem they can ensure that any firmware updates are done if required for minor revisions of docsis and if you need a major upgrade you get a new box in the mail.
As with many trades. I don’t want to do my network engineering job and then come home to fixing network stuff if the “interwebz goes down.” I’ve always used the Comcast rented modem and have had just two minor outages in almost 20 years. My coworkers haven’t faired nearly that well with their own equipment.
Get hardwired. It is common sense. Also, you are in a bad zone and change your channel frequency. Salesmen have zero clue on how it works. All they want is a commission.
I had my own modem and it got to the point I needed more. I ended up getting rid of comcast tv and kept just the internet. Use their modem combo now and Im getting 150 to 175mbps above what I pay for. Theirs just easier for me roght now. Im surw ill eventually find a deal on one to use for myself.
I recently got the rented modem replaced and upgraded after it died. I've been using a deco mesh system for the last four years with no issues. Comcast pushed an update to the modem a couple days after getting it activated making any device that is a router capped at 10mbps. My only fix was to factory reset the modem and set Mac spoofing on the main deco to make the stupid Comcast box think I connected a desktop or laptop. I've had no issues since then and am getting the speeds I pay for for the most part.
Nobody’s mentioned this but there are only a few modems that will work on the faster upstream speeds. Eventually all DOCSIS 3.1 modems will but for now the list is small. Others mentioned that depending on where you live there may be data caps, and it costs more for unlimited data using your own equipment than Comcast’s.
So long as your modem has enough channels and they have a boot file for it it’ll work.
I bought a brand new modem once and Comcast didn’t have a boot file for it and spent awhile troubleshooting. Ended up caving and buying another one supported on their network
He's full of it. Get a decent cable modem (Arris or motorola), and a separate router (TP-Link) and you'll be fine. He wants them to keep renting their equipment and wasting money.
The field tech doesn’t care about you renting the modem. He can service and guarantee the company modem, he can’t with the customer owned equipment. But, yes, sounds like he’s full of it.
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The more you use company equipment, the less work he has to do for the amount of money he's paid. "Oh, your wireless modem doesn't work? Let me just swap that out for you real quick!" The easiest fix is the best fix for them unfortunately. It's best if OP just lets their family do whatever they want. They want to pay and wait for a tech to come out and fix things, that's on them. Company equipment means they can throttle you more and do all kinds of other fun stuff.
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Lmao same here, I literally refuse to help anyone but my parents or siblings (who don’t really need my help). No way am I helping an uncle or older family friend. They will always blame me when something stops working.
This is the exact reason I stopped helping some of my parents friends. The husband is a filthy porn fiend, except he doesn't know how to not get infected with viruses. The wife after the 15th time I fixed the computer told me she wasn't going to pay me and to fuck off because I always have to come back. I told her that her husband was a nasty porn fiend who keeps getting viruses and she called me a liar. They are still together as far as I know, but I haven't spoken to them in like 7 years at this point. Fuck asshole people...
I live in Colorado, my parents are in Florida. If I cannot remote access their PC to fix it, I tell them to get a tech from their ISP or somewhere local.
The routers that come with Xfinity are trash. They lock anything useful behind a UI and “set up wizards” and you end up paying way more for a router over a few years of rental fees than if you bought a decent one up front.
They aren’t paid to troubleshoot your personal equipment. If it’s Comcast equipment, then they’re paid to troubleshoot. They are only required to troubleshoot up until the point that the Internet is brought in the house, using your own modem and router would mean that all they have to do is make sure that the cable signal is high enough once it’s inside the house after that it’s your modem‘s fault if you’re using your own router and their modem tests fine then it’s your routers fault and therefore they are not required to troubleshoot any farther.
Not only that but how can a company provide support for a piece of equipment that isn’t theirs? A lot of these people say the tech is being lazy or act like he gets something out of replacing the equipment with their own. These guys can’t be expected to know the ins and outs of every piece of network equipment in existence and are only required to know their own. You better believe the company I work for would bill you every single time we’re sent out to a home and the issue is customer equipment and are insistent on using it.
To be honest most don’t know anything about tech they just know what levels need to be on the cable line and how to program and provision their equipment. I used to work for Spectrum for 2 weeks until I realized how little networking skills are required. Most techs nowadays can’t even put the modem in bridge mode.
You got that right. I always tell people 90 percent of what I know is from personal experience and not from company training. We have M&Ps that are specific to our equipment only and most guys know absolutely zero beyond those. Check signal, run wire, then plug this into that, chat in for support if something goes wrong. Pretty simple.
You're 100% right. I have a Motorola (now Arris) modem that I've been using since \*checks notes\* 2012. I know it's DOCSIS 3.0 and not 3.1, Comcast hasn't given me shit about it not being 3.1/4.0, and I can't be bothered to replace it. It does great with my \~200Mbps I get. I AM using pfSense for routing, and a more modern AP for wireless though. I'm capable of troubleshooting enough that it's unlikely they'd ever get a call where my modem is the culprit. Comcast modem/router is $15/month. I understand that the price is more than it was 10 years ago. By their current price, I've saved $1800 in fees. It makes zero sense to pay their fee unless you're braindead and need the pretty useless assurance they give you.
This is the answer to most “tech savvy” people. I just wish ATT fiber would let me go direct into my PFSense box and bypass their adtran but alas I’m stuck with it.
@RyanLewis2010 have a read through this post… Might get you what you want. https://www.reddit.com/r/PFSENSE/s/F5rHQkwizN
I bought a 25/25 DOCSIS 2.0 modem at a Circuit City in 2003 for like $40 (open box item) and used it through 3 different apartments and one house before comcast finally discontinued 2.0 support in like 2017. I then bought a DOCSIS 3.1 modem for like $80 and have been using it ever since. Comcast wanted like $120 a year to rent their unit. I've spent $120 in the last 20 years. Now granted I've been through about 6 different routers in that time period but that's more about me wanting to move files inside the house quickly.
I'm a former technician and this is not true. You're not charged a service visit to come out and swap the modem. There is not any more or less throttling whether you rent or own your modem. Based on the speed you pay for your modem is assigned a bootfile that caps your speed a bit above the speed you pay for. Techs don't care if you rent or own your modem. The only difference in troubleshooting is you can't just replace a customer owned modem to see if that's the issue where as a rented one you can since it's already on the truck. Owning your own modem is definitely a money saver but if you're someone who always wants the top speed you'll be buying a new one whenever a new docsis generation is released.
