Please let me know if you have any luck!
I got a very helpful rep on the phone. Here's what he said:
Cox is pushing DOCSIS 3.1 for some kind of efficiency/congestion reasons. So they're encouraging people to get a new modem by March 3, but there's actually no hard cutoff date.
They will give you their "Panoramic" modem for free for 12 months, but ONLY if you change plans to get off of Ultimate Classic.
And finally, they are NOT requiring customers to change plans.
So, I will be leaving my plan alone and will start looking to buy a cheap DOCSIS 3.1 modem.
One interpretation of this information is that Cox is trying to trick people into giving up their old plans with better upload speeds. But who I am to say for sure?
Efficiency is a fine thing but if the OP or you already have a "healthy" connection, who'd benefit from the efficiency of a new modem?
If you're happy with your service, keep your current setup. If Cox wants to improve the efficiency of their network for other subscribers, Cox can freely give you the modem.
Why should you be out $150 to help Cox? If nothing is broke, don't fix it.
I like how Cox introduced their Panoramic into your conversation, Cox is just "trolling the lake" for suckers to rent their stuff.
Agreed.
Just to conclude this story (hopefully), I called and activated my new DOCSIS 3.1 modem. Still getting 30mbps up. No noticeable difference, except that I am $150 poorer. Multiple reps have reassured me that my plan will not change. I guess we'll see what happens once they stare forcefully changing people's plans.
Looks like the phone rep may have been wrong. Ars just wrote an article about the situation and included a statement from Cox. You must upgrade to a DOCSIS 3.1 modem and specifically call Cox and tell them you want to stay on the classic tier. If you do not upgrade to a 3.1 modem, they will eventually downgrade us to the 150 tier.
