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Pacomartin
join:2013-03-18
Bethlehem, PA

Pacomartin

Member

[Equipment] Loss of power considerations

The equipment supplied by RCN (at our house) consists of:
#1) Linksys E1200 Wireless N-300 Router
#2) Arris TM822G Touchstone® DOCSIS 3.0 Telephony Modem
#3) Actiontec ECB2500C (optional if TiVo Q is too far from Router)

My question is that this piece of equipment does the same thing as #1) and #2)
Arris TG862G DOCSIS 3.0 Residential Gateway

The big advantage is that the wireless would stay on in the event of a power outage as long as the battery lasts. Right now, only the phone stays on.

Wireless is a possibly more important in the first few hours after losing power than telephone voice. Since most households have a laptop, you can e-mail people, check status with electric company, check news and weather and better make emergency preparations if the outage is long term.

I can't see the reason for this decision. Could an someone from RCN respond?

BTW: Kudos for supplying the battery inclusive. Comcast is charging for the battery, and people who don't pay for it are left without phone the second the power goes out.
mjr
Premium Member
join:2003-09-18
Bethlehem, PA

mjr

Premium Member

I have a NAS on a separate small UPS for its own protection. All my networking gear is also on the same UPS. I can confirm it's very handy to maintain connectivity when the power goes out. I get about 40 minutes of backup when the power goes out before the NAS shuts down and then another 10-15 minutes before the UPS dies. After the UPS goes, THEN the battery will kick in on the cable modem (as the cable modem is also plugged into the UPS.)

If comcast is charging anything substantial for a battery to backup the CM, I would just suggest people get a cheap UPS and backup whatever they want... But that's another topic.

Pacomartin
join:2013-03-18
Bethlehem, PA

Pacomartin

Member

said by mjr:

If comcast is charging anything substantial for a battery to backup the CM, I would just suggest people get a cheap UPS and backup whatever they want... But that's another topic.

COMCAST charges $35.00 plus taxes and a $5.95 shipping fee for up to eight hours in the event of an electrical outage.

NAS is a double meaning as an acronym. I am not sure if you are talking about a battery, or a backup storage for your computer.

In any case the only real reason I can see RCN using two devices instead of one is that it is easier to charge the $5 fee twice.

But even if they charge $10 for the "residential gateway" the customer would be paying the same monthly fee, but they would have wireless for a few hours.

Many electrical outages only last a few hours anyway. It would greatly increase safety.

Pugmaster
@rcn.net

Pugmaster to Pacomartin

Anon

to Pacomartin
Just food for thought, most EMTA's and integrated devices disable Ethernet and WiFi when operating on battery in order to conserve power.

artjohn
Premium Member
join:2000-11-17
Chevy Chase, MD

artjohn

Premium Member

I think Pugmaster is correct; the battery in the TG862G as well as the TM822G is solely for phone service.

You would need a Backup UPS battery (or home generator) to supply emergency power in the event of a loss of power from your electric utility to keep the wifi and router functions working on the TG862G.

Also, keep in mind that RCN is supposed to keep battery backup to the local node; that should last some 8 hours or so. In our area (Maryland) RCN has been pretty good keeping the local node alive for even longer periods of time, including as much as 6 days during prolonged utility outages (2003 Hurricane Isabel, 2010 Snowmaggedon and the 2012 Derecho). I suppose your local mileage may vary (:))

Pacomartin
join:2013-03-18
Bethlehem, PA

1 edit

Pacomartin

Member

said by artjohn:

I think Pugmaster is correct; the battery in the TG862G as well as the TM822G is solely for phone service,

You are correct. I checked the manual and did a quick test. Thank you!

You might as well close the thread.

WillieG
@verizon.net

WillieG to Pacomartin

Anon

to Pacomartin
Why would you pay $5 per month to rent a router?