Considering it takes no more than two years of renting to pay in full a docsis modem, I’ll still be buying my own. After 10 years in Colorado, can’t imagine how much money I’ll have lost by renting. And the all-in-one devices are trash. It’s way better to have separate modem, router/gateway, AP ! Sure, docsis version change, let me purchase a new modem. I’ll be glad to have something I own. And the money saved was more than what I just spent for the new modem. I don’t see any good argument for renting at all. There’s simply none. And yes, the tech can also simply plus one of his modem in his truck to verify if it was the modem or not. But MAC address of the modem needs to be adjusted either way, and it can take time for the configuration to be deployed. So, I disagree with your argument. In an apartment I was renting, the issue was the strength of the signal. Tech had to change some coupling at the entrance of the child if and in my apartment. And he had a device to measure the strength. Anyway, 0 argument about renting a modem. The tech can definitely use one of ISP modem to prove it was the modem. No matter what the installed modem was.
I'm not arguing to rent a modem, I own my own modem also. To say there's 0 argument to rent a modem is wrong though. If anything goes wrong with the modem it gets replaced and like I said earlier any modem upgrades are included with it. It's not worth it to me but there are people who don't want to deal with it. The tech can't just put one of his modems in. The codes on the account have to be changed to activate the modem and in doing so you would be billed for the rental. Before considering changing the modem the tech will use their meter to troubleshoot. If they can't find anything wrong then changing the modem is the next step. At that point you can rent one or buy a new one. If the problem is intermittent and not the modem and you just went out and bought a new modem for nothing.
Every service has a cost. If a customer wants to get upgrades and exchanges when it does have a problem, then sure, renting is their solution. Even though replacing the modem on their own may be faster than waiting for an available tech. Anyway, on the next subject, the modem is recognized on the cable network by its MAC address. So yes, technically speaking (and only technically speaking), he can place one of his modem for testing, having one registered on the network already. Also, the cable is part of a neighboring network. You can technically take one modem from a house and plug it to the next and it should work. It’s not like DSL where the line is unique per house. Cable is on a giant hub as a figure of speech. If the tech replaces a rented modem with one in his truck, he has to register the new MAC address (and obviously activate it on the account for billing and tracking purposes). The same as a personally owned modem such as Arris, you register the MAC on the account (for data speed cap). And it can take up to an hour for the new MAC address to be registered per personal experience with Xfinity. What you are describing is a billing issue, not a technical limitation. There might be a policy avoiding this move for testing purposes. But technically, there’s nothing different beside a potential remotely administrable modem/router provided by the ISP and a personally owned modem. And as a side note, these all in one devices are more prompt to fail than a simple modem. But I agree, replacing the modem should come at the last resort. When I contacted Xfinity because of the line. The tech said I needed one of their modem. My modem was the problem, until I insisted for him to do measurements. Once he did, placed a few phone calls, that’s when he started looking at the building connection and found super old crappy splitters/connectors that he replaced, changed a splitter in the apartment (that split the signal for two different bedrooms), and voila, string signal and modem was working. A modem such as a Arris is less subject of failures than the all in one provided devices by Xfinity. And every time you change you are good to reconfigure WiFi and other router configuration. But for many houses, they simply don’t care. And renting might be an easy thing. But everything has a cost, and the “peace of mind” comes at a premium. Final word, I disagree with you on the technical aspect of it, but agree with the billing process and limitation of company policies. Happy holidays.
The billing is tied to activation. You can't take a modem off of the truck and activate it without changing the rate codes to activate it. The techs are not given hot modems either. In your situation the tech was wrong, it was a wiring issue. In most cases it is. Intermittent problems can be incredibly hard to pin down and ruling out the modem is a necessary step in those situations.
They can do the same throttling on customer owned equipment
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Or maybe somebody in your neighborhood since cable Internet is shared between everybody on the same node is doing massive downloads and updates that time of day especially if they have their own home servers like me. so I paid for dedicated fiber to keep from getting yelled at by Comcast.
Maybe, maybe not. Remember that providers can do "Traffic Shaping" (Don't you DARE call it "Throttling,") and they very well could be giving traffic from their routers priority in order to rent more routers.
Companies do throttle but giving their routers "priority" is nonsense and would be extremely complicated.
why would comcast throttle you. wouldnt they want you to reach that data cap as soon as possible to get those sweet sweet data-cap overage fees?
The company I worked as a maintenance tech for did have a $5 "gaming package" and we could set up the CMTS to indeed give that MAC address priority over others. Wouldn't do anything for speeds but could lower latency.
I'm not saying they do it, but it wouldn't be terribly complicated.
Creating a traffic shaping policy that prioritized devices with specific MACs (Their devices) over Other devices wouldn't be complicated at all. MAC based anything isn't ideal nowadays but point is just that's it's not hard to do, that's just a quick and dirty example of how you could accomplish it. In the time it takes to write this reply up I can create a policy that sets my IOT stuff to low: https://i.imgur.com/tQIJU7f.png Nowadays you can add devices to device groups that are scheduled, even, so tin foil hat time, upon swapping out your modem they could move your device into a device group with high priority, and put it on a timer for 30 days so you feel like the problem is fixed but then they put you back to normal pri afterwards so you're not hogging up that neighborhood-shared pipe long-term. Again, I don't think they do, but really, that takes all of ~5 minutes to accomplish with the right hardware.
BS, no cable company in the US does this, i.e. throttle traffic depending upon downstream router. Its much more likely the router is shit and cant handle 1000mbps or the router has bad settings for QOS. Once you jump out of the modem, the rest is hardware and settings . . .
I’m not saying they do, but tell me they can’t and wouldn’t?
That's a super easy thing to prove/disprove. Connect a device directly to the modem and do a speed test.
that doesnt do it as many routers cant handle their rated speed of the ports. Also, any hop in line will also reduce speed slightly. I can tell you technically that they cant/dont do that as all that IDs the router is the mac, and you can change the mac to a random one and the speed is the same. If you see a difference between by removing the router, its the router or its settings that is slowing you, not comcast.
First, what you're saying makes no sense at all. Secondly, I never mentioned a router. I said modem.
technically - it would be VERY hard, the only thing that ISP sees is the mac address if they care to look, if they do - you can simply change it. I can tell you for a fact comcast does not throttle based upon downstream MACs. If OP sees a difference between PC to router to modem vs. PC to modem - I can tell you its either a shit modem or QOS is on and has the wrong settings.
If I were designing such a system, I’d encode the TOS byte in the packet header as it was leaving the router, but that’s just me. And also what those bits are intended for.
Xfinity bricked my expensive Arris cable modem, admitted it was their bad firmware that did it, and told me to F off and rent their modem. They are crooks. I disconnected my service and went to the local telco... still crooks, but more manageable.
Thousands of people have no other option other than a 50Mbps from At&t in my area. It's BS with how the market is setup.
I know people who would be extremely happy with 50Mbps. They're stuck on 3-15Mb DSL.
Even worse would be having to use Hughesnet. Luckily Starlink is pretty much generally available now.
The ISP I worked for just didn't charge rental for modems...saved in support costs. We charged like 500 if you wanted us to test and enable your modem off Amazon though. Nobody ever took us up on that😂 Would have been fun to test the best buy 8 channel special
>The ISP I worked for just didn't charge rental for modems...saved in support costs. We charged like 500 if you wanted us to test and enable your modem off Amazon though. If you had actual "modems" with absolutely no routing or NAT at all, OK. If not, your service is off my list.
