Rogers DOCSIS 3 modem

[yyzlhr]

What you were told is correct and has been discussed extensively in these forums. Yes you will be receiving a DOCSIS 3 modem.

[spensar]

Thanks very much, appreciated.

So I have a good working set up with my own wireless router, and my modem rental is $4 per month. I am only swapping at Rogers request, hope they don't try to charge me $7.

[57]

hope they don't try to charge me $7.

Good Luck with that. Read the last few pages of this thread (page 5 onwards) where the modems, speeds and pricing have been discussed extensively.

Payback on a purchased modem is under 2 years, actually less since the modem would still have value in the future.

[yyzlhr]

You will be charged $7 a month unless you have a promotion that offers free modem rentals. That should have been explained to you when they set up the order to swap your modem.

[MyMedia08]

Well, just like I predicted , and just like clockwork, Rogers messed up once agin.

All arrangments were made and confimed to simply drop off a SMCD3GN .... instead, the tech arrives , knows nothing about the SMC modem, knows nothing about a drop-off, knows nothing about Bridge mode. All he has is the Cisco 3825 (looked new in a box) and is ready to install it. Oh and work order also says to pick up my old modem - which I own !! Seriously? Way ' d' go Rogers

Okay, so as I did no homework on the Cisco, and the guy is at my door, I decided to roll the dice, and let him in, but watch him like a hawk. I took away the old modem myself (and of coruse kept it) and let him do his thing.

He asked my what I wanted to name the wireless network, and I said "no, no, no. turn it off. I want this unit in bridge mode - cable modem only no wireless". He said he never did that ( oh-oh), but it was easy enough to find the menu item to turn wireless off option. We tested it, it worked. I confirmed to could access the unit vie user id/password. I could. And he left.

I phoned customer relations right away to confrem all product codes were correct and grandfathered caps still lifted. They confirmed its set up right but need the tech to submit that the work was done.


IMPORTANT FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS RE CISCO

1) What else to I need to turn off ?? Are there DHCP services I also need to turn off?? ( I have my own wired/wireless network routers)

2) My download results are below.... hmmmm... still slower than what 57 repoeted earlier. Any steps I can take??

3) In bridge mode, are the Cisco and SMCs more or less equivalent re reliability/performance???



Speed results from dowloading a 132 MB file from adobe.com:

Date test completed............ : 2012-07-27
Time test completed............ : 01:41 PM
Actual DOWNLOAD TIME in seconds : 79 seconds
Actual FILESIZE in bytes....... : 132,552,561 bytes
Computed FILESIZE in bits...... : 1,060,420,488 bits
Computed BITS/SEC.............. : 13,423,044 bps
Computed Mbps.................. : 12.80 Mbps


SPEEDTEST:

[MyMedia08]

Update.. I logged in again and saw DHCP Server enabled.... so I went to Administration and found a drop down to choose between router and bridge. I selected bridge, and rebooted the modem ( and my routers)

It now even slower... back to D2 speeds..., but my speeds are now off.

I guess I need to 'call it in'.

My nightmare (as predicted) continues....

[MyMedia08]

I really hate this. Touch any part of a Rogers service , everthing turns to sh**.

Got off the phone with a Rogers tech. First theu tell me that as Express is 18 Mbps. that I should expect to see on a SpeedTest. OMFG. I finally convince them no, thats not true, and I got 26 using that benchmark about 10 minutes before the modem was switched from router to bridge mode. So he had me connect the computer direct to the modem (fair test) and sure enough it was back up to 26. So they washed thier hands of the problem.

But when I re-connect my DIR-655 router, it drops back to 19 ( ie D2 speeds).

SO, IS THERE A PERSONAL ROUTER SETTING ONE NEEDS TO CHANGE AS WELL?

RECAP:

• A-Modem on default (router mode), wireless off, connected to personal router ... ie TWO routers going (bad)....I get 25 Mbps on a speed test. ( I can no longer recreate this... its back to 19Mbps
  
• B-Modem on bridge mode, wireless off, computer connected directly (no personal router) ....I get 25 Mbps on a speed test.
  
• C-Modem on bridge mode , wireless off, connected to personal router, I get 19 Mbps on a speed test

What am I doing wrong?? Why 'C" is slow.

