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Melissa2009B
join:2009-12-27
Denver, CO

Melissa2009B to Dee_T

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to Dee_T

Re: [Speed] May have to switch to Comcast

Well the installer showed up here at 2:40 PM and had a completely different work order than the promo that I signed up for online on the 27th. They had canceled the promo and added phone, ALL at full price! I went ballistic. So the poor guy had to stand around for 45 minutes while I hashed it out with a rep on the phone and got my pomo back, WITHOUT voice! I signed up online with it, with their chat tech, without voice, KNOWING that if I added voice, there's no more promo and no more going without a contract!

So get this - the agent on the phone tells me that if I just wait 2 weeks and then order the voice, it will only be $20 more per month than the promo price!

This is like Keystone Cops, dealing with the sales and signup part of this company! It could make blood shoot out of my eyes!

Absolute insanity!

I get a better deal if I don't have it all installed now!

Now I'm wondering, if I get the phone added for only $20 a month more, in 2 weeks, if that will require me going with a contract with them?

Jeez!

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Just go with what you have, remember promos are intended to pay back over their life or within the next year. so whatever bonus they offer will have an equal negitive.
you were happy with the promo before and will save money/get better speeds with this, don't wait for "our lowest price ever" there is always a catch.
Melissa2009B
join:2009-12-27
Denver, CO

Melissa2009B

Member

Well we're all installed for the HSI and it works great! The upload speed now is faster than the download speed was with CenturyLink!

I tried watching my favorite streaming channel and no more stalling! Yeah!!!

So I wait 2 weeks and then approach them about adding the phone.

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
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NetFixer

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said by Melissa2009B:

Well we're all installed for the HSI and it works great! The upload speed now is faster than the download speed was with CenturyLink!

I tried watching my favorite streaming channel and no more stalling! Yeah!!!

So I wait 2 weeks and then approach them about adding the phone.

Or, since you are already a RingCentral customer, you might want to see what it would cost to convert your current account into a full service VoIP account.
Melissa2009B
join:2009-12-27
Denver, CO

Melissa2009B

Member

We might lose our 800 number, which may not be portable. And I don't know if Comcast offers everything we get from RingCentral.

And Comcast is VERY aggravating with sales. I've never seen a company that penalizes people for bundling more services with them!

NetFixer
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said by Melissa2009B:

We might lose our 800 number, which may not be portable. And I don't know if Comcast offers everything we get from RingCentral.

And Comcast is VERY aggravating with sales. I've never seen a company that penalizes people for bundling more services with them!

I think you misunderstood my post. I was suggesting upgrading your existing RingCentral account. RingCentral is more than just a call answering, call forwarding, and internet fax service. They are also a VoIP provider. You may be able to integrate their VoIP service into your existing account for less than you currently pay for your CenturyLink phone service, or what you would pay for the Comcast Digital Voice service.
Melissa2009B
join:2009-12-27
Denver, CO

Melissa2009B

Member

Integrate it into Comcast's account? Wow. Didn't know RC bundled with CC.

NetFixer
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said by Melissa2009B:

Integrate it into Comcast's account? Wow. Didn't know RC bundled with CC.

Nevermind.
Melissa2009B
join:2009-12-27
Denver, CO

Melissa2009B

Member

Duoh! I see what you meant.

Well I have misgivings about plain old VOIP. I've seen people use it and it was all chopped up.

But Comcast has supposedly done some higher tech things with it, so it's like a real phone?

NetFixer
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said by Melissa2009B:

Duoh! I see what you meant.

Well I have misgivings about plain old VOIP. I've seen people use it and it was all chopped up.

But Comcast has supposedly done some higher tech things with it, so it's like a real phone?

I am somewhat surprised that you were not already aware of RingCentral's VoIP offerings. They constantly send me offers to "upgrade" my fax service to include full VoIP capability.

Comcast's VoIP (Comcast Digital Voice) is supplied to you over a different cable channel than your internet service, and it stays on their private network until it is transferred to the Public Switched Telephone Network. That does tend to make their own VoIP service less likely to have voice quality problems.

Any other provider's VoIP service will share the bandwidth with your Comcast internet service, so yes, it is possible that the voice quality might suffer. However, FWIW, my Vonage service is as crystal clear as an ISDN connection, and my RingCentral fax service (which uses VoIP technology) has been 100% reliable. As always is the case, YMMV.
Melissa2009B
join:2009-12-27
Denver, CO

1 edit

Melissa2009B

Member

I guess I don't even understand how it works. Would RingCentral give me a box that I'd plug my cordless system into, here at the house? And it would go out via the wireless internet?

Oh by the way, I just looked and they gave us an Arris TG862G/CT for the gateway today. I'll take a look at prices.

I KNOW that some of you said to use a separate modem and router, but this goes by the KISS principle. The way we use this around here is: In the daytime we could both be on the internet at the same time with our PC's. Very little downloading, AND we have 12 meg speed now.