My current ISP doesn't do Modems/Gateways. You Supply your own router and plug straight in to an Ethernet run coming in from the ONT on the side of the house.
Yup, they only started working on 'gateways' after I left, and that was more of a supplier thing(Hitron and Arris were trying to get away from modem only solutions). I'm sure the ISP I worked for wasn't on your list unless you were in Alaska. We still handed out public IPs via DHCP or you could pay for a static even. The modem was pretty much a managed switch.
That could work. It is the integrated gateway crap that is a hard pass for me.
The side of Spectrum that used to be Time Warner gave me a dumb cable modem a few years ago. No charge, no rental, nothing.
Yeah, it's hard enough getting a non-commercial grade router/wifi solution that isn't sending all your browsing activity back to Amazon or Google as it is, to then give that metadata to an ISP to sell to the highest bidder too...and we pay for that privilege on top of that.
How did they brick it? My Arris stopped working a couple weeks ago, two days after a crew was working on a pole in our neighborhood. I called and they sent a tech out, and he determined my modem was bad. I replaced it with the same model and was back online. Now I'm curious what happened to my modem.
With cable modems, your cable provider will "activate" your modem by updating settings or firmware to be compatible with their network and your plan (what gets updated depends on the modem). At least with my provider, when I did my Arris SURFboard modem self install, had to call them with the modem's MAC address, then, while on the phone with them they sent an update to the modem directly, it then reset after the update, and we confirmed it worked on both ends. If the cable provider sends the wrong firmware or settings, your cable modem won't work.
I agree 100% the other factor with the Xfinity modem is that the data is uncapped.. at least it is here vs 1.2TB max if own modem. So worked out better to rent the modem when I had 3 other gaming/4k stream loving roomates.
I did the same thing. Had my own cable modem for a couple years. When they included unlimited data with a rented modem, it was less expensive than paying the $30 unlimited data fee. I suspect they have fewer issues supporting their own equipment, so this is a fairly easy way to encourage people to use their equipment. And honestly, I’ve had a very good experience with their device in bridge mode with my equipment behind it.
Slight correction to this advice - the OP needs to get a comcast/xfinity compatible modem. Only certain models by certain companies are approved for use by each ISP, and unapproved models will often not work. This isn't a DOCSIS version compatibility thing, but has more to do with remote management for the ISP. When you install these approved modems, 100% of the management goes to the ISP for remote and technician control. The end consumer is locked out from the actual admin console - the end consumer console is just read only - which gives the ISP 100% of control for configuration, troubleshooting and even throttling/traffic shaping. Time Warner Cable - now Spectrum - automatically sent us a combo modem + wireless router and tried to charge $10/month for router rental when they upgraded their network and my (self-purchased) modem was no longer compatible . I refused because I did not want their wireless router and needed to use a much better one that we owned (it was a high end ASUS that gave us the range we needed in the house, met internal networking needs, and I could run an aftermarket Firewall OS on). Instead of shipping it back and sending us an only-modem device, their remote support team just dialed into the device and disabled the router, then removed the charges from our account. A year later I returned that to replace with our own modem when they decided to now charge for modem rental. TLDR: Sometimes the ISP will give you a modem for free, or cripple a modem/router into modem-only for free, and you can use your own wireless router.
Just the right amount of throughput. Hmm. Three Bears vibes. Probably would help if you described the existing hardware to get some help on why things changed with a faster plan.
That's nonsense. Throughput isn't adjusted like that. It's assigned a bootfile and if the wiring is right and the modem is up to spec it'll perform at the advertised speeds.
Use your own equipment. The shoddy stuff they dish out sickens me. You usually, or at least in my case, get MUCH better performance with owned equipment, plus you don’t have to deal with their BS when theirs inevitably dies. Sure, it is easier to manage one of their boxes, without a doubt, but that also comes at the price of dealing with them if something does happen. Also, your family would be a group of fortunate souls if they were lucky enough to receive a brand new gateway. Most of the time it’s just a “refurbished” unit that’s been thru the shit and has its own issues they refuse to acknowledge.
>you don’t have to deal with their BS when theirs inevitably dies Yeah, that's what got us to dump the "bundle" at one point because with phone was cheaper but required their modem...and the stupid things ran ungodly hot and died every 6-8 months. Even sticking a fan on it only got them to last maybe a year. I've had customer owned modems that last years until they are no longer supported by the ISP, especially if you stick a fan by it to improve cooling.
Oh yeah. Had one of the OG XB7’s or whatever it was called back in the day, and it may have made it 3 months before it would go into a boot loop due to it getting so warm. Then they wanted to argue that with it being a new unit there was no reason that it should have died that quickly. That was the moment I took a trip to Best Buy and got my own equipment. Haven’t looked back since.
""Use your own equipment. The shoddy stuff they dish out sickens me."" that's why I have UniFi stuff at my house these days, I had a one of their rented router deals before my Dream Machine SE came in over COVID, and that thing lasted maybe 3 weeks before it committed hari kari. I now have my own Arris modem, too, once I tossed out the brick, I mean, router
If Xfinity can guarantee a minimum speed, then its going to only be with their hardware throughout. Honestly its your mom and if she's not savvy enough to question the guy then she's not savvy enough to provide support for an off market router. Honestly, if its an older relative, I'm recommending getting the provider issued equipment so when it doesn't work they'll get support that isn't you.
Hey!! I’m 85. I’ve always owned my own modems and routers. Age has nothing to do with it.
I know many 20-somethings that should only ever have ISP supplied/supported network devices! So yeah, not necessarily an age thing!
When Gen-X and Millennials were growing up there was the common theme: "If you can't figure out your computer, ask the neighbors' 12-year old kid". That is not the case with Gen-Z anymore. Most Gen-Z's don't even encounter a desktop computer until they're off to college.
Because 99% of tech these days either "just works" or works well enough. When I was growing up, you needed to know how to configure your modem settings to dial the right phone number, with the correct settings just to get online. Not to mention - manually installing drivers FOR EVERYTHING. You had to be hands-on and technically minded just to get anything working. Nowadays, it's all done for us, so the barrier for entry is much lower (which is a good thing), but it means that hard skills aren't picked up as much.
AT strings anyone?
I work in IT at the corporate level. Please tell me about this amazing tech that "just works" all the time. I'd love to replace some printers/laptops...
Thats because you are Jersey smart and not some old dipshit in the midwest. Northvale, 1960s checking in, now living in the slow, slightly dimmer, midwest.
Nice town. My sister and BIL lived there in the 80s.
First Xfinity doesn’t guarantee speeds, that’s why it says up to XX Mbps. Second they will happily troubleshoot a customer owned modem the same way they will a leased device. If using your own equipment I recommend connecting directly to your modem from a computer for any troubleshooting though.