[mark]

I'm not sure what the bottleneck is on your end, but I can confirm that I have the Cisco 3825 (that I put in bridge mode myself) connected to an Asus RT-N16 router and am getting full speeds.

I'm on the Extreme package and have gotten in excess of 40Mbps downstream (likely due to Speedboost).

When I put the 3825 into bridge mode most if not all the other options were disabled (i.e.: DHCP server, wireless, etc..).

[MyMedia08]

Mark - would really appreciate if we can compare settings. Been on the phone all afternnon with the techs - they cannot help. This has been a disaster. I knew it would be.

I'm not even sure if its the Router -vs- Bridge anymore. The only way I get a high speed now is if I remove my personal router from the equation.

Here are my settings (at the time I toggle from Router Mode to Bridge Only)

Setup - Wireless Network Disabled
Setup - LAN Setup - DCHP Server - (Enable <> Disable) *** caution.. this really needs to be enabled all the time. Its not needed for Bridge mode (so Enable is fine) , and it MUST be enabled for Router Mode or you can never get back in , even with hard reset)
Setup - DDNS - Disable
Wireless - Basic - Wireless Network - Disable

Security - Firewall - SP1 Firewall Proection - Enablse
Security - Firewall - all blocks and filer unchecked
Security - Firewall - Black Anonymous Internet Requests - checked
Security - VPN Passthrough - IPSec - Enable
Security - VPN Passthrough - PPTPc - Enable
Security - VPN - IPSec VPN Tunnel - Disable

Access Retrictions - all zeros and blanks
Access Retrictions - MAC Filterting - Disable

Apps and Gaming - - all zeros and blanks

Administration - Management - Working Mode = Router Mode <>Bridged Only - (s discussed)
Administration - Management Remote Management- Disable
Administration - Reporting - Email - Disable

Administration - UPnP - Enable

LAN Setup - NTP - Enable

Right now:

• Using SpeedTest ( I am on Express like 57), I get 19 Mbps with the Cicso 3825 DOCSIS3
  
• If I do my own tests. ( 130 MB downlaod from adobe.com), I get 7.38, which is absolutely USELESS :

Date test completed............ : 2012-07-27
Time test completed............ : 05:49 PM
Actual DOWNLOAD TIME in seconds : 137 seconds
Actual FILESIZE in bytes....... : 132,552,561 bytes
Computed FILESIZE in bits...... : 1,060,420,488 bits
Computed BITS/SEC.............. : 7,740,296 bps
Computed Mbps.................. : 7.38 Mbps

[B]
Rogers wont help as they say speeds are good at the modem ( which they are at about 25 Mbps on Speedtest)

I have the lastest firmware for my main router (the DIR-655), so the only other options i can see ( assuming its not modem settings) is

a) Put the Cisco in Router Mode (with wireless off) and use it as my main router - throw out the DIR-655
b) Put the Cisco in Bridge Mode (with wireless off) and buy a new main router.

[spensar]

Good Luck with that. Read the last few pages of this thread (page 5 onwards) where the modems, speeds and pricing have been discussed extensively.

Payback on a purchased modem is under 2 years, actually less since the modem would still have value in the future.

I got a $36 credit per year for the next two years - one applied now, one in a year. The basic rub is that I was not informed of any extra cost until after I had pulled the old one, stood in line for 20 minutes, and finally had the Rogers mandated replacement in hand. I've been with Rogers since 1995 and I am sure that was part of it. They also informed me that the promo deal I had was for 2 years, which was news to me.

I'll read up on options to buy one. When I was dealing with retentions about the extra cost, I was quoted $250 for the modem, which is about $100 more than I read it sells for. One battle at a time though, I will look into the purchase option closer.

[MyMedia08]

RESOLVED FOR NOW.
For the benefit of others who may have a similar setup as I , in order to maximize my speed (D3 over D2) and to resolve a conflict I have between the 3825 and the DIR-655 router (my hardware/firmware version). I ended up doing this:

1) Set the Cisco to Router mode with wireless off (DCHP on).Connect all wired devices here via gigabit ports and switches.
2) Set the DLINK as a Wireless Acess Point (DCHP off). No wired devices connected
3) Reassigned (off of DLINK and onto Cisco) and maintained all my static IPs , changed default IP ranges, passwords etc.

I now :
-have the speeds I was after ; noticable (and measureable) speed improvement.
-can access the admin pages of the Cisco and all my access points.

