But you have a cable modem. You either have one provided directly by Comcast or you have one that adheres to their standards.
It used to be that you had to get a cable or DSL modem from your ISP. Now, cable and DSL networks are standardized enough that there's a good chance you can get a third-party one to work. It will be the same with PON in time.
I think it's fine to be required to use your ISP modem, since different ISPs have different physical layer networks. It starts to suck when they try to force you to use their router. I think in the EU it's actually a legal requirement that if they do, it has to support bridge mode (a.k.a. behave as only a modem).
> Now, cable and DSL networks are standardized enough that there's a good chance you can get a third-party one to work. It will be the same with PON in time.
It’s mostly the same with PON now. I’ve always had success with the FS.com PON SFPs, once I get the necessary information for the connection to program them with (the difficulty of which can vary from “ask the tech installing the connection nicely” to “take apart the ISP-provided CPE and solder wires to the debug console pads”).
It used to be that you had to get a cable or DSL modem from your ISP. Now, cable and DSL networks are standardized enough that there's a good chance you can get a third-party one to work. It will be the same with PON in time.
I think it's fine to be required to use your ISP modem, since different ISPs have different physical layer networks. It starts to suck when they try to force you to use their router. I think in the EU it's actually a legal requirement that if they do, it has to support bridge mode (a.k.a. behave as only a modem).