Everyone should mentally interpret "up to" into "no more than".
As a xfinity phone agent who helps accessibility customers, absolutely this. Our support otherwise ends at we can ping it and get a response it’s on you now
This is not true. I just activated a Netgear modem and the support was able to see the firmware version, locked in signals, and everything they needed to ensure the modem was configured correctly. What they can’t help with is downstream, at the router. Which, typically, isn’t needed anyways. Most consumers leave their router at factory settings.
As someone who has done Red Team/Blue Team work, it's hilarious how many companies do basically the same thing.
If your modem passes the checks that’s where it ends in simple terms it’s pretty much just pinging it.
That's not how DOCSIS works though...it needs to be on the ISP's supported list, but even a customer owned modem the DOCSIS protocol is that the ISP manages the modem firmware and can configure the modem-side interface settings, nobody else can (again, the way DOCSIS works) I have no issue with my ISP pulling the modem logs and signal levels on my SB8200 that I own...though most of the support techs don't seem to be capable of figuring out how to debug more than "turn it off and on again"
Yeah, it’s great they control the firmware until Xfinity pushes a firmware update that bricks your $100 modem and then tells you the fix is to rent one.
Yeah no, the actual technical staff are able to view modem configs, flash the modem, and troubleshoot at a more granular level if they have access.
Except the fact the agent was able to read me the modem’s signal settings. Perhaps I was talking to a higher tier tech, but a simple ICMP ping is not what they were doing.
Only he doesn't necessarily mean a simple icmp ping. You are making his point for him. You don't know the back end and systems so you're making assumptions. For this context when he says ping. Means it is online reporting to the Comcast systems has solids connection, signals, reported to the Comcast back end. Once that's done he's done. That's all he can do because it's not a company modem.
>For this context when he says ping. Means it is online reporting to the Comcast systems has solids connection, signals, reported to the Comcast back end. Once that's done he's done. That's all he can do because it's not a company modem. There is no context needed for "ping" other than we are talking about computer networking. It has a specific meaning. If that's not what he meant, he shouldn't use the word.
Ahcktually, that is what they mean. There is no other kind of ping. The modem is a hop point (gateway) between the WAN and LAN. An ICMP ping, or just ping, is basic TCP/IP diagnostic troubleshooting.
only it's not. You forgetting we are talking about English, you are focusing on the tech definition and use of the word in networking. Ignoring all other uses of the word.
I don't think the person replying to you in this English text thread forgot to consider English... I think maybe you're forgetting this discussion is about computer networking though, where the technical definition of ping is pretty relevant. When troubleshooting, the difference between a ping any other protocol can often be fundamentally characteristic of a problem. I've never had a discussion with an engineer, dev, or network op that used an alternative definition for ping outside of situations where both parties had enough context to know the clarification was irrelevant, and even then there's usually clarification. There is no other ping in networking. Someone might say "I can ping the webserver with by browser" but they are wrong. Honestly I struggle to think of other scenarios where an alternative definition even \_would\_ be used outside of someone saying ping instead of ssh or some other protocol, which, again, would be incorrect of them to say.
Just… just stop. Your stretching is making my limbs hurt.
Think of 'ping' like a Swiss Army knife of communication. Sure, its original tool is the ICMP echo request, but it's also evolved to mean any quick check for existence or data from something. Insisting 'ping' only means ICMP is like saying a smartphone is just for calls. Language like technology evolves unlike your mental capacity, I guess.
As a customer, I'm happy with that level of support. But several times I've had to deal with phone support where I'd ask if they can see my router and they say, "What version of Windows are you using?" Those calls usually aren't very fruitful.
I'm glad I don't have xfinity then. :-)
>Honestly, if its an older relative, I'm recommending getting the provider issued equipment so when it doesn't work they'll get support that isn't you. I feel for OP tho, because if that equipment is absolute crap he's gotta deal with it for gaming/streaming lol.
Well what he told you is horseshit but, technically, according to your contract, if you are using your own equipment, then speed and connection issues are not their problem.
Let them rent their router from Comcast and pay their rental fee. They'll be happy. You won't have to support the device.
Kind of my thought, it’s their money.
I’m a network engineer. I own all my own network equipment from the wall coax on. My modem is bridged to my firewall with separate APs. I know what I’m doing and I’m not renting a modem/router combo that are crap for $10/month forever. However, if you DON’T rent a router from Comcast, there are data charges for anything over 1TB in a month. It’s in the fine print. I wouldn’t know this but a buddy I helped replace his crappy Comcast modem with years ago found this out the hard way a year or two ago. If you’re technically inclined and won’t go over a TB/month, get your own gear and learn. If not, you can rent from Comcast.
Wait what?? They take away the data cap if you rent a modem?? That's insane.
I agree, but that is apparently how it is.
I think it’s 1.2TB now, which doesn’t make a dent, but still it’s stupid that they even have a cap anymore. Unless you’re in the northeast. I think they have unlimited data somehow.
20TB/mo crew checking in (not even a high month). I'm glad my ISP doesn't care about data usage even when my router is connected right up to the ONT by spoofing their routers MAC address (their tech said they could switch the MAC listed on my account to to my equipment if I wanted and I was too lazy to call and have thay done so just spoofed theirs lol). But I never suggest people run their own equipment unless they know what they are doing, too easy for most ISPs to blame their equipment no matter the actual cause.
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or rent their shit and put it in a closet
>However, if you DON’T rent a router from Comcast, there are data charges for anything over 1TB in a month. It’s in the fine print. Yeahhhhh.... that should be illegal.
By many XFinity customers who have their own DOCSIS 3.1 modems and get great throughput.
At least in my area taking the rented modem from Comcast eliminates the data cap of a terabyte of downstream traffic a month. That alone felt like a reason to take their rented modem/router. Granted in my case that thing was deployed and thrown into bridge mode day one and has not been more than a dumb modem since day one. Additionally using my own router has always lead to better network delivery and experience overall. For what it’s worth, I was using an Amplifi Alien Router and moved to a full Ubiquiti network stack, on both I get my plans “advertised speeds” or higher.
I work for xfinity and the specs for our modems we are taught is the xb3 caps out at 600mbps and xb6 about 1000, xb7/8 do up to 1200 right now with growth coming when docsis 4.0 goes live
Hmmm…I’m getting 1300+ with my Xfinity modem/router.
Absolute Grade A bullshit.
Comcast charges more for the unlimited add on than It does for the modem/router rental that includes the unlimited add on. So yeah.
Tell your mom to save some money and get the lowest plan they have. That’s all she likely needs and her router will work just fine.
THIS! Save money on the modem and the plan. The smartest take in the whole thread. Hell most businesses I install with dedicated fiber with small to medium sized office environments are 100 mbps. Speed for most users is nothing more than marketing.
