C6300 firmware update

So let me get this straight, after well over a month of going back and forth between you, my cable company and their internet supplier this is what I got... You won't or can't update your own equipment. My ISP is supposed to send it through for you even though it's not their equipment. But apparently, because they are not one of the major cable corporations in the country, they can't or won't do it. And in fact claim they have never even heard of such a thing. And now your best recommendation is take it somewhere that subscribes to Comcast, which is 60 miles away, and hook in to somebody elses internet. I don't even know anybody there. Should I put a post on Craigslist asking to rent somebody's internet connection for an hour?

Perhaps you should put a warning on your equipment boxes that says...

"This Modem/Router may only work properly for 9 months to a year until the firmware runs out. People who live in small towns or rural areas that do not subscribe to Major Corporation Cable internet will be most likely to experience these problems."

So now I am sitting on an expensive piece of equipment that is probably less than 18 months old and it is not functioning properly and there is absolutely no recourse other than go buy a new one which will again last me a limited time. What a good way to ensure people keep buying your wares. 

Well I can assure you if I am forced to buy another piece of equipment because I can't get a simple firmware update it won't be Netgear. Perhaps in the future you should find a better way to service your equipment. If you can't promise upgrades to 100% of your customers then it's time to rethink your business model.

I've been following this thread with much interest. The latest firmware update pushed by comcast has hardcoded their dns servers and removed the ability to change them. If you enter your own choice of a dns, you get a message that says invalid ip and returns you to the page with Comcast's dns servers loaded. Btw, this is not a leased modem, it is mine. Yesterday I was able to reach the third level of tech support and he tried but had no way to push any firmware, let alone an earlier version. I asked to speak to his supervisor who did'nt speak english well and somehow got the idea I was complaining about spyware in my modem and I got referred to a person who deals with that sort of thing. Of course no help there. He referred me to a customer relations retention person who then swore to me that I needed to contact Netgear, which we know is not true. Now I'm on a call-back list and am supposed to hear from someone by 2pm Pacific Time tomorrow. Somewhere somehow someone at comcast is reponsible for acquiring the update from Netgear, certifying it for their own system, and pushing it to the customer. I'm not too unhappy at the hardcoding the dns but am furious that it can't be changed. I could change each device but it is the principle of the thing. I will keep this thread posted as to the results of my efforts. I'm retired and have the time to be a huge thorn in their sides. If it can't be fixed, I'm considering a small claims suit to recover the cost of the modem they ruined. I think also this makes for a possible class action suit as I've seen refernces to this exact problem going back at least five years.

Thank you for the info. I finally threw my hands in the air and purchased a modem/router from my cable company so I know that my equipment will stay updated. Even though my expensive Netgear one was less than 18 months old. I used to purchase the products any time I needed that type of equipment but never again. And I am spreading the word. And I see by your post that it is not just small cable companies that people are having issues with. If Comcast can't supply an update why would I ever buy a Netgear product. Thanks for your post and keep us updated on your issue.

Looking around the cable forums there seems to be lot of questions complaints about firmware updates. Please note that the firmware update process for cable products is determined by the DOCSIS specification and in that specification regardless of what brand of cable modem you have the firmware update process is always the same the firmware has to be pushed out by the ISP. When it comes to ISP some ISPs are better than others some are not.

For Netgear when Netgear has new firmware for a cable product they provide it to ISPs some ISP like Comcast, Spectrum, Cox requires certification so Netgear will provide those ISP with firmware which they then test and certify. Once the firmware has been certified by ISP, the ISP will determine when and how they will push that firmware out to their customers.

Some ISPs will push the FW right away to all their users some will not, some ISPs will not. Some will push firmware to devices by region and etc. The point here is that once the firmware has been given to ISP and they certify it Netgear has no control of ISPs willingness to push that firmware to users or not. 

Now let’s put ourselves in ISPs shoes hypothetically speaking let’s say I am an ISP who supports Netgear, Arris, Cisco and Motorola Cable Modems that users can buy in the retail space at the same time I have couple of modems I provide to customers at a monthly rental fee of $5 to $10 dollars a month and I have a batch of 100, 000 customers. If I rent the modems to all 100,000 users I am making re-occurring revenue of 500,000 to 1,000,000 dollars a month. If I let 50,000 of those users by their own modem and I fully support them no questions asked that’s a revenue loss of 250,000 a month.  

Based on the hypothetical example above you can see why some ISPs are hesitant about pushing the firmware updates to your devices if they can convince you to rent a modem from them.

