Cable modem required for speed upgrade?

[Datatraveller]

I phoned CS yesterday to find out if or when my 1mb broadband speed would be upgraded to 2mb. I was told that it had been done in September although my speed test showed only 1mb & I was told to speak to the broadband tech guys. They confirmed my speed was still 1mb.
After a lot of going backwards & forwards between the two, CS told me that I would need to upgrade to a CM instead of my Samsung STB to enable them to increase the speed & they have booked an engineer for the end of the month.
I don't really want another box unless I need to and also have additional wiring installed.
Can anyone advise me whether CS is spinning me a bit of a yarn or whether I would be better off taking what they have offered me?

[kronas]

i understand that if you have a pace set top box you have to either get a newer STB or if your local network is capable, a cable modem to recieve higher speeds than 1mbit.

[Halcyon]

The modems are really small and you shouldn't need any new wiring as long as you still have everything from before and keep your computer in the same place.

[Datatraveller]

Kronas, Thanks for the reply but I already have a Samsung box so I can't understand why I'm being told I can't have the increased speed unless I have a CM.

[captain747480]

I've just had a SACM installed and I was worried about the cabling. However there was no additional wiring required. All they do is fit a small metal device (which I assume is a filter or splitter) on the end of the cable that goes into your existing STB. This has outputs which connect to your STB and your new Modem. The modem itself is tiny.

AFAIK you shouldn't need a SACM if you've got a Samsung but when I called about upgrading, the CS I spoke to implied that NTL are trying to get everyone onto SACM (presumably to avoid any problems with future speed upgrades).

[Ramrod]

iirc, my samsung stb was good for 3meg at least.
I only got a sacm because I wanted 10meg.......

---------- Post added at 14:28 ---------- Previous post was at 14:27 ----------

Originally Posted by captain747480

AFAIK you shouldn't need a SACM if you've got a Samsung but when I called about upgrading, the CS I spoke to implied that NTL are trying to get everyone onto SACM (presumably to avoid any problems with future speed upgrades).

I believe they are trying to stamp out the use of illegal stb's......Bill C would know more about this.....

[Itshim]

Does this mean that when eng calls to set up my BB that even with a samsung box I will get a modem ?

[jannerboy]

Originally Posted by Itshim

Does this mean that when eng calls to set up my BB that even with a samsung box I will get a modem ?

as i understand it, all new BB connctions will be made using a Stand Alone Cable Modem (SACM). the modem is simply 'teed' into the cable from the wall box to the STB
the SACM installed in my house recently, is a Scientific-Atlanta WEBSTAR, which is DOSCIS 2 compliant, enabling it to handle the super-fast speeds which NTL have been trialling recently.

the box itself is very small, made in China, and probably only cost only a few pennies to manufacture, which may be why ntl has chosen this route for modem upgrades.

[Itshim]

Soory why I was asking is my pc is "on top " of the phone but 100 ft from the stb

[jannerboy]

Originally Posted by Itshim

Soory why I was asking is my pc is "on top " of the phone but 100 ft from the stb

then u will need either a 50m length of CAT 5 cable terminated with ethernet connectors (RJ45), to connect the SACM to your computer ethernet port,
OR
a wireless router (eg Netgear WGR614) connected to the SACM using the (supplied) ethernet patch cable, with a wireless network interface card in your PC to enable wireless connection to the router.
(you will have to buy the router and the NIC, obviously)

try and steer clear of USB devices if possible, ethernet is the way to go.