Visitor

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7 Messages

Friday, September 12th, 2025

Fallback for non-approved but capable modems

I have the Arris S34 which is fully compatible and works great with Xfinity's network after the upgrade. 

The way that I know this is that I use it to connect to Xfinity and get 2.2. to 2.3Gbp on all six workstations on my LAN. 

But this is only the case if they have me listed as using their gateway. I'm not using their gateway and have their gateway in a box on my shelf.

When they remove the gateway, a default profile is conrfigured for my account limiting my access speed to 400Mbps. Even though my account shows my modem and it's the only way I have connected to Xfinity, as soon as they remove their gateway from my account, the speed drops. When they add it back, I get full speed again.

The tech support on Reddit claims that there is nothing they can do because the Arris S34 is not listed as an approved modem. 

Lots of other people are using the S34 Modem and mine works with no problems if they send the same codepage that their gateway uses apparently. Do I have to spoof my MAC address on my modem to make them think it's an S33?


Why can't they just send the same codepage that they are without having their gateway on my accoun t(even though it's not used or connected).

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Gold Problem Solver

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26.8K Messages

1 month ago

... the Arris S34 is not listed as an approved modem ...

That's incorrect. Follow the "See all modems" link near the bottom of https://www.xfinity.com/support/internet/customerowned, and then under the heading "Compatible modems for enhanced speeds" ("modems that support 100 Mbps upload speeds and above") click the Arris list. The S34 is on that list and so is compatible with higher upload speeds and is rated for "Wired download speed: Up to 2.32 Gbps". 

I know of no way to spoof the MAC of a straight cable modem like the S34. 

Please be aware that there are 2 kinds of responses in this Forum: Replies and Comments. When you Comment on a post by scrolling down to "Comment on this post here...", I am notified of your response. But if you select Reply, I am NOT notified and may not be aware of your response.

Visitor

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7 Messages

Just because it is compatible doesn't mean it is approved. The approved list is only about 5 modems long while the compatible list is pages. 

Official Employee

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2.2K Messages

1 month ago

Thank you for reaching out to us here @user_5tnnv6. The response from @BruceW is correct, that modem is on the compatible list. I am not sure what is causing the problem with having an Xfinity modem showing on the account. I will be happy to look further into that from here. Can you send me a direct message with the full name and complete address for your service? 

To send a direct message [private message]:

   Click the "Direct Message" icon or  https://forums.xfinity.com/direct-messaging

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Gold Problem Solver

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26.8K Messages

1 month ago

Just because it is compatible doesn't mean it is approved. The approved list is only about 5 modems long while the compatible list is pages.

I'm not finding a list called "Approved", where are you seeing that?

On the list I mentioned above Compatible = Approved for the plan speeds shown. How could a device be "compatible" if it wasn't "approved", or "approved" if it wasn't "compatible"?

Please be aware that there are 2 kinds of responses in this Forum: Replies and Comments. When you Comment on a post by scrolling down to "Comment on this post here...", I am notified of your response. But if you select Reply, I am NOT notified and may not be aware of your response.

Visitor

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7 Messages

Sorry about that. I was getting support from the Xfinity employees that man the Xfinity Reddit page. They have Reddit setup to automate opening and closing tickets easily. So I opened a ticket asking for help with provisioning my account and they said my modem wasn't on the "approved list"

When you pointed out that it was compatible, (thank you, btw) I provided a screenshot and the link and they said, that just because it was compatible doesn't mean that it is approved for use on the network. Which I doubt. They claimed that the only approved modems were the ones that they had the ability to upgrade remotely, which sounds like a load of garbage to me. Since they have no control over customer supplied modems, they are hesitant to "approve" them. Their claim is that an incorrectly configured customer-supplied modem affects the entire node, so they only "approve" the modems they have access to for configuration at this time.

I don't know if any of this is true and they have lied to me so many times it is outrageous. I have 30+ pages of single-spaced 10pt support chat dialog (double sided, so 60 pages) trying to get this thing resolved. They should have never dropped the speed for all customer supplied modems without informing customers about the issue. They shouldn't have lied to customers saying their modem was damaged or there was noise on the line. And when they finally beat the customer down to the point where they just want the service to work, they sell them usually twice the bandwidth they can access on their LAN. If you have a 1Gbps Lan, a 2Gbps connection is way way overkill. And they shouldn't have done all of this to coerce customers into using their Gateway which allow them to piggy back of the unused bandwidth they sold to their customers when they got the gateway in order to provide Xfinity Wifi Hotspots. 

Visitor

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7 Messages

26 days ago

I just received a message telling me to accept the results of my inquiry and I cannot. I received another text message today asking me to return the unused equipment, which I can't do without dropping to 400Mbps. 

THis issue is not resolved. And this is the first part of the issue. I was told that I would not be charged for the time that I as paying for 1.3Gbps but only receiving 400Mbs. That refund has never appeared. On three or four occasions, I was told that I would receive a credit of $50 for the hassle (3 separate occasions). No credit has appeared. 

I still have two Comcast Gateways listed on my account, but I only ever received one and have not connected it.  Just wanted to update this thread in case others have the same issue. I know some people have not had any problems with my equipment, but for some reason, I cannot get the full 2.1Gbps I am paying for unless the gateway is added to my account. Regardless of whether it sits unused on my shelf. 

Official Employee

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2.7K Messages

 

Thanks for your comment, user_5tnnv6. I'm sorry to hear about the speed and equipment issue you've been experiencing. This is not the type of service we aim to provide and we'd like to help make this right. What were the results of the inquiry? Did you open a ticket to have your issues resolved? 

 

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