New modem

[Spork829]

Around a month ago my internet started randomly dropping out. I figured out that my Comcast-provided modem was randomly kicking itself in and out of "bridge mode" in which it acts as just a modem and doesn't use its built in router. I called in, they said this is a common issue that lots of units have (wtf?) and replaced it. Unsurprisingly the new one only took a couple weeks to start doing the same thing as of yesterday. It's completely random when it goes down and for how long. 

 

So I've decided I'm done with Comcast's shitty hardware and I'm just going to get my own modem. However I'm really not good at networking stuff in general and I've never set up a modem, so it scares me a little.

 

So:

 

• What should I be looking for in a modem, and how much should I spend?
• Is there anything special I'll have to do on the ISP side to get it running, or do I just screw in the connection from outside and expect it to work?
• Anything else I should know setting up a modem, and good proper guides for doing so?

 

[GDRRiley]

this would be the best for Comcast https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16825387002

[Spork829]

1 minute ago, GDRRiley said:

this would be the best for Comcast https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16825387002

Thanks. Cheap and simple, looks good. Do you know anything about the web UI/setup process?

[GDRRiley]

2 minutes ago, Spork829 said:

Thanks. Cheap and simple, looks good. Do you know anything about the web UI/setup process?

no Idea, never used it. 

[Spork829]

1 minute ago, GDRRiley said:

no Idea, never used it. 

No prob. Also my parents have a landline phone running through the modem right now and I'm not seeing anything with phone line ports. That might be a problem...

[Donut417]

8 hours ago, Spork829 said:

No prob. Also my parents have a landline phone running through the modem right now and I'm not seeing anything with phone line ports. That might be a problem...

You need a Digital Voice modem. Its really hard to find one that Comcast will provision for voice. One of the reasons we dropped voice service. You can continue to use theirs for voice and use your own modem, BUT that only works if your signal coming in from Comcast is excellent. As you will need to split the modems connection to have both connected to their network. 

 

Also I would through the CM600 from Netgear in the mix, I heard its good. Stay away from anything using the Intel Puma 6 chip in it, as they are defective, for example do not buy the SB6190, its going to have issues in most cases. I would say try to get a modem with at least 16 down stream channel support. Generally the more channels the faster the speeds the modem will support. 

[Spork829]

7 hours ago, Donut417 said:

You need a Digital Voice modem. Its really hard to find one that Comcast will provision for voice. One of the reasons we dropped voice service. You can continue to use theirs for voice and use your own modem, BUT that only works if your signal coming in from Comcast is excellent. As you will need to split the modems connection to have both connected to their network. 

 

Also I would through the CM600 from Netgear in the mix, I heard its good. Stay away from anything using the Intel Puma 6 chip in it, as they are defective, for example do not buy the SB6190, its going to have issues in most cases. I would say try to get a modem with at least 16 down stream channel support. Generally the more channels the faster the speeds the modem will support. 

I mean my speeds aren't that good anyways...

 

Also could you be more specific about how excellent my signal would have to be to run the phone and internet on separate modems, because that's looking like the only solution here. Wish my parents would just give up having a landline...

[scottyseng]

1 hour ago, Spork829 said:

I mean my speeds aren't that good anyways...

 

Also could you be more specific about how excellent my signal would have to be to run the phone and internet on separate modems, because that's looking like the only solution here. Wish my parents would just give up having a landline...

You could try using VOIP. I have a Ooma Telo and it works great. I just plugged the home phone into the Ooma and it works fine. If you want to keep your current home phone number, it's a one time fee of $40 (Otherwise, you can pick a new number for free from a list they give you). You just pay $3 a month for 911 tax.

 

My parents wouldn't give up the home phone either, so I moved it over to Ooma because I got tired of Verizon (now Frontier for us in TX) taking $15-20 for a service we hardly ever use.

 

Yeah, for the Comcast modem though, the setup is pretty painless, you just call them and they'll ask for some info on the modem. I activated a self bought modem for a friend a year ago. Still works great today.

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, Spork829 said:

I mean my speeds aren't that good anyways...

 

Also could you be more specific about how excellent my signal would have to be to run the phone and internet on separate modems, because that's looking like the only solution here. Wish my parents would just give up having a landline...

The way Comcast installs service: Main line to two way splitter. Basically splits signal 50/50. One side of the spliter does the modem the other will do TV. You can split the TV side more as TV boxes dont need nearly as good signal. If your modems signal falls out of spec then you can have slow speeds and disconnects. Generally you can check the modems signal levels by going to 192.168.100.1. But Im not sure how that works on a gateway device, which is what you have. Im guessing its the same as any other modem. 

