Arris Modem Firmware Update

[Florene Pothoven]

The Cable Operators (MSOs) have complete control of what cable modem/gateway hardware they will allow installed and the firmware it uses, this is because they own the coaxial cable that is connected to the ARRIS SBG6580, because of that the Firmware updates are pushed by them, and any update needed as well. Any associated firmware updates are automatically deployed by the cable operator. This is not an ARRIS only implementation, but the required implementation of any cable device manufacturer.

Since all the other devices are connected to modem Wi-Fi and working fine only particular device is not getting connected and having intermittent connection issue in this case we would suggest you to customize the Wi-Fi network and use it and you can also try changing Wi-Fi channel to fix this because, If other Wi-Fi sources such as neighboring wireless access points are using the same wireless channel, this may cause intermittent connectivity issues, even if the competing signal is relatively weak. Changing the wireless channel within the gateway can improve connectivity. please follow the steps mentioned on link below and monitor connection for next 24hrs.

The Cable Operators (MSOs) have complete control of what cable modem/gateway hardware they will allow installed and the firmware it uses, this is because they own the coaxial cable that is connected to the ARRIS SB8200, because of that the Firmware updates are pushed by them, and any update needed as well. Any associated firmware updates are automatically deployed by the cable operator. This is not an ARRIS only implementation, but the required implementation of any cable device manufacturer.

Even for the device owned by the customer only the service provider can only update the firmware since the modem is activated by them. Regarding slow speed you can try resetting modem and perform speed test on direct connection to the modem without router. If still you face slow speed make sure you are using the cat6 or cat7 ethernet cable and to isolate the issue we need to check the cable signal level so please follow the steps mentioned on the below link.

I am currently trying to get new firmware out to our 860/862s (the 862s are more important as we need the SIP firmware). However the majority of the time it fails as it comes back saying it can't find the TFTP server, but it finds it to download the config file, and the modem itself reports the correct update server. We currently use the Linux Docsis config generator and I have been trying to decipher what all the options are in our config files. Basically I am just wondering if anyone sees anything that may be wrong in the config file.

Did you upload the file into the appropriate directory on the tftp server? I've done that before where I logged in, uploaded the file, and forgot to change into the right folder on the server first and then scratched my head for a while on what went wrong...

Like I said I inherited this config and this is how the person before me had it configured it, but whenever I asked him about it he said it is fine. We have a little further down our tftp server address 199.102.208.3.

The 860/862 platform is an "older" platform now, the 16xx/24xx/32xx series get all the attention first now, with regards to the firmware updates, the latest 9.x firmware does fix a lot of problems for them and there is a persistent bug with firmware updates, that if it fails, the router in them just dies, and you have to redownload the firmware again. They also have limitations on wireless performance on higher speed packages (50+mbs). We've been trialing the 16xx and 24xx series modems, and have been liking what we're seeing, we're now phasing out the 860 platform in favor of the 16xx/24xx series. The newer modems have dual-band or AC routers in them anyway, which helps when in a congested 2.4 wireless area.

9.1 come together with the new device as ARRIS wanted to have an unified software for two different devices. First versions of 9.1 were a bit buggy, it is not easy to make many changes in code without bringing bugs.

Regarding the wireless speed, I am still interested to see a non AC model with more than 50MBps speed stable, in a noisy environment, similar to a typical in-house environment.

If you want 802.11AC, 24/32 bonded channels, then go with TG2492, otherwise, TG862 is a wonderful device will stay on the market for a while. Both are based on a stable Intel chipset which is known to be very stable in the long run. There are still deployments of D2.0 in many networks so I do not expect TG862 will be soon phased out.

My ISP is Mediacom Cable. My cable modem is a Netgear CM600 running on an ancient firmware. My ISP will not update the firmware because I own the equipment. Netgear says they make the updated firmware available to ISPs and that I merely need to contact my ISP and ask them to contact Netgear. That's awesome, I contacted MediacomCable and they said their policy is that that WILL NOT update customer owned equipment. So Netgear won't allow me to do it, and my ISP won't touch it because I didn't choose to rent from them. So what is the lesson? Rent an archiac modem from the ISP, but because it's a rental I'll never be able to check how out of date my firmware is so I'll be dumb and happy?

This isn't isolated to netgear. The isp's control the firmware on all the modems connected to their service. And each time a firmware is upgraded, the ISP has to pay people to test/certify the firmware on the device. Which is why they don't like to upgrade firmware unless its causing an issue on their network. Mediacom isn't the only one doing it. They're all bad at updating the firmware on modems. Its also why I don't usually recommend modem/router combo devices either because then the router aspect of it is controlled by the isp as well.

Yes. Last week I began experiencing so many drops that I couldn't productively work from home. I called my ISP, they said there wasn't a problem on their end and since I own my own equipment there was nothing else they can/will do. In addition to the drops, now that I know Mediacom isn't updating my modem I'm now aware that there are numerous security vulnerabilities present in my existing firmware.

So it seems purchasing ones own modem is a colossal scam as you're more than likely never going to be able to update it yourself and the ISP won't update equipment they don't own. If you want any chance at receiving an update to your modem apparently the only choice is to be stuck renting equipment from an ISP. And there's still no guarantee that the ISP will maintain current firmware of it's own equipment. But since it'll be their equipment they can at least keep the customer from being able to see how far behind the equipment is, thus giving the customer the "ignorance is bliss", feeling of security.

And in regards to you thinking its a scam. That's your opinion. its an industry wide issue. I'm sure netgear/other vendors would love to make isp's update their devices so they're more secure. But they don't. If you want to get upset at someone, blame the large media companies who force you to use their devices and charge you for the privilege.

I'd connect a pc directly to the modem. you said you were getting frequent drops. If it continues it means its either the modem or the line coming in.If the issue goes away, you're drops are related to the router.

Most ISP's will lease you a modem and then they have to service it. Agree to lease it for a month. Its usually $5-10/month. If the problem persists after they install their modem, it means its a line issue. If it stops, it was the modem. then you can either RMA/replace the modem and drop your lease or you can continue to use the leased on.

I am having the same issue with a Netgear C7000 cable,modem,router. My ISP is WOW and they have never pushed a firmware update. Their modems are costly, run hot, and a waste of money per month. I am going to start giving Netgear lousy reviews for not letting customers do their own firmware updates. If anyone has a solution-please respond- I am just about ready to install 3rd party software if I can find something decent.

Then you better put those reviews out there for all manufacturer's of combo devices as its currently a whole industry that has their combo device firmware controlled by the isp. Its not isolated to netgear.

Here's where it all falls apart for me: Customers that own their own equipment can't get firmware updates to said equipment from the manufacturer because of some BS agreement the manufacturers choose to honor with all the ISPs saying they'll only give firmware updates to ISP's. Now supposedly this is because the ISP claims the only way they can "guarantee" reliablility to their customers is by vetting the firmwares. Fine, I'll ignore the part that I'm not prevented from using a modem that's not on the ISP supported list (which they clearly never vet). So apparently that poses no harm eh? Wait, the logic falls apart even if you are on the ISP supported hardware and here's why:

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