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3Com OfficeConnect External Cable Modem

3Com OfficeConnect External Cable Modem

List Price: $129.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Incompatible with Cox Communications
Review: Despite whatever anyone tells you, Cox Communications, Cox@Home, and the Road Runner HSI service no longer support 3Com cable modems. Beware and be careful.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Taste for adventure required....
Review: First off, this modem does work well with AT&T Broadband in Seattle. 1400 kbps downloads, and 110 kbps uploads, very close to ATTBI's maximum speeds. Technically, the CR29210 is not an "approved" modem for ATT Broadband in Seattle, but the box is stickered that you should treat the modem as a 3CR29220 (which is approved.)

That said, getting this modem to work was a bit of an adventure. The first problem was that the modem came with a non-US (230V AC) power supply. Luckily, I already had another compatible power supply.

The second major problem was after provisioning the modem with ATTBI, the speeds were very slow. It turns out that the step during provisioning that was supposed to set the modem to it's ATTBI-approved connection speeds did not work (I'll bet this is very common with this modem). Only after reading up on the topic in the forums at DSLReports did I figure out that I'd have to manually reset the modem. Using a paper-clip to press the manual reset button caused the modem to download the correct config. files from ATTBI. Now it works great!

Like I said, though, a taste for adventure is required!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great price and works with Phoenix Cox Cable service
Review: For the price you cannot beat this cable modem ... Just hooked this up to Phoenix area ...cable service and it worked with no problem. No drivers to install, no firmware upgrades...it just works. With the USB connection (both Ethernet and USB cables are included in the package), the PC didn't even need to have a NIC card installed, and it works great with through the USB connection. Best price out there!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Works with ATTBI (San Francisco Bay Area, CA) just fine.
Review: For those of you complaining about firmware and low bandwidth, I had the same problem iniitally. If you don't go through the registration process via the ATTBI-provided CD, then you only get about 128kbps (10% bandwidth). I didn't want to put unnecessary softwre on my machine so I set the CD aside since I got a net connection. Then I tried downloading a 2MB file, and the damn thing took forever. the DSLReports.com speed test showed my connection at 128kbps (very slow for cable modem). So I tried the CD to see if the diagnostics would tell me what was wrong. The CD takes you through a bunch of configuration checks and diagnostics and then registration. Everything checked out ok. So I decided to go back to the speed test and I noticed a HUGE difference. After the registration and reset modem step, I was getting download speeds of 1.3-1.4Mbps.

In short, register the modem

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Works with Optimum Online but needs firmeware upgrade
Review: Got one of these brand new ... Hooked it up to Optimum Online, but took over 5 minutes to sync. Had their tech over here to test the line, had about 4 techs on the phone also. They could clearly see and test the modem but couldn't understand why it wasn't getting an IP address assigned. They kept blaming the modem and telling me to go to The Wiz to get a Motorola. Eventually I demanded to speak to a Tier2 tech and explained that this is a 3Com CMX modem and that it *IS* on their approved list. Finally, they realized it needed a firmware upgrade. Once this was done, the modem synced up within 30 seconds and got its IP address. Everything works great. Getting approx 1500/500 on DSLReports speedtest and over 350k/s to some sites. Definitely a good buy if you take the time to sort out issues.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Works Great w/ATTBI-Chicago!
Review: I am in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. This was an @home area until December of 2001 when we were switched over to ATTBI. I was using a General Instruments SB3100 SurfBoard.

The 3Com took a few minutes to sync up, but it eventually locked into ATTBI's system. The connection was very slow, though, so talked to a tech at ATTBI who told me you have to register the modem with the company to get the best performance.

I went to the site he recommended and it automatically registered the modem for me. I reset the modem, rebooted the computer, and I was back to my normal transfer speeds!...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Set-up and Installation a breeze!!!
Review: I bought the 3Com OfficeConnect External Cable Modem by 3Com Networking. Set-up and installation was a breeze, and once the computer's network settings were updated I was up and running immediately! A great unit for its price!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Set-up and Installation a breeze!!!
Review: I bought the 3Com OfficeConnect External Cable Modem by 3Com Networking. Set-up and installation was a breeze, and once the computer's network settings were updated I was up and running immediately! A great unit for its price!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Works Great!
Review: I bought the 3CR29210 and kept my fingers crossed. The price was the best I had found anywhere. The installer came to my house and I made sure he knew to tell AT&T the model was 3CR29220. After he called it in, it picked up the signal in less than 5 minutes. I ran some online internet speed test and it rated it the same as a T1 line! The installed said he had seem problems with what slower speeds in the past with these modems but I think it was because of older firmware than what is shipping with this one or he called it in as a 3CR29210.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It DOES work
Review: I bought this because of the low price. Initially, I just plugged it in and it worked. However, I noticed it would not stay connected for more than a few hours. I read through these product reviews and saw many comments about registering the modem. I did so two days ago, and have had uninterrupted service since. In short, it works great.

Using this with ATTBI in the SF Bay area.


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