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Forum Discussion
ISP will not update customer owned equipment
My ISP is Mediacom Cable. My cable modem is a Netgear CM600 running on an ancient firmware. My ISP will not update the firmware because I own the equipment. Netgear says they make the updated firm...
Yes. Last week I began experiencing so many drops that I couldn't productively work from home. I called my ISP, they said there wasn't a problem on their end and since I own my own equipment there was nothing else they can/will do. In addition to the drops, now that I know Mediacom isn't updating my modem I'm now aware that there are numerous security vulnerabilities present in my existing firmware.
So it seems purchasing ones own modem is a colossal scam as you're more than likely never going to be able to update it yourself and the ISP won't update equipment they don't own. If you want any chance at receiving an update to your modem apparently the only choice is to be stuck renting equipment from an ISP. And there's still no guarantee that the ISP will maintain current firmware of it's own equipment. But since it'll be their equipment they can at least keep the customer from being able to see how far behind the equipment is, thus giving the customer the "ignorance is bliss", feeling of security.
Usr184 wrote:Yes. Last week I began experiencing so many drops that I couldn't productively work from home. I called my ISP, they said there wasn't a problem on their end and since I own my own equipment there was nothing else they can/will do. In addition to the drops, now that I know Mediacom isn't updating my modem I'm now aware that there are numerous security vulnerabilities present in my existing firmware.
So it seems purchasing ones own modem is a colossal scam as you're more than likely never going to be able to update it yourself and the ISP won't update equipment they don't own. If you want any chance at receiving an update to your modem apparently the only choice is to be stuck renting equipment from an ISP. And there's still no guarantee that the ISP will maintain current firmware of it's own equipment. But since it'll be their equipment they can at least keep the customer from being able to see how far behind the equipment is, thus giving the customer the "ignorance is bliss", feeling of security.
Log into the modem and take a screen snip of your modems connections page and the logs. This helps us determine if it is a line issue or not.
And in regards to you thinking its a scam. That's your opinion. its an industry wide issue. I'm sure netgear/other vendors would love to make isp's update their devices so they're more secure. But they don't. If you want to get upset at someone, blame the large media companies who force you to use their devices and charge you for the privilege.
connections page
What I don't understand is why Netgear does not support their paying customers (those who purchase the equipment) updating their own modem's firmware. I understand that the ISPs like to do so, but they are not a part of the company/customer relationship. This also allow the ISP to introduce modified versions of the software, which could reduce the customer's security.
I would really like to see Netgear directly address this (not "we don't do it", but why they refuse to favor their customers over third party services.
Be cause it's a DOCSIS spec requirement that ISPs update modems. Not NGs requirement.
ISP are apart of the company/customer/ISP relationship.
All modem mfrs develop the modem FW, Then modem mfrs send this to the ISPs. ISPs are responsible to test any new FW versions coming from modem mfrs to ensure it works and works on there ISP network system prior to pushing to user modems.
Been like this for years.
blitz120 wrote:
What I don't understand is why Netgear does not support their paying customers (those who purchase the equipment) updating their own modem's firmware. I understand that the ISPs like to do so, but they are not a part of the company/customer relationship. This also allow the ISP to introduce modified versions of the software, which could reduce the customer's security.
I would really like to see Netgear directly address this (not "we don't do it", but why they refuse to favor their customers over third party services.
If it is part of the DOCSIS 3.1 spec (and that it specifies that firmware MUST NOT be updatable by the end user), then Netgear should explicitly state that on their download page(s), preferably with a reference to the particular DOCSIS document and section number.
I just perused several of the DOCSIS 3.1 documents, centering around CM-SP-CM-OSSIv3.1-I22-220216: Cable Modem Operations Support System Interface Specification, and could find nothing that addressed this.
I would like to get such a reference.
Note that this approach has serious security risks, given that a malware-containing firmware version could be introduced either by the ISP or by a third party getting access to the cable network upstream of the cable modem. Since the end users cannot access the firmware to perform a clean install, they may rely only on the reported firmware version, without even the option of checking and verifying checksums for what is installed. One would think this would introduce a substantial risk for the ISP, since they would be totally liable for any such malware being introduced, without giving the end user any means of checking this themselves.
