Re:How to Swap Out a Time Warner Modem With Your Own Faster One
by windexh8er on Saturday January 18, 2014 @09:34PM
(#7083160)
This article is ripe with inaccurate data. Having worked on the first deployed DOCSIS 3 network in the US I know a few things about HFC networks.
First, any modem that is on the approved list of modems the ISP lists (either via public website or by calling) will be fully supported by latest and greatest firmware. The way it works is that there is generally a private overlay network that has access from the provisioning system to upload the firmware the ISP wants to have deployed. However this is often less likely than you think and any DOCSIS 3 capable modem you buy today will generally work out of the box. The difference between 2 and 3 is most generically up and down steam channel bonding. This is basically taking a QAM and running it over RF space on the cable. There is a finite about, just like over the air (although rather wide and compressed QAM, 64 QAM vs 256 QAM puts more data within the same time frame sent).
Back to provisioning... If you buy a Motorola Surfboard that is on the ISP approved list the provisioning system will send the same updates to your modem that would be to a leased modem.
I could go on, but TL;DR: this article is not a good reference to understand how HFC networks operate - or how to make your Internet faster.
That, and damn TWC is slow on D3. I helped roll it out in 2010. They must be running Arris CMTS.
First, any modem that is on the approved list of modems the ISP lists (either via public website or by calling) will be fully supported by latest and greatest firmware. The way it works is that there is generally a private overlay network that has access from the provisioning system to upload the firmware the ISP wants to have deployed. However this is often less likely than you think and any DOCSIS 3 capable modem you buy today will generally work out of the box. The difference between 2 and 3 is most generically up and down steam channel bonding. This is basically taking a QAM and running it over RF space on the cable. There is a finite about, just like over the air (although rather wide and compressed QAM, 64 QAM vs 256 QAM puts more data within the same time frame sent).
Back to provisioning... If you buy a Motorola Surfboard that is on the ISP approved list the provisioning system will send the same updates to your modem that would be to a leased modem.
I could go on, but TL;DR: this article is not a good reference to understand how HFC networks operate - or how to make your Internet faster.
That, and damn TWC is slow on D3. I helped roll it out in 2010. They must be running Arris CMTS.