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SuperJudge
Raiden Wins
Premium Member
join:2002-11-14
Atlanta, GA

SuperJudge

Premium Member

[GA] ZOOM 5341j Incompatible?

I purchased a ZOOM 5341j from Amazon, because of the raves and reports of incredible speeds.

I agree, the speeds really are incredible, as my 12Mbps guarantee runs around 27Mbps at peak times, with three locks down and one up, all around 40 for the SNR.

The problem is that the original ran for about 3 months, and then became unresponsive, with only the power light green; the modem doesn't reset, it doesn't reattempt sync, and I can't get in to the interface.

ZOOM had me send back the original, and sent me a model with updated firmware.

At this point, when activating the modem, Mediacom informs me that ZOOM modems aren't supported, suggesting "anything but ZOOM."

The replacement modem runs fine until one very cold night, when it went catatonic twice in a row. Since then it's gone on the fritz a few times, and each time it does so more than once.

Signals are always great. Modem is always fast. I never have any other problems until it dies. No calm before the storm.

I responded to the trouble ticket put out by ZOOM, informing them that the replacement has experienced the very same problems, and also that Mediacom told me the modem is not compatible, suggesting anything but ZOOM.

ZOOM responded in what I could only describe was a calm concerned fury:
said by ZOOM :

Can you tell me if Mediacom said why the ZOOM cable modem was incompatible with their service? I have reported this to engineering as nothing was passed on to technical support about incomparability of ZOOM modems with Mediacom. Our understanding is that all cable companies are given samples of Zoom cable modems for testing and verification for compatibility with their service.

The technician seemed genuinely shocked.

I can still send the modem back, but ZOOM has been quite dedicated to making this work, so I don't want to let their dedication go unrewarded.

Any insight?

thedragonmas
Premium Member
join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA
Netgear R6300 v2
ARRIS SB6180

thedragonmas

Premium Member

sure, its simple, they (mediacom) want you to rent one from them, and if not to purchase the exact same models they offer, so they can load their firmware on them to cripple your ability to access anything but the most basic of troubleshooting info.

of course i could just be super paranoid, but based on previous threads, and the fact they have removed the diagnostics information from many of there modems leads me to think my paranoia is anything but...

SuperJudge
Raiden Wins
Premium Member
join:2002-11-14
Atlanta, GA

SuperJudge

Premium Member

said by thedragonmas:

sure, its simple, they (mediacom) want you to rent one from them, and if not to purchase the exact same models they offer, so they can load their firmware on them to cripple your ability to access anything but the most basic of troubleshooting info.

of course i could just be super paranoid, but based on previous threads, and the fact they have removed the diagnostics information from many of there modems leads me to think my paranoia is anything but...

So, that's why they tell me it's incompatible, or do you think they also have a way to shut my modem down?
Expand your moderator at work

MediacomChad
Mediacom Social Media Relations Team
Premium Member
join:2010-01-20
Gulf Breeze, FL

MediacomChad to SuperJudge

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to SuperJudge

Re: [GA] ZOOM 5341j Incompatible?

While we do not offer firmware updates for that specific modem right now, I will be happy to check over the connection from this end to see if I can shed some more light on the issue. Feel free to IM me with your phone number or account number and I'll see what can be done.

lhollow
join:2010-12-02
IL

lhollow to SuperJudge

Member

to SuperJudge
said by SuperJudge:

So, that's why they tell me it's incompatible, or do you think they also have a way to shut my modem down?

I had a couple of Zoom modems back in the dial-up days. As I recall, they worked very well. I don't know how well their cable modems work and last.

Send Chad a note with your information. There could be a line issue affecting it.
Thordrune
Premium Member
join:2005-08-03
Lakeport, CA

Thordrune to SuperJudge

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to SuperJudge
I got a Zoom 5341J for my dad two months ago, no modem-related issues so far. It's been running great, solid 17 Mbps down on his (I think) 15/1 grandfathered plan.

SuperJudge
Raiden Wins
Premium Member
join:2002-11-14
Atlanta, GA

SuperJudge to MediacomChad

Premium Member

to MediacomChad
said by MediacomChad:

While we do not offer firmware updates for that specific modem right now, I will be happy to check over the connection from this end to see if I can shed some more light on the issue. Feel free to IM me with your phone number or account number and I'll see what can be done.

PM sent. Thanks for your help.
SuperJudge

SuperJudge to Thordrune

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to Thordrune
said by Thordrune:

I got a Zoom 5341J for my dad two months ago, no modem-related issues so far. It's been running great, solid 17 Mbps down on his (I think) 15/1 grandfathered plan.

I hope you don't, either. I didn't have any problems with the first for about four months.
SuperJudge

SuperJudge

Premium Member

Interesting update, the problems with the connectivity seem to get more and more frequent. The first modem lasted four months and started dropping infrequently but the replacement that ZOOM sent dropped, the first time, a week after I got it (no four month wait?). I'm being tested for line issues tomorrow, because of the escalating issues, and possibly being given a rental modem, though I wonder why it's all ramping up. Today, the modem was down the majority of the work day, then was constantly syncing, running momentarily, and resyncing until I decided to stop trying to stream Netflix.

