EDIT (1/25/07) – I’ve received a lot of comments and emails with questions about what I did to get my Comcast internet to work properly. I actually wrote a follow-up entry, Follow-up On Comcast’s Netgear CG814WG. If you read that entry, I list two products I currently use in lieu of the Netgear piece of crap. My internet has been flawless since I posted that entry (the end of October) and I haven’t had any issues at all (other than someone unplugging the router on me or something.) If you still are having problems or need advice, leave a comment on either entry and I’ll be more than happy to try to help you out.
In August we finally made the switch to Comcast for our internet, tv , and phone. And unfortunately we’ve been having horrible problems with Comcast’s internet service then I care to think about. The problem was originally both tv cable and internet cable. The cable on the TV would skip, scramble, lose audio, and just time out when trying to open up on-demand. The internet would lag, die off, then connect again. Turns out we had a bad line coming to the house. No problem, Comcast came out to fix the issue with a brand new line, and things were back to working properly.
For the past two months, the new problem has been this piece of crap cable modem gateway (cable modem + router). According to their support page, Netgear doesn’t even support the model, CG814WG, because the vendors have flashed their own firmware onto the hardware. I knew that before hand though, because I went to log into the router and was greeted with a GUI for dummies. Essentially the only options I could change was the WPA/WEP key, port forwarding, parental controls, and DMZ. I couldn’t even change the IP of the unit itself, which was conflicting with another computer on my network. Ridiculous!
Anyway, the problem I’m having is that the router will continually drop a signal, and then pick it back up again. Talk about annoying! I know when it’s going to happen because I’m not able to open any websites–they all just time out on me. It gets worse when there are more people are on the internet, and we usually have about 3 people connected, which is a paltry number, but nonetheless.
Googling around for the CG814WG model shows that it’s a piece of crap in general. When you google for “Comcast CG814WG” the results are all about how the piece of crap isn’t working for them. They all have the same problem. It reboots itself constantly leaving problems if you’re connected to a game, say Halo 3 (which has been my problem. I’ve lost 9EXP and ranking from dropping out of ranked games because of the connection.)
Today I have finally had it with the piece of shit. I wanted to hop on the 360 before work to play a quick game of Halo 3, and things were fine at first. I got matched with a team, and just as we got the map to play on, the other players dropped out which means that my connection lagged and I got kicked from the ranked game. Bye bye EXP.
Later on I’m going out to buy the D-Link DCM202 and I’ll just hook up my old Linksys WRT54G to get going. Instead of going wirelessly for the Xbox 360, I think I’ll just go ahead and return the wifi adapter. I’ve ordered two Netgear XE102 Powerline Adapters so that I can go wired with the unit. Even though I know the wireless issue will be resolved when I replace the unit, I’d rather go wired for the Xbox 360. I can’t handle losing any more EXP points when I’m not even leaving the team.
Here’s a big Fuck you to Comcast’s shitty firmware that ruined the hardware and rendered it absofuckinglutely useless.
Wow…Comcast sucks ass! Surely they should have forseen problems like this with their firmware, unless they did already but didn’t do anything about it.
I guess I’m lucky I didn’t get stuck with that when I had Comcast. I believe they gave me an Arris modem gateway.
But, now I have Verizon. Their modem gateway works fine, but the internet (and phone) will randomly cut out.
I wasn’t surprised by this rant – it was a netgear product Karl ranted about a while ago. Heard nothing good about them personally! (http://tinyurl.com/yven3y)
If you need wireless, then go with Linksys wireless hub, Comcast sucks because the phone they use has added so many new customers in such a little time that they can’t keep up. As for the 360, I don’t know, I keep gettuing a message on Halo 3 that my Nat settings aren’t open, but maybe if you go with a router that Bungie recommends, then the problems with the 360 might stop.
I’m not having problems with the Xbox 360 itself; It’s the piece of shit cable gateway that Comcast provided, as I said in my post. If you are getting NAT issues with going on Live, then it sounds like you haven’t opened up the necessary ports for Xlive to go through without issue.
The compatibility list means shit to me though, because according to Xbox’s compability list the Netgear gateway I have is “compatible.” Unfortunately this is hardly the case since the firmware added renders it absolutely useless due to the fact the connection drops since the unit reboots when there are too many NAT connections.
Either way I’m already replacing the gateway with a D-Link cable modem, and I hooked up my old Linksys WRT54G which I know works fine, since I used it with my regular Xbox when I was live with Halo 2.
Well that sucks. I hope I don’t have problems with the internet I just got. If I do then I just have to tell my fiance and he will call and yell at them about it untill it’s fixed and we have money credited to our account. lol.
I hope things work out this time though.
I’m sorry you are having internet problems. I would be really frustrated as well. I’ve heard some bad things about comcast.
