Top positive review
3 people found this helpful
Works with Xfinity Voice and Internet
By techie92 on Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2025
I bought this to replace an aging EMTA and cable modem for Xfinity voice and internet. Getting the phone lines activated was not easy because of the infamous Comcast support experience, but the modem itself works great now that its set up. Note that the SBV3202 is a modem only, there's no router or wifi built in. Separate router required. If you have both internet and voice, and want to use a separate router, this modem is a good choice. Most other approved modems available either don't support the phone service, or are an all-in-one (router built in). The other voice-capable modem that Xfinity recommends right now is a Netgear model that's twice the price. For those who may have an older Arris EMTA (voice modem) like a TM722 or TM822, this is the direct successor. It even looks like a TM822 but with blue lights and much better specs. Note that the backup battery to keep the phone service running in a power outage is not included, and Arris no longer makes the BPB044S battery despite these modems still being sold new and widely used. Aftermarket has plenty of options though. A tip for others with Xfinity Voice who may buy this modem for your phone lines: Be aware Phone Provisioning is separate from the internet activation, and it's a two step process. To get this working, FIRST activate the modem for internet service through the Xfinity app. The App may say it activated phone service too, but my experience was that it doesn't despite saying so. AFTER the app setup finishes, if you have no dial tone, call Xfinity and speak to an agent. Tell them you replaced your Xfinity Voice phone modem and that you need the phone line provisioned. They will ask for the last 4 digits of the CM MAC (aka HFC MAC) from the modem label and perform that provisioning, then it will reboot and the phone lines will have a dial tone. If you call BEFORE doing the App step, they might say they can't provision it. I had multiple reps tell me the CM MAC was invalid up until I did the modem setup via the app. Once I did the App setup, they had no issue seeing it and provisioning phone service on it.
Top critical review
2 people found this helpful
Dialtone Stutter - Saved Message Signal
By XfinityCustomer on Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2024
I purchased the Arris SURFboard SBV3202 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem for Internet and Voice. The literature says it is compatible with Xfinity. I returned the modem because the dialtone starts with a stutter, the beep, beep, beep signal that indicates that there is an unread message waiting. However, voicemail says there are no messages in the mailbox. And the Message Waiting alert remains on the phone. Every time you lift the receiver, press the green "Talk" button or the speaker button on the phone, you get the dialtone stutter. If I notice the Message Waiting alert, I have to check for messages, in case there is a real message waiting. It's very annoying. Fortunately, I found a way to clear the message from my phone screen - until it pops up again. I found a reviewer at another site who claimed to have the same problem. He solved it by returning the modem and purchasing another. I thought Xfinity should fix it, so eventually I made it through the "Xfinity Assistant" bot to chat with a real person about the problem. All the people I chatted/talked with were very courteous and assured me that they would fix the problem. To make a long story short, after several times they said the problem was fixed (it wasn't) and a after a visit by their maintenance tech, I decided to purchase another model, which solved the problem. Part of the "long story" is that I called Arris, which is now owned by CommScope. I was eventually able to talk with a real person to explain the problem. Perhaps there was a new firmware version, I thought. I was told that they only provide data through the modem. If there is a problem with the phone data, it's Xfinity's problem. Good Bye! But the experience wasn't all bad. The Xfinity rep said it looked like the signal power was low. We discussed download speeds. I have a 500 MBs plan, but have only gotten around 200 on good days. Sometimes around 50-60 MBs. So they sent a tech out to check the lines. He said there was a lot of noise on the line, which was likely causing the slow internet speeds. Makes sense; some of the speed checks failed due to poor line quality. The tech found a bad connection between my line and the pole. Now that he fixed it, I'm actually getting 500 MBs. Since I replaced the SBV3202 modem, I'm not sure whether the modem was part of the slow data problem. The installation was okay, but I wish I had read one of the reviews that said you have to call Xfinity to get the phone to work. The Xfinity app worked great for installing the modem, until it got to the phone line. I tried multiple times, without success. I called Xfinity, and after some troubleshooting and restarting the modem, they finally figured out that THEY needed to "provision" the modem for the voice to work. Once they figured that out, the voice worked - except for the stutter, which started this review. Throughout this ordeal, I was able to chat or talk with several very caring tech support agents from around the world. They all said they would resolve the issues before they were done. Finally, I think it's resolved. I have a new, very fast modem, and clean connection to Xfinity.
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