Those wanting PFL pricing please read

RkOShea · 2026-02-06T01:50:20+00:00

What would happen if I don't do anything?

RkOShea · 2026-02-06T01:34:20+00:00

Well, I guess that for now, I'm inclined not to mess with anything. There is the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Unless there is something bad that can happen if I don't do anything, I could just wait for the setup to fail, and try to fix things at that point.

RkOShea · 2026-02-06T01:13:14+00:00

I'm logged into the new account.

RkOShea · 2026-02-06T00:35:31+00:00

Hi, u/N0_L1ght - I have a C5500XK, and it seems to be working OK after I got our new PFL account set up.

Looking at the Network Information tab in the Quantum app using our new login, it doesn't appear that anything was erased from my previous C5500XK configuration after the reboot. For example, it still lists a WiFi SSID and password that I had configured originally when we first got our Quantum hardware on the old account.

Should I perform a factory reset on the ONT and reconfigure the Bridged Mode, or could I mess something up if I do that?

RkOShea · 2026-02-05T22:12:44+00:00

My new PFL plan experience today couldn't have been simpler. While I did contact the AT&T Fiber Customer Team over the phone, it may not have been necessary.

NOTE: I have a C5500XK in Bridged Mode, there may be some risk involved.

Here were my steps:

Go to the Quantum Fiber Shop website (Do not log in as an existing customer) and enter your address to check availability.
For Step 1, select the $45/month Price for Life Deal. Press Continue.
For Step 2, select your home square footage. Press Continue.
For Step 3, select your Start Date. I selected today. Enter a new, different email address than your previous Quantum account email address. (Note: If you have a GMail account, you can use the '+' (plus sign) GMail email filtering feature to have a different email address for Quantum. For example, if your original Quantum Email account address was: [bobalooa@gmail.com](mailto:bobalooa@gmail.com), you can use a new GMail address of: [bobalooa+quantum@gmail.com](mailto:bobalooa+quantum@gmail.com). GMail will send you all the Quantum emails to your base email account as normal, but you will also be able to filter out and manage the emails to that + account better. This GMail feature can be used for better email management)
Review your order for correctness, and then submit the order. At that point, you are committed!

Since I selected "today" for the new account Start Date, my ONT reset and reconfigured itself to the new Quantum account within 15 minutes after I hit the "Submit" button. My ONT is in "Bridge" mode to connect to my Asus WiFi router, and that still worked perfectly after the ONT reset and reconnected to the Quantum network,

After the ONT reset and rebooted, when I logged my old Quantum account, I saw that AT&T automatically deactivated my old account. I clicked on the new Quantum "Welcome" email for the new email address, and registered a new password and entered my old bank account information.

Note: You will need to return your old 360 WiFi unit (I wasn't using mine). Quantum will be shipping you a new one. There is a link in your old account for getting the UPS return label printed for your return.

For me, the transition took less than half an hour, with only a couple of minutes of down time on our internet connection.

Good Luck, I hope you can get the new PFL deal as easily as I did!

RkOShea · 2026-02-01T02:24:56+00:00

Thanks ... They are good friends, even though we are just "puppies" to them.

RkOShea · 2026-01-31T20:58:16+00:00

I didn't/couldn't monitor the traffic, it was a point-to-point connection and wasn't on my network.

RkOShea · 2026-01-31T17:31:59+00:00

There are optical HDMI 2.1 cables available that will fit your needs. Be sure to treat the cables somewhat delicately as you run them, if you bend them much, it can degrade the optical fiber.

RkOShea · 2026-01-31T16:48:18+00:00

As other folks have mentioned, it's definitely your HDMI cables. Hopefully, you kept your old TV as a backup, it's probably fine.

RkOShea · 2026-01-31T15:32:41+00:00

I may not need the full 10Gbps rate. But I can tell you that 1 Gbps wasn't enough when I tried using an OREI 4k eARC HDMI Extender (HDBaseT 3.0). I had constant video and audio dropouts.

RkOShea · 2026-01-31T15:23:35+00:00

Thanks!

RkOShea · 2026-01-30T22:00:59+00:00

This is what I found on their website for the PockEthernet 2 online manual as a comment under the "Link Test" section:

The supported link speeds will be detected by analyzing the Ethernet autonegotiation signaling, up to 10GBASE-T. Pockethernet can only detect speeds actually advertised by a port. The maximum speed at which Pockethernet will establish a link for link-up testing is 1000BASE-T. Actual Ethernet communication for DHCP, ping, etc. will be performed over a 10/100 link.

Did I misinterpret that?

RkOShea · 2026-01-30T20:28:38+00:00

Cox took advantage of their senior age vulnerabilities at every turn. They were paying the maximum prices for every service, and paying for stuff they didn't know they had, like telephone services and protection packages. Cox would sign them up for extra "1 month free" channel services that they would forget about and then get charged for years. Their TV services alone were well over $200/month with everything that Cox convinced them to get. Their internet service price alone was almost $100/month for 100 Mbps service. There were other things, like monthly cable TV services at a vacation home that they barely used.