Comcast screwed up my shit, too. It was horrible. Everything’s ok now though, I just had to work out the kinks or whatever. I’m not happy with them at all, though. I miss TW to be honest. I didn’t have these kinds of problems with them. I believe i have a newer version of the linksys router that you do, and it’s not bad. I had problems with netgear as well… Right now my entire home is wireless. I have the linksys wireless adapter for my desktop computer.. simply because Comcast wouldn’t add any extra cable connections to my apartment.. something about fire code? Whatever. So the only way to get the laptop in my room online was to go wireless. It’s working out ok so far. Good luck with all your issues. 🙁
I just got the CG814WG from Comcast too and am having the same issues. It is truly a piece of crap. Worse for me, Comcast doesn’t support VPN. They claim that their network is a home network and shouldn’t be used for work purposes. So now I can even get my email from work. Course, they don’t mention that up front when you sign up.
Anyone know if there is a market router I can buy to replace the CG814WG they gave me and bypass them altogether?
If you read through the entry again, I did list a couple of items you can use for your network. You can try out the D-Link DCM-202 cable modem, and the Linksys WRT54G.
The only thing though, is that you will need to call Comcast’s tech support to register the MAC ID of the cable modem, otherwise you’ll have an internet block set up once the MAC ID changes. It will forward all pages to Comcast.net’s page for new/current customers to install some software.
You won’t really be able to “bypass” Comcast, but you can return the hardware they gave you back to them, to pay a few bucks less a month AND have a more reliable internet connection.
But about setting up a VPN, if you look at the Comcast Terms of Service, you’ll see that they don’t prohibit such methods. They do mention “The Service is for personal and non-commercial use only and you agree not to use the Service for operation as an Internet service provider or for any business enterprise or purpose, or as an end-point on a non-Comcast local area network or wide area network;“.
They ended up banning VPN usage on their “home” internet service, but want you to buy their “professional” internet package which is $95 a month, if you want VPN usage. Practically Network.com has an article with an email excerpt explaining about the VPN.
It does suck, but you have to realize that it’s within the Terms of Service that you agreed to. If it’s something you absolutely *do* need, they do offer it in their business package. Albeit it’s more expensive, but if you rely on it as much as you claim, then that’s obviously the route you need to take.
Anyway, hopefully the new hardware items I gave you can help you out. Just make sure that you call Comcast after you hook up the new hardware. Tell them you wanted to use your own reliable modem, because theirs kept crashing. Make sure to get the MAC ID and DO NOT get off of the phone with them until you’re able to access the internet without it forwarding to Comcast.net.
:o)
wow ive been dealing with this same problem for almost a year… I am in OC, Cali and almost a year ago TWC took over Comcast in my area… At that time I bought an xbox 360 and wanted to move our 2nd PC into an area in the apartment where there isnt any cable outlet. Our landlord wont let us create any new outlets, so I naturally decided to go wireless. I had TWC previously in Florida, with little to no problems. But, this transition from Comcast here has been a huge pain. Aside from all the cable issues, which have just now been ironed out it seems, knock on wood, I have been fighting with them about this stinkin CG814WG for, as I said, almost a year. I have searched all over the internet for answers, and only found that some areas of country the ISPs were able to flash the firmware and fix the issue. I have been riding TWC to do such a fix or at least supply me with different hardware that works. The idiot technicians come out here with a fresh box with the same piece of crap in it, install it, test it, say ok it works now, leave and then of course it crashes again. I should have went out and bought my own hardware a long time ago, but I believe that TWC should supply me with hardware that works and live up to their heavy advertising to be able to set up a wireless home network. I mean, thats what im paying them so much for, or else they should change their claim and disclose that you would be better off buying your own hardware.
I am once again trying to get this piece of crap to work with my xbox 360, and found your post. Which I find to be the most accurate post in all my searchings. The fact that there isnt a problem with your wiring, connecting to your ISP or even the speed, it is the fact that the CG814WG cant handle more than a couple of NAT connections before it reboots itself. And the fact that your post is so recent and that any ISP is still trying to get their customers to use this piece of crap is infuriating.
Thank god TWC’s customer service is top notch, aside from the hold times, they never hesitate to give me the credits I deserve. Sure keeps the words “law suit” from crossing my mind.
same exact problem, cg814wg v2, all i wanna do is play halo( other than use my laptop for internet surfing, downloading, etc.)…get into a match, it searches, i only try to play team doubles in halo 3 [it only has four players] less of a chance to get kicked off…start game, either right when it starts, pregame lobby, or middle of game,i get kicked off, my modem itself turns off for about 2 or 2 minutes, slowly reconnects…my friends from xbox live are getting pissed, my exp shows up as 0, yet if i check my bungie service record online i am a -6….i am demanding them to come out and tell me what the problem is and request a new modem to be set up, i do blame comcast for this problem, i had called upon just ordering comcast high speed internet for xbox live and they tell me everything is compatible, even asked the serivce guy who set me up, i am enraged about this and tomorrow will be the day they come out for the final time, well i hope it works
Hey i have the same problem n piece of crap modem
did your solution work !
