US Cable Support > Comcast HSI > Comcast says I don't have DOCSIS 3 - somewhere in the USA

Comcast says I don't have DOCSIS 3 - somewhere in the USA

Just login to 192.168.100.1 and see if there are 4 downstream channels.

reply to yanks
5 mbps up is a sign of being on DOCSIS 3, usually DOCSIS 2 uploads were at 2 mbps. 31 mbps probably also is an indication of being on DOCSIS 3. Theoretically if you had a node to yourself and Comcast had you on the highest tier you might be able to get 31 mbps (usually DOCSIS 2 maxes out at 25 mbps with powerboost). The Arris modem lights would go blue or green if you have channel bonding. You can also go to »192.168.100.1/ in your browser to see what types of channels (DOC 2, DOC 3, or bonded DOC 3). Downstream bonding is officially rolled out by Comcast, while upstream bonding is still experimental so it might not be available in your area yet.

You have Docsis 3. 4 downstream channels.

Hey thanks, strange that Comcast has been telling me all a long that DOCSIS 3 is not in my area...I just called yesterday

If I had channel bonding there would be more than one upstream channel, is that a correct assumption?

reply to JigglyWiggly

reply to yanks

reply to yanks
Most likely Docsis 3 is not available in your area for sale yet. Docsis 3 could be in place and active on the CMTS for testing but just not available to be sold yet.

Here in the western mitten area, Docsis 3 has been active on the CMTS for almost 8 months before customers could sign up. Modems could channel bond without having a 50 or 100 M sped tier. I would see an area have channel bonding one month and not the next. Most of those areas would have 4 d/s channels active, each one would test and work, but bonding was not enabled.

Call centers wont know when they can sell it until its 'on'. They've possibly been given a window on rollout for the area, but thats never accurate. Getting accurate updates on that date would assume that the marketing dept, engineering dept, network dept and the customer service depts all actually communicated together.

reply to yanks
I was at the Genius Bar at the Holyoke Mall Apple Store last night and I was discussing internet connections while they were reloading my iPad. He said he lives in Montague (which is in rural Franklin County) and the most they can get from Comcast is 20 Mbps, which makes me think that Franklin (and possibly Hampshire) Counties are not upgraded to D3 yet. I live in Springfield (Hampden County) and that IS D3 upgraded. Also, the cable company that serves my Grandma's house up in Maine has not upgraded that area to D3 yet either. Maybe the D3 deployments are being targeted in urban areas.

My area was one of the first Comcast areas upgraded to D3, which I think was in January of 2009. I upgraded to the ultra package, which is no longer offered. I currently have the Extreme 50 tier.

As for the rollout, they usually test new services with their employees before releasing them for sale. Sometimes their call centers are not up to speed on new product offerings as I found out with the Xfinity 2Go service. I went to order that and the reps knew nothing about it despite being on the website and the local rate sheet. Fortunately I canceled it within the customer guarentee.
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All of my CPE (including my EMTA) is customer owned. The only Comcast owned equipment in my house is the CableCards in the two TiVO boxes I own.

reply to yanks
You do not have DOCSIS 3.0. Downstream channel bonding has been around since DOCSIS 1.1.

Matter of fact, your upstream is configured for DOCSIS 1.1. Not sure why you are configured this way but you are at 16QAM upstream and not 64QAM.

DOCSIS 3 allows for channel bonding on the upstream.

reply to Winchester

reply to doc3cmst126

reply to yanks
There were a few proprietary bonding techniques available right before 3.0 was ratified, but those required a specific modem and CMTS hardware, but you've got a new modem so that's unlikely.

This modem has 4 tuners shown and they are tuned to 4 different frequencies. From the chart, you can assume a few things on the downstream side.

.the provider has 4 channels for modems in your neighborhood (EIA 83, 84, 85, 86).
.your modem sees all 4 ....this may not mean anything unless the CMTS can support "bonding" those channels for your modem to use to make a downstream pipe and it is enabled).

Upstream, don't mistake modulation (QAM) for channel width. This is a 3.1 Mhz wide channel, centered on 31.2Mhz modulated at 16 QAM. Using this, you can make a few assumptions.

. modem only sees one upstream frequency(you'll have to see if it has more than one upstream tuner) If your modem/phone is Arris TM series, I'd expect 4.
. the channel parameters are not typically suitable for bonding.

You could have "Docsis 3.0" without upstream bonding. Upstream bonding is only a part of the standard, but it is also the most difficult to implement and can be expensive, potentially requiring equipment replacements in the nodes at least.

My guess is the 4 downstream frequencies are for load sharing and not Docsis 3.0. Your speeds are not way out of range for d2. A 256 Qam dowstream maxxes out close to 40Meg and a 3.2 upstream maxxes close to 6. It is pretty likely the CMTS balances the modems based on an algorithm of # of modems, or load per modem. It's a common technique.

just a guess

There's a good wiki on docsis that might shed more light on what you have.

Carp// I stuck my nose in a comcast support forum....that'll teach me to pick the topic on the home page...

Cheers!