Real motives for ISP cable modem swap out?

[Weezghiz]

Hi! Hello! New here… my 1st post! Hopefully I’m starting off on the right foot.

I tend to be a cynical and skeptical person. When someone or, in this case some corporate entity claims to be offering me something for nothing I’m immediately suspicious - of the "no free lunch" school.

Over the last few months my ISP has been incessantly e/snail-mailing, to change out my cable-modem. Claims are:

a) The upgrade will be at no cost to me
b) Network Upgrades - consistent speeds, stability & reliability
c) Flexibility - Access to all service tiers (Ultra-Lite, Lite, Express or Extreme)
d) Exciting services - New, exclusive Internet features and services planned for the future.

The mailing also says:
"To ensure that you continue to get the most out of your Internet service, we would like to upgrade your current modem as soon as possible. There will, over course, be no additional charges for this upgrade"

OK... Who else's BS alarm is going off?

Thoughts:
1) New modem will be more aptly throttled by the ISP, and thus see lower lows during peak demand periods. Obviously if one’s got a particularly HOT connection, this won’t be a plus.

2) Allow remote capping – no technician needed to physically ‘cap’ or ‘uncap’ when service up or downgraded.

3) Will ultimately lead to increased monthly fees… either because of the fancy new modem, or simply an excuse to change service levels & pricing. With remote cap folks who don’t want to pay the upgrade fees service levels can be lopped off without the need of additional hardware or manpower.

FYI
I'm not a gamer, although one of my siblings is. I'm not a crazy downloader, DL’ing all sorts of porn, music or whatever… I occasionally listen to streaming audio from Radio Paradise.com and visit a few special interest forums.

Would I like faster speed? Yes. Do I believe that my cable modem is the bottleneck - no. So why upgrade? How would my experience be improved?

What are your thoughts & or suggestions and why?

Please, I would really appreciate thoughtful answers. Its very easy to leave opinion without explanation... but if you want me, or anyone else to understand & appreciate your opinions, motives etc. the thought process is important. Thanks!

If relevant:
Current modem: Terayon TeraPro TCM200

New modem options from ISP:
Webstar Scientific Atlanta - DPC2100
Toshiba - PX2500 or PCX2600
Motorola Surfboard 5100

Does anyone have reccomendations for a cable modem, which is DOCSIS1 OR (if I got this right) DOCSIS2 - assuming backwards compatibility?

A very sincere thank you for your time & thoughts
G

[buckifan]

The TCM200 is not a DOCSIS compliant modem and your ISP just wants to gracefully stop supporting this old equipment.

I'm as paranoid as the next person but I think your skepticism is misplaced as far as 'cap', 'uncap', and 'throttle'. We are all 'capped' and 'throttled' in one way or the other but using a DOCSIS compliant modem will allow ISP's to automatically raise your upload and download speed depending upon network conditions. Comcast is rolling out this feature, which they have named Speedboost. Using a DOCSIS certified modem also increases the security of your data and provides a more reliable connection.

I'd let them give me a new modem. SA, Toshiba, and Motorola all work well.

[YARDofSTUF]

Its probably not free either, odds are you are paying liek 5 bucks a month to rent a modem, take a new one.