I CANT PLAY HALO!!!
HELP ASAP
Sam, yes my solution worked. I haven’t had any issues with my connection since changing the cable gateway. This is because the router I use is able to handle the amount of NAT connections being made. Whereas the Netgear couldn’t handle it which is why it would constantly restart and drop signal during that process.
I have this same piece of crap router except i cant even get online at all. When my 360 does the connection test it fails on ”xbox live” which is the second to last thing it tests for (right behind NAT). Im not even trying to go wireless i am trying to hook it up w/ a direct Ethernet connection. And when i try to hook it up directly to the Arris modem they gave me, it fails on the MTU. I dont understand this piece of shit, my old linsys was working fine before i moved. The only thing i can think of is to just call comcast and get an all new router.???
Most of the cable companies have crappy internet backbones. It’s lots of bandwidth with lots of latency.
Justin
OMFG I HAVE A NET GEAR v2 model and it does the exact same thing DAM DAM DAM DAM do i havta get a new modem? fug
I got the same problem comcast gave me Netgear cg814wg v2 Cable modem/Gateway and when I try to play Halo 3 matchmaking it kicks me off xbox live when the game is right about to start. The gateway then reboots itself and I reconnect and the same thing happens, I lost around -40 exp points and created a new XBL account today. If I take the piece of shit to the Comcast center about 15 minutes from my house will they replace the gateway? or will buying the xbox wireless connection work? and if I where to buy a router to connect to the cable modem whould i need to replace the cable modem also?
SB MIKEY – I wrote another entry, Follow -up on Comcast’s Netgear cg814wg where I mentioned that it was in fact the equipment that was failing.
After reading a bunch of articles, forum posts, and other complaints other people had problems when there were too many NAT connections with the gateway. It would cause the gateway to reboot to try to reset it. It’s weird because even when it was idle, it would still reboot itself too.
Comcast isn’t going to do anything for you–if they give you another piece of shit, you have the chance of having the same issue. My resolution is that you purchase the two items separately. This way you have the ability to control ALL aspects of your options.
Purchase a cable modem (I have a D-LINK; The Motorola Surfboard brand has been decent too) and a wireless router (I use a Linksys WRT54G). With those two, you’ll be able to set up your network. You’ll need to refer to the post I linked in this comment for more information on what to expect though.
If you want to go wireless with your xbox, you’ll need to buy the Xbox 360 adapter. Otherwise you can go wired with it, if that’s what you want.
So if I go wireless with the xbox I won’t have any problems with getting disconnected with the cg814wg v2?
SB MIKEY, whether you are wired or wireless, you are going to have issues with the CG814WG. The problem is that the device cannot handle the amount of NAT connections coming in, so it doesn’t matter if you’re wired or wireless.
It will reboot (and effect EVERYONE on the network) when there are too many connections.
The ideal solution is to get rid of that piece of crap, and replace it with a separate cable modem (DLINK works fine for me) and a separate wireless router (Linksys is my preferred choice.)
So again, I will reiterate: You will have problems with the Netgear CG814WG NO MATTER WHAT.
Alright I think I might get the same DLink and I have a router lying around somewhere.. I guess Comcast is going to give me problems as well when I call the Support Line..
Add me to XBL jordan my Gamertag is SB MIKEY
ive had this problem since i got my xbox a year and a half ago, i cannot tell you how annoying its been. But in words a 15 year old, which i am, can understand. can you tell me what to do, what to buy, and who to talk to in comcast to get this solved, because all i want to do is play a fuckin game of halo 3 without being disconnected. Please email me at R2allen17@aol.com. It wouold be geatly apprecitated, and remember im only 15 so in words i could understand, like for example, i dont even know what NAT stands for and crap. All i know is thT I cant play halo 3 and host gears of war games, and it pisses me off almost to the point of smashing my xbox. so PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I also am using the same cable/router modem, just recently been having the same probs, just in a different way with Azureus, crash then reboot itself, then for awhile i had the wrong IP addy, called Comcast, took them awhile to fix it, then once it was fixed it crashed again and rebooted 4 times total, especially when trying to download something on Azureus or play Call of Duty 2, until now now for about an 1 hour and a half its been working good, however a technician is coming to my place tomorrow , and I’m seriously gonna ask if they have a different cable/router modem then this one that is more reliable. *fingers crossed*
I’ve been getting a kick out of this thread and thought I’d put in my two cents. 😛
My girlfriend got the Comcast Triple Play package. Her son plays COD4 on his XBOX 360 and I play SOF2 online on her PC. If we were both on at the same time, the XBOX would lag and such so we called Comcast to see what could be done to eliminate this problem. We opted to upgrade our internet service (up to 8mb, I think?) and we were told that our issue would be resolved if we switched to their cable gateway device (the aforementioned Netgear CG814WG). Needless to say, this was nothing but bullshit and all of the difficulties that have been talked about in this thread (ESPECIALLY the gateway constantly rebooting itself) were happening constantly. Not having seen this post before doing so (but figuring it was more than likely the problem), we called Comcast to have the tech come back and switch out the gateway device for another since I was hoping the one we had may just be a bad unit. The gateway was switched out but the troubles persisted. The end result was another day of aggravation and connection issues. We have since gone back to our old setup.
