It all began in May when our internet connection would periodically drop. I would go to bed and get up in the morning and often I would see my VPN connection reconnect after a drop. My wife also experienced such  drops and was really concerned about the stability as she was getting ready to teach her online course in June. I called Comcast (Xfinity) a couple of times and all they could do was to remotely reset the  cable modem and that didn’t help. By sheer luck, I happened to talk to a gentleman during one such call who explained that the cable modem I had was a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem and whereas it is OK, for the speeds we are signed up for (300 Mbps or so), he suggested trying out a DOCSIS 3.1 modem. I was skeptical, but hey, why not try it, especially because he was throwing in  a  free trial for  a month. I would have to pay about $13 a month to Comcast after the  free trial or buy my own DOCSIS 3.1 modem.

I went to the local store to pick up the new DOCSIS 3.1 modem. It took less than 10 minutes to pick it up and I came home to install this new device  with a lot  of hope. I called Comcast to activate the modem (a step I HATE because of the horrendous phone system that requires you to answer the same questions over and over again before you can get to a human  being). Everything worked well and I told my wife to let me know of any connection issues. Three weeks go by and no issues at all! I am now doubly, triply, thrilled with the advice I received.

Then started all the troubles, some self-inflicted…

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