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uthornsfan wrote:What is the model of the comcast router?

Most likely you need to turn off SIP ALG on the ISP equipment, even if it is in bridged mode.

I would recommend you just purchase your own motorola modem and then run whatever router/firewall you want.

Correct, the SIP ALG must be disabled, but that can't be done on the Cisco router Comcast uses. Nextiva tech support tried (me too) and it can't be done.

I was told by Comcast that I must use their modem/router. Is that correct? I would prefer to buy my own equipment.

Chas.

Edited: Comcast now agrees that I can use any modem that is compatible.

After two hours on the phone with Netgear tech support, it appears that there is a hardware problem with the Netgear router. I said I suspected that at the beginning of the conversation, since no router should see an 87 percent drop in speed when going from a wired connection to wireless. Oh well, I'll send this one back and try another. If I still don't get the speed I'm getting with the Cisco router from Comcast, I'll give my idea a try.

Thanks for the input guys.
Chas.

We have a combination of wired computers and wireless laptops and other devices. We recently switched form Uverse to Comcast and had/have a problem with the Cisco router and our VoIP phones. Here is a very short version of a long story.

Comcast uses a very good Cisco router, but it doesn't play well with the Nextiva VoIP service. (Changing to another VoIP service is not an option.) Due to a setting that cannot be changed in the Cisco router, the phones are repeatedly losing network connection and go through an automatic reboot. This happens several times a day. Nextiva recommended a few different routers, so I chose the Netgear WRN3500Lv2. The Cisco router was put in bridge mode and the Ethernet computers and phones are connected to the Netgear router. Everything is working fine and the phones are not losing the network.

Here's the problem. When using the Cisco router, the Internet download speeds on both the wired computers and the wireless devices was around 88Mbs and upload speeds were 5+Mbs. With the Netgear router, the wired download and upload speeds are remain the same. However, the wireless download speed is atrocious at 1.0 Mbs, while the upload speed remains 5+Mbs. I tried my laptop standing about 10 feet from the Netgear router and the download speed went up to 12Mbs. This is not acceptable because I use my laptop downstairs extensively during the evening and we stream movies to the TV through a dedicated wireless laptop.

Here's my question: I know double netting is frowned upon and Nextiva says doing so with the VoIP phones will cause major problems. Here is my proposed solution and I'd appreciate some of you experts chiming in with your thoughts.

• 1. Leave the Cisco router in bridge mode with a single cable going to the Netgear router;
  2. Turn wireless off on the Netgear router and use it solely for the wired computers, the homeserver and VoIP phones via Ethernet cables;
  3. Get a separate wireless router to use solely for the wireless laptops and other wireless devices like phones, tablets, etc. (This router would be connected to the Internet via the Cisco router through an Ethernet cable.)

Nextiva tech support thinks this should work fine, so long as the phones are not part of the second network.

If this will work, the only downside I can see is that the wireless laptops will not have access to the devices on the home network (Windows Home Server and network printers). Neither of these is a deal-breaker if the system will otherwise work and give back the fast download speeds. Obviously, the proposed new wireless router will need to have good performance specs. The Cisco router has both 2.4 MHz and 5 MHz routers and since the download speeds are fast with it everywhere in the house, I would look for something similar.

So computer/network experts, what do you think?
Chas.