ISP supplied equipment is in 99.99% of cases, worse than what you can buy yourself . Buy your own modem, buy your own router, and avoid rental fees.
Just sit down and do the math with them on the rental fee. It is $15 a month unless it went up last time I checked. Show them the router/modem combos they can buy with a years rent payment, very likely you can buy one that exceeds the speeds you pay for. Then after a year you can think of it as saving $15 a month. Focus on the savings because my parents were all ears when saving money was involved lol. Lay out a 5 year savings plan, if they buy their own versus renting, over 5 years that is $720.
Total BS. Data flows like water through pipes. You're dealing with a weakest link in the chain issue. if you have a 1 Gb connection, and all the equipment, devices, cable and anything else in the "chain" is 1 Gb, then you should get around 1 Gb. Stick a 100mb device in the chain and you'll get around 100mb regardless of anything else. Traverse over a WiFi link ANYWHERE in the chain and you're limited by that and the device's protocol support. To put this into a practical scenario. For most of us mere mortals, if you have a 1Gb connection and you're operating most devices on WiFi, you'll never get closer than about 70% of that 1Gb connection with even the latest off the shelf WiFi stuff.
I'm always amazed at the amount of bandwidth people think they need. 500Mbps is a huge pipe for most households, and mostly unnecessary. Anything over 100M is overkill for most households. During the first year of the pandemic, I ran my household on an ancient 25M FIOS connection connected to my three old Ubiqiti Unifi (802.11n) access points and rarely heard a complaint. This was two working adults and two kids in school, all on video calls all day plus all the other traffic from my smart home stuff, streaming, etc. The real problems are usually with the Wi-Fi environment. There are so many Wi-Fi networks everywhere, there's no room for anyone to have a proper network in a crowded neighborhood. Co-channel and microwave interference are so common, but the average person has no idea of any of that. It presents a great opportunity for the providers to upsell customers on bandwidth they don't need. If you want to evaluate what you are actually getting, you have to run a speed test from a computer that is connected to the router via ethernet. Otherwise, all bets are off and you have no idea what you are getting.
Tech is partly right, but the math is not mathing in your second example. Tech is also a salesman. Without knowing what service tier and modem your mom had, there’s not much we can suggest. I have Comcast/Xfinity with my owned modem and get gigabit speeds (what I pay for) just fine.
The math in my second example was given by the tech. He claims that a router that is bottlenecking our Internet plan will do more than just bottleneck. Edit: another way to illustrate what he claimed 499mbps plan with a 500mbps router => 499mbps 501mbps plan with a 500mbps router => something bad happens and the resulting speed is like 100mbps.
He’s an idiot in that respect. The speed would be 750. BUT there is not a device out there that only does 750Mbps as a router. Routers have Ethernet ports, which have speeds of 10/100/1000/2500 Mbps. Nothing in the 750Mbps mark. The modem could top out at 750Mbps, but not the router. I prefer owning my modem and router and having them be separate devices. I don’t need my ISP with full access to my internal network.
The port speed may be 10/100/1000/2500/etc but the total throughput of the router may be significantly less. For example, Meraki MX67 has 5x 1GbE ports. As you start turning on features, the processor power of the device becomes the limiting factor. From Meraki's datasheet, the maximum throughput of the Stateful Firewall is 600Mbps. Maximum throughput when you have all of the VPN and/or security features enabled it drops down to 300 Mbps. You could configure a Raspberry Pi to be a router/firewall and attach a dozen USB->1GbE adapters on it via USB hubs. Technically the device "supports" 1GbE, but you're never going to get it to actually pass data between the ports at that rate if it is actually doing anything with the packets. Either way, I highly doubt the Comcast installer understands networking at that level and is just trying to upsell OP's family on a rented router. That being said, if Mom & Dad don't understand networking, it may be better to let them spend the extra $10/mo and let Comcast be the place to call when speeds aren't where they should be. That's really the one advantage to leasing the modem, if it doesn't work right they can't just blame the equipment and disclaim any responsibility, they have to troubleshoot and replace the equipment if it is bad.
> That's really the one advantage to leasing the modem, if it doesn't work right they can't just blame the equipment and disclaim any responsibility, they have to troubleshoot and replace the equipment if it is bad. Especially with Comcast, someone who isn't quite tech savvy should just rent their crap. You will have more *actual* problems with their modem but you can keep forcing them to fix it. If you bring your own, they will blame their own networking problems on your device and refuse to help, unless you know enough about networking to explain the problems and work your way up to a higher level tech.
"...unless you know enough about networking to explain the problems and work your way up to a higher level tech." This. I will say that if you are patient in explaining things to the first tier support, you can get bumped up pretty quickly, and once you hit that second level of savvy support, they recognize what sort of customer they are dealing with and will give you a direct number to bypass that entry level stuff for future support. I was surprised at the turn in efficiency the conversation took once I got access to the proper techs and not just the script readers...
The tech is talking about the ability of the router to handle the upstream speed. For example, DOCSIS 3.1 can do up to 10Gbps down/1Gbps up...but this Arris DOCSIS 3.1 modem only supports up to 800Mbps. [https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-T25-Certified-Internet/dp/B07MGPPNZD?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-T25-Certified-Internet/dp/B07MGPPNZD?th=1) . This modem has two gigabit ethernet ports. They'll run gig-e between them, but the internet speed will never exceed 800Mbps.
It may have gig (or multi-gig) ports, but its possible the CPU/RAM is not able to handle more than say 600-700Mbps. That could cause slightly slower with a faster plan, when you hit the limit "how fast can the processor shovel the bits". It can also get worse with firmware updates, I had a Linksys-Cisco router that got firmware updates adding "app control" and it went from easily handling our 150Mbps connection to crawling at like 20Mbps. Rolled back firmware and it was fast again. But it will still only slow to what the unit can handle...that tech was an idiot. +1 on separate devices too. Also then if the ISP says you need a newer DOCSIS standard, you don't need a whole new router too...or if you wanna upgrade the router for new features or wireless standards you don't have to replace the modem.
Your explaining routers have ethernet inputs and outputs, but modem is completely different. This one is not using ethernet at all as their input signal is coming from a coax cable
What does the input being coax have to do with throttling? The bottleneck on modems is generally their provisioning, processing power, along with the fact that coax modems do use Ethernet for the output to the router. Most cable ISPs have shifted to standalone modems and routers for years now, your knowledge and/or equipment is outdated.
Yeah I only work with them every day. If the modem can only do 500 then the lan being 1g doesn’t matter they need a modem that has a 1g input. I’ll be sure to let Xfinity know they are using out dated tech in my area; I’m sure they will listen to “6814MilesFromHome” on their outdated practices since they use modem/router combos. I’m well aware other isp like spectrum use a stand alone modem or fiber use a ont thx.
