CM1200 dropped connections after a few months and can't connect to Xfinity anymore

[leretrim]

It dropped connections after a few months and can't connect to Xfinity anymore, the same thing happened to numberous other buyers too. The Netgear company is the worst customer service ever in the world. It won't send me a replacement because it required me to pay additional $90 to troubleshoot by phone service first even though it is still under 1 year hardware warranty. I would never buy Netgear product anymore.

Some one can tell me how to get a refund or replacement ?

[plemans]

1.this is the community forum. Members of the public helping out. 

2. You can go through rma without needing the $90 support. click mynetgear at the top, register an account and then your product, then theres an option for support/rma

3. How do you know the modem is bad? potentially thats why they wanted you to pay the $90, to help fix the issue and not just rma a product when its a line issue?

We are here to help out. Tell us what all symptoms there are in details, not just "it doesn't work". What are the lights doing? Log into the modem and take a screen snip of both your modem logs and your modem connections page. This will tell us signal issues.

also, remove any splitters, attenuators, amplifiers from your line. Prefereablly move the modem to directly where the line comes into your home. If thats not possible, inspect the line for wear, damage, kinks, moisture in the line, poor connections, loose connections, etc. These can cause all types of issues. 

What is all plugged into the modem? The CM1200 has 4x ports but unless you have a business line with xfinity or a router capable of wan aggregation, then only 1 of the ports is usable. make sure you're on port 1 and have nothing plugged into the reset of the ports. If you had other things plugged in, unplug them and reboot the modem and router.

What router are you using?

[leretrim]

the modem is CM1200, I am only using the first port, used to working well, all lights are green, no issues.

after 4 months, stopped to connect to the Xfinity, but still all lights are green. I replaced with my old SB6141, no problem. then I switch back the CM1200, no connection. Xfinity technician came to my house to check, their cables have no issues.

Login to 192.168.100.1 to check modem status, everything seems operational, but still no connection, then replaced with my old SB6141, get connected.

everything you mentioned here, I tried.

I goes to the support/RMA page, it redirect me to phone call support, it still need me to pay $90.  Ridiculous, are they?

I have a defective product which is still under 1 year hardware warranty, but I can not get it either fixed, replaced or returned.

Is there any company's customer service in the world like Netgear, name it please.

[plemans]

SB6141 uses docsis 3.0

cm1200 uses docsis 3.1

they're different require different levels/issues.

It wouldn't be the first tech that didn't know what he's doing.

If you want help, the screen snips help to show the connection.

[leretrim]

the defective CM1200 (docsis 3.1) used to work, right? does it ?

 thanks for your input anyway. It will be great that you can help me if I upload the snips here.

[plemans]

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@leretrim wrote:

the defective CM1200 (docsis 3.1) used to work, right? does it ?

 thanks for your input anyway. It will be great that you can help me if I upload the snips here.

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It might have worked fine before. But weather can change signal leves, other peole on your node getting disconnected/connected can mean techs bum/hit your line and cause issues, getting hot/cold can loosen connections. Many thing can change the signal or cause issues.

And again, I've had to go through 3 technicicans before to get an issue fixed because their only goal is to get in/out as fast as possible as they only get so much time for each job. So they're very good at saying "its your equipment causing the issue". And it sure could be. I'm not saying it isn't your modem. I'm just saying a 2nd set of eye looking at the small parts we can look at helps. 

[leretrim]

Correct, if a product needs 24/7 working status, it should not be so fragile, plus the customer service is the worst ever in the world, the tech in Netgear can not even speak English clearly, how can he troubleshoot over the phone with so many geek terms.

[leretrim]

By the way, it does not cost $90, just by telling customer to connect the computer directly to the modem, and input 192.168.100.1 in the browser, and get some screen shots, so rediculous the Netgear is.

[plemans]

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@leretrim wrote:

By the way, it does not cost $90, just by telling customer to connect the computer directly to the modem, and input 192.168.100.1 in the browser, and get some screen shots, so rediculous the Netgear is.

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This has been debated endlessly on the forums. And not just for netgear. Netgear provided 90 days of free support. This allows people to get devices up and running on their networks. After that, if people want support, its paid.  They aren't your IT department.

They do cover their devices with their warranty. I've never needed to pay after the 90 days on an RMA which is why I'm wonder how you're approaching it on the support site.

Netgear can't afford to offer free support for a lifetime as it eat into the small margin there is on electronics. And if you read through the forums, the vast majority of the cases on here can be solved if people would read the FAQ, do a basic search, or read the manual. If support was free, all they'd do would be spend time on the phones and it costs a significant amount to run a call center.

You can keep complaining on here about the cost but I won't. its advertisted on the box and you're past the 90 days. If you want them to troubleshoot, pay for it. Otherwise, that's what the forum is here for.  Members of the public helping others out. We AREN'T Netgear. All the consumer networking products have forums for this reason.  

[plemans]

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@leretrim wrote:

Correct, if a product needs 24/7 working status, it should not be so fragile, plus the customer service is the worst ever in the world, the tech in Netgear can not even speak English clearly, how can he troubleshoot over the phone with so many geek terms.

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the fragile part is at the node and connections. Where the hot/cold from outdoors wear on it (node) and the lines running into your home. If you have issues with the ISP's keeping them outdoors, contact them to complain about fragile nodes. 

[leretrim]

Thanks a lot for your help. I really appreciate your input and time. I am here to troubleshoot my problems, not just simply complaining.

The ISP would not replace anything anymore after they saw my old SB6141 working flawlessly. That is why they said my Netgear CM1200 is defective after 4 months, no matter it is weather or something else.

The RMA redirct me to phone call page every time. Can you please upload a link for me to follow?

Thank you for everthing you did.

[plemans]

I haven't had to return anything in a while because I can usually get it working anymore.

As well as I can't link because its linked to your specific account and device. maybe you had a bad rep when you called them.

they might as some troubleshooting things if you've tried but just keep pushing for an RMA #. You again might have to say what you did.

right now we don't know if it is a hardware issue. You haven't provided any of the logs or link connections. They aren't going to RMA if your incoming line is junk. 

so try this since you have the sb6141 in line. Pull your connections strengths and logs for it. 

Re-activate the cm1200. Compare the connections and the logs. They probably won't be the same but they should be similar. 

And then post them both here.