I used to be with AT&T until ComCast bought them. A week ago I received a letter stating that they were sending me a new cable modem. Yesterday it arrived. The letter also stated that if I replace my old modem by a certain date, May 15th or so, that I would also receive a $5 credit on my next bill.
My old modem (a Motorola Wave Surfer) still works fine. Being paranoid, I always wonder when a company does something nice for me, will the new modem (a Motorola SURFboard) allow them more control over my access?
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t necessarily mean that they are not out to get you…
It may be that they are experiencing conflicts or protocol problems or something with the existing hardware (it is my understanding that a cable modem is somewhat like a network card - I’ve seen cases where certain network cards slow down traffic for other users on the network because they request more resent packets due to this or that obscure problem)
It may be that that’s the only modem their tech support people have training on, and it’s cheaper for them to send out new modems than try and figure out the mishmash of different modems that the different parts of AT&T’s network used.
I know some of the older modems stored the bandwidth limiters internally in such a way that it’s not that difficult for end-users to override them. It’s possible this modem is more resistant to that hack.
Or maybe they have no flippin’ clue as to what they’re doing. A lot of my experience with them would indicate this theory is the correct one.
I would just use it and be happy. I got cable on March 1 and they sent me the SurfBoard like what you have. As technology advances, new modems are necessary.
I used to have DSL and Qwest one day sent me a new modem because the old one was no longer going to work with the phone line. Enjoy it the new modem, nothing wrong with it.
Because Cable is a shared medium the cable company wants everyone’s share to be equal. Most companies put a cap on your bandwidth at 2 - 5 MB. Now if you were an early adopter in your neighborhood there’s a good chance your modem has a cap between 10 - 20 MB because there were fewer users sharing. The new modem would put you back in line with the rest of the pack.
Test your speed at this link and if it’s in the 10 - 20 range you might want to keep the old one for more speed.
I can’t say for sure this is the reason, but it happened with my Cable provider.
I’m going through the same switch. I haven’t got a new modem (still using the 3Com sharkfin modem) but I received an email last night prompting me to download a “transition wizard” that will check for a change on boot up and automatically re-configure my email and internet settings in case they have changed. Even though I prefer to mess with my settings myself, I d/l’d it. I’m afraid they will change my area over and I won’t be able to connect again.
I have a hard time believing that even the most crufty of cable modems can’t have their speed adjusted remotely. Though I agree that the new modems probably support something the other one doesn’t. I’m betting it’s so they only have to support one type of modem. Sounds expensive, but if it saves a couple of hours on the phone, to them it’s worth it.
Sometime last year, after they had upgraded the cable service in my area to allow digital CATV, AT&T sent one of their techs over to my house to replace my modem. I don’t remember what model the old one was (except I’m almost certain it was not a Motorola) but the new one is a Motorola SURFboard. I believe they also replaced my network card at the same time. I was told this was being done because the new digital cable allowed faster speeds, but my old modem wasn’t compatible with the new system. I did notice an increase in download speed after that, though.