Cable Modem Help

On Tue, 04 Oct 2016 21:46:51 -0800, Robert Baer
wrote:

John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 3 Oct 2016 09:52:06 -0700, wrote:

Looking at getting Spectrum cable but having spec difficulty.

They will provide a router only, router with wifi or router with wifi
and phone but cannot give me specs.

What's my problem ?
I currently have AT&T WiFi Router that does not have much power out and
seems to drop WiFI or internet or ??? often. My security cams turn off
and the app shuts down. Bad app too !

If I use WiFi Analytics WiFi app on my laptop it shows the AT&T WiFI at
"Max Rate" 150 where another LAN WIFi router at the other end of the
house shows as "Max Rate" 300. I cannot watch movies from the back
room PC where the AT&T WiFi is to the living room PC using their wifi
since it stops and stutters. Using a cable down the hall works perfectly.

Several questions.
What feature should I be looking for in a WiFi router:
Speed 300 vs 150 "Max Rate"
Power output
Dual freq 2.9 vs 5 GHz
AC protocol or whatever it is called

Spectrum says it installs an Arris TG1672G but it does not specify
output power in the specs I found. Anyone have a better spec source ?
I am not even sure that is the WiFi modem router that I will get as it
seems they grab whatever is handy to bring out to install.

So I hate to think I would have to set up my own WiFi Router.

Last question -
If I get internet only and want phone service, what are my choices ?
And would that service be able to take my current land line phone
number and use it ? I would totally drop AT&T if so.
Does that service have caller ID - mandatory feature for me to have.

Also is there a preferred Channel ? 1 or 6 or 11 or ???

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

We had AT&T DSL and phone service. The DSL was terrible and the phone
was expensive. We got Comcast cable and DSL, and phone service is
"free" but we had to rent the cable modem/phone box for something like
$5 a month, a fraction of the cost of AT&T landline service. We use
our own WiFi router. We kept our phone number and it works great.

The Comcast data speed keeps going up. It's about 130 mbits now.


Over a 12+ year period, Comcast slowly raised the modem rental rate
from the $5/mo to $10/mo. Ever hear the story about the frog in the pot
over the fire?
Got my own modem,EXACT same brand and model (heck it even says
Xfinity on it) for about $100.
So i can say i am saving $10/mo now that it has paid for itself.

I had a modem, but it didn't do the telephone thing. The installer did
everything with their modem, including patching into our phone lines,
and setting up all the cable boxes, and I thought that was a good
deal. I have plenty of electronic projects already.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

lunatic fringe electronics

On 10/05/2016 02:55 AM, Andy wrote:
Seeing the problems you have faced i can understand why you get fed up with
the cable company.
Some states have no problems with speeds ect others seem to have no end to
them.


In my neck of the woods Verizon can't find their keisters with two
hands, a map, radar etc., whereas Optimum is right on the ball. We
soldiered on with V. for a long time despite hours spent in call
forwarding purgatory that never resolved anything, billing snafus,
clueless office droids, and an apparent total lack of communication
between their residental and commercial operations. The only reason
that I did that was because I really wanted to keep the copper POTS for
use during blackouts. I finally decided that I didn't trust an
operation that clueless to know how to run a legacy central office
battery system, so that the whole thing was sort of moot.

In 5 years with Optimum I've had exactly one trouble. Within half an
hour, they had somebody on my premises who actually knew what he was
doing, with an apprentice in tow learning the ropes. Fifteen minutes
later they had it patched (reprovisioned somehow so that I had 25/5 Mbps
again) and the trouble outside was fixed the same day. A couple of
times a year, V. sends salesmen to visit, and I try very hard to
restrain my impulse to greet them with howls of derisive laughter, not
totally successfully.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

On 10/05/2016 08:56 AM, FromTheRafters wrote:

After serious thinking Andy wrote :
Exactly why i OWN my own modem.
The day i got the notice in the mail about 2 or 3 years ago in Maine.
I went out and bought my own Motorola modem off the approved list got
the best one that DID NOT have wireless i don't use it .
and love the savings and the speeds as they allow channel bonding in
my area any ways so i get double the normal download speeds most of
the time.
Same here, except I got a WiFi "SurfBoard" model.

While I was at it, I had mentioned that a cable modem wasn't really a
modem after he asked me if I needed a modem. I had already given him
that "approved" list provided by Time Warner Cable for compatibility
with their system. They, of course, call them all cable modems.

