At 05:59 PM 2/1/2007, you wrote:
>A Comcast tech told me that my cable modem, a four year old Toshiba, 
>was being "overwhelmed" by their new higher speed service, and that 
>I should consider either getting a modem from Comcast or buy a new 
>modem.  She said that modems built in the past two years would be acceptable.
>
>Does this sound reasonable to anyone who might be familiar with the subject?

Gordon, it sounds completely possible to me.  The older modems did 
not support the DOCSIS 2.0 standard, which is what many cable 
providers today are using.  While they would still be compatible with 
the network, they may suffer some performance issues.  There are 
other possible issues too, like firmware upgrades.  Older modems 
aren't supported now with future enhancements that a more recent 
modem might be able to take advantage of.

Within the last year, I was forced to give up my Toshiba cable modem 
for a Motorola that also supported VoIP phone service.  While I was 
fighting the change due to my Toshiba being rock stable for many 
years, I actually found my network speeds increased, and my 
reliability did not suffer at all.

Bottom line, if it's free or reasonable, I would do it.

Eric Greenberg 

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