Cable modem with landline support or?

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vroom_skies

[H]ard|Gawd
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Sep 25, 2005
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Hey all,
Were switching from ATT to Comcast, don't know how pleased I am about it, but neither company is great by any means. I bought our own own modem, the MOTOROLA SB6120. However I forgot that this doesn't support a phone land line, which we need.
Is there a modem of equal quality that will give us the phone support? If not what type of unit would I need to just support the phone land line as I wouldn't mind running two different units to keep the Motorola SB6120.

Thanks
 
Can you keep the Surfboard and get a magic jack or something of the sorts?
 
Comcast should be able to give you an eMTA for their Digital Phone service if that is what you want to do.
 
If you want a solid DOCSIS 3.0 modem with MTA get an Arris TM722G. We deploy these at our ISP. You can buy one for around $150, but these are what Comcast uses so I'd just lease one from them.

If you want to keep the 6120 and put a MTA behind your router, you could try a Linksys SPA2102 or SPA 3102. These are what I'm familiar with and there may be better options. Just dont put one directly behind your modem as it will slow your network traffic down to less than 10mbit. Also make sure your router can pass SIP traffic...

Personally, I'd get an all-in-one.
 
Oh, ok. An ATA for VOIP. Integrated is nice in terms of getting rid of a device and having less to worry about misconfiguring. Externals are fine, though. Ehren mentioned the Linksys SPA2102 which is very common. I really like GrandStream's HandyTone 503 though. Perhaps more a VOIP hackers tool though. I bet the linksys would be a lot simpler.

HT503
 
All great solutions, but the OP specifies Comcast and the provider. They do not support BYOD SIP service yet, only via their own hardware.
 
Nate7311 said:
All great solutions, but the OP specifies Comcast and the provider. They do not support BYOD SIP service yet, only via their own hardware.
Click to expand...

So there you go, OP. If your voice service is through Comcast, you're SOL. :)

I do find Comcast and AT&T VOIP prices a bit excessive. I don't use Voice capabilities too often, but I do have some use for the technology. I use voicemail boxes, extension routing, IVRs etc, plus software FAX (send/receive). I've been using Vitelity for the last year, and it's been great. Price is amazing. Since I don't use E911, I pay 1.49/month for the line, plus usage.

Vitelity LLC Retail Pricing
 
damacus said:
So there you go, OP. If your voice service is through Comcast, you're SOL. :)

I do find Comcast and AT&T VOIP prices a bit excessive. I don't use Voice capabilities too often, but I do have some use for the technology. I use voicemail boxes, extension routing, IVRs etc, plus software FAX (send/receive). I've been using Vitelity for the last year, and it's been great. Price is amazing. Since I don't use E911, I pay 1.49/month for the line, plus usage.

Vitelity LLC Retail Pricing
Click to expand...

I used to use vitelity on my PBX and they are crap. It always works, but the call quality is garbage. Broadvoice has good call quality but they are far from the cheapest. Best easy to use VOIP hands down is vonage. Plug it in and it works, period.

If you get something from comcast, they will most likely put in a second drop right to their ata and wire it into your house for you. Doesn't get much easier than that.
 
bds1904 said:
I used to use vitelity on my PBX and they are crap. It always works, but the call quality is garbage. Broadvoice has good call quality but they are far from the cheapest. Best easy to use VOIP hands down is vonage. Plug it in and it works, period.

If you get something from comcast, they will most likely put in a second drop right to their ata and wire it into your house for you. Doesn't get much easier than that.
Click to expand...

I guess it could be a case of 'you get what you pay for' though my experience with them has been very positive. The call quality I've had no problems with, comparing it to landline and cell service. It's clean enough for FAX. Am tempted to try out Broadvoice to compare though.

As for Vonage, they're a non-starter since they don't allow non-Vonage devices to register to the service, aside from Vonage Softphone. Poo on them.

I see data VOIP providers just as a convenience / cost efficiency thing primarily though, or a special application for places that have to handle serious call volume. Still can't beat a few PRI's for primary termination/origination.
 
Thanks for all the replies all! I didn't/ don't have much time to read them since I'm in the middle of computer hell atm and have got to get some rest.
I saw there was a little confusion, so I'll do my best to clear it up.

Were switching from ATT to Comcast, well be using Comcast for tv/ net/ phone. We want to keep the number we had from ATT and bring it over to Comcast's service.
I'd love to keep the modem that I bought, but it doesn't support the land line through it, so there would have to be another means. Would the docsis 3 modem that Comcast provides be about the same quality as the Motorola I bought? Or would it be best to run two modems (one for the net, other for the phone (or how ever that'd work))?

Thanks
 
Comcast is known to supply the tm722 which I think is an excellent modem. Arris is a big player in the modem realm.
 
Thanks you two.
If I wanted to stay with the Motorola SB6120, what are my options for just a modem to use with the phone land line that would work with Comcast?
 
That's what Time Warner Cable does since they (as far as I know) don't have any "approved" DOCSIS 3.0 eMTAs yet. They give you a DOCSIS 3.0 modem of some brand and then put in a DOCSIS 2.0 eMTA and run Digital phone off of that.

Or if you are a business customer, TWC will install a separate modem for Digital Phone & Internet.
 
I ended up keeping the SB6120 and have an Arris (Comcast unit) for the rest.

I seem to be having an issue though. When I have my computer hooked up to the modem directly I'm getting roughly the speeds that I'm paying for (25/ 4). However when going through my router (D-Link DGL 4500) I'm getting an average of 15/ 2. I don't see any setting that looks off, but then again I'm just giving it a quick once over.
Also it would have been nice to get above the advertised speeds with the SB6120. I was reading lots of reviews where the benefit of Docsis 3 was doubling & tripling peoples speeds. However I guess I can't fault it as I am getting fairly close to advertised speeds.

Hopefully I'm just missing something silly in regards to the router.
Thanks
 
I've had too many miscellaneous problems and let-downs with D-Link equipment to ever bother buying their stuff again. You could try running DD-WRT on it, or return it and get a Netgear WNDR3700/4000 or Cisco E4200.
 
I've had this router for a few years now and have never had much of an issue with it.
When I was on DSL I'd get my full connection speed. This is the first time I've having this issue, so I was thinking it might just be a simple config issue since I switched to cable.

I didn't know you could run DD-WRT on this unit. I'll have to check that out again as that would be a huge plus.
 
How fast was your DSL?

Also, I don't know that your model necessarily supports DD-WRT, was more recommending that you investigate other third party firmwares that may be more capable and potentially faster than the stock firmware.
 
vroom_skies said:
I ended up keeping the SB6120 and have an Arris (Comcast unit) for the rest.

I seem to be having an issue though. When I have my computer hooked up to the modem directly I'm getting roughly the speeds that I'm paying for (25/ 4). However when going through my router (D-Link DGL 4500) I'm getting an average of 15/ 2. I don't see any setting that looks off, but then again I'm just giving it a quick once over.
Also it would have been nice to get above the advertised speeds with the SB6120. I was reading lots of reviews where the benefit of Docsis 3 was doubling & tripling peoples speeds. However I guess I can't fault it as I am getting fairly close to advertised speeds.

Hopefully I'm just missing something silly in regards to the router.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Since you're paying for 25/4 that's about the best you can expect since even a docsis 2.0 modem can do about that (on the downstream). Moving to Docsis 3.0 modem isn't going to automatically allow you to go faster than your provisioned speed.

As fro your 15/2 problems, that's definitely something funky with your network there.
 
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