He argued with me! Right or wrong, salesmen shouldn't argue with
customers. Cable modems have more in common with TV transceivers than
they do with modems. I asked him if a smartphone was a modem, and he
said no.

You run WiFi right off your cable modem? With no separate firewall? I
expect your other hobbies are bungee jumping, motorcycle racing, and
free-climbing, right?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

Phil Hobbs laid this down on his screen :
On 10/05/2016 08:56 AM, FromTheRafters wrote:

After serious thinking Andy wrote :
Exactly why i OWN my own modem.
The day i got the notice in the mail about 2 or 3 years ago in Maine.
I went out and bought my own Motorola modem off the approved list got
the best one that DID NOT have wireless i don't use it .
and love the savings and the speeds as they allow channel bonding in
my area any ways so i get double the normal download speeds most of
the time.
Same here, except I got a WiFi "SurfBoard" model.

While I was at it, I had mentioned that a cable modem wasn't really a
modem after he asked me if I needed a modem. I had already given him
that "approved" list provided by Time Warner Cable for compatibility
with their system. They, of course, call them all cable modems.

He argued with me! Right or wrong, salesmen shouldn't argue with
customers. Cable modems have more in common with TV transceivers than
they do with modems. I asked him if a smartphone was a modem, and he
said no.

You run WiFi right off your cable modem? With no separate firewall? I
expect your other hobbies are bungee jumping, motorcycle racing, and
free-climbing, right?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

It's okay, I have a fire extinguisher.

On Wed, 5 Oct 2016 11:34:22 -0400, Phil Hobbs
wrote:

On 10/05/2016 02:55 AM, Andy wrote:
Seeing the problems you have faced i can understand why you get fed up with
the cable company.
Some states have no problems with speeds ect others seem to have no end to
them.


In my neck of the woods Verizon can't find their keisters with two
hands, a map, radar etc., whereas Optimum is right on the ball. We
soldiered on with V. for a long time despite hours spent in call
forwarding purgatory that never resolved anything, billing snafus,
clueless office droids, and an apparent total lack of communication
between their residental and commercial operations. The only reason
that I did that was because I really wanted to keep the copper POTS for
use during blackouts. I finally decided that I didn't trust an
operation that clueless to know how to run a legacy central office
battery system, so that the whole thing was sort of moot.

In 5 years with Optimum I've had exactly one trouble. Within half an
hour, they had somebody on my premises who actually knew what he was
doing, with an apprentice in tow learning the ropes. Fifteen minutes
later they had it patched (reprovisioned somehow so that I had 25/5 Mbps
again) and the trouble outside was fixed the same day. A couple of
times a year, V. sends salesmen to visit, and I try very hard to
restrain my impulse to greet them with howls of derisive laughter, not
totally successfully.

About like the Direct TV droids who accost me in stores. I tell them,
loudly, that their service sucks so bad that even as bad as AT&T has
been, it's worlds better than DTV. ...and I get Netflix now.

On 10/5/2016 11:34 AM, Phil Hobbs wrote:
On 10/05/2016 02:55 AM, Andy wrote:
Seeing the problems you have faced i can understand why you get fed up
with
the cable company.
Some states have no problems with speeds ect others seem to have no
end to
them.


In my neck of the woods Verizon can't find their keisters with two
hands, a map, radar etc., whereas Optimum is right on the ball. We
soldiered on with V. for a long time despite hours spent in call
forwarding purgatory that never resolved anything, billing snafus,
clueless office droids, and an apparent total lack of communication
between their residental and commercial operations. The only reason
that I did that was because I really wanted to keep the copper POTS for
use during blackouts. I finally decided that I didn't trust an
operation that clueless to know how to run a legacy central office
battery system, so that the whole thing was sort of moot.

In 5 years with Optimum I've had exactly one trouble. Within half an
hour, they had somebody on my premises who actually knew what he was
doing, with an apprentice in tow learning the ropes. Fifteen minutes
later they had it patched (reprovisioned somehow so that I had 25/5 Mbps
again) and the trouble outside was fixed the same day. A couple of
times a year, V. sends salesmen to visit, and I try very hard to
restrain my impulse to greet them with howls of derisive laughter, not
totally successfully.

I checked out Optimum, but they don't seem to offer service anywhere I
live. Are they just in the greater NY area? Seems they are just New
Jersey, Bronx, Connecticut, Long Island. Their web site is hard to get
info from. No prices for internet service and no mention of limits, etc.

