Modem and Router connectivity issues

[ahobbitstail]

Hey ladies and gents,

So I've just started service with Comcast at my new apartment. I purchased my own modem and router because of my past experience with Comcast's gateways not giving me the connectivity I needed/paid for. I opted for a motorola surfboard and an Asus AT66U router. So the technician comes in to do his thing and finds out that my neither my modem nor my router will connect to the internet. Then he plugs up a Comcast brand gateway and everything is perfect. I'm just curious as to why my tech isn't doing what his is?

The lights on both my personal surfboard and router are all properly illuminated when in use, and I can customize the settings on both to fit whatever I need. All of that works fine, but there isn't any internet coming through. I've tried doing a direct wired connection as well and still nothing.

I'm mostly just disappointed with my tech that I paid for, but I'd still like to know what you all think the issue is. Because of my curiosity, I have fiddled around with computers, gaming consoles, and connectivity hardware for a few years, but I know when I'm out of my depth.
Any help would be much obliged.

 

[Solandri]

Motorola's modems are pretty good. If you got the SB6141 it's pretty much the retail standard right now. But it looks like Comcast doesn't think as highly of them (at least not highly enough to thoroughly test them). Try buying a modem which is on their approved list and has been thoroughly tested.

http://mydeviceinfo.comcast.net/

It's possible the Motorola modem you got was defective, and simply exchanging it will get things to work again.

Another possibility is that some cable companies do not let you connect just any modem to their network. You have to phone in and tell them the unique IDs of your modem. They'll enter those numbers into their system, which will allow your modem to connect (exactly like restricting network access only to approved MAC addresses). I'm not sure if Comcast does this, but if they do it's possible the tech simply read one of the Motorola modem's ID numbers wrong when reporting it back to the operations center.

 

[alexoiu]

Hi,
Comcast provides a list of compatible modems: http://mydeviceinfo.comcast.net/

 

[ahobbitstail]

My Motorola SB6121 surfboard and Asus AC66U are definitely compatible with their system, but I'll try the call in thing to see what they say/can do. I bought the surfboard used, so it coulc be defective, but the guy I bought it form was using it perfectly just last week, so there's a toss up. Anything else you think it could be?