MB/s or MegaBytes per second. Mb/s or Megabits per second. In the 21st century, there is a convention that does not follow the old stodgy mid-20th century textbooks.
While W (watts) is capitalized, milliwatts is mW, capitalized in the middle. Since W continues to be capitalized, kilowatt-hours is kWh. Same for milliamp-hours, mAh. Terms referring to any negative power of ten is always lower case, while positive powers of ten are capitalized, regardless where it falls within a sentence or usage. So, technically, KWh would be just as correct as kWh, although common usage avoids the double caps since the priority is watts, not multiplier prefix, and a lower case “k” would not be confused with any other prefix.
Or to put it simply, feel free to use caps where it avoids confusion.
Oh, and lastly, there’s no such word as “spelt”. But we won’t criticize you for it.
Marc, just out of curiosity: suspicious of what, exactly? What kind of scam are you suspecting here?
The only possible thing I can think of is if the OP owns his current modem, and Comcast is offering to replace it with theirs (and thus begin charging him rental on it… which would be pretty scummy, granted, and the OP might not notice right away if he wasn’t keeping a close eye on his bill). That’s all I’m coming up with, but of course it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had a massive failure of the imagination when it comes to human scummery…
As for IPv4 vs. IPv6. technically we are already out of IPv4 addresses. Cite. What that means to you and me as consumers is nothing… yet. At some point we’ll have to start using IPv6.
A couple years back I realized I still had the original cable modem I started with ten years ago when I began my service. I did a speed test, wrote down the results, then went to the local Comcast office and swapped it out for a newer modem. When I got home and hooked it up and did the speed tests again, I was getting like double the speed.
I wouldn’t completely dismiss the idea that they wanted to improve performance for the user to remain competitive. Competitors like Verizon FiOS are expanding their service areas.
While I agree that you won’t be using IPv6 only in the next 5 years, that doesn’t mean comcast won’t have already moved you to a combination of IPv6 and IPv4 NAT before then - your only “public” IP that isn’t shared could very well be IPv6 sometime in the next 5 years.
IPv6 IS a combination, since it’s backward compatible with IPv4.
But then, there’s LOTS of people who still believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, that the federal government provides all their programs and services for Free, and companies just give away millions of dollars in equipment in HOPES of staying ahead of the competition.
And that’s why I’m suspicious of any letters purporting to be from E. Bunny Inc offering me free stuff, or anyone who claims to work for the similar company S. Claus Enterprises, Ltd and can testify to the inner workings of such company but doesn’t know the details.
I don’t know the exact details (I don’t even have a cable modem) but yes, some people have found ways to hack cable modems to get a higher speed than their plan pays for. Almost certainly illegal, and definitely something Comcast would not want you doing. But like I said, only a WAG that this could be a reason for a modem swap. Other people’s ideas sound good too.
Look at it this way: what does a new modem cost? $30 or $40? OK… but the cable company is buying them in large lots, so I suspect they are paying a bit less than that. To roll a truck to a customer’s house because an update that the cable co. did in implementing a new standard costs something over $100 all said and done. Replacing modems that have a high likelihood of being bricked by an update saves the company cash.
(I assume that’s in reference to me…)
I did a stint at Pizza Hut shortly after I graduated… so I have a good idea how they do things (at least how they did them ~25 years ago anyways). That doesn’t mean I could just walk into Domino’s Pizza and know all the procedures and policies that they employ without at least a modicum of training in their corporate culture.
However, as I’m not selling anything, it makes no difference if you’re buying it or not. I was just trying to help is all…
BZZTTTT sorry, thanks for playing. One of the biggest problems with IPv6 is that it was NOT designed to be backwards compatible - we only have them working together with dual stacking (running both at the same time) or tunnelling - neither of which mean IPv6 is backwards compatible and both of which have drawbacks.
One cite among many: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/032509-ipv6-mistake.html
You say po-TAY-to, I say po-Tah-to, big deal. Either way, why is Comcast suddenly spending lots of money RIGHT NOW to give away freebies to people who haven’t complained nor who’ve indicated any intention of going to the competition?
I got the letter from Comcast ‘offering’ a free modem upgrade.
I waited several days before calling for the upgrade.
The day after I called for the upgrade I got a phone call from Comcast(obviously not aware that I had already made the call).
I don’t remember the actual wording of the message that they left, but it was to the effect that the upgrade ‘was not optional’.
I KNOW that Comcast does nothing that does not involve a profit for them. So, I too am curious as to how this ‘free upgrade’ is going to benefit them. I am absolutely certain that there will be no benefit to me without additional charges.
One can only wish it was benign as saving money on service calls with some upfront modem upgrades. Unfortunately, I tend to think there is an ulterior motive like, data gathering, some kind of invasive control of your system, forcing you to buy future cable service upgrades tied to the modem. THERE IS a catch here. I just can’t see it yet.
When my new ‘upgraded’ modem arrives it will sit in the box until I can see where this ‘SCAM’ is going.
The modem comes with a renewed contract. It locks you in for a few years more, and if you drop their ISP, you’ll pay a cancellation fee. It’s the same reason phone companies offer you a “free” phone upgrade every two or three years. If you’re just about at the end of your initial contract, I’d bet money that that’s the catch.
“… please dispose of your older modem properly … or you can check with your local municipality to learn about its recycling days.”
“Please note that there is no unreturned equipment charge for your older modem”.
The letter included with the new modem says to return the old modem(return shipping label is included) and:
“Please note that once (the modem) is received any charges associated with the equipment will be removed from your billing statement.”
There is no mention of disposing of, or recycling the old modem.
I worked at Comcast until just recently and I can confirm that these offers are legitimate. We were actually quite proactive in getting our customers to upgrade their old modems. Although there is no additional cost to the customer for the modem itself, these letters would get customers to call us, where we would try to sell them on the more costly high speed plans.
There may have been a legal reason for this upgrade program as well; as customers with the older modems were not able to reach the advertised download speeds.
What did they send you, the ubeeD3.0? Have you installed it yet?
Is there any chance this will bunge up my router? For a few days last year we thought we had a router problem, it was “invisible” not picking up signals etc. It seemd to work itself out right after we bought a new one that we still haven’t installed. Now we have a new in box router, a new in box cable modem and no desire to switch out either of them right now.
At this point if Comcast’s customers say “eh, whatever” and leave it in the box, will comcast press the point or flag the account and wait until it’s “bricked by a update” (:p) and then what? Take the baby customer by the hand and install it for them?
