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Monday, February 17th, 2025 8:42 PM

No Upstream OFDMA on Arris S33 After Upgrading to 2 Gbps Plan

Hi, I recently upgraded to the 2 Gbps plan with 300 Mbps upload, but my Arris S33 modem is only bonding to SC-QAM channels on the upstream—there’s no OFDMA.

OFDMA is active on the downstream, so DOCSIS 3.1 is working, but my upload speeds are much lower than expected (~40 Mbps instead of 300+ Mbps).

I’ve restarted my modem and checked 192.168.100.1, but my upstream is still missing OFDMA. I contacted support, but they only told me to reboot and didn’t check my provisioning.

Can someone confirm if upstream OFDMA is enabled in my area, and if not, can my modem be reprovisioned correctly for the 2 Gbps plan?

Thanks!

Gold Problem Solver

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26.3K Messages

2 months ago

... Arris S33 ... no OFDMA ... upload speeds are much lower than expected (~40 Mbps ...

Realize that although Comcast calls some devices "Compatible" and some "Recommended", for all but a few devices those designations only mean "compatible/recommended for use with their Internet service", and not necessarily approved for the upload speeds introduced in 2023.

The S33 is not compatible with those speeds. Only a few retail devices are. See the "Next Gen" list at the top of the "All Compatible Devices" PDF linked near the bottom of https://www.xfinity.com/support/devices (at the moment that link points to https://assets.xfinity.com/assets/dotcom/projects/cix-4997_compatible-devices/2024.09.18%20Full%20List%20of%20Compatible%20Devices.pdf, but this changes from time to time).

For faster upload you need one of Comcast's newer rental gateways (XB6, XB7, XB8) or one of the few retail devices shown in the "Next Gen Speed Tier" group at the top of the "All Compatible Devices" PDF:

  • Hitron Technologies CODA or CODA56
  • Netgear CM2500, CM3000, or CBR750
  • ARRIS/Surfboard G20, G34, G36, G54, or S34
  • Ubiquiti UCI 

Comcast/Xfinity could make all of this much simpler and clearer, but they have chosen not to do so.

For additional requirements for faster upload see https://forums.xfinity.com/conversations/customer-service/upload-speeds/677b01a7121aae71d76926bf?commentId=677b05b23423b47b4071a8d0&replyId=677bd66e7699a97c89069e62

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.

3 Messages

Thank you for the detailed response! I really appreciate the clarification on the modem compatibility. I had no idea that the S33 wasn’t fully approved for the newer upload speeds—Comcast definitely doesn’t make that obvious.

I’ll take a look at the Next Gen modem list and decide whether to switch to one of those or go with an Xfinity gateway. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!

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