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gate1975mlm
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Philadelphia, PA

gate1975mlm

Premium Member

Does comcast ship batteries with modems?

Comcast is shipping me a Arris TM822g this week. What are the odds it will come with a backup battery?
ExoticFish
join:2008-08-31
Zebulon, NC

ExoticFish

Member

There was something said not long ago that they have stopped including batteries. You must pay extra for one.

nerdburg
Premium Member
join:2009-08-20
Schuylkill Haven, PA

nerdburg to gate1975mlm

Premium Member

to gate1975mlm
See: »customer.comcast.com/hel ··· battery/
jwhite4
join:2002-03-21
Philadelphia, PA

jwhite4

Member

Note that there's a standard battery (takes up maybe 1/3 of the battery compartment), and an extended one (assume all of it). I'd like to think you can get ones cheaper on maybe ebay than what Comcast sells them for, but I haven't checked.

geeke4077th
@comcast.net

geeke4077th to gate1975mlm

Anon

to gate1975mlm
I got the same modem last week and it does not come with a battery the cheapest price on a battery for that modem is on ebay at 16 dollars.

gate1975mlm
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Philadelphia, PA

gate1975mlm

Premium Member

Ok as it turns out Comcast sent me the wrong modem

It seems they are very short handed right now when it comes to the Arris TM822g.

So I am really thinking I may just buy one and save the $7 rental fee each month.

Will I have any issues getting Comcast to activate a bought Arris TM822g from online?

I live in Philly.

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

EG

Premium Member

said by gate1975mlm:

Will I have any issues getting Comcast to activate a bought Arris TM822g from online?

Always best to call in or go to your local CC service center to inquire whether or not customer owned eMTA's are allowed to be used on the local system. Some local franchises still do not and they require you to rent one from them, or if they do, you need to purchase one from one of their authorized retailers such as BestBuy or BrandsMart.
MrShoop
join:2003-05-20
Manhattan Beach, CA

MrShoop to gate1975mlm

Member

to gate1975mlm
Doesn't it seem really low, even for Comcast, to not to ship batteries in their voip equipment? Not only are they cheap bastards, but they are really putting people at risk in potential emergency situations. Poor EA, Comcast is clearly the worst company in America.

ComcastVic
Comcast Vic
Premium Member
join:2013-01-16
Philadelphia, PA

ComcastVic to gate1975mlm

Premium Member

to gate1975mlm
Good day, Comcast no longer provides this batteries with the modems/eMTA. you can always purchase a compatible one online or order one via a team dedicated to it at 1-888-972-1261. Thank you -Vic

PeteC2
Got Mouse?
MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT

PeteC2 to MrShoop

MVM

to MrShoop
said by MrShoop:

Doesn't it seem really low, even for Comcast, to not to ship batteries in their voip equipment? Not only are they cheap bastards, but they are really putting people at risk in potential emergency situations. Poor EA, Comcast is clearly the worst company in America.

And how did you reach that conclusion?

Well-regarded Vonage offers no battery back up...nor do most other VOIP phone solutions aside of Uverse, which by the way clearly spells out that they make no guarantee of 100% phone service.

Further, what makes you think that even POTS offers any guarantee of 100% service? When I still had POTS here, it went out several times during storms...sometimes it did remain active during power outages...but not always.

POTS, Fiber, Cable, whatever...battery back up is no panacea anyways...helps in some situations, by no means all.

Comcast is clearly the worst company in America? Let's see now...hmmm...well, my internet speed regularly exceeds what they promise (In fact they just jumped it up at no extra cost)...and is very dependable...my tv service has been dependable...my phone service has been every bit as good as my old POTS line, and cheaper...and oh yeah, my bills have been much less convoluted and erroneous than they were with AT&T. Nope, I can't agree with that assertion by a long shot. I've got plenty of other companies that I have had issues with.

Clearly, that is only my experience, but I'll stand by that.
MrShoop
join:2003-05-20
Manhattan Beach, CA

MrShoop

Member

I never said POTS offered a 100% guarantee. What I'm saying is without a battery, there is 100% chance of failure when the power is out. Comcast is already making money on the modem rental, and now they are making even more by removing the battery, And making even more by selling the battery. I came from FIOS, and unlike Comcast they take phone service seriously, and installed a serious battery backup system.

Comcast is a lousy company, run by lousy people, and they offer generally lousy service. I have had more outages in 6 months with Comcast than the previous 5 years with FIOS. And I pay more, and I get lower speeds.

PeteC2
Got Mouse?
MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT

PeteC2

MVM

said by MrShoop:

I never said POTS offered a 100% guarantee. What I'm saying is without a battery, there is 100% chance of failure when the power is out. Comcast is already making money on the modem rental, and now they are making even more by removing the battery, And making even more by selling the battery. I came from FIOS, and unlike Comcast they take phone service seriously, and installed a serious battery backup system.