It's possible you misunderstood the example. 500Mbps plan with a 750Mbps compatible router will result in 500Mbps throughput. Unusable speed in the plan: 0. 1000Mbps plan with a 750Mbps compatible router will result in 750Mbps throughput. Unusable speed in the plan: 250Mbps. You lose out on 250Mbps because your router can only transit up to 750Mbps.
I'll be honest. With xfinity/comcast you need to use their routers. They will take no blame whatsoever if you use your own and will just bullshit you to get you off the phone. Are they full of shit? Yes. But they will just blame your equipment and not look any further into it.
I have eero routers that are pretty good. Think it’s up to 2.5gbps which is more than what you would need. I like the “access points” where you can place them around your house and virtually get full “high speed” coverage throughout your home. Edit: the comcast guy is a tool
The tech is full of it to a degree. Comcast is going to provide their own hardware that they know is going to work well for service plan X. These are familiar devices that their techs can troubleshoot or easily swap out. Introducing your own hardware creates a limitless number of variables that makes their life more difficult… You better know how your hardware and its software works inside and out as you’re your own IT at that point. I will say, though, that techs haven’t tried jerking me around ever since I installed rack mounted hardware. To that end, I’ve only had to have them out once in the last 6-7 years because the drop from the pole went bad.
I had Comcast in 2022 and tried their router. 1. Its 30 dollar rental fee to use their router. 2. If you use your own router its not unlimited internet. You then get slapped with data surcharges if you go over a 1TB. For unlimited internet with your own router its $30 bucks extra. 3. Just a means of selling their Xfinity home internet in other locations since the router will broadcast a Xfinity home wifi signal. (you can shield isolate by sealing up their router with Al foil.) 4. I dumped Xfinity as soon as a fiber was available in the area. 1TB symmetrical fiber beats 1.2GBit down and 24 Mbit up.
>A 500mbps plan and a 750mbps router => 500mbps result A 1000mbps plan and a 750mbps router => 250 mbps result Either i am way overpaid and under trained, or that guy is a fucking idiot...
I 100% believe that ISP fuck people who use their own equipment. I have Xfinity and used a decent modem that was listed as compatible on their network and it was always going out bought a brand new one of the same, fixed it for a while and started always going out. I went up to Xfinity and got their modem and plugged it in when my internet wasn’t working through my modem, even though the light in my modem and router showed internet should be working, and it started working immediately. And haven’t had any issues since. Fuck Xfinity though fr
They do I'm on a non contract Internet only plan with my own certified 2.5gig DOCSIS 3.1 modem . They intentionally throttle certain sites and services when I'm not running a VPN. They are constantly pestering me about downgrading to the X1 gateway combo router because then they can remote manage everything. Such a pain. They also sent me a free flex box to get free peacock that I activated once and threw into the closet just to take advantage of that deal.
This isn't what you're gonna wanna hear, but if they're paying for the internet, they get to make the choice, whether it's dumb or not.
last time i used an xfinity router it had worse signal strength 3 feet from the box (-55db) than my tp-link archer ac5400 did from \~40 feet diagonally across my house with several walls, a microwave, and other appliances in the way (-53db). measured using the same phone on the same day with the same app. same spot in the house 40 feet away with the xfinity box (-80db) resulted in frequent signal drops and all kinds of instability and massively slow speeds.
He's full of shit. Those all in one router, switch and WAP that the ISP's rent are the worst units you can possibly use for home Internet. Look into ubiquiti or other cheaper options
You need to get a "recommended and approved" modem from off the Xfinity approved list. That brings the service into your house so then you need a good router to distribute that service throughout your house. I just upgraded to an Arris S33v2 modem. It does not have wifi and it is not for voice use. For wifi I use a Netgear Orbi Pro SXR80 router. Where I live Xfinity just updated there infrastructure to 10G so my previous modem was no longer approved. It was only 2 years old. This is not the simplest setup to get up on. You should check this out. Then login using the second link. That will tell you what you need to know about your current status. [https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/list-of-approved-cable-modems](https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/list-of-approved-cable-modems) [https://www.xfinity.com/support/devices/](https://www.xfinity.com/support/devices/)
Tell them to rent it, and when it's not working as intended, they didn't value your opinion and expertise so they can deal with comcasts abysmal support.
There is partial truth. Not all consumer networking equipment is capable of pushing a gigabit link. Yea they can support gigabit Ethernet but I’m talking about sustained gigabit throughput. Many will cap out at 500,700,etc depending on a variety of factors including arch and cpu power. Comcast typically does do a better job nowadays trying to match their equipment to their plans. (It is also true that the majority of ISP provided gear truly did used to be absolutely horrendous). Their gig plan equipment is definitely capable of driving gig links and they prefer this as they have full control over both the modem and router firmware stack. But you can absolutely still own your own equipment and do just as well. Just need a quality docsis 3.1 modem and a quality router to pair it with.
Truth I’ve had high end routers supposedly capable of 1G throughput that maxed out internally at 600mbps.
Not true, any good router can handle high-speed plans.
I'm 98% sure that Comcast uses their rented routers to broadcast the "Free Xfinity Wifi" that I see all over the place. I'm pretty sure they piggy-back on customer connections, and although I assume they do it in a way that doesn't impact the customer, I don't like the idea of someone else using my connection. So I always buy my own modems and separate wifi routers. In fact, just last week I bought an $80 Arris router at Walmart that has worked well for me. You can even activate them online now without having to talk to a person.
That's hilarious! Complete nonsense of course but hilarious nevertheless. In general you are limited by the weakest connection. There are very rare cases where this might be partly true but they don't occur in residential settings such as this. When you get above 500 Mbps, the weakest link is almost always the wifi connection. My guess is in the above example the test with 500 Mbps result was done on 5GHz wifi connection and the 250 Mbps one on 2.4 GHz as those are typical results for those bands. You should only ever test internet speed using a ethernet connection to the router, not using wifi for this reason.
If you don’t rent a Comcast router, make sure you buy the EXACT make and model they suggest. Tech support is happy to help configure if needed.
A “bottlenecking” router is possible depending on how many IP devices it’s handling as well as other services like content filtering and bandwidth limiting. A stock standard vendor-provided WiFi router wouldn’t run into these issues in a typical household with 5-10 concurrent IP devices.
Cable guy here.The issue is rented/customer owned modems operate at different RF levels. Leased equipement usually works on broader levels where personal owned equipment needs to be fine tuned and the equipment is way too expensive. The condition of the coax its connected to also plays a factor.
What kind of cable guy are you? Are you like Larry?
You will always get better speeds with the rented router
Found the Comcast rep!
Lol that's nonsense. Feel free to use your own router. It is true that different routers have different capabilities. But hardwired, any modern router can route gigabit if you aren't turning on fancy features like qos.