So let’s stop blaming Netgear, Cisco, Arris and other modem makers for lack of firmware updates from ISPs.  Furthermore, if you are with a smaller ISP that does not have the latest fw for your product you can have their system engineer fill out the firmware request form found here http://www.netgear.com/service-providers/contact-us/CableMSO.aspx

Sorry for the long post for those of you that have issues with DNS on C6300 I would recommend to DM one of the moderators with your issue description and contact details so you can work with support to resolve the issue(s)

So I guess what you are saying is there is no way you can guarantee your equipment will be updated when needed and if I buy a cable modem/router through a retailer it could potentially be working on a subpar level within months because you can't guarantee firmware updates. So I gather I should then buy all my cable internet equipment from my ISP so I know it will be working and not have to be replaced every 12 - 18 months. That is good to know. Would have been better to have the information before I went to a retailer and dropped around $150 on your product. Perhaps Netgear should post that warning prominently on their box so consumers are aware. But then that might hurt sales. Or better yet, work on a way to distribute updates on 100% of their equipment. 

You won't ever have to worry about me buying a piece of your equipment again. I know now to always get my cable internet equipment through my local ISP.

@fearandloath The point here is that if a modem router manufacturer like Arris, Netgear, Motorola, Cisco and etc. fixes issues and provides new FW to ISP you can pretty much guarantee the big 3 ISPs Comcast, Spectrum and Cox will push that firmware to customers. Comcast is usually the fastest to roll out the updates. For smaller ISPs there is no way for manufacturers to have control of what those ISPs do and if they choose to push updates or not that’s just the nature of it. You got to be naive to think that ISPs have to do what other companies tell them they need to do.

If there is anything to take away from this thread other than the work around provided is that the firmware updates on Cable products are different as customers cannot update their own firmware ISPs have push it to their devices (i.e. load it to the TFTP Server) as this is what is mandated by Cable Labs and DOCSIS standard.

As far as buying a retail modem or renting one goes each has its advantages and disadvantages. We have ability to choose what works best for us as a consumer.  Advantage of having your own cable modem or gateway is that you don’t have to continue to pay the ISP on monthly basis and overall you get better performing hardware than the cheap low end devices the ISPs give.

I have Cox cable and was trying to troubleshoot an issue and noticed my firmware was v2.01.14 so called to have then push an update and they responded that since its a consumer modem they do not push firmware updates. So stuck between Netgear saying the ISP and the ISP saying they don't do that.... awesome....

I feel your pain Jake. I was back and forth with my cable company and Netgear for three weeks and as I'm sure you've read i got absolutely nowhere. I had to break down and buy a modem/router from my cable company. I figured at least I kew it would stay updated unlike my rather expensive store bought Netgear. Most small cable companies have this same policy. So unless you live in an area with service provided by a major cable company you will not have updated equipment. And until Netgear can provide 100% guaranteed update service they should put a notice on their boxes. But of course that will cost them sales so they won't. Good luck with your issue Jake!

I am in the same boat as you. Also with all the same players. Guess Service Electric will be selling me a new modem too. I bought my C6300 from Best Buy on the strip and have trouble with it. From what I've been reading a simple FW upgrade will do the fix. I have a relative that works at Best Buy. I'll be sure they warn customers about this when they are considering purchasing a modem/router for their homes. Infact all retailers should give a disclaimer. What a load of crap!

Trey,

Sorry you are having this problem also. I am sure there are a lot of us out there. It's a shame we have to spend our hard earned money to replace a fairly new product just because the company can't guarantee a simple update. Now I will always be buying my modem/router through the cable company and never a retail store. Expensive lesson learned.

Xfinity has stated as of TODAY 5/23/2018 that there is a BUG in the firmware for the C6300 and they cant help us with our connectivity until Netgear fixes the BUG. There seems to be anough people having the same issue and Netgear is taking no responsibility.

Same here... Comcast could not help me after 2 hours talking to them. Calling Netgear next. It is utterly ridicilous that Comcast along with Netgear are governing pice of hardware that I own.

Good luck with Netgear. The only support contact I could get from them was this community board. And after a while the basic response was "Oh well, you're just out of luck. Thanks for your purchase." No alternate fix, no small compensation, no real apology. Heck I couldn't even get the courtesy of a conversation with a rep. Just this community board. 

 It is certainly beginning to sound that way. I am not a sue happy person. But I certainly will never again buy a Netgear product even though I used to be a loyal customer. And I certainly let everybody I know be aware of there business practice. 

I also have a very nice Arris Cable Modem / WiFi combo router and when I checked the GUI interface I wasn't able to update that device's firmware either. Are there any devices out there that can be udpated by the user? We shouldn't be forced to lease a router from our ISP.

Netgear claims this is across the board with all cable modems. However several reps from my cable company claim they have never heard of such a thing. So who even knows what to believe. And I believe Netgear is having it's own special problems with their updates. I understand the point of the cable company not updating equipment that is not theirs. But if I buy a modem over the counter I believe it should then have a disclaimer about updates. Of course sales would go horribly down so it's easier to keep the customer in the dark and keep profits rolling in.

I finally broke down and purchased, rather than leased, a modem/router from my cable company. It pained me to give more money to them but it was good, fairly priced Arris equipment. And at least it gets the updates it needs.