 

This is why its hard to run two modems, because you need to make sure the signal is good coming in and can support two. 

[Spork829]

5 hours ago, scottyseng said:

You could try using VOIP. I have a Ooma Telo and it works great. I just plugged the home phone into the Ooma and it works fine. If you want to keep your current home phone number, it's a one time fee of $40 (Otherwise, you can pick a new number for free from a list they give you). You just pay $3 a month for 911 tax.

 

My parents wouldn't give up the home phone either, so I moved it over to Ooma because I got tired of Verizon (now Frontier for us in TX) taking $15-20 for a service we hardly ever use.

 

Yeah, for the Comcast modem though, the setup is pretty painless, you just call them and they'll ask for some info on the modem. I activated a self bought modem for a friend a year ago. Still works great today.

Ooma Telo, never heard of that but it looks really good actually. Do you just plug it into ethernet and go? And who are you paying the initial $40 and $3 a month? 

 

Edit: My parents are also running an alarm system through the phone line, will it cause any issues with that?

 

Not having to deal with running the phone through Comcast would solve a lot of problems.

[scottyseng]

1 hour ago, Spork829 said:

Ooma Telo, never heard of that but it looks really good actually. Do you just plug it into ethernet and go? And who are you paying the initial $40 and $3 a month? 

 

Edit: My parents are also running an alarm system through the phone line, will it cause any issues with that?

 

Not having to deal with running the phone through Comcast would solve a lot of problems.

It's pretty much Ethernet and go. However, you have to make an Ooma account to register the device / set up your phone number.

 

The money goes to Ooma (they have to pay tax so they charge you for it). The phone service itself is free. They do offer Ooma premier if you want more features (like calling via home phone using a smartphone app)

 

You have two routes you can go depending on how many phone outlets you have. If you have a lot of phones, I would plug the phone part of the Ooma into a working phone jack, and unplug the Comcast service wired to the phone wires (Don't forget this, if you have both the ooma and the Comcast service on the phone lines, you may short both devices).

 

The other option is to have the home phone on the ooma port and get their option wireless phone jack (I have it, it's pretty neat) and plug it near the alarm and have the alarm plugged into it.

 

The only thing you will have to be worried about is if the power goes. Obviously if the ooma has no power, you don't have home phone service. If you have a UPS unit in your networking closet, that's no worry (Also, this is a mute point if your home alarm has a cellular service backup)

[Spork829]

5 hours ago, scottyseng said:

It's pretty much Ethernet and go. However, you have to make an Ooma account to register the device / set up your phone number.

 

The money goes to Ooma (they have to pay tax so they charge you for it). The phone service itself is free. They do offer Ooma premier if you want more features (like calling via home phone using a smartphone app)

 

You have two routes you can go depending on how many phone outlets you have. If you have a lot of phones, I would plug the phone part of the Ooma into a working phone jack, and unplug the Comcast service wired to the phone wires (Don't forget this, if you have both the ooma and the Comcast service on the phone lines, you may short both devices).

 

The other option is to have the home phone on the ooma port and get their option wireless phone jack (I have it, it's pretty neat) and plug it near the alarm and have the alarm plugged into it.

 

The only thing you will have to be worried about is if the power goes. Obviously if the ooma has no power, you don't have home phone service. If you have a UPS unit in your networking closet, that's no worry (Also, this is a mute point if your home alarm has a cellular service backup)

I think the alarm does have a battery/cell backup. My main source of confusion right now is how everything is wired up in terms of the phones/alarm. There's a phone cable plugged into the phone port on the Comcast modem currently that seems to run the phones and alarm, because both go down when I unplug/restart the modem. But the house has several different home phones with their own charging station things. Should I assume that they're all wired together, and that it's as simple as unplugging that wire from the Comcast box and into the Ooma?

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, Spork829 said:

I think the alarm does have a battery/cell backup. My main source of confusion right now is how everything is wired up in terms of the phones/alarm. There's a phone cable plugged into the phone port on the Comcast modem currently that seems to run the phones and alarm, because both go down when I unplug/restart the modem. But the house has several different home phones with their own charging station things. Should I assume that they're all wired together, and that it's as simple as unplugging that wire from the Comcast box and into the Ooma?

The way Comcast installed my phone service is they hooked the main line that feeds all the phone jacks in the house to the modem. I think they took the customer line out of the AT&T NID on the side of our house and just put a phone jack on the end and plugged the modem in to it. Also a lot of cordless phone systems, have a central base that is wired and all the phones communicate to that base, while the others are just for charging. 