The modem is free for the year, so I bought some time in the process. I know the 3825 (and SMC) are a bit flakey on wireless (so I dont use it for that), but I am hopeful they are solid as cable modems and wired routers.


Plan : Express
Modem : Cisco 3825

Speed Test Results:

Actual File Download Results (from adobe.com)

For small file sizes, actual downlaods yield similar rates due to Rogers SpeedBoost:

20 MB file
Date test completed............ : 2012-07-28
Time test initiated............ : 15:32:23
Time test completed............ : 15:32:29
Actual DOWNLOAD TIME in seconds : 6 seconds
Actual FILESIZE in bytes....... : 21,453,824 bytes
Computed FILESIZE in bits...... : 171,630,592 bits
Computed BITS/SEC.............. : 28,605,099 bps
Computed Mbps.................. : 27.28 Mbps
Source of file downloaded:
http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adob...1001_Tier2.msp

For larger files, download rates are still respectable:

70 MB file
Date test completed............ : 2012-07-28
Time test initiated............ : 15:36:11
Time test completed............ : 15:36:38
Actual DOWNLOAD TIME in seconds : 27 seconds
Actual FILESIZE in bytes....... : 70,169,088 bytes
Computed FILESIZE in bits...... : 561,352,704 bits
Computed BITS/SEC.............. : 20,790,841 bps
Computed Mbps.................. : 19.83 Mbps

Source of file downloaded:
http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adob...5_all_incr.msp

[yyzlhr]

So Rogers will be launching a new Docsis 3.0 GATEWAY soon. Yes Gateway, no standalone modem. Will not be made by SMC, Cisco or Motorola so it will be interesting to see which vendor they've chosen this time. New product codes are reportedly in the billing system already, which also likely means the newer gateway will be positioned as a premium device and will carry a higher monthly rental fee.

[yyzlhr]

Update: it will be the Hitron CDE-30364.

[viper359]

MyMedia08: The cisco modem is a good solid cable modem and router. Even its wireless is pretty decent. Keep in mind, that comment is coming from someone who hates all in ones!!!

What you should do though, is log into each router, and backup the config files to your PC, that way, if something happens, you reset your network in seconds.

I have installed and setup more home-networks then I care to count. I have seen some funky stuff happen. Like nothing would work, I shut off uPnP in one router, and all the sudden everything worked. Shutting off a setting that should have made no difference, yet it did.

In my setup, I have the Cisco modem combo running gig connections to 2 wired routers, my VOIP network adapter, and my computer. A DIR 655, and E4200 are my routers. One of those mimics the Cisco wireless N 2.4GHZ, to handle the blackberry's and other older wireless devices, and allows seamless hand-off between access points, and the other does the wireless N 5.GHZ.

My LAN does just over a terabyte of local traffic a month through my server. It hosts all the streaming content, my personal blu ray copies etc. For instance, I bought the new star trek tng season one. I copied it to HDD, as I prefer streaming. That alone was almost 500 Gigs.

My point, once everything it setup, it can handle the abuse and use. One quirk I have noticed though, and I am not sure if its Firefox or the Cisco modem, sometimes, when I access certain config pages, it causes my modem to reboot! Never actually looked into the problem with Explorer, but, I am sure I have used IE to access the config, so I think it was a Firefox issue.

These modems do give off some serious heat though! Like keep my coffee warm heat!!! I think people have too high of an expectation for wireless coverage. Each home is different, and wireless is affected very easily. One of my computers had horrible reception, moved it two whole feet, went from near crawling to full out sprinting in speeds.

The only thing I wish Cisco put in ALL their modems / routers is better parental controls, network monitoring, and traffic logs. However, that is all resource intensive, and home networking gear is not designed or built to handle that sort of need. <--- Slowly, I will start replacing my home gear with enterprise level gear.

Give the box a chance, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

[Gangrel]

Originally Posted by yyzlhr

Update: it will be the Hitron CDE-30364.

I've just learned recently about the new modems, etc. when I found out my monthly cap is still at 60GB when it *could* be at 80..... nice of them to tell me all this!

Anyway, have the Hitron's come out yet? I think I want to buy a modem to get the higher cap and speeds on my Express plan. I assume these must be better then the Ciscos?

I've tried to log onto my rogers account online but it seems i've had trouble getting onto their site yesterday and today???