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awebber
Premium Member
join:2003-04-02
Gloucester, ON

awebber

Premium Member

Re: Connect Primus Canada ATA to Xfinity modem/router?

A friend can lend us an SB5100 modem to try (he bought it new and used it on comcast, in case they're ever locked). Should this work with Blast! service?

Thanks!
=aw

EG
The wings of love
Premium Member
join:2006-11-18
Union, NJ

EG

Premium Member

said by awebber:

A friend can lend us an SB5100 modem to try (he bought it new and used it on comcast, in case they're ever locked). Should this work with Blast! service?

It will work if the Blast speeds in your area are not yet upgraded to 50 Mbps down. In order to be able to get that much speed, the multiple channel bonding of DOCSIS 3 is required.

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

1 edit

NetFixer to awebber

Premium Member

to awebber
said by awebber:

A friend can lend us an SB5100 modem to try (he bought it new and used it on comcast, in case they're ever locked). Should this work with Blast! service?

Thanks!
=aw

It will probably physically work, but if it is already activated for your friend's account, it will either show up as being used by your friend (and possibly cause problems for him), or you will have to go through the hassle of trying to get Comcast to transfer ownership of the modem to your account and reactivate it for your account.

Also, I am not sure exactly what physical speed tier is used by the "Blast" marketing name in your area (each area uses different standards), but it may not be able to supply the full speed that you are expecting since it is a DOCSIS2 modem and can't do channel bonding.

EDIT:
I hope that the TRENDnet router that you mentioned using in a previous post in this thread doesn't use the Mayan calendar like the one I use for my AT&T backup connection. I recently discovered that it won't allow me to enter any dates past December 2012 for its internal clock when trying to setup its Daylight Saving settings for next year. I fully expect that I may have to replace it after this year's Winter Solstice.
awebber
Premium Member
join:2003-04-02
Gloucester, ON

awebber

Premium Member

Thank you both. The friend did bring over the modem but i don't know if it's tied to his account, he probably upgraded to docsis 3 or xfinity voice. I'm actually not too worried about getting the full 50 (as it's advertised here) at this point, seeing the ATA working would be enough.

Btw we called Primus and they said the Comcast boxes with voice can cause trouble, he seemed to think Comcast blocked other voip services. That said, we don't actually have xfinity voice and the gateway says there's no battery which i take as a sign that it might be physically different.

Any suggestions for what else I can try preferably without buying any hardware?

Thanks!
=aw

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

1 edit

NetFixer

Premium Member

said by awebber:

Thank you both. The friend did bring over the modem but i don't know if it's tied to his account, he probably upgraded to docsis 3 or xfinity voice. I'm actually not too worried about getting the full 50 (as it's advertised here) at this point, seeing the ATA working would be enough.

Btw we called Primus and they said the Comcast boxes with voice can cause trouble, he seemed to think Comcast blocked other voip services. That said, we don't actually have xfinity voice and the gateway says there's no battery which i take as a sign that it might be physically different.

Any suggestions for what else I can try preferably without buying any hardware?

Thanks!
=aw

Your friend can log into his Comcast account at »customer.comcast.com/Pub ··· ome.aspx to see if the SB5100 is still registered for his account. If not, you should be able to easily activate it for your account either through the walled garden, or by calling Comcast support.

If you can activate that modem for your account (or even temporarily use it with your friend's account if it works and does not ask to be activated); that will at least verify that there is not some new problem with the Primus ATA or their ability to use it on a non-Canadian IP address. If that test works, then you should be able to then trade your leased gateway for a leased DOCSIS3 standard modem and use your existing router as before (or just keep using the SB5100 if it can be activated for your account, and you can live with the lower downstream bandwidth).
awebber
Premium Member
join:2003-04-02
Gloucester, ON

awebber

Premium Member

We did plug in the SB5100 to see what would happen (famous last words, I know, but we survived it ).

Ended up with all 4 lights solid (power, receive, send, online) which I think means it was synced. Plugged in the ATA and still had the blinking red light.

I logged in to our Comcast account now and it shows the SB5100 belonging to us, along with the "Arris Interactive, L.L.C. TG862G" modem/router. I guess we own the SB5100 now.

Back where we started, the modem/router is cranking out 50/10 (theoretically) and the ATA status light is blinking red. I guess next step is to contact Comcast but I'm reluctant to do that (I figure the advice here is already 3rd-tier, so why go back to deleting my cache and clearing my cookies and restarting Windows?).

I may not be able to do that tonight, so any additional advice will be appreciated.

Thanks again!
=aw

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

NetFixer

Premium Member

said by awebber:

We did plug in the SB5100 to see what would happen (famous last words, I know, but we survived it ).

Ended up with all 4 lights solid (power, receive, send, online) which I think means it was synced. Plugged in the ATA and still had the blinking red light.

I logged in to our Comcast account now and it shows the SB5100 belonging to us, along with the "Arris Interactive, L.L.C. TG862G" modem/router. I guess we own the SB5100 now.

Back where we started, the modem/router is cranking out 50/10 (theoretically) and the ATA status light is blinking red. I guess next step is to contact Comcast but I'm reluctant to do that (I figure the advice here is already 3rd-tier, so why go back to deleting my cache and clearing my cookies and restarting Windows?).

I may not be able to do that tonight, so any additional advice will be appreciated.

Thanks again!
=aw

Have you tried doing a push button factory default reset on the ATA (assuming that it has such a button)?

I have on multiple occasions had both AT&T CallVantage and Vonage push (or attempt to push) firmware "upgrades" to their respective ATAs that turned them into expensive plastic doorstops until I did a push button factory default reset on the ATAs. If your Primus ATA does automatic provisioning, and does not normally require you to manually enter the voice config data, a factory default reset might just "wake it up".