Smooth sailing after that.

The way it's behaving--it reminds me of the capacitance issues that I used to deal with when I worked for Bellsouth. I'm curious what a firmware push would do to an incompatible modem.

Tehrasha
join:2004-12-15
Vinton, IA

1 edit

Tehrasha

Member

said by SuperJudge:

I'm curious what a firmware push would do to an incompatible modem.

A 'firmware push' is not an all encompassing one-size-fits-all modem update. Different modems require different firmware files.

An 'incompatible' modem will either not work with the network at all or at a considerably reduced capability. (think DOCSIS2 modem on a DOCSIS3 system). The modem does not support any/all the protocols, frequency ranges, bonding channels, etc.. that the network uses. If the network can see the modem at all, it most certainly has no files to send to it.

An 'unsupported' modem 'might' work with the system, no guarantee. The network will not recognize the modem as supported and will not push any software into it. (because they dont have the files for it)

A 'supported' modem is supposed to work with the system. The network will identify it and push the appropriate firmware when it is deemed necessary.

-Forcing- a firmware update into a differing model or make would almost certainly -brick- the modem. Every firmware updater that I have seen will not even attempt to perform an update, until the receiving hardware is identified and verified as the correct type for that firmware.

SuperJudge
Raiden Wins
Premium Member
join:2002-11-14
Atlanta, GA

SuperJudge

Premium Member

So that kind of shenanigan seems less likely. Seems a capacitance issue the more likely.

The modem losing sync makes sense, but the modem sometimes just stops responding. No attempt to resync--it just cuts out and doesn't respond on the lan side. This is the modem zoom replaced the first with. I haven't seen a host of complaints about that on Amazon, Tehrasha.

Does that sound like incompatible behavior? I currently have three bonded downstream channels and one bonded upstream.
SuperJudge

SuperJudge

Premium Member

Technician came and went.

Too much power.

The power levels on the downstream channels were up around 9 dBmV--the technician said that there had been some taps adjusted down the street, and these weren't rebalanced afterward.

»speedtest.net/result/243 ··· 7517.png
Thordrune
Premium Member
join:2005-08-03
Lakeport, CA

Thordrune

Premium Member

Strange, my dad's is up around that right now (was 12-17 dBmV down before they came out and rebalanced) but it kept running. Here's a post of mine when it was still super high.

SuperJudge
Raiden Wins
Premium Member
join:2002-11-14
Atlanta, GA

SuperJudge

Premium Member

Re: [GA] ZOOM 5341j Incompatible? [SOLVED]

Since being moved to a 7db split at the tap, I've seen a half hour of downtime (that same night), and the rest of the time it's been this.




I'm going to call the issue resolved. Thanks, Chad.

MediacomChad
Mediacom Social Media Relations Team
Premium Member
join:2010-01-20
Gulf Breeze, FL

MediacomChad

Premium Member

Sounds good. Let me know if you have any other questions or issues going forward.

SuperJudge
Raiden Wins
Premium Member
join:2002-11-14
Atlanta, GA

SuperJudge

Premium Member

Re: [GA] ZOOM 5341j Incompatible?

Taking half the day off for an appointment tomorrow from 8am-12pm. The modem ran great up until a few days ago. I've seen spikes in the power level, but it might be a second bad modem, though it seems more likely the network is unstable and I need a modem that's less sensitive to those fluctuations.

Strange, though, I spent half the day yesterday with no internet, and today it's been online all day.
SuperJudge

SuperJudge

Premium Member

Numbers were up around 8 or 9 again during testing at the tap. Tech put an EQ on the line, and I'm down around -1 - 1. Speeds are slower, but I'd prefer the stability, really.

MediacomChad
Mediacom Social Media Relations Team
Premium Member
join:2010-01-20
Gulf Breeze, FL

MediacomChad

Premium Member

What speeds are you currently getting while connected directly to the modem?

SuperJudge
Raiden Wins
Premium Member
join:2002-11-14
Atlanta, GA

SuperJudge

Premium Member

said by MediacomChad:

What speeds are you currently getting while connected directly to the modem?

The speeds fluctuated for a short time after the tech put the EQ on the line. It went from 10 to 28 again, and didn't bond channels for the first day. Ultimately, the modem is still too sensitive to Mediacom's fluctuations, so I have a Motorola ordered, since there won't be anything but speculation that line inconsistencies are normal, and I'm not ready to pay $250 just to drop the service.

The modem is great, but it's too sensitive to the unbalanced Mediacom infrastructure.

If the Motorola has the same problems as two ZOOM modems, I'm going to be p*ss*d. If the Motorola doesn't have the same problems, I really still will be. I worked for Comcast for a few years, and balancing signals is a pretty standard issue that the local plant doesn't seem to be dealing with; it really makes the company look like novices.