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rocca
Start.ca
Premium Member
join:2008-11-16
London, ON

rocca to hedge

Premium Member

to hedge

Re: SB6120 & SB6121 Firmware

First, I'm sorry to hear about your experience.

We do try to inform customers of the issues that can arise with third-party equipment, ie on our modem page it specifically states "If you are purchasing a modem from another source please ensure it has the correct firmware version to be properly supported." The issue isn't specific to the SB6121, ie all models must have the correct firmware which is why we have dedicated a page to listing all the modems that will work.

As you stated there is a lot of 'bad' inventory out there right now, especially the stuff you find on Ebay/Kijiji - not only the wrong firmware, but just broken modems, or modems that aren't owned by the listing person (ie unreturned rental modems).

I know it sounds self-serving, but this is one of those cases where buying the modem from the ISP makes a lot of sense to ensure you're not on the hook for an incompatible model, or if from a third-party then one that is reputable, will confirm the firmware and make good if something goes wrong. There are a number of people in these forums that do just that.

Overall, I don't think I've seen many instances where purchasing from a random site on the internet and hoping it'll work has been significantly cheaper than buying it directly and being guaranteed it'll work please local cross-exchange should something happen to it within the warranty period.

I know that doesn't help you and I'm sorry about that, but if the place you purchased it was reputable they should take it back, especially if they sold it to you as having the correct firmware.

As a side note, you could always try plugging it into an active cable jack - you might get lucky and it pick up the firmware update that is currently in progress for that specific model (something we don't control) - this is a bit of an unusual time where it's possible this will work, as usually this is not the case. It may need to stay plugged in for a few days, but it might not work at all.
hedge
join:2013-08-27
Scarborough, ON

hedge

Member

Thanks for the quick reqply- so just to clarify, is it an option for me to go ahead with the activation on Start and hope for the correct firmware to get pushed down? Or will the modem not even activate with the firmware on it currently?

rocca
Start.ca
Premium Member
join:2008-11-16
London, ON

rocca

Premium Member

What I meant is if you already have Rogers active at your home, plug the modem in there now and hope that it gets the correct firmware. If you PM me your account # (or name/address) I can take a look.

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

said by rocca:

What I meant is if you already have Rogers active at your home, plug the modem in there now and hope that it gets the correct firmware. If you PM me your account # (or name/address) I can take a look.

It will not get updated unless it's provisioned, unfortunately.
mrdylanblue
join:2013-02-27
Brampton, ON

mrdylanblue

Member

Yeah I Kinda figured that since I had mine plugged in for the past couple of weeks.
Laidback
join:2001-09-30
Cochrane, ON

Laidback to rocca

Member

to rocca
So even though I have not applied any updates, and I am still connected, I should be OK?

rocca
Start.ca
Premium Member
join:2008-11-16
London, ON

rocca

Premium Member

Did you get the new firmware?
Laidback
join:2001-09-30
Cochrane, ON

Laidback

Member

I just got back from vacation and this is the first I see about a firmware update. This is the modem I've had since I connected with start last year.

rocca
Start.ca
Premium Member
join:2008-11-16
London, ON

rocca

Premium Member

What model/firmware do you currently have? If it's not the current then just leave it plugged in, should pickup the new one over the next week or two.

jmck
formerly 'shaded'
join:2010-10-02
Ottawa, ON

jmck to Laidback

Member

to Laidback
i mean the modem won't just stop working, but without the update you'll likely get disconnects. the modem should have gotten the update if it was on.

you can connect to the modem's web interface and see what firmware you have.
Laidback
join:2001-09-30
Cochrane, ON

1 edit

Laidback

Member

Firmware Build Time: Mar 12 2013 17:48:19
Firmware Name: SB_KOMODO-1.0.6.12-SCM00-NOSH
Boot Version: PSPU-Boot(25CLK) 1.0.12.18m3
This is from the status page
So the update looks to be automatic.

jmck
formerly 'shaded'
join:2010-10-02
Ottawa, ON

jmck

Member

you seem to have received the latest firmware :

SB_KOMODO-1.0.6.12-SCM00-NOSH (1.0.6.12).

Teddy Boom
k kudos Received
Premium Member
join:2007-01-29
Toronto, ON

Teddy Boom to hedge

Premium Member

to hedge
Your modem is not officially official. However, the old firmware (1.0.5.0 or 1.0.5.1) will almost certainly work well enough for long enough to get the automatic update provided by Rogers.

We don't know when Rogers will stop upgrading modems automatically. I would be surprised if it doesn't last until the end of September though.
Teddy Boom

2 edits

Teddy Boom to rocca

Premium Member

to rocca
said by rocca:

As you stated there is a lot of 'bad' inventory out there right now, especially the stuff you find on Ebay/Kijiji - not only the wrong firmware, but just broken modems, or modems that aren't owned by the listing person (ie unreturned rental modems).

