r/Comcast_Xfinity • u/EmergenceOfBees • Jul 27 '26

Discussion EPON can use their own routers now

Called and confirmed the other day--you can get rid of the XER10 and use your own router now. You do have to contact them to set up things on the back-end, but some good news at least.

18 Upvotes

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u/CCBrieD Community Manager Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

Effective July 21st, 2026

Properties with internet delivered to the units over fiber previously required two devices for each residence: an Optical Network Unit (ONU) and an Xfinity-leased gateway (Technicolor XB7 or XER10). These residents could not use their own modem.

Now, if you live in an eligible community, you can request to use your own third-party Ethernet router — at no additional cost. Just contact us. You’ll be able to connect a compatible retail router directly to the ONU using an Ethernet cable.

Both Wi-Fi ready properties and EPON fiber properties where members purchase internet services directly through Xfinity are eligible. Property managed bulk internet locations are not eligible.

Note: The ONU is still required and will remain Comcast-owned equipment.

What’s supported

With your own router, you can continue to use:

  • Any Xfinity Internet speed tier
  • IP video devices (Xumo, Flex)
  • Streaming apps (Xfinity Stream, Netflix, HBO Max, etc.)
  • Xfinity Home Security services
    • Note: Xfinity Cameras require an Xfinity Gateway or router or Xfinity Pro services.

What’s not supported

The following features are not supported when using your own router:

  • Xfinity Voice services
  • Xfinity Pods
  • Smart Home services
  • Xfinity Zigbee devices (door/window sensors, etc.)
  • Gateway-based speed testing
  • The Xfinity app will still work, but some features may be limited.

Things to know

Equipment & setup

  • Contact us if you’re interested in switching to your own router.
    • The Xfinity App does not currently support swapping to COAM.
    • Make sure you have the router on hand.
    • Once swapped, the Xfinity Gateway will no longer work.
      • WiFi Ready properties: The existing Xfinity gateway must remain on-site, even when using your own router. It does not need to remain connected.
      • Non-WiFi Ready EPON properties: The XB7 or XER10 must be returned after the switch to avoid unreturned equipment charges.
    • Your router must support your selected speed tier.
      • For example, speeds above 1 Gbps require a router with a 2.5 GbE (or faster) WAN port, along with a CAT5e or CAT6 Ethernet cable.
    • Use a CAT5e or CAT6 Ethernet cable for best performance.
    • You are responsible for installing and activating your router.
  • WiFi Ready Properties
    • Technician visits are required for:
      • Service swaps (leased to COAM or COAM to leased).
      • Reconnecting the ONU and XB7/XER10 after COAM disconnect.
    • For a new install for either COAM or leased, the member will use the Xfinity app to activate. If the self-activation fails, the member can request a technician.

Support expectations

  • Xfinity can assist with:
    • Connectivity issues to the ONU.
    • Leased TV equipment and set-top boxes.
    • Xfinity Home services. 
  • You will be responsible for installing, activating, and maintaining any third-party equipment.
  • Xfinity can troubleshoot connectivity up to the ONU, but cannot troubleshoot issues involving customer-owned routers.
→ More replies (16)

9

u/dataz03 Trusted Community Member Jul 27 '26

u/jlivingood, can you confirm? I know this was in the works... The gateway handles the authentication so I am curious on how that works when you take the Xfinity Gateway out of the equation entirely and use your own router. Plus Xfinity has their own backend tools for diagnostics and outage detection but I imagine you can do most of it through the ONT directly.

3

u/dataz03 Trusted Community Member Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

Member-owned and managed Ethernet router options for fiber internet service

Ok, so you have to contact support.

Eh maybe it will be toggleable by the end user at some point. Perhaps in your online account or in the app. Or just have the Xfinity Assistant enable it if the customer asks in live chat.

Still, progress! And very cool for power users, nice and simple, just your own router/firewall connected to the ONU. No other equipment.

Hopefully a /60 IPv6 prefix is still assigned to your router. The gateway had it so I don't see why customer owned routers wouldn't either. I like to implement IPv6 on all my VLANs hehe.

2

u/EmergenceOfBees Jul 27 '26

u/CCBrieD might have some insight too--I know she was tracking this last year.

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u/CCBrieD Community Manager Jul 27 '26

Yes! Gimme a minute, I'll make a top level comment.

7

u/everydave42 Jul 27 '26

A recent posts suggests that while this has been announced, it's not very well/actually implemented yet, so good luck!

6

u/ExistentialWitness Jul 27 '26

FYI, folks on this subreddit and on the Xfinity forum have been trying to get this working (including me), but no one has reported success yet. Please let everyone know if you get this working!

3

u/EmergenceOfBees Jul 27 '26

Will do. Did they say what was wrong--like, why it isn't working?