Comcast is a lousy company, run by lousy people, and they offer generally lousy service. I have had more outages in 6 months with Comcast than the previous 5 years with FIOS. And I pay more, and I get lower speeds.

I will say this: Had I the option of getting FIOS here, I would, no disagreement there. Too bad that FIOS is not in my neck of the woods.
rscalzo
join:2006-07-07
Epping, NH

rscalzo

Member

For about forty dollars I picked up a UPS. The Modem/router goes into it as well as the cable box. If power goes out, I don't lose the guide. It runs the modem/router/phone interface until the nackup genset takes over.
luckmann
join:2004-06-27
Albuquerque, NM

luckmann

Member

You beat me to it I was going to suggest a UPS not only for the backup power but unless I am mistaken a good UPS also somewhat conditions the power or evens out spikes and drops preventing damage to equipment.
rscalzo
join:2006-07-07
Epping, NH

rscalzo

Member

No idea how long it would power the unit, but the outlet is on a whole house genset anyway. But even the old separate phone system interface battery drained in a hour or two.

The real benefit is the ups not only allows back up power but it cleans up the nest of wires.

BaaadBatreee
@comcast.net

BaaadBatreee

Anon

My guess is most people could care less about a battery. Doesn't 99% of the populace have a cell phone in their pocket anyway? And at home the phones are cordless anyway and the base stations of those need AC power. And batteries wear out and then need to be disposed off in an environmentally-friendly way.
ExoticFish
join:2008-08-31
Zebulon, NC

1 recommendation

ExoticFish to gate1975mlm

Member

to gate1975mlm
A UPS is a much better option in my opinion. I have one hooked up to my modem/router/Vonage and it works great. I'm not sure how long those batteries last that actually go in the Gateway though.

Chris 313
Because It's Geekier
Premium Member
join:2004-07-18
Houma, LA
·AT&T FTTP
·Comcast XFINITY

1 edit

1 recommendation

Chris 313

Premium Member

said by ExoticFish:

A UPS is a much better option in my opinion. I have one hooked up to my modem/router/Vonage and it works great. I'm not sure how long those batteries last that actually go in the Gateway though.

I've got both, a UPS and battery inside the EMTA device. My UPS lasts 4-5 hours normally and the battery in the Modem lasts another 4 hours or so. If the power is out beyond that, things start dying.

I also might add that service will only work if the lines at your home and along the way are intact. If anything happens to the lines, you lose service anyway, which also happened to me in the past regardless of batteries or not.

I have a cell used for emergencies that lasts about 2-3 days between charges and has 7 hours of time on it.
dworsky
join:2004-10-29
Somerville, MA

1 recommendation

dworsky to gate1975mlm

Member

to gate1975mlm
It seems that Comcast is not alone in no longer providing free backup batteries for its telephone modems or EMTAs.

I just surveyed the major cable providers, and found that many of them are charging between $30 and $35 either for the initial battery or replacement ones, or both... and I think that is terrible.

See: »www.consumerworld.org/pa ··· sprs.htm

We are renting THEIR equipment, and they should be responsible for fully equipping them and maintaining them.

Edgar
CharlesH1
join:2011-04-29
Milpitas, CA

1 edit

CharlesH1

Member

I think corporate heritage is showing. U-verse and FIOS are from legacy phone companies, which traditionally provided extremely high service availability guarantees (99.999% comes to mind, known as '5-nines'). Comcast is a legacy cable company, where occasional outages are no big deal (you miss some TV show; so what).

FifthE1ement
Tech Nut
join:2005-03-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL

FifthE1ement to ComcastVic

Member

to ComcastVic
said by ComcastVic:

Good day, Comcast no longer provides this batteries with the modems/eMTA. you can always purchase a compatible one online or order one via a team dedicated to it at 1-888-972-1261. Thank you -Vic

Shame on you Vic. I know it has nothing to do with you personally but your company is not consumer focused which is why you'll eventually evolve or you'll be left behind. You should say something. We already see you losing cable subscribers. In ten years you might just be a internet only company.

5th

owlyn
MVM
join:2004-06-05
Newtown, PA
Netgear CM2050V
Netgear RBRE960
Netgear RBSE960

owlyn

MVM

They want to be an internet-only company as far as technology goes. It is easy to operate and maintain, and has a very, very high profit margin. They also want to own content, hence the NBC purchase. The CATV platform is very expensive to maintain. Look for that to vanish in favor of IPTV, or perhaps a newer technology. Don't look for their customer service to get better- they are clueless in that regard. They think expanding the methods of contact (social media, for example) will appease customers or provide better service. Social media is simply a method of contact. What will appease customers and provide better service is being able to contact someone who knows how to solve the problem the customer is contacting them about. But I digress...

As far as batteries go- I guess landline services in general are starting to go the way of the dinosaurs. An increasing number of people have dropped any landline in favor of cell-only. So, why support it for free?