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This old woman needs help

shar2649
Aspirant

This old woman needs help

I am being told by Comcast that I need to purchase a new model.  I currently have a Surfboard 6121 connected to a Netgear Everywhere router running thru an Ooma phone.  All of  this is connected to 5 Replays thru the XE104's.  My obvious question has to do with which modem will work with this setup.  I'm sure there are more questions and I will do my best to provide answers.  PLEASE HELP.

Message 1 of 13
antinode
Guru

Re: This old woman needs help

> I am being told by Comcast that I need to purchase a new model.

   Did anyone say why?

> I currently have a Surfboard 6121 [...]

   That seems to be a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, not obviously obsolete.

> [...] connected to a Netgear Everywhere router [...]

   An actual model number might be more helpful.

> My obvious question has to do with which modem will work with this
> setup.

   I'd expect any (DOCSIS 3.0 or newer) modem to work, but I don't know
what the problem might be with the old one.  Presumably, Comcast can
tell you what the actual requirements are.

Message 2 of 13
shar2649
Aspirant

Re: This old woman needs help

According to Comcast they are "upgrading" to a higher speed....I agree it makes no sense.  

Message 3 of 13
shar2649
Aspirant

Re: This old woman needs help

BTW the above model is listed

Model: CM600|CM600 High Speed Cable Modem
Message 4 of 13
antinode
Guru

Re: This old woman needs help

> According to Comcast they are "upgrading" to a higher speed....I agree
> it makes no sense.  

   "higher" than what?

> BTW the above model is listed

   Which "the above model" is listed where?

   You need to get a coherent description of what you need to have, and
why what you have is defficient, before you will know what hardware you
(might) need to get.  Not being Comcast, I can't help with that.

Message 5 of 13
vkdelta
NETGEAR Expert

Re: This old woman needs help

Comcast is trying to get their customers off old 4x4 modems. 

they want you to change to newer 16x4, 24x8, 32x8 or D3.1 modems. 

 

 

Message 6 of 13
shar2649
Aspirant

Re: This old woman needs help

Could you please explain that those mean...

16x4, 24x8, 32x8 or D3.1 modems.  And I guess also which of the suggested modems would work?

 

Message 7 of 13
vkdelta
NETGEAR Expert

Re: This old woman needs help

16, 24, 32, etc are number of downstream channels

 

4, 8, etc as number of upstream channels

 

 

Message 8 of 13
vkdelta
NETGEAR Expert

Re: This old woman needs help

If you are short on budget, just get a CM500 from amazon or nearest store. 

Message 9 of 13
shar2649
Aspirant

Re: This old woman needs help

One of the modems suggested is CM600, also CM700, also CM1000....but I am unaware of whether these would be good.

Model: CM600|CM600 High Speed Cable Modem
Message 10 of 13
CharliesTheMan
Aspirant

Re: This old woman needs help

So from what it sounds like is they are upgrading equipment to use more bonded channels. Cable modems have channels that are like lanes on a highway, used to be one lane each way. Then they went to multiple lanes to transmit so much bandwidth.

24x8 for instance is 24 bonded channels (lanes on one side of the highway down) and 8 bonded channels for upload bandwidth.

From posts above, I see that your surfboard is 4x4 and Comcast is probably upgrading to something like 24x8 or 16x4.

The CM600 or CM700 should work fine.

If you can tell us what your internet speed package is, like how fast your download speed and upload speed is, we can tell you better.

It should be a number like 200 mbps download speed, 10 mbps upload speed. Or 1000 mbps download speed (this is gigabit and really fast) or anything in between.

Also, can you ask Comcast what the requirements for the modem is? You can ask this question directly, if they can't answer it ask to speak to someone that can. Maybe try online chat for support if they offer it.
Ask this:
Do you need DOCSIS 3.0 or DOCSIS 3.1? How many channels upstream and downstream?

DOCSIS is just a cable modem standard, and some service providers are going to DOCSIS 3.1 while others are skipping it, Comcast should be able to tell you which standard you need, that will help you avoid wasting money on equipment you don't need.

Don't worry you're more competent than most "help this old woman understand" types of people. The service providers usually don't know what they're telling you to buy, and confusion = dollars to them.
Message 11 of 13
shar2649
Aspirant

Re: This old woman needs help

Please forgive me for not answering sooner but I WILL BE BACK SOON.  Hope you will still talk to me.

Message 12 of 13
shar2649
Aspirant

Re: This old woman needs help

So I purchased Surfboard 6183 from Amazon.  I am desperately seeking help in how to hook it up along with my 5 Replays, all of which are functional using XE104's.  I do not know what other information to list but I DO have an Ooma phone hooked up and it is running thru  a Netgear Everywhere router 0491.

 

I currently have a Surfboard 6121 which, according to Comcast, is no longer good enough.  

 

Any help at all will be appreciated by this old woman.  Thank you.

Message 13 of 13
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