--

Rick C

On Wed, 05 Oct 2016 15:45:10 -0400, krw wrote:


About like the Direct TV droids who accost me in stores. I tell them,
loudly, that their service sucks so bad that even as bad as AT&T has
been, it's worlds better than DTV. ...and I get Netflix now.


What don't you like about Direct TV? I've been using them for the last
few months, and so far they've been fine.

On Wed, 5 Oct 2016 11:34:22 -0400, Phil Hobbs
wrote:

On 10/05/2016 02:55 AM, Andy wrote:
Seeing the problems you have faced i can understand why you get fed up with
the cable company.
Some states have no problems with speeds ect others seem to have no end to
them.


In my neck of the woods Verizon can't find their keisters with two
hands, a map, radar etc., whereas Optimum is right on the ball. We
soldiered on with V. for a long time despite hours spent in call
forwarding purgatory that never resolved anything, billing snafus,
clueless office droids, and an apparent total lack of communication
between their residental and commercial operations. The only reason
that I did that was because I really wanted to keep the copper POTS for
use during blackouts. I finally decided that I didn't trust an
operation that clueless to know how to run a legacy central office
battery system, so that the whole thing was sort of moot.

In 5 years with Optimum I've had exactly one trouble. Within half an
hour, they had somebody on my premises who actually knew what he was
doing, with an apprentice in tow learning the ropes. Fifteen minutes
later they had it patched (reprovisioned somehow so that I had 25/5 Mbps
again) and the trouble outside was fixed the same day. A couple of
times a year, V. sends salesmen to visit, and I try very hard to
restrain my impulse to greet them with howls of derisive laughter, not
totally successfully.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

We have Suddenlink in Truckee, cable TV and internet, but there's an
ongoing problem:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...ble_Chewed.jpg

Squirrels eat the cables. That doesn't sound very appetizing to me.



--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing precision measurement

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

On Wed, 05 Oct 2016 16:29:23 -0700, Ken Blake
wrote:

On Wed, 05 Oct 2016 15:45:10 -0400, krw wrote:


About like the Direct TV droids who accost me in stores. I tell them,
loudly, that their service sucks so bad that even as bad as AT&T has
been, it's worlds better than DTV. ...and I get Netflix now.


What don't you like about Direct TV? I've been using them for the last
few months, and so far they've been fine.

Dropout every time a cloud rolls by (not quite that bad, but...). They
promised that they could fix that but never did. Surly
representatives. Charging for the repair of *their* equipment. Cost.
There wasn't much to recommend them, other than they were the only
game in town (had similar issues with DISH at the previous house).

John Larkin wrote:

We had AT&T DSL and phone service. The DSL was terrible and the phone
was expensive. We got Comcast cable and DSL, and phone service is
"free" but we had to rent the cable modem/phone box for something like
$5 a month, a fraction of the cost of AT&T landline service. We use
our own WiFi router. We kept our phone number and it works great.

The Comcast data speed keeps going up. It's about 130 mbits now.

In the NYC area I can't seem to get any option for data without a phone
line and its taxes.

You are right the sales man should be on youre side after all he or she is
trying to make a sale.
I find the worst sales staff is at best buy in my area any ways and
Wal-Mart.
its funny when you show them a print out off the company's own web site
saying the features ect and they say oh well that must be the online model
now i just go find what i want and buy it.
but to be fair there are a lot of knowledgeable sales staff in both stores
to AT TIMES


--
AL'S COMPUTERS
"FromTheRafters" wrote in message
...
Same here, except I got a WiFi "SurfBoard" model.

While I was at it, I had mentioned that a cable modem wasn't really a
modem after he asked me if I needed a modem. I had already given him that
"apprmodems list so they
cant
refuse to support it


YESMotorola makes almost all of the modems sold to Comcast (and
prolly Spectrum as well).
Model brand names vary,but they is the same beast, so if what you buy
on the net is the same exact brand and model that they use,then they
HAVE TO have it on their approved list; they cannot dis their own stuff.
$100 for your own modem and no $10/mo gives a 10 month ROI; no
brainer.

