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The Hidden Cost of Your New Xfinity Router
An anonymous reader writes "The battle over Comcast's public WiFi network that is hosted on your cable modem continues. Comcast responded to Speedify's earlier power measurements by rushing them a new Cisco cable modem. The new modem proved to be more power hungry than the last, and also introduced some tricky IPv6 problems that caused major headaches for the team."
I dropped Comcrap for OTA and DSL and I save $150/mo.
"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
I too have had really bad results with IPv6 (TunnelBroker) when connecting to anything Google. You would think that Google of all companies would have their IPv6 poop in a group.
So, uh, where's the other 10 popular routers they tested?
I advise all my contacts when they get new comcrap or slime warner installs to go to the local big box store and pick up a router, then to demand that they get just a regular modem and not a modem/switch/wifi combo...They will often say that it is not an option...if you say "fine, I decline service, please leave immediately if you cant find a non integrated modem" suddenly one just happens to have slid under the seat in his van.....
These routers literally give Comcast all the power over your connection, allowing them to throttle however much they want and anybody they want easily without affecting everybody else, by claiming you use too much bandwidth or other BS like that.
The device has stability problems as well, as mentioned in the post. In normal (routed) mode, it worked fairly well, although I noticed odd lag spikes and other issues I didn't experience with the old modem. However, once you place the router into bridge mode (disabling all wifi features so I can use my modem direct), the router would reboot itself every 3-8 minutes.
I eventually, after talking to 20+ Comcast reps, got them to put a different modem back in. Even though my plan is 250d/30u, I'm only getting 30d/5u, because the modem won't provision with my plan. However, it works, so I'd rather have that than a laggy, rebooting faster plan.
I strongly recommend avoiding the DPC3939 until the problems are resolved. It lalso ooks to me like all of the problems are software related, not hardware--usually they can be avoided by changing configuration options, etc.
-=Lothsahn=-
I use it from work and home. At home I use Comcast's IPv6.
Your tech misled you. Or you've configured your computer rather strangely.
As to the power, yes doing stuff takes more power than not doing stuff. While those power figures are very reasonable, I don't find it unreasonable that a person would not want to spend even the $8/year it will cost to run the hotspot. In that case, turn off the hotspot, there is a method of doing so.
I actually think this could be pretty cool if Comcast would offer customers *something* in exchange for them hosting a public hotspot out of their house.
How about a free modem, instead of charging them $3/mo to rent one?
I own my modem outright, so have negative incentive to upgrade. But if they were to offer me a free basic IP phone line, or a free upgrade to the next speed tier, or free access to this service I'm hosting, or *anything*, I'd certainly consider it.
But otherwise, yeah, it seems like they're forcing everyone to pay for their network electricity as a requirement of getting their own internet, with no added benefit in return.
$65 a month for 110 Mbs internet rather than the $150 I was paying Comcast for 50 Mbs internet that rarely did much better than 10 Mbs.
And the company actually send techs out the same day for most problems instead of Comcast, which can take weeks.
They charge you eight bucks a month for the privilege of using their modem. You can buy your own from Amazon for less than you'll pay Comcast for a year's rental - and that's for a DOCSIS 3 modem that handles IPv6 just fine, even with Comcast.
Here's the one I bought - it's $68. It doesn't include wifi, so you'll have to bring your own wifi base - but those can be had cheaply as well. Plus you don't have to replace both functions just because one or the other craps out...
#DeleteChrome
Why the hell would I want to take the blame for what Comcast's other customers download? To make them more money while receiving nothing in return? Dear Comcast, go get fucked.
If you call Comcast's customer service, they can put their new routers into bridge mode. This turns off its WiFi and other unnecessary features and makes it act like their old routers.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
The blog post did not compare the power usage with the Xfinity hotspot enabled and disabled. So all we can say is that the new Comcast modem is crap and wastes power by the bucket, just like the old one apparently. So while the title and many comments here seem to imply the extra cost is all due to the Xfinity Hotspot functionality, that view is so far not supported in any way.
