| reply to whoaru99
Re: [HSI] time for a new modem said by whoaru99:What do you see for upstream and downstream information if you type 192.168.100.1 into your browser address bar?
The Status tab has:
Acquire Downstream Channel Done
Acquire Upstream Parameters Done
Signal tab shows frequency, ratio, power level, channel ID. No speeds. |
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| reply to BF69
said by BF69:Why should you be compensated? You chose to rent a modem when you could have bought one YEARS ago and saved you the modem fee. That's on YOU.
I was referring to the overpaying for an obsolete modem when the speeds git bumped. They did compensate me with a credit.
When I first signed up I believe the modem rental fee was only $3 and the cost of modems was significant. They very much pushed the fact that they accepted technical responsibility for it when leased. Of course, I didn't know at the time that a modem is a very reliable piece of hardware. (unlike crap printers or cameras that are designed to break every 2-3 years).
water under the bridge. |
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| reply to gardengal
said by gardengal:Signal tab shows frequency, ratio, power level, channel ID. No speeds.
The ratios and power levels are the points of interest at this time.
What are they? |
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| reply to whoaru99
said by whoaru99:The point of trying the direct connection before the new modem is to get a more complete baseline.
Ok. I'll be sure to do that prior to the switchover when I am in the right mode (digging around behind furniture and dustballs for wires and plugs!!) |
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| reply to whoaru99
said by whoaru99:The ratios and power levels are the points of interest at this time.
What are they?
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| reply to gardengal
Considering the modem has no moving parts, yes, it should be more reliable. That said, I have old (relatively speaking) cameras and printers that work just fine albeit dated.
Point being is that sometimes stuff just breaks.
Also, with your own modem, I'm not sure Charter is obligated to perform any firmware updates for bugs, improved capability, compatibility, etc. And, there is no way for you to update that firmware even on your own modem. Just a point to consider. |
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| reply to gardengal
Those are good numbers. |
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| reply to whoaru99
said by whoaru99:Also, with your own modem, I'm not sure Charter is obligated to perform any firmware updates for bugs, improved capability, compatibility, etc. And, there is no way for you to update that firmware even on your own modem. Just a point to consider.
That could be a good thing. I am not a big fan of automatic updates. Of course, I would want to be able to update on demand if I want an update. That could be interesting. |
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| Typically, the cableco pushes firmware updates without your direct knowledge. They just do it and you don't really have a choice in the matter, per contract/service agreement, I believe.
OTOH, if it is an unsupported modem and something not provided by them could be considered an unsupported modem under the apparent new rules, then you might not get a firmware push and you could end up with a modem not working up to par.
Granted, there's a lot of "what ifs" there but I had to deal with just that sort of thing when a firmware push bricked my 6120. The first reaction from Charter was to tell me my modem was broken and that I had to go to the mfg. for a replacement. But, with persistence, I found out about the problem with the firmware. The problem wasn't mine at all, it was a problem with Charter's CMTS(?) firmware.
To be clear, Charter eventually made it mostly right, but I spent lots of time getting back to mostly right and that surely offset any modem rental savings for at least a couple years on just one incident. |
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 BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | reply to whoaru99
said by whoaru99:Also, with your own modem, I'm not sure Charter is obligated to perform any firmware updates for bugs, improved capability, compatibility, etc. And, there is no way for you to update that firmware even on your own modem. Just a point to consider. When they are pushing a firmware update does can the system tell which modems are Charter owned and which ones are customer owned? Also you'd think for the integrity of the system they'd make sure all modem are functionally correctly. |
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| reply to gardengal
said by gardengal:said by BF69:Why should you be compensated? You chose to rent a modem when you could have bought one YEARS ago and saved you the modem fee. That's on YOU.
I was referring to the overpaying for an obsolete modem when the speeds git bumped. They did compensate me with a credit. When I first signed up I believe the modem rental fee was only $3 and the cost of modems was significant. They very much pushed the fact that they accepted technical responsibility for it when leased. Of course, I didn't know at the time that a modem is a very reliable piece of hardware. (unlike crap printers or cameras that are designed to break every 2-3 years). water under the bridge. As was stated above, the DOCSIS 1.1 modem actually could get the 15Mbps speed. The bottle next is most likely the router. So, while charter did not have any obligation to refund you modem rental charges, at least that agents ignorance on the issue worked in your favor. Remember that while these agents do go through training, most handling billing issues are not trained in the technical side of the operation and may not have the right information. If you are in a situation where something an agent says about the technology said of the issue I would recommend requesting technical support. These people are more likely to have a better understanding (depending on if you get someone in country or out.)
Also, if your paying 47.99 for the old 15Mbps speed you might as well pay the additional 2.00 a month and upgrade to the 30Mbps plan. |
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2 edits | reply to BF69
I have to believe they could, if they wanted, since they can (mostly) keep track of who to bill for a modem and who not to bill.
So, if there's a flag that triggers billing for modem vs. not billing you'd think they could push firmware updates only to accounts having that flag set one way or the other or both.
Before these new policies for only using their modem on a new package I suspect they just pushed firmware to any modem of "X" brand and model if they had newer firmware for it. How it's actually managed and whether or not there has been or will be any changes I don't know. |
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| reply to gardengal
Update: I received my new DOCSIS 3.0 modem. Before I installed it, I did some more speed tests on the old modem without the router. Indeed, I did get 14-16 mb/s (4 different test sites).
I am now wondering why the tech support person was so adamant that I needed to get a DS 3.0 modem. Clearly, the claim that the old modem only supported 3 mb/s was crap. Is there better security? tracking? logging? something else that benefits Charter? I was focused on solving my then connectivity issue and she was focused on setting up an appt to replace my leased modem. I had to re-focus her to stick to my problem.
Anyhow, the new modem is installed (haven't re-hooked it with the router yet). And the same 4 speed tests are wildly different.
2 test sites are pretty identical with the old modem (sans router). 2 sites were way over 15 mb/s -- 34 and 51!!!
I'm sooooo confused!!!
And now I guess i need to investigate getting a new router. Jeez...
at least I'm saving $7/mo  |
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| So I returned the old modem today to local office. The guy was quite surprised that I could self-provision the new one. He said that is no longer allowed. Interesting. The website to set it up worked just fine.
He also could not offer an explanation why DS 3.0 was necessary (vs 1.1) and he also did not know what "channel bonding" was so I guess that goes hand in hand.
SHould be fun to get the $7 fee removed. There was no longer a "CUST-OWNED" field for him to check off for modem!! |
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| said by gardengal:SHould be fun to get the $7 fee removed. There was no longer a "CUST-OWNED" field for him to check off for modem!!
Keep an eye on that. It's been known to come back down the road.
I do hope you got a receipt for the leased modem return that shows its MAC address. |
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| said by whoaru99:I do hope you got a receipt for the leased modem return that shows its MAC address.
Sure did. I thought it odd that *I* had to sign it rather than him. He assured me it was a receipt even though it didn't actually use that word!. It did have the mac address and "RET". I guess it was too much trouble for them to put the whole word RETURNED. And I took a snapshot of the bar codes with S/N too. |
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