Audio drops SOLVED! :)

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 09, 2007 Posts: 3

Finally! After years of futile effort to solve random audio drops (other party suddenly cannot hear me) I have clearly solved the problem!

(BTW: I use Comcast and their supplied Motorola cable modem.)

The answer came after hours of searching strings on this site and others. I came across a string in which three users has changed their cable modems (not Voip router) to a particular model, and the problem disappeared.

The cable modem normally goes for around $85 dollars so I delayed, putting up with the frustrating annoyance. The problem got better then worse -- perhaps because of automatic firmware updates.

It became so bad recently I took action:

Following the online advice, I removed the Motorola and installed a LinkSys BEFCMU10. My phone has worked absolutely perfectly ever since!!

I found the modem on the Web, refurbished, for $24.99 + shipping (about $6.00). It arrived three days later in a LinkSys factory-sealed and certified box.

To get it going, simply removed the cabes from the Motorola, placing them in the corsponding recepticles in the LinkSys. Power up the new modem and call Comcast or your ISP and give them the new modem's MAC address (found on both the modem and the box it came in). Within moments your system is up and working again.

By the way, it turned out I was paying a monthly fee for the Comcast modem, so now my monthly fees have gone down by $3.00

Oh, one more thing: the original tip came from users who were using a provider other than Comcast, so it seems to be a fix for more than just Comcast customers!

Posts: 99 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Dec 25, 2007 Posts: 99

Thanks for the tip, I'm sure members will find the information helpful.

PSJ aka Marc

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Posts: 656 · Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:11 pm Post subject:

We know the BEFCMU10 to be problematic with the RTP stream. It is only DOCSIS 1.1 and cannot handle streaming media efficiently.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 09, 2007 Posts: 3

Actually, the BEFCMU10 is DOCSIS 2.0; fully DOCSIS 2 -- really, check it out.

Posts: 656 · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 11:20 am Post subject:

You must have a newer hardware version possibly with an updated firmware as well. The original models of these came out just after cable residential internet became available and they were only DOCSIS 1.1. Regardless, these modems have been nothing but problematic for Vonage customers.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 09, 2007 Posts: 3

Yes, That's probably it. The BEFCMU10 modem I purchased indicated it was "version 4." I noticed that while I did my initial online shoping and found that all the currently available LinkSys BEFCMU10 modems are denoted as version 4.

BTW: After your first post, I double-checked the documentation and it is, indeed, DOCSIS 2.0

And oh, it has now been about three weeks of flawless performance -- no drops. Before the modem change, I experienced audio drops on virtually EVERY call; it was awful!