Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Cable Modem that Supports VOIP

by Feb 5, 2012 3:02AM PST

If one has internet and phone service through Cable, I know you can buy your own modems and routers, but is there a particular kind of modem you'd need to get to support VOIP for the phone?

A friend of mine has phone through Cable and her internet and phone suddenly stopped working, although her TV service is fine. We are thinking that maybe the cable company's modem is bad, so she wants to buy her own modem, but we're not sure if it needs to be a particular type of modem. I've looked around for her, but haven't found anything in modem specs stating they support VOIP. Does it matter? Or can you buy any cable modem?

We already looked at the cable providers website to see their supported modems, but they are all the same brand as the one she has that doesn't work. She already has a wireless router, which she will plug into the modem she buys, so we're only looking for answers regaring a modem.

Any help would be appreicated!

Discussion is locked

6 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Clarification Request
Something's a miss here.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Feb 5, 2012 11:39AM PST

Here my phone is from the cable co and if my phone stops the cable co replaces the MTA if need be.

You didn't tell which VOIP service you used and you can't replace a MTA like you are asking.
Bob

- Collapse -
Answer
What cable company does she have.
by Feb 5, 2012 6:08AM PST

I have Time Warner and the phone modem is free. Any reason why she can't have them just replace the defective one? Or maybe her phone (voip) service is not the cable company supported service?

- Collapse -
VoIP/Cable
by bill012 Feb 5, 2012 9:47PM PST

There really is no completely free VoIP service. At some point you must connect to the phone network and the company must recover these costs. So first determine who you pay for the service.

Since you lost both the internet AND the voice I would suspect it is more of a billing issue. A lot of cable modems do not actually send the data over your internet connection they use a special method to transfer the data that ensures better quality of service. It is unlikely you would lose both these but not the TV.

Cable modems for internet are getting more standard but the voice part is still not their yet so you will need to ask you ISP exactly which models they support in your area. Many of the ones that have the ability to plug phones into them are leased with your contract so they will replace them for free.

If you have to pay for a modem you may want to consider just using a simple cable modem (pretty much any work on most systems) and getting your voice from another provider or just use cell phones like many people do.

- Collapse -
She has Comcast
by baybreeze Feb 6, 2012 8:20AM PST

She has Comcast triple play - TV, internet, and phone. She was wanting to buy her own modem and wanted to know if she needed a specific kind of cable modem that will work with cable phone service.However, she called Comcast over the weekend and they found her current modem was fine. There was a power outage last week and apparently something happened where Comcast no longer recognized her modem or router, hence she lost her internet and phone service (although she still had TV service). They had to reconfigure some things and now it's back up and working fine.

I am still curious, though, if one needs a special kind of cable modem for phone service through cable. I am thinking of switching my phone to cable and I bought my own cable modem and wireless router rather then rent from Comcast. So if I do this, can I still use my current modem and router?

- Collapse -
I had Comcast and they use what is called a MTA
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Feb 6, 2012 9:07AM PST

Comcast sold me the MTA for 75 bucks when I left so that's the cost to look for, Google MTA to decipher what that is.
Bob

- Collapse -
Answer
Cable modem that support phone
by Dec 6, 2015 8:41AM PST

What cable modem support voip?

Back to Networking & Wireless forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info