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Nighthawk CM2050V Comcast Firmware Killed Speed
I understand Comcast has just updated the firmware in these routers from V2.01.03 to V9.01.01. My download speed went from 934 to 225. Comcast tech came out yesterday and cleared some signal loss b...
I contacted a supervisor who actually responded he could see the modem was not properly provisioned, he opened another ticket and one of their best techs came out. I think they fixed it from inside but he was excellent. Problem solved after a month and about 15 tickets opened. Thanks for the encouragement
db3058 wrote:I installed the NEW Netgear CM2050V that arrived yesterday. The bad news is nothing has changed. The speed is still 600 Mbps slower than it was when the original CM2050V was installed in June. So Comcast has done something to kill the speed. Funny thing is I installed it at the pole because my cell will not work in the house (mountains...middle of nowhere) and although the gigabit data light on the modem was blinking I was still getting the exact same speed back of the modem as the one I replaced. So with Comcast saying I'm getting 1500 Mbps to the modem why is the modem only passing 350-360, and down to 212 hard wired LAN when it was 934. They without a doubt changed something that killed the speed in this particular modem. My buddy down the street is using an Arris T25 because he doesn't mind the horrible static on the VOIP and his speed is close to 900. Something in the new software provisioning as of 2 months ago is not compatible with the Netgear CM2050V. It is only 1 of 2 modems on their website that they indicate is compatible with speed 800 and above with telephony. Evidently that's nonsense. I guess they found a way to only allow their proprietary modems to pass high speeds through....at least that's what I'm thinking.
Information to adjust your thinking.
On paper my Comcast plan is 1000/15 Mbps. With the standard 20% over provisioning, it comes out to 1200/18 Mbps. The firmware on my CM2050V was updated last month.
The output from the modem goes through a 6 ft. Cat 6A patch cord to a RJ45/SPF+ adapter to the SPF+ input on my R9000 router.
Appropriate screen snips in attached PDF file. One from the modem user interface, one from the advanced statistics page on the router, and one history page from the Nighthawk mobile application. The mobile application test measures throughput at the input to the router.
Now that you have tried two different modems with the same results, you should consider looking at the other pieces that make up your LAN or your test methodology.
I measured the speed back of the modem RJ45 outside on the street at the base of the pole before it goes underground via conduit to my garage. None of my wiring or other equipment was connected. The drop from the pole comes to a pole on my land RG11, 50 ft. Then it runs underground conduit RG11 to my garage and RG6 to the modem. I saw the Comcast tech's test equipment measure 1500 Mbps. at every break point. I eliminated the possibility of it being any of my peripheral equipment or wiring early on and stayed consistent measuring the speed at the base of the pole, back of the modem direct with my laptop. Actually that's the only place I can get a shaky cell signal on my property. I'm only measuring what comes through the CM2050V, 50 ft from their output in the street. It's the same speed I get when moving the modem inside and measuring off the RJ45 on the modem direct from the drop before any of my stuff is a factor. I get 345 Mbps at those points so my router is dropping the speed about 120 Mbps. Just to do so I replaced the cords, Comcast wired splitter, router and switch attached to it early on...I have 2 of everything. So installing a new 3.1 router will have some benefit but still won't get me anywhere near what I'm paying for or what I had 5 weeks ago.
What 3.1 wifi router can anyone recommend? Researching stand alone routers and mesh systems I'm seeing so many complaints on Amazon and Best Buy that I'm hesitant to buy anything. My old Asus router has been so reliable.
db3058 wrote:I measured the speed back of the modem RJ45 outside on the street at the base of the pole before it goes underground via conduit to my garage. None of my wiring or other equipment was connected. The drop from the pole comes to a pole on my land RG11, 50 ft. Then it runs underground conduit RG11 to my garage and RG6 to the modem. I saw the Comcast tech's test equipment measure 1500 Mbps. at every break point. I eliminated the possibility of it being any of my peripheral equipment or wiring early on and stayed consistent measuring the speed at the base of the pole, back of the modem direct with my laptop. Actually that's the only place I can get a shaky cell signal on my property. I'm only measuring what comes through the CM2050V, 50 ft from their output in the street. It's the same speed I get when moving the modem inside and measuring off the RJ45 on the modem direct from the drop before any of my stuff is a factor. I get 345 Mbps at those points so my router is dropping the speed about 120 Mbps. Just to do so I replaced the cords, Comcast wired splitter, router and switch attached to it early on...I have 2 of everything. So installing a new 3.1 router will have some benefit but still won't get me anywhere near what I'm paying for or what I had 5 weeks ago.