Then at night, we both MAY watch streaming on the Roku boxes at the same time, but probably only one at a time, and with the PC's off. Simple stuff, not big bandwidth hogs or anything.

NetFixer
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NetFixer

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said by Melissa2009B:

I guess I don't even understand how it works. Would RingCentral give me a box that I'd plug my cordless system into, here at the house? And it would go out via the wireless internet?

That would be something that you would need to investigate with RingCentral. Most of the upgrade offers I have gotten involved using standalone IP phones (which they sell), but I suspect that they would also support using a SIP* box that would have an FXS* connector (standard telephone interface), that could connect to any standard telephone (including a cordless phone controller). That is how my Vonage service is connected, and the Comcast Digital Voice service also uses an FXS connector on their eMTA**.

As for it going out over the wireless internet, I am guessing you are asking could you locate an IP phone, or a SIP box anywhere in your house and connect using WiFi. The answer is that it would probably be better to directly connect such a device to your wireless router with an Ethernet cable. However, you could certainly connect any Ethernet device to an Ethernet/WiFi bridge for making a WiFi connection.

* Session Initiation Protocol
* Foriegn eXchange Station

EDIT:
** I just noticed that you edited your post to indicate that you have an Arris gateway, so since you are already halfway there, perhaps it would be simpler for you to stick with Comcast Digital Voice for your VoIP service (especially with your KISS principle).
Melissa2009B
join:2009-12-27
Denver, CO

1 edit

Melissa2009B

Member

Yeah, I don't know the term, but I'm thinking of a box that I could plug our cordless base into, then it would go wirelessly to the Comcast gateway.

Something like this?
»www.cisco.com/en/US/prod ··· 596.html

NetFixer
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4 edits

NetFixer

Premium Member

said by Melissa2009B:

Yeah, I don't know the term, but I'm thinking of a box that I could plug our cordless base into, then it would go wirelessly to the Comcast gateway.

Something like this?
»www.cisco.com/en/US/prod ··· 596.html

You would have to have a VoIP service that would allow the use of that particular ATA. Comcast is not such a VoIP service, they only allow the use of the ATA that is built-in to their own eMTA modems and telephony gateway devices.

I don't know if RingCentral would support that device either, but you should be able to find out easily enough by just contacting them. I do know that they support the Cisco Linksys SPA-2102, but that is not a WiFi device, and it would require that you connect it to an Ethernet to WiFi bridge if you really wanted/needed to have it located in another room than your Arris gateway (and FWIW, the Cisco ATA that you pointed to, is only an Ethernet device, and would also have to use an Ethernet to WiFi bridge to do what you want).

I really can't see why you think that you would need a VoIP ATA with a WiFi interface anyway. If you are going to use an existing cordless phone system that has a base station, it should not matter if that base station needed to be located in the same room as your Comcast eMTA/gateway. Also if you already have existing in-house telephone wiring, you can also just connect the cordless base station and your VoIP ATA into the house telephone wiring, so the cordless base station (and/or individual wired phones) could be located anywhere there was a telephone jack (you will need to make sure that your in-house telephone wiring has been physically disconnected from the telco network before utilizing the in-house telephone wiring). The GE DECT cordless phone system that I use has a range of about 300 feet.

Shown below is the DSLR member map that shows the location of my Comcast connection, and I have been able to use my GE DECT phones as far away as the pool on the other side of the parking lot.




Shown below is my comm rack. My Vonage ATA and the GE DECT base station are shown on the bottom shelf.


Melissa2009B
join:2009-12-27
Denver, CO

Melissa2009B

Member

That's the trick then. If I don't want to use Comcast's VOIP service, it would have to be a 3rd party wireless ATA that would take analog from my cordless base and send it wirelessly into the internet connection to Ringcentral, via Comcast's cable setup, without them knowing it. ( How would they, after all? It would just be a digital signal using their internet connection. )

NetFixer
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said by Melissa2009B:

That's the trick then. If I don't want to use Comcast's VOIP service, it would have to be a 3rd party wireless ATA that would take analog from my cordless base and send it wirelessly into the internet connection to Ringcentral, via Comcast's cable setup, without them knowing it. ( How would they, after all? It would just be a digital signal using their internet connection. )

I still don't see why you think that you would need to use a WiFi capable VoIP ATA, but use whatever you think that you need.

As for Comcast knowing that you are using a competitor's VoIP service, you don't need to try to hide if from them, it is perfectly legal to do so, and besides that, they don't really care how you use your internet connection as long is it is not disruptive to their own operation. While network neutrality is something of a myth, if any domestic landline ISP were found to actually be interfering with a customer's ability to use a competitor's VoIP service, the FCC would drop a very heavy anvil on them.
Melissa2009B
join:2009-12-27
Denver, CO

Melissa2009B

Member

said by Melissa2009B:

I still don't see why you think that you would need to use a WiFi capable VoIP ATA, but use whatever you think that you need.

