Upgrading my Motorola Cable modem, which ones should I consider?

Recently my current TWC provided modem has been more flakier than usual.

For the past couple weeks it has been dropping it's signal. For at little as a few minutes, to a few hours at a time.
During storms, or other bad weather it is understandable. But it has been getting sickening lately. After my last round
with TWC tech support, they suggested to replace my cable modem. I do have my own I can swap out, but it is the same model as the TWC modem. So that wont fix the problem. So I need a newer model.

I will be returning their Motorola SB5101 SURFboard Cable modem

TWC website lists the following compatible cable modems:

Arris:
ARRIS TG1672G up to 300Mbps
ARRIS CM550A up to 15Mbps.
CM820A up to 100Mbps.
DG1670A up to 300Mbps.
DG860A up to 100Mbps.
TG1672G up to 300Mbps.
TG852G up to 100Mbps.
TG862G up to 100Mbps.
TM402G up to 15Mbps.
TM402P up to 15Mbps.
TM502G up to 15Mbps.
TM602A up to 15Mbps.
TM602G up to 15Mbps.
TM604G up to 15Mbps.
TM608G up to 15Mbps.

Arris/Motorola:
SB4200 up to 15Mbps.
SB5100 up to 15Mbps.
SB5101N up to 15Mbps.
SB6141 up to 100Mbps.
SB6183 up to 300Mbps.
SBG6580 up to 100Mbps.
SBV5121 up to 15Mbps.
SBV5220 up to 15Mbps.
SBV5222 up to 15Mbps.
SBV5322 up to 15Mbps.

Cisco/Scientific Atlanta:
DPC2100 up to 15Mbps.
DPC/ECP2203 up to 15Mbps.
DPC2203C up to 15Mbps.
DPX2100 up to 15Mbps.
DPX/EPX2203 up to 15Mbps.
DPX/EPX2203C up to 15Mbps.

Technicolor/Thomson/RCA:
DCM425 up to 15Mbps.
DWG875A up to 100Mbps.
TC4310 up to 300Mbps.
TC8715D up to 300Mbps.
TC8717T up to 300Mbps.

Toshiba:
PCX2600 up to 15Mbps.

Ubee/Ambit:
DDM3521 up to 100Mbps.
DDM354 up to 300Mbps.
DDW2600 up to 15Mbps.
DDW3611 up to 100Mbps.
DDW365 up to 100Mbps.
DDW36C up to 300Mbps.
DVW3201B up to 100Mbps.
DVW32CB up to 300Mbps.
U10C018 up to 15Mbps.
U10C022 up to 15Mbps.
U10C034 up to 15Mbps.


Which of those Cable Modems would work well for me?? I currently have TWC Standard Internet, but I may upgrade down the road.

Ulitimate DL(Up to 50Mbps) UL(Up to 5Mbps)
Extreme DL(Up to 30Mbps) UL(Up to 5Mbps)
Turbo DL(Up to 20Mbps) UL(Up to 2Mbps)
Standard DL(Up to 15Mbps) UL(Up to 1Mbps)


I am interested in Cable Internet Modems, NOT WiFi Modems or Modem/Router Combos.


These three modems seem to be popular. Does TWC use these in my area? If so, how well do these modems
work? Is there any issues with them? Which one would be the best for long term use? 5,7,10 yrs?

ARRIS / Motorola SB6190 SURFBoard DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem
ARRIS / Motorola SB6183 SURFBoard DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem
ARRIS / Motorola SB6141 SURFBoard DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem

Please help me figure out which modem to choose. I plan on picking it up tomorrow at my local TWC.

Thx,

6183, the 6190s cheaped out and newer models have a problematic chipset causing a lot of issues.

6141 or 6183 have been pretty reliable for me. You can probably save a few bucks by buying from Amazon.

If you're gonna go with the SURFBoard, go with the 6183.
The 6190 have some stability issues and it's not as if anyone's going to use that version of DOCSIS to hit a gig.

So the SB6183 SURFBoard or SB6141 SURFboard would be the way to go.

What about any of the others on TWC list? Is there anything else reliable? I'm looking for a list I can have handy to bring with me.
For now I will need to use one they provide. Hopefully I will replace it with my own later on.

Most of the modems on that list, except for the SurfBoard series are not retail units, so if you found one to buy, you wouldn't get any support. With the upcoming transition to DOCSIS 3.1, and your current speed packages, I'd stay with the SB6141 and save money for a future D3.1 product. Currently the SB6141 can get speeds of up to 100Mbps on TWC, higher on other cable companies, so you'd be good to go for a while.