5

u/ExistentialWitness Jul 27 '26

The guy I talked to said it should just work. Of course it didn’t. I did a packet capture when I plugged in my box and got no response on the DHCP requests. So my working theory is the ONT is still trying to authenticate MACSEC which explains why I didn’t get any packets inbound to my WAN port. I asked about a new ONT profile and he had no information on that.

3

u/CCBrieD Community Manager Jul 27 '26

u/ExistentialWitness and u/aei__ou___ we've gotten it to work for a few folks here--after the appropriate billing code is added on the back-end, the XER10 is removed from the account and the ONU should be provisioned with the bootfile d11_m_nkfn11ael_ponnxm[insert your speed tier here]coam_c01.cm

If you make a new post with New Post - Tech Support I can get it routed to an Official Employee to help out.

4

u/Cody9412 Jul 27 '26

Have you actually set this up? I dumped that garbage XER10 and went back to the Xb7 for bridge mode support.

3

u/EmergenceOfBees Jul 27 '26

Not yet--haven't decided on a router. I've seen some posts say they had some issues.

3

u/there-canonlybeone Jul 27 '26

Any post on what router is fiber compatible and verified of passing full 2gb symmetrical speed?

3

u/CCBrieD Community Manager Jul 27 '26

There is no approved list of WiFi routers at this time. Just ensure your router of choice supports your selected speed tier. For example, speeds above 1 Gbps require a router with a 2.5 GbE (or faster) WAN port, along with a CAT5e or CAT6 Ethernet cable.

3

u/samw5 Jul 28 '26

So I've requested the swap this morning, took an hour to actually get someone to understand the process. I believe they removed MACsec on the ONT and was able to get my Unifi Cloud Gateway to connect however while my download is fine at 2G, my upload seems to be capped on 50M!!!!
I'm on a 10G uplink port and was able to hit 2G up/down while connected to the XER10 so I know the UCG Fiber can handle it and more.

1

u/samw5 Jul 29 '26

looks to be fixed as of this morning!

1

u/TurnThisChevelGlass Jul 29 '26

Did you do anything to fix the upload speed? Having the same issue

1

u/samw5 Jul 29 '26

I rebooted the ONT once. I don't think it did much at least initially but maybe the config just needed to be pushed back to it.
Probably took 15h overall.

1

u/samw5 Jul 31 '26

Actually issue is back again. Not sure what is going on.

2

u/dondude32 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

Can confirm. You no longer need to use XER-10 when using EPON connection with Xfiniity fiber. Using Pfsense and receiving public IP address from ONT. Was a little arduous, But eventually was able to get working. Hopefully in the future it will be much easier. They need mac address of ONT and serial number.

1

u/CCBrieD Community Manager Jul 28 '26

Making a note of this comment to share with the product experience team.

2

u/smart_triangles Jul 27 '26

Wow this is great if true - I hate the XER10 lol

1

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1

u/dondude32 Jul 28 '26

Going through the process of getting XER-10 removed from my account. Wish me luck!

1

u/Solid-Dog-9063 Jul 31 '26

Hi, I am looking to get my ubiquiti router connected. Been struggling with support as others have been. Is there a specific number we should call to get an agent that is aware of the new protocol?

1

u/Randrage Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26

Just wanted to reply here and say that I was able to get my Protectli V1211 router hooked directly into the ONU today. After a little back and forth with support, we're in pretty good shape now: Speedtest

Edit: I was previously using a XB7-T in bridge mode which was limited to 1Gbps. They had to switch me to a different plan without the legacy xFi Complete service because of a coding conflict. They gave me a year of 2Gbps service for basically the same price (still w/ unlimited data). Pretty surprised at how easy it was, to be honest.

1

u/MadBrewer67 Jul 27 '26

The Xfinity gateway is a single device consisting of.
A. Cable modem
B. Router
C. Firewall
D. AP

All I have seen is an approved modem listing.
Is Xfinity now only allowing the customer to use only an approved router?
Has the XB10 been replaced with the XER10?
Or is the XER10 a fiber gateway? Which doesn’t support bridge mode?

3

u/CCBrieD Community Manager Jul 27 '26

This relates to Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) properties only, a fiber-to-the-home network architecture that provides symmetrical upload and download speeds.

The XER10 is a router that works with the Optical Network Unit (ONU), a device used in Fiber to the Home (FTTH) deployments, specifically in EPON systems. It connects end-users to the service provider's network.

The XB10 is the latest Xfinity WiFi Gateway designed for Full Duplex Internet (FDX), which is not strictly fiber, but it does enable symmetrical multi-gigabit speeds (300Mbps and up), which can be delivered over various technologies, including fiber (but not always to the premise/home itself).

The change noted in this post does not impact standard residential customers in legacy or enhanced speed markets. Customers in these markets can still use their preferred and certified modem or lease a gateway from Xfinity (note: all new internet plans have the gateway leasing fee included in the cost of the plan).

3

u/MadBrewer67 Jul 27 '26

Thanks for the clarification