Verizon is my area is wireless only now for about 10 years.
sold it's land line business to Fair Point Commutations.
I still use a POTS land line as time warner cable aka spectrum's digital
phone service works 90% of the time the rest is system maintenance with no
warnings.
or just goes down when it feels like it.
I told them when digital phone is 100% reliable like fair point's service is
then we can talk.
I am looking at a deal from Verizon wireless for its version of digital
phone for $19.95 a month unlimited use and FREE long distance.
its a phone modem like time warner cables BUT unlike timewarner cables it
has a 5 Day BATTERY BACK UP built in.
twc does not seem to care its losing its subscribers to Verizon big time in
Maine any way
the same day. A couple of times
a year, V. sends salesmen to visit, and I try very hard to restrain my
impulse to greet them with howls of derisive laughter, not totally
successfully.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

I tell them NO THANKS my land lord DOES NOT ALLOW SATELLITE TV in his
buildings
shuts them up fast.
I talked to one i feel bad for them they are paied well but are told to try
to sell sell to every one that walks past them.
I could not do it 8 hours a day 5 days a week not for a service i don't
believe in.


--
AL'S COMPUTERS
"krw" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 5 Oct 2016 11:34:22 -0400, Phil Hobbs
wrote:

On 10/05/2016 02:55 AM, Andy wrote:
Seeing the problems you have faced i can understand why you get fed up
with
the cable company.
Some states have no problems with speeds ect others seem to have no end
to
them.


In my neck of the woods Verizon can't find their keisters with two
hands, a map, radar etc., whereas Optimum is right on the ball. We
soldiered on with V. for a long time despite hours spent in call
forwarding purgatory that never resolved anything, billing snafus,
clueless office droids, and an apparent total lack of communication
between their residental and commercial operations. The only reason
that I did that was because I really wanted to keep the copper POTS for
use during blackouts. I finally decided that I didn't trust an
operation that clueless to know how to run a legacy central office
battery system, so that the whole thing was sort of moot.

In 5 years with Optimum I've had exactly one trouble. Within half an
hour, they had somebody on my premises who actually knew what he was
doing, with an apprentice in tow learning the ropes. Fifteen minutes
later they had it patched (reprovisioned somehow so that I had 25/5 Mbps
again) and the trouble outside was fixed the same day. A couple of
times a year, V. sends salesmen to visit, and I try very hard to
restrain my impulse to greet them with howls of derisive laughter, not
totally successfully.

About like the Direct TV droids who accost me in stores. I tell them,
loudly, that their service sucks so bad that even as bad as AT&T has
been, it's worlds better than DTV. ...and I get Netflix now.

Works fine in some areas ken.
in my area i hear complaints about them all the time.
one of my friends just dumped them for time warner cable and he gets the
same channels and his digital phone and internet with more speed then direct
TV for over 100 bucks less.


--
AL'S COMPUTERS
"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 05 Oct 2016 15:45:10 -0400, krw wrote:


About like the Direct TV droids who accost me in stores. I tell them,
loudly, that their service sucks so bad that even as bad as AT&T has
been, it's worlds better than DTV. ...and I get Netflix now.


What don't you like about Direct TV? I've been using them for the last
few months, and so far they've been fine.

The second part of youre post Phil was not mine i was replying to the
original poster
my post ends after the talk about channel bonding.
when you see the same hear that is the other posters reply to mine
I have a nice netgear wireless router but at present i don't use it.
when i get around to it ill hook it up and use for my lap top


--
AL'S COMPUTERS
"Phil Hobbs" wrote in message
...
On 10/05/2016 08:56 AM, FromTheRafters wrote:

After serious thinking Andy wrote :
Exactly why i OWN my own modem.
The day i got the notice in the mail about 2 or 3 years ago in Maine.
I went out and bought my own Motorola modem off the approved list got
the best one that DID NOT have wireless i don't use it .
and love the savings and the speeds as they allow channel bonding in
my area any ways so i get double the normal download speeds most of
the time.
Same here, except I got a WiFi "SurfBoard" model.

While I was at it, I had mentioned that a cable modem wasn't really a
modem after he asked me if I needed a modem. I had already given him
that "approved" list provided by Time Warner Cable for compatibility
with their system. They, of course, call them all cable modems.

He argued with me! Right or wrong, salesmen shouldn't argue with
customers. Cable modems have more in common with TV transceivers than
they do with modems. I asked him if a smartphone was a modem, and he
said no.

You run WiFi right off your cable modem? With no separate firewall? I
expect your other hobbies are bungee jumping, motorcycle racing, and
free-climbing, right?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net