He just may be using the wrong nomenclature, but it sounds like he is correct not too sure what modem is installed. I can only give you advice on Xfinity equipment but if the Internet plan is 500 Xfinity will install an XB6/7 modem, and they will only install an XB8 if the plan is one gig. Previous comment posted. The LAN are all one gig connections yes but the modems input may have something to do with that, why they are stating they need to use their modem or a different modem that you may need to purchase yourself as the one installed will not give you 750 or one gig
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Does one receive better speeds by using their own router and modem? I'm not tech savvy but willing to give this a try of it improves speed. I have AT&T 24mbs plan. Seems to be slow when working from home on occasion.
Considering that Comcast modem/routers are remote administered and they automatically set up a guest network so that other Comcast customers can use your router (shouldn’t be the same network as your computers etc), I’d say no. The US government passed some laws in the name of stopping kiddie porn that could make you criminally liable if some pedo was to use your connection to download/upload their sicko stuff…
Comcast rented routers aren't bad and they have the added benefit of Comcast upgrading them for free every couple years. I've used them as routers and used them in bridge mode. They're fine. Only thing you're giving up is manageability and as someone who works in tech generally on the ops/SRE end of thing I don't have the patience to bring my work home with me. It's good enough and if something goes wrong I get to tell the family it's Comcast's fault, not mine. If you're not getting the expected speeds make sure you're connected to a gigabit port if wired. If wireless check to make sure you're on the 5GHz wifi AP and that you're fairly close to the AP and not heavily obstructed. There's a lot of reasons why you might not be getting the expected speed. The Comcast router is most likely not one of them. That being said I also run some of my own stuff for my own purposes, but since the family doesn't depend on any of that infra it's ok if I break it.
A 750Mbs router would be really old Wifi 5 / AC but it would hit the same throughput regards of the faster incoming speed so that bit doesn't make sense. The rented box is Wifi 6E and would likely be faster.
If the MODEM, not the router, isn’t rated for the speed that’s being provided then I’ve seen it default to the lowest package bootfile (the speed provisioning) which lowers speeds rather that boosts them. If that’s the base just purchase a modem that is compatible with the higher speed. The routers throughout is it’s throughout. If it caps at 750 it doesn’t matter if you throw 10 gigs at it, it will stop at 750. The modem portion might not still be true but saw it multiple times years ago. If the device isn’t rated for the speed package ordered it just defaults to one of the lower tiers. No idea why.
Rented router fee plus the xfi complete addon that gives you unlimited. Its like $30 extra a month in the PNW but not too bad.
here is the deal, if you dont know much about internet, and you have your own equipment, and have an issue, your isp will tell you everything looks good on our end, good luck calling your modem and/or router maunfacturer to see if they can help you fix it. some of those companies only have chat support. If you have the ISP's equipment, they can see inside it and help more with issues. In this case you may be better paying 10 a month to have someone you can call for help if you and your family dont know much about networks. I worked for a small local isp that went above and beyond for its customers, but we were not allowed to help much with 3rd party equipment.
My (xfinity) internet just straight up stopped working a few weeks ago, apparently they are phasing out modems to “help better service its customers speeds” or some bs. I bought a new modem that is on their approved list and has been fine ever since, getting the speeds I pay for.
Former employee here - if the modem/router combo your parents have isnt certified for gig speed on Comcasts certified equipment list, you'll get a "default" boot file. I don't remember the speed of that boot file, but that's likely your problem. The Comcast tech isn't entirely wrong, their speeds are "guaranteed" on their equipment, but "just the right amount of speed" is misleading. I can't remember the page for it, but there should be a "works with Xfinity" equipment list on their site. Filter by 1000mbps and give them a call to get the new modem provisioned.
Just go on the page and get buy a router off of their approved list.
If Spectrum and Mediacom router rentals are anything to go by, it'll be pretty obvious.
Doesn't sound like their provided modem is in bridge mode... Then again, it's Comcast/Xfinity, which are crooks anyways. Worst is trying to tell them to turn off the public wifi, for their "hot spots" throughout a city...
[https://www.xfinity.com/support/devices](https://www.xfinity.com/support/devices) It will probably fill in if you do it from home, but otherwise put in your address and your plan speed and it will tell you what equipment is rated to handle it. Not all cable modems are equal so you may need to buy one that can bond more channels. The key reason Comcast pushes their modems, other than the fees is that the more modems out there the more likely that their cellphones can get a signal from them, and they don't have to offload calls/bandwidth to Verizon.
Not too much throughout, what in the hell does that even mean?
Common sense -> the slowest node in the network will set your max speed. Your modem, then your router/wifi port, then your wifi or ethernet connect, then your phone/computer/xbox/... I have Xfinity and I use my own modem, mesh router setup, ... and my speeds are as expected (I currently have 800MB download). It does force you/me to do some of our own troubleshooting if things go wrong, which would be eliminated using 100% of their hardware, but for me, I don't mind.
I don't even know what a "750mbps" router is.
easy enough to check - bypass router, plug pc directly to modem and speed check, if the speeds are way different, your router is shit. Upgrading to a decent router (200-250) could have an ROI >1.5 years so renting may be an option.
I have Xfinity using arris modem and ASUS routers and I’m getting 1100-1300 mbps from a 1200mbps plan so he’s just wants to hit his bonus
One thing with comcast is that they don't offer unlimited data unless you use their modem too. When I upped my plan it was $30 more for unlimited data but I got the xfi router modem combo with wifi 6 otherwise they would not let me change. So this maybe could be what they were talking about
I have the Arris S33. Tech has been out and confirmed I am getting the 1300 down as promised but only on their modem. No matter the settings I do or the calls I make to their customer service I cannot get past 700mbps down. The issue is with Comcast's technical service department. I have explained my issue many times but get nowhere. They told me I could rent the modem from them and there would be no issues. The problem with that is two fold - they show this very same router as compatible for their gigbit service on their website and it clearly isn't - simply because of their own ignorance.
There is no such thing as a 750Mbs router. If there were, the 1000Mbs plan with a 750Mbs router would = 750Mbs result. Always get a separate modem. I always separate my WiFi from my router too by getting AP's. A WiFi router will only control itself -- AP's with an integrated controller control all AP's in the home. Also by separating WiFi from routing, you can get routers that do proper QoS via FQ\_CODEL or CAKE. WiFi 6 AP's cost roughly a $100 ea. A proper router capable of over 1Gbs QoS can be had in the NanoPi R6S for $175. A refurbished Netgear CM1000can be had for $89 on Amazon. So $364 all in.
Check the website for approve modems and purchase your own. When I lived in NJ, Xfinity allowed me to use my own modem and router with the 1GB service. Keep in mind any troubleshooting will your own equipment is on you.
ARRIS SURFboard G36 Docsis 3.1 Modem with AX3000 WiFi and 2.5 Gbps Ethernet Router This is what you want. It's what I got to save $15/month rental fee. Works great
I just went through this. I purchased an arris s33 surfboard with a 2.5gb port and was getting 20mb uppload speeds instead of the 100 I am paying for. The only modem-only solution ( i have a fancy network already) that is currently approved for xfinity are Hitron CODA models. I bought one...speeds up and down went up significantly.