The common measuring tool in this conversation is a laptop computer. Are you sure it is doing what you think it is? Windows or iOS? How old is this computer?
I do not want to overwhelm you with questions. There is a very real chance the problem here is your measuring tool, the laptop computer. Not necessarily the hardware, but possibly some of the drivers or settings.
Does this computer have an Ethernet port? Are the Ethernet port drivers up to date? Do you have a USB to Ethernet adapter? Hopefully you are not connecting via Wi-Fi. What application are you using to measure throughput? Are you using a web browser and a web site address? Are you using the Ookla standalone test application?
I have 6 laptops, older Windows 7 Pro Latitudes and mostly new Windows 10 Latitudes. I know what I'm doing. They all have ethernet ports or I could not measure the speed at the back of the CM2050V and they are all consistent with each other. It's the same laptops I measured 934 Mbps 5 weeks ago. Comcast changed something in the mountains I'm living in far from any city to get the signal up here. If I've proved anything it's not the CM2050V or any of the hardware on my end or the wiring from Comcast to my home. There is nothing left but whatever hardware Comcast is using to push the signal up here being toxic to this modem. It's similar to the repeaters the phone company uses to push dial tone on copper to rural areas. It's not straight copper anymore like the city. It goes through repeaters. And the tech changes. We used slicks back in the day. Now ATT has little powered substations with a different kind of repeater. Data will not pass through the repeaters on the telephony network but you still get dial tone. I'm sure Comcast is similar...I'm 30 miles from the nearest small city. Comcast has small substations along the way to push the signal a long long way. I'm sure if I took this setup to the city it would work fine. They may have hosed the speed with this particular modem but it's still better than the Starlink alternative. Comcast's proprietary modems may work better but I'm not paying them any more money to find out.
db3058 wrote:I have 6 laptops, older Windows 7 Pro Latitudes and mostly new Windows 10 Latitudes. I know what I'm doing. They all have ethernet ports or I could not measure the speed at the back of the CM2050V and they are all consistent with each other. It's the same laptops I measured 934 Mbps 5 weeks ago. Comcast changed something in the mountains I'm living in far from any city to get the signal up here. If I've proved anything it's not the CM2050V or any of the hardware on my end or the wiring from Comcast to my home. There is nothing left but whatever hardware Comcast is using to push the signal up here being toxic to this modem. It's similar to the repeaters the phone company uses to push dial tone on copper to rural areas. It's not straight copper anymore like the city. It goes through repeaters. And the tech changes. We used slicks back in the day. Now ATT has little powered substations with a different kind of repeater. Data will not pass through the repeaters on the telephony network but you still get dial tone. I'm sure Comcast is similar...I'm 30 miles from the nearest small city. Comcast has small substations along the way to push the signal a long long way. I'm sure if I took this setup to the city it would work fine. They may have hosed the speed with this particular modem but it's still better than the Starlink alternative. Comcast's proprietary modems may work better but I'm not paying them any more money to find out.
There were Microsoft updates on Sept 12 and 26. Are you sure none of them had an impact on your Ethernet ports or the drivers? Lately Windows updates have had a nasty habit of changing the network profile from private to public. Possibly in response to the new firmware on your modem. You might go check. How long has it been since you went to Dell and checked for OEM updates to the Bios or Ethernet ports on your laptops? Maybe run the Dell Command Update application to check. Since your Comcast signal is so poor, after updates have you run a system file check (SFC) to see if the updates created any file corruption?