Ooma w/ Comcast until port is finished

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EricD
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Ooma w/ Comcast until port is finished

Post by EricD » Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:03 pm

Hello all, I hope that you’ll be able to help. I had/have CDV (Comcast Digital Voice) with the combined modem/VOIP box. Last night I installed a new modem and my Ooma, hoping to be able to return the old modem, and avoid the monthly rental fee. I picked a temporary phone number, thinking that porting the old number would not take very long.

Of course, now I realize that porting could take over 3 weeks, and I would rather not go that long without being able to receive calls on my old number.

I know that I am stuck keeping the CDV plan until after the port is finished… but is there a way for me to use my CDV number through Ooma, without having to re-install the old Comcast modem?

Thank you.

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lbmofo
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Re: Ooma w/ Comcast until port is finished

Post by lbmofo » Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:14 pm

If you call Comcast, they can probably set your forward (to your temp Ooma number) for you.

Otherwise, turn on your Comcast cable modem/voice box again, do the forward, and then reactivate your new modem.

EricD
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Re: Ooma w/ Comcast until port is finished

Post by EricD » Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:41 pm

lbmofo wrote:If you call Comcast, they can probably set your forward (to your temp Ooma number) for you.

Otherwise, turn on your Comcast cable modem/voice box again, do the forward, and then reactivate your new modem.
Good call. I was actually able to set it up through their 'smart zone communications center' online. I just tested it, and it works great!

Thank you! Now to see if Comcast will let me return that modem, even though I still have CDV for another month. (Hey, it's $5 in my pocket.)

Lilly's_Closet
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Re: Ooma w/ Comcast until port is finished

Post by Lilly's_Closet » Thu Mar 03, 2011 3:12 pm

Just a few notes on your setup, once you return your digital voice modem your Comcast phone number will not ring so your forward to your ooma number won’t work. At least that was the case 1 year ago.

In addition, if you drop your triple or double play before your 6 month or 1 or 2 year promo is up, Comcast will default you back to their preium rates. What this means to you is that your service without Digital Voice will be more expexsive. Its best to wait until your promo expires, but call Comcast to verify.

Finally, below you will find a link to the best modem to take advantage of their recent network upgrade. (look at the reviews) Unless your modem is DOCSIS 3.0 compliant you will not be able to reach their top speeds...for most they will never use the increase but if you buy a modem that is not DOCSIS 3.0 compliant you are buying legacy technology that is not upgradable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6825122009

EricD
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Re: Ooma w/ Comcast until port is finished

Post by EricD » Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:55 am

Thanks for the reply!
:)
I already purchased that exact modem (for $80), and installed the Ooma after it, before I even posted here! Forwarding the number worked well, until yesterday. My guess is that my port is going through, and Comcast doesn’t have the number anymore, but Ooma hasn’t swapped out my temp. number yet. (Due to be completed tomorrow)
We’ve had Comcast for over 4.5 years, so we are well beyond the promotional period. We are cutting our TV service, as well as phone service. We are keeping limited basic cable though, since they bump the price of internet-only by $15/month if you don’t keep some kind of TV. (Limited Basic Cable is just $17/month)
We purchased two Roku boxes to use with TV, and will use Hulu+, Netflix, and the other channels, as a replacement for TV. The only show that I won’t be able to get through the internet is V, but I’ll be able to get that on live tv, through the limited basic cable. (Internet will be $45/month, $17/month for limited basic cable, $3.50/month for Ooma, $8/month for Netflix, $8/month for Hulu+ = $81.50.) We did this after realizing that the only things we watched on TV were off of our DVR, and all that stuff was already loaded online by the time we got around to watching it anyways. We very rarely ever watch live TV, and if we do, it’s mostly for background noise, and we can play Pandora for that now!

*edit*
Oh, I called, and Comcast had said that I could return the modem early, since I no longer needed it. a 30 min drive there, then 30 minutes in line only to find out that they will not take back the modem, without also canceling my phone line! Such a pain.
:(

murphy
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Re: Ooma w/ Comcast until port is finished

Post by murphy » Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:14 pm

Since you plan to get most of your video over the internet I want to make sure that you know that Comcast has a 250 GB per month cap with a rather severe penalty. It doesn't always happen but the first time you go over 250 GB in a month you get a warning. If you go over a second time they terminate your internet service for a year. There is a real time (3 hours delayed) usage meter available in your online account information to track your level of use.
Customer since January 2009
Telo with 2 Handsets, a Linx, and a Safety Phone
Telo2 with 2 Handsets and a Linx

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lbmofo
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Re: Ooma w/ Comcast until port is finished

Post by lbmofo » Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:47 pm

http://customer.comcast.com/Pages/FAQVi ... #excessive

More info on the cap. Netflix HD streaming for example is about 1-2GB/hr so about 125 to 250 HD movies; that's a lot of HD movies a month.

EricD
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Re: Ooma w/ Comcast until port is finished

Post by EricD » Mon Mar 21, 2011 6:02 pm

Yeah, I'm not too worried about that. We purposely used the internet as much as we could, for a week straight, and only hit about 40 GB. Even if we go up to 50 GB per week, we'd be at around 200 gb per month. I'll be sure to check it often though, to be safe.
:)
I was worried at first, since we have up to 10 devices connected to our internet at any one time... but it looks like we'll be alright! I am slightly worried about them slowing down my internet though, once I leave the triple play. Right now I get download speeds of about 22 Mbps (Speedtest.net), where-as the 'performance' level is only supposed to be around 16 Mbps.

murphy
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Re: Ooma w/ Comcast until port is finished

Post by murphy » Mon Mar 21, 2011 6:07 pm

That's the speed boost kicking in. Most speed tests don't take that into account. On a long duration download it drops back to the normal download speed of 12 for performance.
Customer since January 2009
Telo with 2 Handsets, a Linx, and a Safety Phone
Telo2 with 2 Handsets and a Linx

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