said by cramer:Either way, how hard is it to not send the TLV? On a Cisco, it's usually as easy as "no" in the right place to turn off a default. (maybe not to a specific subset of modems, 'tho)
It's possible, but I think it was made more complicated by the use of PowerBoost.
Some operators using Walled Garden setups changed their default config files for non-provisioned modems in specific ways to allow the modems to sync. That coupled with an automated firmware update system for those specific modems allowed them online. Obviously that meant some extra hoops to jump through for modems already authorized.
So between the failure, time to troubleshoot down to the modem firmware/CMTS software incompatibility, solution testing, and large scale solution deployment, it was several months. All for 1 model modem with 1 specific firmware version which frequently users didn't know had a problem until it was plugged in.
This sort of firmware incompatibility situation happens somewhat frequently with modems, usually not to the point of modems not syncing, but it was made magnitudes worse by the retail distribution of the 6120s and old firmware.