Or, if you can see if it is being used, keep turning it on and off and piss off Comcast users that are trying to access it. ROFLMA at you losers.
This AC is referring to this company, the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga. I've heard it is epic, but I moved away from there years ago.
FYI, I'm a Comcast engineer. All CPE management interfaces (the interface between the CMTS and the CM) are moving to IPv6 and should be transitioned by the end of the summer. The only remaining devices with the CMM interface still running on IPv4 are a handful of business class devices which should be converted by september. Beyond that, any modem which runs DHCP on LAN interfaces is running in either IPv4 or dual stack mode, though the ultimate plan is to move everything to IPv6 eventually.
In France, all major operators have been offering for years a public WiFi service, using their customer's modems.
The feature was pioneered by an operator called Free (with its well known "Freebox" Linux-based modem), and others had to offer the same. Free may buy T-mobile, which should seriously push Comcast to fix its problem.
... of 'helping' comcast set up their profitable (for them, not you) nationwide wifi network.......
the horrible spot of being the comcast customer in the first place, along with the financial and emotional costs involved -- either of which way overshadows the cost of running one of their fancy routers.
more like $8-$10 mo to rent and have cable phone?
if you have cable phone you are just about forced to rent it.
Yes, I do leave my TV, Radio, and Computer plugged in all day, and when I do unplug devices like a modem or cable box, you know what?
They reset, and then I have to wait for them to reload. So I leave them in, despite their power vampirism.
If my TV were like that, or radio, it'd be a pain, so why haven't the cable companies responded?
Maybe it's because the market doesn't notice, since it's not really identifiable usage like leaving your TV/Radio/Computer on all day would be.
Look at all these hotspots:
https://maps.fon.com/
More concerning than the power draw is the fact that they are running a business on other peoples private property without consent. The only way to have the darn thing turned off is to waste ten minutes on the phone with customer service. This sort of corprate scamming should be illegal. I forced them to turn it off then immediately set up a free public access point.
Which you can do if you buy your own.
Those all-in-ones are trouble in two big ways:
1) Failure due to heat. When you start trying to jam all the components in to one box, it gets hot. They can't go for a big case or fans or something like that, because consumers won't like it. So they run hot, and tend to fail sooner. No guarantees of course, but my informal observation shows that separate units work for longer.
2) Limited and expensive upgrade path. If one component of the system is outdated and you want to replace it, well you get to toss the whole thing and buy a new unit... assuming you can even get one. Like on Cox, all their all-in-ones are still only N wireless, no AC available. If you have separate units, you can upgrade them as you need/want to.
I find it much nicer to pay more up front, and have the better setup and options. Personally I have a Cisco cable modem, Edgerouter Lite router, and Netgear R7000 wifi bridge (it could act as a router, but is set not to). They work nice and stable, never needing reboots, I have the latest WiFi technology, and I can upgrade any piece as I wish. As a practical matter the WiFi will probably get upgraded first, in a few years, the cable modem next, whenever they start offering speeds in excess of what an 8x modem can handle, and the router not for a very long time, since it can handle a gig of throughput.
So while my up front costs were high, there's no monthly charge, I have excellent performance and stability, and support for the latest stuff.
No really, it doesn't work like that.
I unfriend you!
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
How long does that take? If I unplug my cable modem for any length of time (30 seconds, 30 minutes, a day) when I plug it back in it's back online and in service in under a minute. Maybe your cable company just sucks nutsack.
HFC MAC wrong? Refuse to connect.
1. get an old cardboard box big enough to fit your xfinity cable modem and put it in there.
2. wrap it with a metal screen and put holes in it just big enough to fit your coax, power cord and an ethernet cable through
3. hook it up and connect the ethernet cable to your own router
4. use all your bandwidth
Do you not look at who you're responding to? That's Frosty Piss, one of our biggest trolls. And now you support his position.
One of the "biggest trolls"? Really? Unlike you, I post *all* my comments logged in, and yet still have "excellent karma"...
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