[Spork829]

1 minute ago, Donut417 said:

The way Comcast installed my phone service is they hooked the main line that feeds all the phone jacks in the house to the modem. I think they took the customer line out of the AT&T NID on the side of our house and just put a phone jack on the end and plugged the modem in to it. Also a lot of cordless phone systems, have a central base that is wired and all the phones communicate to that base, while the others are just for charging. 

Yeah the base on the one plugged into the modem is bigger than the others so that's probably the case. Will I have to worry about a customer line? Not sure what you mean there

[Donut417]

Just now, Spork829 said:

Yeah the base on the one plugged into the modem is bigger than the others so that's probably the case. Will I have to worry about a customer line? Not sure what you mean there

Most telecoms have a demark point on your house. Where there wiring hooks in. Normally it outside. After that point, the wiring its YOUR responsibility. Meaning you have to keep it up an stuff. Im not sure how Comcast hooked your stuff up. Im just telling you my personal experience. On my side of the demark is the line Comcast used. Technically speaking its your line, you dont have to worry about anything. But Ive also seen in some installs Comcast sends a lazy bastard out to install and you send up with just a phone connected directly to the modem. 

[Spork829]

1 minute ago, Donut417 said:

Most telecoms have a demark point on your house. Where there wiring hooks in. Normally it outside. After that point, the wiring its YOUR responsibility. Meaning you have to keep it up an stuff. Im not sure how Comcast hooked your stuff up. Im just telling you my personal experience. On my side of the demark is the line Comcast used. Technically speaking its your line, you dont have to worry about anything. But Ive also seen in some installs Comcast sends a lazy bastard out to install and you send up with just a phone connected directly to the modem. 

My phone is directly connected to the modem. Should I be looking for another connection somewhere else as well?

[Donut417]

2 minutes ago, Spork829 said:

My phone is directly connected to the modem. Should I be looking for another connection somewhere else as well?

Not sure. Like I said, every install is different. Depends how lazy the contractor was when they installed it. Sounds like they choose the lazy method. Meaning you only have One RJ11 jack active, which is the one in the modem. Meaning that anything phone related has to be plugged in to the modem. VS the way they installed it at my house, where the 3 RJ11 ports we have through out our home is all active, meaning I can have phones in 3 locations. 

 

So you should be fine I would think. Though I have never used a VoIP service myself so I really cant comment on that. As we went cellular only when we dropped Comcast digital voice. 

[Spork829]

Just now, Donut417 said:

Not sure. Like I said, every install is different. Depends how lazy the contractor was when they installed it. Sounds like they choose the lazy method. Meaning you only have One RJ11 jack active, which is the one in the modem. Meaning that anything phone related has to be plugged in to the modem. VS the way they installed it at my house, where the 3 RJ11 ports we have through out our home is all active, meaning I can have phones in 3 locations. 

 

So you should be fine I would think. Though I have never used a VoIP service myself so I really cant comment on that. As we went cellular only when we dropped Comcast digital voice. 

Yeah I sure wish my parents would ditch their homes phones as well. But yeah I think the contractor probably saw that we have a cordless system and just did the lazy method. 

[scottyseng]

28 minutes ago, Spork829 said:

Yeah I sure wish my parents would ditch their homes phones as well. But yeah I think the contractor probably saw that we have a cordless system and just did the lazy method. 

that makes it easier on you. I think all you have to do is plug the ooma where the phone modem is and you're good.

 

yeah, at my house, Verizon ran new outdoor phone lines (hard wired to the ont) and I couldn't be bothered to run phone lines inside the walls since I know all we have is one cordless home phone base (which now lives on top of my server rack)

 

[Donut417]

28 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Again, just have one spot be a signal to the modem, have another coaxial going to your own DOCSIS 3.0 or 3.1, and have another going to the tv.  You can do this.

As long as the signal coming from Comcast is good. 

[Spork829]

4 hours ago, valdyrgramr said:

Again, just have one spot be a signal to the modem, have another coaxial going to your own DOCSIS 3.0 or 3.1, and have another going to the tv.  You can do this.

 

4 hours ago, Donut417 said:

As long as the signal coming from Comcast is good. 

Yeah, which I worry about. Also we don't have cable TV from Comcast so it would be just the two.

[Donut417]

48 minutes ago, Spork829 said:

 

Yeah, which I worry about. Also we don't have cable TV from Comcast so it would be just the two.

In that case you should be fine just spliting the cable and using their box for phone and your purchased modem for internet.