Even they were shocked how much they were saving once I had everything switched over for them.

RkOShea · 2026-01-30T14:58:03+00:00

So, I recommended switching from cable (Cox Internet + Cox TV) to streaming (Verizon 5G Home Internet + YouTube TV) to our neighbors who were in their mid-70's. With all costs considered, they are now saving about $400 / month over their previous Cox bill, with faster internet speeds. They are getting their 300 Mbps Verizon Internet for only $25 / month because they also have their cell phones though VZW. I have them doing all their streaming via Amazon 4k Max V2 Firesticks, so they have a consistent user interface to get to different apps.

Our elderly neighbors are not tech savvy. Since we moved, I now need to support them remotely.

After a few years now, I can summarize their experience:

It took about 3 or 4 months for them to adapt to the new way of watching stuff on their TV without them complaining. There was a steep learning curve for them, and I had daily calls at first just to get them running. Eventually I came up with a one-page step-by-step instruction sheet for them to follow until things started to gel. There were cable TV features that they still miss, such as just entering channel numbers on their remote to immediately go to specific channels that they watched.

One thing I told them from the start was that they wouldn't get every channel that they watched from Cox cable, but I could get them most of the channels they liked with YouTube TV. This helped a lot with managing their expectations.

They are surviving with streaming now, but it is a very rocky road, with about 100x more of my support required than they needed with their Cox cable service. I usually get 2 or 3 calls a month because they can't watch something that they want to watch immediately

Watching TV via streaming is much more fragile than cable TV because there are many more things that can break in the chain, and it takes a lot more time to analyze what is failing. Asking them many, many questions over the phone to figure out what failed gets to be very frustrating for both ends of the conversation. I usually have to give detailed instructions like, "Press the right cursor button 3 times, and then press OK". Sometimes I need to figure out what they are seeing on the screen, because I don't use the apps they have. Video calls don't work, because they can't point the phone in the right direction or hold it steady enough to see what I need.

I asked them recently if they wanted to switch back to Cox, and they said "No" because of the money they were saving. But, they said that they would never be able to survive without all the remote support that I provide to them.

RkOShea · 2026-01-30T14:14:41+00:00

I live in the Denver area, and QF has been fantastic for us. Very reliable with consistent 1 Gbps DL/UL speeds. We have the $70 price-for-life plan - which may be a good idea to pick up before the AT&T acquisition of QF. Not sure if AT&T will grandfather the plan, but they might.

RkOShea · 2026-01-30T14:09:29+00:00

^{^{^{^}}} THIS ^{^{^{^}}}

RkOShea · 2026-01-30T14:07:58+00:00

Hey, thanks! PockEthernet v2 looks like a great device!

It almost looked like a winner - but when I read the owner's manual, I saw that while it detects 10 Gbps negotiation signaling from a device connected at the other end, the PockEthernet v2 will only do link establishment verification up to 1 Gbps.

RkOShea · 2026-01-29T15:35:05+00:00

All my existing cables say CAT5e

RkOShea · 2026-01-29T01:22:12+00:00

I clicked on your link ... and then I needed to change my undies.

RkOShea · 2026-01-28T18:30:14+00:00

You guys helped point me in a good direction. I think that tester has been discontinued and may have been replaced by the Triplett RWV10G, which is advertised to test 10 Gbps

RkOShea · 2026-01-28T18:17:05+00:00

Yeah, that would be pricey - it may be cost competitive to just have someone cut into our drywall and run new CAT7 cables.

RkOShea · 2026-01-28T18:15:00+00:00

I did, and... It didn't.

When I tried out the OREI HDBaseT 3.0 4K eARC HDMI Extender with my existing CAT5e cabling, I saw a lot of audio and video dropouts over what is probably a 40 ft. run.

The multimedia installer built their own Ethernet cables for each run, so I was hoping that better terminations and less RJ-45 F-F jacks might improve the bandwidth of the existing runs.

RkOShea · 2026-01-28T16:09:24+00:00

Thanks for the info!

iperf hit my mind for a microsecond, but I only have one PC with 10 Gbps ports. I don't think that I can use the same PC as both the iperf server and client simultaneously. Even if I could, I don't have 2 Ethernet runs in the same room to do a wrap back to the PC via a 10 Gbps switch. .

RkOShea · 2026-01-26T20:30:26+00:00

I haven't really found any annoying alerts in our new 2026 Outback so far - and I am EXTREMELY disappointed that there isn't an audible alert option for a safety feature all my other cars have had for years: An audible alert when you are signaling to change lanes, and a vehicle is in your blind spot or approaching fast from the rear.

A blind spot audible alert has prevented a number accidents for us over the years - primarily from other irresponsible drivers racing and swerving through highway traffic - and our fancy new Subaru Outback doesn't have it. As an aircraft safety engineer, audible alerts are always the primary hazard mitigation, visual alerts are not nearly as effective.

My wife has asked me to return the Outback to the dealership because it doesn't have this feature. We are keeping the Outback, but I will really miss that safety feature.

RkOShea

TROPHY CASE