Hi, I am in huge mess with Comcast and am looking for help. This is the situation; I have been a comcast customer for years and a little over a year ago(October 2015) I upgraded my old Doccix 2.0 modem to Doccix 3.0 because Comcast sent me notices I had to and bought an Arris SB6141. At the same time I set up the new modem I also installed a new Cisco Valet N router I had unopened that was bought 3 years earlier and people on this forum gave me great advice on how to set everything up correctly and quickly and it saved lots of aggravation. Everything has been fine since then but every once in a while one of my windows laptops has a problem connecting to my wifi. When that happens I just reset my modem & router by unplugging both and then waiting a minute and plugging back in. Within a couple of minutes connection with wifi is back and all good. I haven't reset now for several months but all has been fine but earlier this week the windows laptop could not connect again with wifi. Now I knew wifi was okay as ipad was working perfectly with it. But I did not want to reset as I sometimes work from home so waited until tonight to do it. As of 7:30 eastern time all was okay with both wifi & ethernet and then I unplugged both and then plugged back in a minute later. But when I checked connection 1/2 hour later nothing and lights on modem and router not flashing correctly. Tried again and still nothing. So I called Comcast and tech guy tells me my modem is end of life. I explode as why no notification or letter and isn't there some way to get it to work even short term so I can buy some time to get new modem later this weekend if need be(I own both my modem & router by the way). He says he will try to refresh modem which he did and then I plugged in router again but nothing. He says nothing else he can do but I ask him if I should try to connect laptop to modem directly with ethernet to see if that may work. He seems to not even understand my question but I get him to wait on the line and I do that and my laptop does connect to internet using modem directly which is how I am typing this now. I tell him ethernet working when connected directly and he now says yes that will work but not wifi since end of life on modem. This makes no sense to me. I try to explain that couldn't this just be a router problem? Again he has trouble understanding. So I am asking for help. Does it make any sense if the modem works with ethernet then shouldn't it also work with router for wifi? As I am trying to understand if modem is working for ethernet directly why router would not work when it did a couple of hours ago? Can a router just stop working for good simply by unplugging when all was fine a few minutes earlier? Any advice on what to try next? I can't believe my Arris SB6141 already at end of life when I bought only a little over a year ago but if need be I will by another and I know I could use a router upgrade but I really would love to get this to work even in the interim. Thanks in advance for advice or help. roark
Okay quick update: After I sent post above I then reconnected router and this time all the lights seemed to work correctly(unlike any of the tries before) so I thought it was fine. But no. Although lights were good no internet and not only just no wifi but even connecting thru ethernet into the router would not work. I am very confused at that as I thought a router when using ethernet was more of a pass through so I figured that at least would work. So I don't know what to think or do. Would what I am experiencing be due to a now outdated modem? It still seems like a router issue and would it be worth it to try to reset router and set it up again from scratch? Looking to any and all advice on both what to do and to understand where the problem is. Also if I get a new modem & router which seems likely even if I can get this to work. Do most on this board still recommend separate ones? That seemed to be consensus a little over a year ago but was not sure if anything changed. Is a modem/router all in one just as easy to set up without installing any software and just using web utility(192.1.1 etc) like I was instructed last time? Does that method work just as easy on combo devices? Or do you think separate modem & router still best way to go? Thanks again. roark
If me, I would reset the entire network. That is, unplug the modem and router from the wall and power off and unplug all computers too. Unplugging PCs from the wall is particularly important to ensure they are no longer in standby mode. Unplug Ethernet connected computers from the 4-port switch on the router. Keep the "uplink/WAN" Ethernet connection between the router and modem connected. Wait at least 10 minutes. You normally need only wait about 30 seconds, but 10 minutes will ensure your ISP senses the modem is off line too. Then plug in power to the modem. Wait for the lights to settle down, then plug in power to the router and wait for those lights. Then plug in one Ethernet connected PC and see if you have Internet access. As for separates, I still prefer a separate modem and then a wireless router instead of an all-in-one "residential gateway" integrated device. And I recommend buying your own instead of renting one.
It sounds like the modem is working and the router is the problem. So in addition to Bill_Bright's suggestions, I would do a 30/30/30 reset on the router.
First thanks Bill & sbwhiteman for your replies. It turns out it is only a router problem as I suspected as the Comcast guy last night knew nothing. This morning when I called I got someone good who told me my modem is fine and not end of service. But the router would not connect(handshake) with the modem again. But I had my old b/g router from years ago still and asked the Comcast guy if it could still work even temporarily and he said probably. So I plugged it in and connected to modem and all lights were good within about 10 seconds! I was shocked but now both ethernet & wifi do work but are slower with old router. So I assume that means my original Cisco Valet router is the problem for sure but it does seem strange it all was working until I unplugged it. Can that just happen like that? So I was going to go out today and buy a new router and was thinking of just an inexpensive Neatgear N router. Would that be a mistake and should I definitely get an a/c router instead? My comcast service only goes to 150mbps so I figured N more than enough but was not sure if a/c makes connecting much easier or other plusses. Also as sbwhiteman suggested if I do a hard reset of my Cisco Valet router do you think there is any chance that will allow it to work again? Thanks again to you both for your help. roark
I also use Comcast and I also use the same exact modem as you. I highly recommend an ASUS router. Here is the one that I use: https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RTAC68U/ You can also find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-RT-AC68U-Ultra-Fast-Acceleration-AiProtection/dp/B00FB45SI4