I don't think. I'm just learning about all this. I see what you're saying though - just put my phone base next to an ATA and plug that into the ethernet port on the cable modem?

As for Comcast knowing that you are using a competitor's VoIP service, you don't need to try to hide if from them, it is perfectly legal to do so, and besides that, they don't really care how you use your internet connection as long is it is not disruptive to their own operation. While network neutrality is something of a myth, if any domestic landline ISP were found to actually be interfering with a customer's ability to use a competitor's VoIP service, the FCC would drop a very heavy anvil on them.

I see what you mean about that, but most people don't know just how dangerous "net neutrality" is - it's part of a marxist ideology to control everything on the net.
Melissa2009B

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Melissa2009B

Member

Click for full size
Following up: It was great watching a little streaming HDTV last night and this morning - MUCH better than CenturyLink's 3 meg DSL, BUT the channel I was watching was STILL reloading every once in awhile. I'm wondering if this was because of that channel lacking server capacity, or if the speed from Comcast isn't consistent?

Because I ran the Speedtest app on the Roku box and out of 6 tests it did with a Denver server ( I'm in a suburb of Denver ) the first 4 were slower than 12 megs.

I'm also wondering if this is a problem being caused by what you guys said - that the gateway modem isn't so great - that I should have a modem and router config. This isn't being caused by something like that, is it?

I checked the model number on the gateway they installed, last night, and it's a Arris TG862G/CT . I looked that up and I don't think anyone even sells them, so it may be a model that Comcast orders special from Arris, so customers cant buy them and replace them to avoid the rental fees?
mrschultz02
join:2007-09-10
Wallingford, PA
Asus RT-AC88

mrschultz02

Member

There's an almost endless list of things that could cause a slowdown.

Congestion at the server end.

General congestion between you and the server.

Lots of people in your neighborhood downloading at the same time.

Someone else in the house downloading something.

Wi-fi interference. What wi-fi channel are you using? Things like a microwave oven can interfere with the higher channels.

etc..
etc...

One of the advantages of using separate components is for trouble shooting speed or connection issues. With separate modem and router you can plug one of your laptops into the modem and troubleshoot it without anything else getting in the way.
Melissa2009B
join:2009-12-27
Denver, CO

Melissa2009B

Member

I don't know what channel we're using, or how to find out.

I do know that no one else here was using anything else at the time, but me. Like you said, the rest is hard to know.

But it seems like every time I run that test, for some reason, the first results at the top, are slower. Always have been. Maybe it's because they're sending fewer bytes at a time, I dunno.
mrschultz02
join:2007-09-10
Wallingford, PA
Asus RT-AC88

mrschultz02

Member

said by Melissa2009B:

But it seems like every time I run that test, for some reason, the first results at the top, are slower. Always have been. Maybe it's because they're sending fewer bytes at a time, I dunno.

I didn't notice how small the first 2 were, I'd ignore those on a fast connection, you're seeing more latency and overhead than actual connection speed.

PeteC2
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MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT

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PeteC2 to Melissa2009B

MVM

to Melissa2009B
said by Melissa2009B:

I'm also wondering if this is a problem being caused by what you guys said - that the gateway modem isn't so great - that I should have a modem and router config. This isn't being caused by something like that, is it?

I checked the model number on the gateway they installed, last night, and it's a Arris TG862G/CT . I looked that up and I don't think anyone even sells them, so it may be a model that Comcast orders special from Arris, so customers cant buy them and replace them to avoid the rental fees?

Really, it is hard to know if that is the slow-down or not, as mentioned, there are a number of points that streamed video could be less than optimal, but it could be the cause.

As much as I absolutely understand the desire to "keep it simple" (and after all, why purchase more equipment if not needed?), I learned the hard way that wireless gateways just plain seldom work very well as routers Comcast gateways have a particulalry unfavorable reputation.

You are correct that Arris sells their eMTA modems and gateways directly to cable service providers rather than retail. In fact, the Arris TM722G, which is only available through Best Buys with Comcast centers, is sold in a Comcast box as a specific eMTA for Comcast use. This is why you should be very wary of anyone else selling an Arris 722G...it may be just fine...but there are many more units that Comcast will not provision out there, than there are otherwise. Very unlikely any second-party seller is going to tell you that it is not Comcast-usable...that would kind of kill the sale!

Although this is understandably annoying (it is to me!), I do get Comcast's concerns about end-users having all kinds of self-customized settings to their phone system that could result in issues...they are going to be very careful there.
Melissa2009B
join:2009-12-27
Denver, CO

Melissa2009B

Member

It appears to be absolutely impossible to find a TM722G for sale. I searched Best Buy's site and cant even find one. I called their store - the ONLY one in the area that allegedly sells them, and they have no stock and will supposedly call me when one comes in. What nonsense!

They must get paid by Comcast NOT to sell them!