Question for Comcast / Xfinity subscribers

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Triple_Se7en

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I've been with AT-TUverse for 3-4 years now. My last subscription was a DoublePlay of Internet and Land Phone. My bill has increased to bottom-line $92 (actual bill) for unlimited phone and 15-speed internet. Now I'm considering moving from phone line services to cable services

Yesterday I chatted with Xfinity over the net and he stated that no purchase options were available for the modem required. It's an unlimited land phone package with 25-speed internet. Instead of purchasing his modem, he insisted I must pay a $8 rental fee for month.

Did he give me a line-of-bull, or is this true?
 
I have Comcast Xfinity and pay no modium fee. However; Comcast has so many over priced options, one never really knows. Be very carefull about 3 month 6 month or yearly "specials" and mark them on you calander because you will get hit with an expensice surprise when the special ends. Ed
 
i think the issue is that most modems you can buy do not have the phone jack. my mom rents the modem and it has a seperate plug for the phone part.
 
Originally Posted By: WhyMe
i think the issue is that most modems you can buy do not have the phone jack. my mom rents the modem and it has a seperate plug for the phone part.


This. If you didn't have phone service, you wouldn't have this limitation.
 
I have seen the Xfinity ad on TV and honestly it was not clear how its connected to what?

I have Fairpoint Communications DSL. Little cell phone signal, no cable.

What can Xfinity connect to for me? (Besides 110V in the wall!)
 
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If your home is not wired for cable, I don't think you can get Comcast...unless they have started offering DSL?
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
http://mydeviceinfo.comcast.net/


Honestly, just ditch the landline phone service. Do you really need it?


When streaming, I get a better TV picture using wired over WIFI/wireless. It's an AT-T modem with local ethernet, wireless and two phone jacks included.

I suppose I could switch land-phone service to el-cheapo OOMA, or someone else like that. But the deals out there are for doubling your plans and I do not want a TV plan right now. So negotiating an internet-only plan is not going to provide me with the best rates..... at least I think-not.

My cellular plan is thru Virgin Mobile and I'm happy with them and their prices.

EDIT
I clicked on your link and is the one in red my Modem?
If so, then how would I know which one supports XFinity 25-speed with the same WIFI and land-phone plug-ins on the back?
 
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Comcast has no clue what your modem is if you're not a customer.

You need to get a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem if you want the faster speeds. They are phasing out the 2.0 modems. You can use any wireless router you want. Do NOT get an integrated modem/router.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
You can use any wireless router you want. Do NOT get an integrated modem/router.

But what choices does he have if he wants Comcast VOIP service? Are there any VOIP gateways one can buy on their own?
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: dparm
You can use any wireless router you want. Do NOT get an integrated modem/router.

But what choices does he have if he wants Comcast VOIP service? Are there any VOIP gateways one can buy on their own?



The problem is not that of compatibility, it's that Comcast probably hasn't developed firmware for many (if any). They would rather you just rent theirs.

That's how it works with a cable modem -- they actually flash your cable modem with their firmware, even if you own it.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
they actually flash your cable modem with their firmware, even if you own it.

Yeah, I know. Although, the firmware version on my old Linksys cable modem has never changed. It's still the same as when I took it out of the box when I bought it.
 
Yeah there are, I use an Obihai device. It used to interface with Google Voice (well it still does until May 15) for free inbound and outbound calling, but that is coming to an end. I used it for over three years that way. Now I use Anveo for something like $25 a year. We really don't use that number for much but there are a few places (vet, doctor's offices, etc.) that still have it in their records, so we keep it alive with this device.

My Google Voice number (which was our old landline number) is forwarded to my Anveo number, so I keep the anti-spam features of GV and the ability to have it ring on my cell phone if I want. It works very well.

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Are there any VOIP gateways one can buy on their own?
 
The above people are correct. You can purchase a regular modem, but that modem will not be what is known as an MTA (or a phone modem). Unlike TWC which does not charge you if you have a modem for phone, but not for internet (you can have your own internet modem, and you will not pay the lease fee, even if you have a TWC supplied modem for phone). With comcast, if you have phone, you have to pay the modem lease fee even if you own your own modem.
 
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Yeah there are, I use an Obihai device. It used to interface with Google Voice (well it still does until May 15) for free inbound and outbound calling, but that is coming to an end. I used it for over three years that way. Now I use Anveo for something like $25 a year. We really don't use that number for much but there are a few places (vet, doctor's offices, etc.) that still have it in their records, so we keep it alive with this device.

I was referring to Comcast VOIP service specifically.
 
Oh, OK. I thought you would know about alternative VOIP gateways.

I wonder how those ISP-specific VOIP services work? We used to have TW's home phone service back in the day.

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Yeah there are, I use an Obihai device. It used to interface with Google Voice (well it still does until May 15) for free inbound and outbound calling, but that is coming to an end. I used it for over three years that way. Now I use Anveo for something like $25 a year. We really don't use that number for much but there are a few places (vet, doctor's offices, etc.) that still have it in their records, so we keep it alive with this device.

I was referring to Comcast VOIP service specifically.
 
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Oh, OK. I thought you would know about alternative VOIP gateways.

I wonder how those ISP-specific VOIP services work? We used to have TW's home phone service back in the day.

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Yeah there are, I use an Obihai device. It used to interface with Google Voice (well it still does until May 15) for free inbound and outbound calling, but that is coming to an end. I used it for over three years that way. Now I use Anveo for something like $25 a year. We really don't use that number for much but there are a few places (vet, doctor's offices, etc.) that still have it in their records, so we keep it alive with this device.

I was referring to Comcast VOIP service specifically.


On a simplified level, the MTA part of a modem gets priority access. They are QOS'ed seperately, so there is always bandwidth available, even under peak load. On a system level as well, the VOIP Packets are given maximum priority on the network to maintain call quality and reliability. On the CMTS side, it is set up to receive those packets and pass them along to the PSTN.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Yeah there are, I use an Obihai device. It used to interface with Google Voice (well it still does until May 15) for free inbound and outbound calling, but that is coming to an end. I used it for over three years that way. Now I use Anveo for something like $25 a year. We really don't use that number for much but there are a few places (vet, doctor's offices, etc.) that still have it in their records, so we keep it alive with this device.

I was referring to Comcast VOIP service specifically.


No. MSOs do not allow customers to purchase their own MTAs. 99.9% of the time, MTAs are sold exclusively to MSOs. You cannot purchase an MTA directly from the manufacturer.
 
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