Prior to the upgrade in internet service, we were using a D-Link DIR-625 Rangebooster N Router. Personally speaking, I have never had a single problem with any piece of D-Link networking hardware that I have ever used. I can honestly say the same for any friends or customers I have assisted at Best Buy when I have recommended their products as a cheaper alternative to Linksys products. I have found Netgear products to be nothing but crap. Strangely enough, the Comcast tech made a funny face and mumbled something about our choice in routers when he arrived for the gateway setup, lol). I decided that I wanted to see for myself if I could get our router to work on the so called ‘upgraded service’. I turned off the XBOX and the PC, then pulled the backup battery from the Arris TM502G Cable Modem (rented from Comcast) and pulled the power on it so it could be powered down. I hooked up the D-Link router to the modem and powered both back up and turned on the PC. I ran the setup CD that came with the router and configured my network using the version of Network Magic that was provided. I have to tell you that everything worked like a charm and the XBOX 360 was picked up IMMEDIATELY on the network. Incidentally, the room where the XBOX is located was rearranged so the game console is closer to the router than it was before, resulting in 4 bars of signal strength regarding the network connection strength as opposed to the 2 we had before when using that Netgear piece of shit). Peace and tranquility have been restored here for now. My girlfriend’s aon and I can both enjoy our online gaming at the same time with absolutely NO connectivity issues. He no longer gets booted from COD4 servers and I get a FULL list of servers on which to play SOF2 on the PC as opposed to the three or four I would get if I was lucky enough to see any at all. I imagine if we should encounter problems in the future regarding the wireless connection to the XBOX 360, we will more than likely just opt to hard wire it to the router with some CAT5 cable. 😛
I was going to rant and talk about my displeasure for Comcast, but I am too tired to do so right now. Instead, I will be returning the Netgear Cable Modem Gateway to the local office and demanding that they adjust our bill and credit us for the bullshit installation fee that they swindled from us. If I do not get the satisfaction that I seek, I will have to decide what to do next.
If there are any readers of this message requiring additional help, feel free to contact me at mjniemela@yahoo.com and I shall do my best to assist you.
Take care.
OMFG!!! My boyfriend and I have been troubleshooting the same problems for months (ever since we got set up with Comcast and their Netgear CG814WG v2 piece of shit). My boyfriend is a hard-core gamer and everytime he would get on certain online Xbox games (like Halo 3, Test Drive, among many others) or when he would attempt to host a game, like Gears of War, he would get disconnected as soon as more than 3 people joined, which, needless to say, infuriated him to no end.
We called Xbox Live and Comcast repeatedly and spoke with “techs” that seemingly knew less than him. We had a 6 mb connection, and they recommended we up it to an 8 mb to cure all our connection woes. Yeah, that didn’t work. We even asked Xbox Live and Comcast if it could be our router (which was actually our first thought) and we were told an emphatic NO; our router is compatible and fine, according to them. We were about ready to throw the Xbox, modem, and router out the f’in window when we came across this blog. I just wanted to tell everyone who contributed to this, esp.
Jordan, T H A N K Y O U!!! People’s experiences with this crappy router mirror our own and we couldn’t fix the problem til we knew what it was, and I’m 99.9 percent sure this would be it……So tomorrow we’ll have a fun trip to get the D-link, get it set up, bitch at Comcast, and hopefully all will be well and running how it should of to begin with.
comcast suxx badly i haveuter a cg814 wg router and it always lost connection so i got so mad and smased it wit my hammer!!
and now i got a cricket modem its so cool
If comcast has issued you a cg814wg, ask them to please come replace it with a regular modem (motorola surfboard sb5120 preferably) and a netgear wireless router. It will cost the same on your bill and perform much much better. Most of the install techs I know won’t install the gateways unless it’s absolutely the last thing they have on their truck. The do suck!
I use Motorolla and it goes down time to time which pisses me off..
this NETGEAR all in one router SUCK!!! Comcast keeps on telling me its xbox and the router is fine, thats bullshit! I know its this router. I will be calling Comcast and demanding a seperate modem and router