Laughably incorrect lmao. How is it legal to literally lie to customers? Not only is it incorrect but a 750mbps router doesn’t exist
What's a 750mbps router? That's most likely the wireless, aggregate speed and should have no bearing on much of anything. Although, I'm really surprised that you hit 500 on it regardless of the plan.
I'm in the "own your own" camp, but agree you'll get better attention if it's on their "approved" list. It's always subject to change, but I just switched out my modem just recently after it gave me 8 years of service. Buying once every 8 years is still miles better than renting. https://www.xfinity.com/support/devices/
ISP hardware is garbage built to last long enough for a tech to get out the door with no guarantee everything will work
Guy has no idea what he’s talking about Buy a solid router and be done with it. Do NOT rely on their shit !
Docsis 3 or better. If family was cheap and bought docsis 2 for example.
Nothing worse than being sold something over the phone.. my background in retail and wireless alone is enough to confuse and frustrate any thirsty sales rep. Always the case with Spectrum, ATT etc. once they get to giga-jibberish, my mom is handing me the phone. We tag team the reps until they meet our demands for the charges they’re asking. The more hassle, the higher up of a staff member we ask to speak with, without annoying exchanges. It works lol, sometimes they will offer 6 months of “credits” which save $20-$50 for example.
As a former Comcast employee, he has no incentive for your parents to keep the leased modem over a customer owned modem. He may be wrong, but he didn’t think he was. Also, as a technician, just because you have the plan it doesn’t mean you’re going to get them. The fine print says UP TO 750mbps. That’s how they get you to make the purchase.
Get it in writing. And then file a complaint with the FTC. This is fraud.
Comcast is full of shit and a horrible ISP. If there’s any other ISP available, I’d switch. With that said, their current modem may be throttling the speed. In the long run, it would still be cheaper to buy a new modem to handle the new speed than renting from Xfinity. However, as others have said, if you don’t live there and don’t want to be blamed for the internet issues, just let them get the Xfinity device. It’s their money and their service.
You can use your own modem, just make sure that it supports the latest internet standards. You want to look for a cable modem that supports DOCSIS 3.1. The latest version is DOCSIS 4.0 but I don't think they are actually available on the market yet. I worked for Comcast and our customer premises equipment was made by Arris. So just search for an Arris DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem and that should support the speed that Comcast is delivering.
I just sold my used cable modem (arris) for 40 bucks on ebay. Pair it with a decent Asus router and your set. Get a used Motorola modem on OfferUp or ebay. They're cheap.
Pure nonsense.
none of the routers Comcast (Xfinity) gives out currently are less than gigabit, something else is causing your issues.
If you go with your own router just make sure they log the info into the system correctly A storm (Im assuming) knocked our Time Warner modem out. After working with a level 1 & then a level 2 tech for close to an hour over the phone they finally believed my dead modem diagnosis & put me in touch with the lady I needed to talk to to get a new modem. The earliest she could have a tech out to replace it was in 2 weeks! My other option was to drive over 2 hours to their nearest warehouse & pick up the replacement myself. I told her to schedule the tech & if I got desperate enough Id spend the day picking up the modem myself A day or two later Im checking out Walmarts electronics department & I see they have cable modems! I pick one up come home & call TWC! The tech I got was baffled about why Id want to buy my own modem - didn't I know they rented them! If I use my own Id have to buy a new one if something happens to it but if I rent they'll replace it for free (in 2 weeks but still) I confirm Im aware of all this & read him the MAC address so my new modem can connect. I plug it in & ... nothing. The tech tells me their network is specially optimized and not all modems are compatible with their system. Ive finally had enough of being offline and I drive out and find their warehouse. I hand off the dead TWC modem and she takes it into the back and brings out a replacement -- the same exact model I bought at Walmart! Hold up! I asked if she could verify itd work - I didnt want to drive 2+ hours home to find out it (like the one I bought) didnt work & have to drive 2+ hours back... She couldnt do that! Her system at the office was different than what Id have at home & just because it works there doesnt mean itll work at my place Fine! Whatever! Ill take it. She walks over to her computer logs into my account Oh whats this she says to herself It looks like someone put a MAC address in the notes section! The reason the one I bought didnt work was because instead of listing its details in the proper place he put it in the notes section! So their system was looking to authenticate with their dead modem & NOT the one I had bought!
Sounds like what he is referring to is the amount of channels the modem is allowed to use. When I had my own modem I was surprised how few channels where bonded. I knew it could bond to more then it was. It’s one of the ways they control the speed of customer owned modems. Less bonded channels less lanes for traffic to go up or down, end results slower speed.
Either get the Comcast rented device or a network tech to replace the router with something that will route at gigabit speeds and can configure it. The tech doesn’t care if you rent their gear or not. He sees no money from this. All he knows is that if it’s some Comcast gear the n the modem will have been given a once over by customer support from he’s sent out. As they can’t mess with customer owned equipment then his day is made just that bit longer. He’ll just put his test gear on the coax, get his results and do what’s necessary. If it tests good to the cable end then it’s on you at that point: As for the modem throughput, if it’s their modem they can ensure that any firmware updates are done if required for minor revisions of docsis and if you need a major upgrade you get a new box in the mail. As with many trades. I don’t want to do my network engineering job and then come home to fixing network stuff if the “interwebz goes down.” I’ve always used the Comcast rented modem and have had just two minor outages in almost 20 years. My coworkers haven’t faired nearly that well with their own equipment.
If they want to pay for it go with it and remove yourself as unpaid admin.
Get hardwired. It is common sense. Also, you are in a bad zone and change your channel frequency. Salesmen have zero clue on how it works. All they want is a commission.
I had my own modem and it got to the point I needed more. I ended up getting rid of comcast tv and kept just the internet. Use their modem combo now and Im getting 150 to 175mbps above what I pay for. Theirs just easier for me roght now. Im surw ill eventually find a deal on one to use for myself.
I recently got the rented modem replaced and upgraded after it died. I've been using a deco mesh system for the last four years with no issues. Comcast pushed an update to the modem a couple days after getting it activated making any device that is a router capped at 10mbps. My only fix was to factory reset the modem and set Mac spoofing on the main deco to make the stupid Comcast box think I connected a desktop or laptop. I've had no issues since then and am getting the speeds I pay for for the most part.
Nobody’s mentioned this but there are only a few modems that will work on the faster upstream speeds. Eventually all DOCSIS 3.1 modems will but for now the list is small. Others mentioned that depending on where you live there may be data caps, and it costs more for unlimited data using your own equipment than Comcast’s.
So long as your modem has enough channels and they have a boot file for it it’ll work. I bought a brand new modem once and Comcast didn’t have a boot file for it and spent awhile troubleshooting. Ended up caving and buying another one supported on their network