I’m moving in a few weeks, to another state - and more importantly, another cable provider. I own my own modem/router.
What will happen when I plug it in in my new house? (and I’ve signed up for cable internet) I’m hoping it will be completely transparent, it’ll go online, and my usual wi-fi network will be up and running. Am I dreaming?
Should be, but there’s some potential for variability.
At a minimum, your public IP address will be different. If you used ISP services like their email server, your old one will no longer be available, so hopefully you already changed e-mail addresses on record at different accounts to something you will have access to.
When you switch to your new modem or whatever the connection device is, you’ll probably have to reboot or power cycle your router to forget stuff associated with your old network provider and pick up the settings for your new network connection.
The biggest issue will be email.
Any email address from the old ISP is going to get shut off in short order.
True. There may be a way to keep it active and have it forwarded elsewhere, at least for a bit. But if you are using the ISP’s provided email, make sure you change your address anyplace you’ve used it in the past. If you’re not using something like Yahoo or GMail, maybe set up a temporary address there for the transition period.
You could also register your own domain somewhere, and set up all your email to go to that domain, to be forwarded wherever. Then when you make the change, just switch the forwarding from myname at ISP1 to myname at ISP2.
Check to see if the router you have now is compatible with the new provider. I seem to recall Verizon using a different one than other services, but have not looked into this lately.
When I replace a cable modem, it has to be accepted by the ISP. A technician has come out to do it twice, and I managed to talk them into it over the phone once.
“Provisioning”, I believe this is called. Setting the database that says the new device is accepted on the network and associated with a particular customer’s account. After that, the rest of the network treats the device as a part of the net and affords it access to network services.
This should be doable with a customer support phone call (and was when I switched my cable modem from a POS rented from the provider to a compatible BYOD* modem from a retailer). But I can see some scummy network providers insist on a tech support house call (and charging you for it).
*Bring Your Own Device
Yes, provisioning. After the second tech guy, they provisioned the third and fourth for me over the phone. Apparently for Comcast anyway, it appears to depend upon the skill of the guy on the phone, and that may be why they want a technical person on site, to talk them through it. On the other hand, perhaps I called at a bad time.
If your new provider gives you free equipment, you should use that rather than your own. Things will go a lot smoother. If you have any problems, they will be able to fix it. If you use your own equipment, the cable company will play “pass the blame” game for any issues. But if you have to pay an equipment rental fee, then it may be worth it to use your own equipment. Your wifi network would be the same, which would be nice. You’ll have to contact them to let them know your modem ID so they can associate it with your account. Even if move within the same city and use the same provider, you may still need to contact them even if it’s their own equipment. They may have the city divided into zones and you can’t always just take the modem from one zone to another.
By contrast, if you use the equipment they provide… they’ll still play the “pass the blame” game. In my final interaction with Cox customer service, they were quite explicitly clear that if the problem was with the modem they themselves provided, rather than with anything outside the apartment, I would have to pay an extra $50 fee. They were also clear that it would be they who made the determination whether the problem was the modem or outside of the apartment, not me or anyone else. Doubtless, if they determined the problem was with the modem, and replaced it at my expense, and the problem persisted, they would have gone through the same song and dance again.
I did mention that this was my final interaction with Cox customer service, did I not?
Changing providers caused problems in the past for us. My email address is now outlook.com. When we moved to a new city there was no problem with my email. NOw all the other stuff my son the IT guy did for me so I have no idea how much work he had to put in to it…
Thanks for all the input. I’m not too concerned about email, as gmail is the only one I use.
Yes, when I got fed up and changed ISP, I too had to bite the bullet and change all my email (also to outlook.com). Plus, I have email going back to the last millennium, that I need to make sure was downloaded and accessible (PST in Outlook). The biggest hassle was that many web logins use my email, so that either had to change or new account depending on how important the site was. (I.e. this one)
Also, most critical websites like banks may consider you as you based on IP and require closer authentication when you use a new IP. however, generally they instead rely on cookies on your device so no big deal.
My cable provider supplies their own modem/router, and I cannot login and fiddle with it. I can login to my account on their website to fiddle with some settings - wifi name and password, see who has an IP on my home network, etc - but it’s not the same as having full control of my own router. I suppose if you want to use your router, you could cascade them (assuming your router has ethernet as the WAN port.) A separate router goes back to the days of the cable or DSL modem doing nothing but provide an ethernet connection with public IP, the rest was up to you. Nowadays the ISP wants to be your whole-hog network manager. This is fine provided you’re not a computer nerd with a web server and other esoteric set-ups.