I was told by Comcast that when you get the High Speed internet (it's
really fast now, up to 16mbps) enabled at your house, they have to
amplify something at the pole, Thus, if there is a lightning strike or
some voltage spike in your cable line, the modem dies and you have to
wait a week for them to come and give u a new (refurbished, previously
destroyed by a power surge) cable modem.

You should DEFINITELY get yourself a coax surge protector. When we
didn't have one, I was sitting online right next to the modem, heard
thunder and saw a spark inside of the modem. It was pretty crazy. And
of course, no internet for a week.