New (or new old stock) modems that are sold to the general North American market (Newegg, Amazon, Tiger Direct, most eBay sellers, and etc.) have the following firmware versions:
SMCD3GN -- unknown
SB6120 -- unknown
SB6121 -- 1.0.5.0 or 1.0.5.1
DCM475 -- STAC.02.08
DCM476 -- STAC 02.31

The 2.08 firmware is known to actually be problematic, the others listed are more or less okay most of the time. Always best to be official though, of course:
»Re: Motorola SB6121 1.0.5
(EDIT: Canada Computers generally has correct firmware on their modems.)

There are lots of non-returned SMCD3GNs out there, because it was provided by Rogers to their customers. There should never be a non-returned modem of the other types. If Rogers rejects one of the other types of modem it is a Rogers error. Not that it is any consolation for somebody stuck with one, because convincing Rogers is hard (maybe impossible?).

In the past, Rogers has been surprisingly helpful if you call them up and ask about the status of a modem. I haven't done it in a while, so not sure how they react nowadays. I used to troll second hand stores and call them while I was standing in the store. I'm not home today, but if I remember I'll link up a story about that

EDIT: Reliability wise, be very wary of older DCM425 modems with the Internet On/Off button. They have faulty capacitors, and if they haven't been repaired, they will fail. Some of the newer inventory without the button also have bad caps, but the ones sold new by Canada Computers and Teksavvy have good parts in them. The repair is pretty easy, if you are stuck you can contact me

The jury is still out on the reliability of the SMCD3GN, at least in my experience. The other modems seem to be very reliable. Of course everything can fail sometimes, and rocca is certainly correct that you have to beware of the vendor in general--that goes for everything you ever buy though

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

said by Teddy Boom:

I used to troll second hand stores and call them while I was standing in the store.

ROFL, that cracked me up.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere to Teddy Boom

Premium Member

to Teddy Boom
said by Teddy Boom:

Your modem is not officially official....

 
[Dave does Double-take / Spit-take.]

Reminds me of the girl who said "Well, I'm only a bit pregnant."

Teddy Boom
k kudos Received
Premium Member
join:2007-01-29
Toronto, ON

Teddy Boom to HiVolt

Premium Member

to HiVolt
said by HiVolt:

said by Teddy Boom:

I used to troll second hand stores and call them while I was standing in the store.

ROFL, that cracked me up.

Now that I'm home, I found the story:
»Re: Cisco DPC3825 on Teksavvy?

I can't believe Rogers will give credit for returning modems!! If you spend time at garage sales or second hand stores, you could end up with free internet service
(and of course it is trawling, not trolling, but you know..)

Pir8pete
join:2003-09-05
Ottawa

Pir8pete to rocca

Member

to rocca
said by rocca:

First, I'm sorry to hear about your experience.

We do try to inform customers of the issues that can arise with third-party equipment, ie on our modem page it specifically states "If you are purchasing a modem from another source please ensure it has the correct firmware version to be properly supported." The issue isn't specific to the SB6121, ie all models must have the correct firmware which is why we have dedicated a page to listing all the modems that will work.

As you stated there is a lot of 'bad' inventory out there right now, especially the stuff you find on Ebay/Kijiji - not only the wrong firmware, but just broken modems, or modems that aren't owned by the listing person (ie unreturned rental modems).

I know it sounds self-serving, but this is one of those cases where buying the modem from the ISP makes a lot of sense to ensure you're not on the hook for an incompatible model, or if from a third-party then one that is reputable, will confirm the firmware and make good if something goes wrong. There are a number of people in these forums that do just that.

Overall, I don't think I've seen many instances where purchasing from a random site on the internet and hoping it'll work has been significantly cheaper than buying it directly and being guaranteed it'll work please local cross-exchange should something happen to it within the warranty period.

I know that doesn't help you and I'm sorry about that, but if the place you purchased it was reputable they should take it back, especially if they sold it to you as having the correct firmware.

As a side note, you could always try plugging it into an active cable jack - you might get lucky and it pick up the firmware update that is currently in progress for that specific model (something we don't control) - this is a bit of an unusual time where it's possible this will work, as usually this is not the case. It may need to stay plugged in for a few days, but it might not work at all.

this is the actual reason I'm offering my services to help ppl in this kinda situation!


--
Firmware upgrade Team
mlord See Profile (Ottawa) - DCM475 & DCM476
Pir8pete See Profile (Ottawa) - SB5101, SB6120 & SB6121
Teddy Boom See Profile (GTA) - SB5101, DCM425, DCM475, DCM476, SB6120 & SB6121
zinc See Profile (Waterloo/Kitchener) - DCM475 & DCM476