If you have Comcast Triple Play or Xfinity Voice, then you must buy an approved voice modem such as the ARRIS SVG2482AC or Netgear C7100v Nighthawk. Or the Netgear CM500v if you plan on using a separate router. If you have Xfinity Triple Play, there is no way around buying a compatible voice modem. Sure it may cost more up front but it will still save you money in the long run because you will no longer be paying the $10 a month rental fees. It will also provide you with the newer technology and more advanced higher performing wifi cable modem with built in wireless router. The good thing is, the Netgear C7100v is a combo modem router, meaning you do not have to purchase a separate wireless router, you get both in one device. A high speed 24 downstream channel DOCSIS 3.0 EMTA voice modem, and a powerful wireless gateway for Comcast Xfinity Triple Play Internet.
Comcast Xfinity Voice Modem Router
EMTA Modem for Comcast Voice / Xfinity Triple Play
Netgear C7100V (current price) Best Voice Modem.
Arris SVG2482AC – Bad Puma 6 Chip.
Triple Play Xfinity Voice Modem ONLY
Netgear CM500v Best standalone Comcast voice modem.
You will need your own router
What if I am not using the voice line? Do I still need a voice modem?
Yes, you do. I called Comcast myself and the bottom line is if you have Xfinity Triple Play– whether you use it or not– you need the voice modem. I have had readers also report that they tried and Comcast would not let them use a normal DOCSIS 3.0 approved cable modem.
Is this my only option?
If you have Comcast Voice Triple Play, then yes. You must use one of the 2 telephony compatible voice modems. Your options are very limited but the Netgear C7100v is a solid DOCSIS 3.0 EMTA modem, meaning it is fast enough for Comcast packages all the way up to Extreme, Comcast Blast and Performance. Get the best internet speeds Comcast has to offer and they have a built in Wireless AC router. Which one would we recommend? The Netgear C7100V no doubt. See the differences below in the comparison chart.
Arris SVG2482AC vs Netgear C7100V Review
In any given situation I would pick the Netgear C7100V over the Arris SVG2482AC. The C7100v has a Broadcom chip while the ARRIS SVG2482AC has the flawed Puma 6 chip and is on the list of bad modems. This is pretty big because even after they released a firmware update, users are still reporting latency spikes and internet slow downs. Making the very popular ARRIS voice modem, a bad option.
But even if the ARRIS SVG2482AC did not have a bad Puma 6 chip, it would lose this battle for many reason. One, the Netgear C7100v is a faster combo modem / router, it has built in USB ports for network storage, and the battle tested Netgear GUI and firmware. Yes, the ARRIS SVG2482AC voice modem may have two physical USB ports on the back of the modem, but they are not for your use. They are for service technicians and will not host an external hard drive or printer. The firmware just isn’t supporting it. I consider this a huge flaw. They make no claims of the device even having USB ports in any of their marketing, yet you can see they are there for service techs. This is the sole reason why I would get the Netgear C7100V. I love my network storage and back up. Rest easy, never lose a photo or document.
The USB ports are not the only enhancement with the Netgear C7100V. As you can see it has a slightly higher wireless throughput, which may be pretty unnoticeable if at all noticeable so do not let your decision ride on that. If you’ve ever owned a Netgear Nighthawk router before, you’ll be familiar with the Nighthawk built in software and I do prefer it over Arris’s GUI. That’s pretty much the general consensus with most people in tech. So when it comes down to the higher cost you have to ask yourself, do you need USB ports, want a better GUI / firmware and care about a small speed increase that you can’t even notice unless you’re transferring large files over your local network? For me, the answer is yes.
- Broadcom Chip
- USB Ports
- Faster Wireless
- Better GUI
- It’s Netgear
- Puma 6 Chip
- No USB Ports
- Slower Wireless
- ARRIS GUI
- It’s ARRIS
Netgear CM500V Vs TM822R Comcast Voice Modem
You’ll note that these modems are a lot cheaper. That is because they are not a combo router and they are solely a stand alone voice modem to be used with Comcast Xfinity Triple Play. This is great for me, because I prefer to use my own router. But what is the difference between the CM500v and the TM822R? Speed, age, technology. The TM822R is much older and only has 8 download channels where the CM500V has 16 download channels, yes double the bandwidth. Because they are essentially the same price, it is always suggested that you get the Netgear CM500V with your own router. Preferably anything AC1750 and above. These voice modes are fully approved and compatible with Comcast Xfinity Voice Triple Play packages.
| ARRIS vs Netgear: | SVG2482AC | C7100V | CM500v |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combo Modem: | Puma 6 | Broadcom | Broadcom |
| Combo Modem: | Yes | Yes | No |
| Download Channels: | 24 | 24 | 16 |
| Upload Channels: | 8 | 8 | 4 |
| Max Download: | 500Mbps | 500Mbps | 200Mbps |
| Wireless AC: | AC1750 | AC1900 | No WiFi |
| USB Ports: | None | (2) USB | None |
| Current Price: | Compare All 3 Prices | ||
| Sources: Comcast | Arris | Netgear | |||
The obvious conclusion, get the Netgear C7100v combo modem for Comcast voice unless you want to use a separate router like I suggest. Then get the stand alone CM500v and a router of choice. But do not get the ARRIS SVG2482AC EMTA modem. C7100v or bust.
