Wanting to replace TWC modem

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dar124

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 21, 2012
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I've been looking into getting rid of my "leased TWC modem". I'm looking to eliminate the $6.00 lease fee each month, and also hopefully increase my internet speeds a bit.

I've got the Standard TWC internet plan which is 15Mbps down \ 1Mbps up. I've included a pic of a speed test from my PC. According to the this link, the Motorola SB6121 modem would be approved for my standard TWC internet connection. Would the Motorola 6141 also work with TWC??

Also, would I notice a difference with the Motorola modem?? I've just started looking into this so I'm not really sure if a new modem would make any difference or the fact that it uses DOCSIS would help.

Thanks in advance.


speed%2Btest.jpg
 
Yes, they both work great on TWC.

Judging by how garbage the rental modems are, I'd say what you'll notice most is not having to reset the modem every once in a while because it decided to stop forwarding packets. I've had my SB6141 for over a year now and never had to reboot. I'd recommend you go with the SB6141 for the simple fact that it's future proof being DOCSIS 3.0.
 
Another option is Zoom 5341J that you can pick up at the local Best Buy for $70. It's TWC approved, DOCSIS 3.0 ready for plans up to 100Mbps and even former Motorola owners swear by it for stability. Use it myself on TWC 15/1 without issue and found out about it via dslreports.com as the recommended fix for people with Motorola that have frequent disconnect issues.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/enjoy/better-twc/internet/internet-modems.html
 
I have a SB6121 for sale if you're interested in it. Looking for $50 for it.
 
I use a 6141 on TWC, no problems here. Little more future-proofing power to her than the 6121 I almost got.
 
get whatever is cheapest on craigslist. I went through this exact same thing about 3 weeks ago, with TWC in Hawaii. I ended up finding a modem for $20 from someone about 2 miles away. it was not on their approved list but I plugged it in, called them, and gave the guy my MAC address and he set it up no problem (was his first time with a non-approved model.) same speeds, haven't had to reset it yet. at those speeds you don't need DOCSIS 3.0 or any fancy shit: almost any modem with a coax in and ethernet out will work. all the approved list probably means is that that company paid to have their model tested by TWC.

interesting facts: ookla speedtest gives me 14.XXmbps normally, and 30.XXmbps through my VPN to San Louis Obispo. also, the rep I talked to to set it up was awesome, and friendly, and super easy to work with. didn't expect that, and was pleasantly surprised. good luck!
 
I picked up a Motorola 6141 on eBay yesterday for right around $60. I'm planning on doing a handful of additional speed tests this week with my current setup just to verify that I'm getting the 15/1 speeds. I'll then test it again a couple of times after setting up the 6141 to see if I can notice a difference.

Any other suggestions before I change this over or right after the swap???
 
You probably won't notice a difference in terms of bandwidth. I didn't when I switched from the TWC supplied modem to my SB6141. What I did notice was that this modem is far more reliable, and doesn't just randomly stop working like the old one sometimes did. I'm also saving money now that the 10 month payoff is up.
 
SRTie4k said:
You probably won't notice a difference in terms of bandwidth. I didn't when I switched from the TWC supplied modem to my SB6141. What I did notice was that this modem is far more reliable, and doesn't just randomly stop working like the old one sometimes did. I'm also saving money now that the 10 month payoff is up.
Click to expand...

Thanks SRTie4k, I guess an increase in reliablity and eliminating the TWC lease fee is enough. And if I get any performance increase, it'll just be a bonus!!!
 
I got the SB6141 in the mail yesterday!!! I'm going to call TWC and switch them out tomorrow.
 
So I called TWC a couple of weeks ago and switched out the modems. For the most part everything seems to be good, but it seems like there is some slowness loading pages, images, etc. I figured that I'd check out the modem stats page to make sure that everything seems in line. But when I attempt to go to "http://192.168.100.1" the page never loads and times out??

Shouldn't 192.168.100.1 be the the address for my modem?? I'm able to get to my Lynksis router via 192.168.1.1 but nothing when I try to get to the modem.
 
You have to be hooked directly into the modem to access it. Hook ethernet straight to modem and power on/off the modem.
 
HeavensCloud said:
You have to be hooked directly into the modem to access it. Hook ethernet straight to modem and power on/off the modem.
Click to expand...


Hmm, ok I'll try that when I get a chance in the next day or so.

Didn't realize I'd need to be connected directly. I don't think I had to do that with the old TWC leased modem??
 
HeavensCloud said:
You have to be hooked directly into the modem to access it. Hook ethernet straight to modem and power on/off the modem.
Click to expand...

Nope. No need. Only need to if there's a subnet conflict or something (in the network world I don't understand).

I use 10.10.10.x for my local network and can connect to my 6141 just fine at 192.168.100.1 without unplugging.
 
David_Schroth said:
Nope. No need. Only need to if there's a subnet conflict or something (in the network world I don't understand).

I use 10.10.10.x for my local network and can connect to my 6141 just fine at 192.168.100.1 without unplugging.
Click to expand...

Ok, so why isn't it working for him? He tried that and it isn't working. I have experienced conflicts in the past with Linksys and Moto modems where I would have to connect straight to the modem. You aren't supposed to have to, but what's trying going to hurt?
 
I can log into my 6141 through a router and switch with out plugging into the 6141 directly.
 
HeavensCloud said:
Ok, so why isn't it working for him? He tried that and it isn't working. I have experienced conflicts in the past with Linksys and Moto modems where I would have to connect straight to the modem. You aren't supposed to have to, but what's trying going to hurt?
Click to expand...

Disclaimer: I have a rudimentary understanding of networking.

My guess is that his router is treating 192.168.x.x as his local network and not directing that traffic to the WAN side of the router. For others with success in this thread, their router may only consider 192.168.1.x to be local, therefore, sending the 192.168.100.x requests out.

I've also had success with viewing the modem's page with a TWC provided Ubee modem (back from before they charged for the equipment).
 
It depends on the modem. I had a Surfboard that would allow me to directly access it's pages/logs, but it went bad as the years went by and I got replaced with an Arris, which doesn't allow you to access it at all. Once it has completed its booting and authentication it locks you out of the status page. The only way to access it is to unplug the coax, hook straight into it, and reboot it. This will allow you to access the page, but it's useless because there's no logs or diagnostic info to look at, since the coax isn't plugged in. If you plug in the coax and it completes the authentication and signaling, you are locked out. All in all it's pretty shitty.
 
So, I finally had some time to look at this modem / router a bit more.

I connected my PC directly to the modem and was able to get the status page by going to 192.168.100.1 Can anyone look these transmit & receive numbers over and let me know if they're good?? Also to make sure, I'm looking at the "downstream power level" and the "upstream power level" as the transmit and receive numbers??

I have a PCT adjustable amp down in the basement that I adjusted for the old TWC modem. So if the levels aren’t where they should be, I can adjust them again for this modem. I was also a bit confused with the "bonding channel values". I would imagine that this is related to the DOCSIS that this modem has??



Surfboard%2Blevels%2B12-11-14.jpg
 
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