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brillman
join:2014-12-11

brillman

Member

Want to Buy my Own Gear for CL service

Long time lurker, first time poster...

I have been Comcast user for 9 years up until May 2014, when I made the switch to CenturyLink. It was cheaper and I was getting better speeds, close to 40mps.

I wanted to buy gear and was given the C1000A. I configured it to work in bridge mode and use my router to provide networking. The C1000A works fine for 3 months and then bricks. I'm on my 3rd C1000A.

My Question:
I don't want a modem/router combo device. I just want a modem that will send the signal to my current router. With $200 as a price ceiling, what consumer grade gear should I buy? (I couldn't find a resource that clearly explained this)

Any help is much appreciated!

-Keith
Slippery616
Premium Member
join:2004-03-28
Littleton, CO

Slippery616

Premium Member

Here is a page of supported modems and modem/routers from Centurylink themselves.
»internethelp.centurylink ··· ems.html
I can't recommend any modems as I just got service with them 2 weeks ago. (VDSL2 40Mbps/5mb and landline). I got the Zyxel C1000z and so far it's rock solid, but it's a modem/router.
This is a page showing compatibility.
»internethelp.centurylink ··· e-q.html
brillman
join:2014-12-11

brillman

Member

Here are two options I've found:

»www.zyxel.com/us/en/prod ··· html?t=p

»www.zyxel.com/us/en/prod ··· html?t=p

Any thoughts to either from anyone?

xsbell
join:2008-12-22
Canada

xsbell to brillman

Member

to brillman
I would not recommend that P-871M, I believe it uses an Ikanos chipset which only supports up to 12Mhz and it's pretty old. Not to mention they'll be hard to find and relatively expensive.

The Actiontecs (C1000A/C2000) CL uses all have Broadcom's 63168 chipset, which is one of the best on the market (6368 also). If you're just looking for a single loop, bridgeable modem, check out the Huawei HG610. It's about $50 shipped off ebay.
brillman
join:2014-12-11

brillman

Member

I will not be using any more C1000A's because I'm on #3.

I will put some research into the Huawei HG610.

It's just frustrating because CL up here in MN claims they only have C1000A's to replace my burnt modem with.
gapmn
join:2013-11-10
Saint Paul, MN

gapmn

Member

Pickup the C1000Z off EBay or Craigslist and call it a day. What, exactly, happened to your C1000a's?
coryw
join:2013-12-22
Flagstaff, AZ

coryw

Member

I'd second the C1000z. There aren't really any pure bridge VDSL2 modems, and CenturyLink's firmware is pretty good with bridging, so you don't really lose anything by having an idle wireless radio.
cgreene
Premium Member
join:2003-12-14
Roanoke Rapids, NC

cgreene

Premium Member

The latest firmware in the C1000A supports a bonded line. The SNR is list for both lines. Since the C1000Z firmware has not been updated it would show just one line. The C1000Z would reflex a single pair only. I have used both on a bonded line.
coryw
join:2013-12-22
Flagstaff, AZ

coryw

Member

It's confusing how they have the US1/US2 and DS1/DS2 listed on the new C1000a firmware now. Is it actually being used for bonding, and/or does it (and its chipset) physically support two pairs? I'll have to look at it at some point, but I'm pretty sure there are only two pins on the C1000A's DSL jack.
cgreene
Premium Member
join:2003-12-14
Roanoke Rapids, NC

cgreene

Premium Member

When I had VDSL2 install a year ago tech said he found one pair good for 25/2 service. I was thinking how great for one pair. C1000A reported one pair up/down SNR as did the C1000z installed a few months later. After the C1000A updated the firmware I reinstalled it and the U.S. 1/2 and DS 1/2. ???

edge
@151.151.109.x

edge to brillman

Anon

to brillman
If you can find a Zyxel Q100 that is your best bet for a pure modem for bridge use. Had one with VDSL2 for 5 years until a freak lightning storm fried it through the phone line.
coryw
join:2013-12-22
Flagstaff, AZ

coryw

Member

One note about the Q100 is that it is not technically a pure bridge, it is a gateway, that happens to have been shorn of its wireless and extra ethernet ports.

The only advantage to the Q100 over literally any of the other CL-branded VDSL2 devices is that it is physically slightly smaller. (And, really, not that much.)

It might be nice to keep the extra ethernet ports of the Q1000/Q1000z/C1000z or C2000{a/t} so you can connect to the modem's administration interface without taking it out of bridge mode. (It should be possible to do this with routing, but it depends on what your router's like, I personally haven't tried, and am unlikely to do so for the time being.)
coryw

coryw

Member

Not that the Q100 is bad, if you can find one and it does what you want when you put it into RFC1483 Bridged Mode, that's fine, just that there's no really good or compelling reason to try to find one instead of a Q1000 or C1000-series modem, if you can find one of those first or cheaper.
brad152
join:2006-07-27
Chicago, IL

brad152 to cgreene

Member

to cgreene
said by cgreene:

When I had VDSL2 install a year ago tech said he found one pair good for 25/2 service. I was thinking how great for one pair. C1000A reported one pair up/down SNR as did the C1000z installed a few months later. After the C1000A updated the firmware I reinstalled it and the U.S. 1/2 and DS 1/2. ???

The US and DS numbers you're looking at are just samples of the signal from different parts of the pair your using (upper MHz vs lower MHz)

the C1000A's input jack and chipset are not physically capable of doing pair-bonding.

To the OP, find a C1000Z or C2000T on eBay if you can, they're both rock solid