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WiderMouthOpen's avatar
WiderMouthOpen
Esteemed Contributor II
2 months ago
Solved

Modem hardware requirements for upload speed

Creating a new post of a discussion started here.

Does anyone have any insight into what the hardware or network requirements are for the different upload speeds? For example, as per here, the upload speed for the 500Mbps download tier is:

""10 Mbps, 50 Mbps, or 500 Mbps, based on the network architecture serving your physical address".

What does the "network architecture" refer to? I know to get symmetric speeds you need fiber, so that would explain the 500Mbps upload, but is the difference between 10 and 50Mbps? Are they talking about having a OFDMA channel available in your area? Are they talking about mid-split? Something else? 

Also, what changes what upload speed you get on fiber on the 2Gbps tier? It says it can be both 1Gbps or 2Gbps upload. Is that to do with just the available bandwidth or the congestion in the area or is there a different fiber tech some areas have? Like GPON vs XGS PON? I assume it requires a ONT that has a multi-gigabit ethernet port.

 

  • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
    WiderMouthOpen
    2 months ago

    Still doesn't answer the difference between 10 megabits and 50 megabits. This is sad. This is why I missed DSL reports. I guess I just won't be able to help people who have problems with their upload speed because Cox doesn't know how to troubleshoot it either. 

    This is one of the reasons I don't believe that technical support should always work from home. You get less trending data from the people around you and you can't escalate things to a state of talking face to face. It's all emails and phone calls where people can BS you. Just another reason why the system Cox calls support doesn't work.

  • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
    WiderMouthOpen
    Esteemed Contributor II
    2 months ago

    BTW, the reason I didn't email Cox directly to ask is because I want the answers to be public so people can find the answer by googling and I can reference this post when the question comes up.

  • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
    WiderMouthOpen
    Esteemed Contributor II
    2 months ago

    Well the Cox compatible modem page shows upload speeds for the Panoramic gateways as "up to" so the question is what determines if you get the full provisioned speed or not? Cox's speed and data plans page says:

     "10 Mbps, 50 Mbps, or 500 Mbps, based on the network architecture serving your physical address" for the 500Mbps tier.

    What is "network architecture" that they are referring to? I get that you would need fiber/FTTP for the 500Mbps upload, but what is the difference between 10 and 50Mbps upload?

    • ColleenD's avatar
      ColleenD
      Moderator
      2 months ago

      WiderMouthOpen I'm not a network engineer, so I'm going to admit that I don't know, mostly because network architecture details don't impact the average user. Let's not derail OP's post. if you have any questions not related to this thread you know where to reach us 😊

      • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
        WiderMouthOpen
        Esteemed Contributor II
        2 months ago

        "I don't know" is always an acceptable answer. I will make a new post to discuss the issue. Thanks.

  • ColleenD's avatar
    ColleenD
    Moderator
    2 months ago

    For clarity's sake, (and because I wanted to test this housekeeping feature) I have moved the related posts from the other thread to here. 

    • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
      WiderMouthOpen
      Esteemed Contributor II
      2 months ago

      Thanks! If I emailed you, would you be able to escalate the question to a engineer or someone who might know? Or would it be pot luck based on who is answering the email queue? This kind of question is exactly why I miss DSLReports since many of Cox engineers used to post there.

  • ColleenD's avatar
    ColleenD
    Moderator
    2 months ago

    WiderMouthOpen TBH, I'm not sure the information you're requesting is even available for public consumption, as it may be proprietary. I can ask, and you won't even need to email us. I (or another member of our team) will follow up here with any information we have.

    • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
      WiderMouthOpen
      Esteemed Contributor II
      2 months ago

      What? How can the info for what is needed to get the best speed on your network be proprietary? What do you tell people or how do you troubleshoot someone who is reporting low upload speed when you can't say what the requirements are for those speeds? You do it for download speeds. Why is upload speed any different?

  • GregP1's avatar
    GregP1
    Moderator
    2 months ago

    Hi,

    When a new customer signs up for service the "up to" upload speed is disclosed to that person in the order summary before they complete the order. If the upload speed increases while they are a customer they will receive a notice of this. Colleen has reached out for a better explanation that can be provided and we will update it here as soon as we have more information to share.

    Greg

    • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
      WiderMouthOpen
      Esteemed Contributor II
      2 months ago

      I know you can use the broadband labels to see what the upload is in your area, but that doesn't tell you what is technically required. For example, if a area offers higher upload because it has a OFDMA channel, then you would need a D3.1 modem to take advantage of it. If the area is mid split, you might need a modem with a switchable upstream filter the Arris S33. However Comcast only offers the highest speed to modem's they have specially been tested for that speed on their network. IE, the S33 isn't supported for 200Mbps on Comcast, but the S34 is, even though hardware wise they are similar/identical. Is Cox like this too?

      Hopefully Colleen can find someone who can shed some light on this question.

      • ColleenD's avatar
        ColleenD
        Moderator
        2 months ago

        WiderMouthOpen 
        When a new customer enters their address on our site it will only offer speeds available at that location. The same would go for a current customer who signs into their account on cox.com. The broadband facts label will confirm the available speeds. This all happens on the back end based on the network architecture you referenced from the published speed info. I hope this sufficiently answers your question, as it's the only information we have available.