Re: cable modem firmware upgrade

[Scott Helms <khelms () zcorum com>]

Sam,

The most common approach from the MSOs is to take one of two paths.  Either
simply not allow non-approved devices to come online, this is common from
the larger MSOs, or to simply not try and update the firmware for
unfamiliar devices, this is common for smaller operators.  It's very
unusual for a MSO to work with an unapproved vendor simply because they
almost never have enough of their own customers using those devices to make
the effort worthwhile *and *most of the direct to consumer vendors stop
producing firmware updates on a much quicker pace than service provider
gear vendors do.  A direct to consumer device will often get <3 firmware
updates total, while the devices sold to/through service providers are
supported for much longer and I can commonly get firmware updates for
devices that are 8+ years old.


Scott Helms
Vice President of Technology
ZCorum
(678) 507-5000
--------------------------------
http://twitter.com/kscotthelms
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On Thu, Jan 29, 2015 at 9:56 PM, Sam Hayes Merritt, III <sam () themerritts org
> wrote:

>  That has been my experience as well (only from the RF side) and I would
> > believe this was a design choice.   The ISP usually wants to keep control
> > over the firmware versions of the CM for various technical/support reasons
> > versus having consumers mess with the firmware.
>
> Its a design choice but not one that always works out well.
>
> Customers that bring their own modems that aren't on a "certified" list,
> end up with a device that the provider may not have ever seen. Then, if you
> run into an issue with the modem that can be fixed with a firmware issue
> (some vendors have issues that they cannot fix - rhymes with netgear) then
> the MSO has to work with the maker of that modem, even though they may have
> never had any interactions with them, get the certificate and firmware for
> that modem and upgrade customer owned devices - possibly turning them into
> bricks. I'd rather allow customers to turn their own modems into bricks.
>
>
> sam