Anyone tried US modems with Optus cable? Need some help

[PeteRePete]

I'm going to be going with optus cable and I found that the sagemcom has a few issues and wanted to get another modem that's better. I've tried looking for recommended DOCSIS 3 cable modems here in Aus but you have to buy it from America it looks like.

Have any of you tried to use any of the following cable modems or anything similar with Optus cable and did it work?:

• Netgear CM1000
• Arris Surfboard SB6190 (I'm looking at this one in particular)
• Arris Surfboard SB6183

Also, are there any australian stores that have DOCSIS 2+ modem routers that will work with the Optus network and do you have any recommendations? I just want something that is good and isn't the sagemcom... I'm hoping to use it with a ubiquiti security gateway as well.

[Paddylee]

No BYO as such, just an approved list. 

If it's not on the list they wont accept it - zero exceptions.

https://www.optus.com.au/shop/broadband/extras/Approved-Equipment-List

And if NBN rolls out via HFC in your area you HAVE to use their device regardless. 

[petergdownload]

Can I suggest you try before you buy? The NBN cable solution involves two boxes. The smaller one just grabs the cable signal from the wall. Generally it works fine and you'll get stable 100Mbps signal out of it. The sagecomm just plugs into it (via a WAN port). This is usually the box that gets the complaints. You can plug basically any modem instead (as long as it has a WAN port). No real need to get a US version? Although cheaper my experience with overseas versions isn't great recently. For one thing firmware can be regional and features like MESH WIFI can be disabled on non Aus Strock. Also not that regulatory requirements for power and wifi are different so it can result in unexpected issues. 

Note you'll need to plug the Optus modems in to activate the line the first time btw.

@Paddylee might have mislead accidentally, Optus definitely won't support any setup not on the approved list, but you can use what you want.

But I'd suggest get your system setup and see how it performs. If you're getting dropout etc. swap in a standard local modem if you want to beef up the performance (esp. Wifi)

Peter Gillespie

[Paddylee · Accepted solution]

@petergdownload Optus will NOT provide hfc service to an unapproved device. You can byo router but dont expect to use its hfc interface if it has one if its not on the approved list.

Its not like adsl where you can plug n go, Optus has to add the device MAC id before it will work, not on list.. No work. 

[petergdownload]

@Paddylee, then its me providing misleading information. As I said, the original box definitely has to be hooked up to activate the service but i was under the impression you could swap it out once you are up and running. But I've always left the small modem in place and just swapped the router, so can't confirm that.

I wonder if that's general industry practice or just Optus (given Optus like to tie things down like VOIP settings that other RSPs will give out)

Peter Gillespie

[Paddylee]

From my days of working at Telstra (on HFC)  they also had the same policy. 

[PeteRePete]

In that case I'll see if it's possible to swap out the sagemcom f@st 3864AC I'll be getting with the netgear CM500V modem by itself without the sagemcom.

[PeteRePete]

Ok looks like the $70 cable plan comes with a netgear CM500V + sagemcom. Phone line will still work as it connects to the netgear modem, so that way I can replace the sagemcom with a ubiquiti gateway.