Paul Grazulis
Just curious if I wanted to use Nighthawk (Netgear) products…how would you setup a gaming rig with a separate router and separate modem system having Comcast. I hear not having a combo modem/router is overall a better setup.
StickyStatic
I agree and would go for the separate modem and router.
You would want the Netgear CM500V above and your router of choice.
I have linked some routers as well in the ASUS family.
Louis
Comcast does not require a telephone modem with triple play if you do not intend to use the phone option!
StickyStatic
Comcast themselves has confirmed this over the phone with me on several occasions and we have had several readers confirm this as well.
However, you and maybe 2 others have said that you do not need a telephony modem.
If you buy a non eMTA modem, you are doing so at your own risk. Contact Comcast before making this decision.
To my understanding the reasoning behind this is legal and the account will not allow the activation of a non voice modem because of legal risk, they can not provide you with a telephone service that does not work even if you do not want it to work. So you must have a modem to enable it.
Again, call your Comcast sales agent and ask before taking this advice because I myself have confirmed and several others have too. But again, I’ve seen 3 people say that you do not need a telephone modem. The lines are crossed at Xfinity somewhere.
Tom
What about the new Netgear CM500V as an option if you do not need the built-in wi-fi router? It is listed in the chart on the Xfinity website and has more channels and much higher speed (500 Mbps vs 100) than the Arris TM822R. Plus they are priced within $10 of each other on Amazon. The Netgear looks like a much better pick than the Arris.
StickyStatic
Yes, it is never in stock though so they seem to be having supply issues.
Tom
I also subscribed to Triple Play for the bundle price discount and am not using the voice service and have continued to use my prior non-voice capable modem. You do NOT need to change your modem if you do not intend to have a Comcast cable land-line.
Sharon
It is simply not true that if you have triple play you MUST use a voice enabled modem/router. I have X1 triple play and don’t use the phone. I have a TP link combo modem. It does not have a phone jack and I had no problem activating it on Xfinity. It took one short phone call to 1-800-comcast and it was up and running.
hobo
So are you just using the phone services with possibly the mobile app / pc, (without connecting a phone to the TP)?
And / or is your phone a digital phone that connects to a TP ethernet port or via WiFi?
Or is your phone an analog phone using an analog telephone adapter (ATA) (RJ11 to RJ45), converting analog to VOIP and vice versa?
I require an analog phone line that includes an analog fax and home security, and right now using a RJ11 connection to a voice port. I purchased an eTMA modem. Could I have done this without an eTMA modem still supporting my analog phone requirements? My impression from Comcast is they don’t support ATA for my needs, and required eTMA.
Sharon
I’m just not using the phone feature at all. We have 5 cell phones in this house so the landline is superfluous. The only reason we have triple play is that it automatically came with the package that we wanted and got a deal on. We are not paying extra for the phone. If you need a landline then yes, you probably should buy one of the approved modems, but to say you have to (if you’re not using the phone) is incorrect.
StickyStatic
I was told by several Comcast sales reps and have had many of our readers confirm that you must use an eMTA phone modem if you have Xfinity voice service, whether or not you use the phone line. However I have had 2 readers say they were able to do it without a voice modem while others had to return their non eMTA cable modem.
hobo
There is one other feature to consider – RDK-B.
I get the USB ports are not taking advantage of at this point, and the Arris GUI is lacking. However, could Arris or possibly Comcast address these features through updates. After all, the Arris modem does support the open standard RDK-B technology which gives even Comcast the ability to provide feature updates. The NetGear does not support RDK-B.
BobC
I currently have a Motorola Cable, Netgear Router and a Xfinity’s Arris TG1682 (for voice and $10 per month), does the Netgear 7100V replace all of these into one? If so, is there any signal degradation or performance issues?
StickyStatic
That’s the one voice combo modem that will replace both old devices and have more download channels with a higher wireless throughput. You should notice a great improvement in wireless coverage.
Jason
I was leaning toward the Netgear for the reasons you outlined, until I noticed quite a few BestBuy reviews mentioning a similar problem with signal dropout requiring reset multiple times within a months time. A couple mentioning returning the unit and falling back to the Arris without difficulty. I realize there will always be some outliars, but the pattern of similar difficulties has me questioning their QA/firmware for this model. What have you heard?
StickyStatic
I have not heard any complaints along those lines. The ASUS routers will have this problem if you do not update the firmware. Maybe the same with Netgear? You should pretty much always update your firmware right away because there is always something more stable than the initial release package.
Ray
What is the best option if you already have a wireless router? Just got a Netgear Orbi, not looking to spend more for wireless. Would love a high speed option sans wireless.
StickyStatic
Hey Ray, I just updated the article to reflect a non combo voice modem option, the standalone modem if you currently own your own router. I added a whole section and put it in the comparison chart.
MWC
Thank you for simplifying the comparison between these two voice modem router options from Comcast. Based on your summary, the Netgear C7100V is definitely the way to go.
mike
what about the Arris TG862G?
It is less expensive and still carries 200mbps.
StickyStatic
I personally would not buy anything wireless N. That is yesteryears technology and I have too many high speed devices that rely on a strong wireless AC signal. The reviews are also pretty bad as you can see.
Chance Dogood
The ARRIS plain as day looking at the pictures of the back has 2 USB ports. So the only difference is the wireless AC speed.
StickyStatic
I guess I need to update and explain. Those USB ports serve no purpose. The firmware will not let you plug in an external drive or a printer. It is for the factory and kind of a huge flaw really.