6141 is getting EOL on Comcast and TWC may not be far behind. They will still work, but limiting yourself to 100 means you will need to buy a new modem if TWC MAXX come to your area (which is probably won't, because Charter fucking cancelled planned MAXX upgrades)

So let me get this straight. I'd be ok with the SB6141 SURFBoard for the time being for my needs, for now. But the SB6183 SURFBoard would be a better choice.

What are the "stability issues" the SB6190 SURFBoard has? Can they be fixed on either end of the connection?


What other cable modems on their list are available retail? How do they fair against the SURFBoards?

I just got a Netgear CM700. It's capable of 700Mb/s+ on Comcast's system. (I'm on the 250Mb/s plan, which required either this or the older CM600. The CM700 I got is actually giving me 300Mb/s from what I've tested.) If you want to be able to get 1Gb/s when it becomes available, the only modem I know of that can handle it right now is the Netgear CM1000.

The fastest you can get is "Ulitimate DL(Up to 50Mbps) UL(Up to 5Mbps)." that is crazy. Man Internet speeds in parts of the USA blow ass. I live in the Twin Cities area of MN and have Mediacom. I am using the SB6190. I know it isn't on your list, not sure why TWC doesn't allow it. I am paying for 200mbps DL. I am getting about 290mbps DL. I am paying for 20mbps UL. I am getting 35mbps UL. I love this modem. I have had the modem now for about 7 or 8 months and have only rebooted it once because Mediacom upgrade my internet and the modem needed to be rebooted to get the new speeds. I have no dropped connection problems with it at all. I did read that the SB6183 had heat problems. If you look on amazon a lot of ppl say it gets really hot which can cause problems. My SB6190 is in my utilty room with my ASUS RT-AC68U. I had the SB6141 before this one but had a water pipe break by it and it got wipe and stopped working. I would recommand you get a modem which is higher then what you are currently paying for. This way down the road whenever you are upgrade in speeds the modem can handle it and you do not have to upgrade modem's again. Best of luck to you.

dgingeri said:

I just got a Netgear CM700. It's capable of 700Mb/s+ on Comcast's system. (I'm on the 250Mb/s plan, which required either this or the older CM600. The CM700 I got is actually giving me 300Mb/s from what I've tested.) If you want to be able to get 1Gb/s when it becomes available, the only modem I know of that can handle it right now is the Netgear CM1000.

Click to expand...

The SB5190 can handle over 1gb/s. https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-SB6190-DOCSIS-Cable/dp/B016PE1X5K It can handle 1.4gb/s DL and 262mbps UL.

Ocellaris said:

6141 is getting EOL on Comcast

Click to expand...

This only affects modems leased from Comcast, and does not affect customer owned modems. Probably won't be a problem for some time until DOCSIS 3.1 comes out and is being pushed on everyone.

3WAYsplit said:

So let me get this straight. I'd be ok with the SB6141 SURFBoard for the time being for my needs, for now. But the SB6183 SURFBoard would be a better choice.

Click to expand...

With your current Internet package, I doubt you will be able to use the capabilities of the SB6183 until after it has been obsoleted. I personally would save the money and get the cheaper unit

3WAYsplit said:

What are the "stability issues" the SB6190 SURFBoard has? Can they be fixed on either end of the connection?

Click to expand...

There is a bug in the Intel chipset used in the product that causes latency issues in some cases. Intel is working on a firmware update to fix this, which will be pushed out "sometime." You may or may not experience the issue.

Well I made my exchange at TWC. A was able to get a ARRIS Touchstone SB6183. It took a half hour for the Modem to lock in.

Power is solid green
Receive is solid blue
Send is solid blue
Online is solid green

On the Quick Start Guide it mentions that the LEDs will either be solid Green or Blue.

Receive & Send are both Blue. According to the guide, means the down/upstream channels are bonded. What does that mean? Is that good in my favor, or a hindrance?


This is all Greek to me. I've had the old SB5101 for at least 13+ yrs. It will take me a bit a time to get used to this one.

It's good. Probably can't have a DOCSIS 3.0 modem without getting bonded channels these days! You might want to run a speed test to see if you got a free boost!

TWC Standard Internet:
DL up to 15 Mbps
UL up to 1 Mbps

Speedtest results are showing:
DL 4.87 Mbps
UL 1.18 Mbps

It seems a bit faster. But it's not lightening fast. lol

The only thing I don't like about the new modem is it runs hot.

Prod1702 said:

The SB5190 can handle over 1gb/s. https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-SB6190-DOCSIS-Cable/dp/B016PE1X5K It can handle 1.4gb/s DL and 262mbps UL.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the same 32X8 channel design as the CM700. It can only do ~700Mb/s in actual use. They claim 1.4Gb, but it can't do that in practice any more than the older 8X4 modems can do the claimed 343Mb/s. It takes a DOCSIS 3.1 modem to get gigabit connection speeds.