Best inexpensive cable modem?

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DarkDubzs

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 3, 2014
Messages
354
For TWC internet, im going to buy my own router and modem, both separate devices, not a router/modem combo. Everybody loves the Motorola SB6141, but its too expensive, $85 is a lot right now for me, then i have to buy the router. So, which is the best cable modem for the lowest price, supporting modern technology and standards like DOCSIS 3.0?
If theyre all above like $50, should i just use TWC's modem for $4 a month and use my own wireless router? The router is a must for me to buy, the modem im still ehh about for the above reason. Im thinking a Tenda W368R Wireless-N Broadband Router, its cheap, has what im looking for, and has good reviews... or maybe the ASUS RT-N10P, its a little more expensive, but not breaking the bank and seems better for some reason.

Please help guys! Thank you in advance.
 
Check out the used/refurb modems on E-Bay if you don't care about it being shiny in the box. I got a great deal on mine there.
 
Don't ever rent a modem, you'll pay $48 in year just to rent one when you can buy the sb6121 for $62
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16825122015

Not sure if its compatible with twc, works fine on comcast.

The sb6121 tops out at 172mbps according to specs
while the sb6141 can go over 300+mbps, so unless you're paying for internet over 172mbps you would be fine with going with a sb6121. Probably can find one cheaper used as well.

Some caution on used ones though, some people sell the cable companies modems that they never returned and when you go to activate it on your account the cable company will either ask for it back or just charge you the rental fee since it is their property. Make sure it's not the cable companies modem when you are buying used.
 
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The Motorola 6141 ($81 on amazon) is faster than the 6121 ($63 on amazon) because it bonds eight download channels instead of four. The Zoom 5341J ($67 on amazon) also bonds 8 download channels. All three are considered reliable and widely compatible. The $4/mo modems you can rent are garbage compared to them, like half of the router/modem combo garbage you're avoiding in the first place.
 
Oh, you're looking at the Tenda W368R router? This is a rather infamous router. The rebranded version of it got Medialink booted off Amazon.

It's probably not too bad for a $30 N300 router, but for $40 you can get a much better N600 router, the TP-Link TL-WDR3500. N300 vs N600; basically, the TP-Link has 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless, while the Tenda only has 2.4GHz. 5GHz is vastly preferable to 2.4GHz.
 
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Make sure you get a modem that bonds on 8 channels. TWC has already upgraded to 8 channel bonding in almost all areas. They are already releasing maxx markets in cali and NYC. Where you can get 100, 200 and 300 down load speeds. I would go with the 6141.
 
The Zoom 5341J is much better than the Motorola at dealing with disconnects and has a bit of a cult following.
 
Makeroflostsouls said:
Make sure you get a modem that bonds on 8 channels. TWC has already upgraded to 8 channel bonding in almost all areas. They are already releasing maxx markets in cali and NYC. Where you can get 100, 200 and 300 down load speeds. I would go with the 6141.
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The 300/20 tier requires a modem that supports 16 downstream bonded channels. Though the 6141 supports only 8 downstream bonded channels, even if you get the 300/20 tier (if it becomes available in your area), TWC will only provision it for 100/10.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/cont...enjoy/better-twc/bettertwc_approvedmodems.pdf
 
What about the ASUS RT-N10P for a router?
I need a router that can reach good distance, say around 50 feet give or take, and not lose too much strength at distance. Im not saying i want the best router for this need, for like $200. Im saying i want the best one at my price area (around $50) that is best for this need. It would be nice if i could also get 802.11ac, but n is good too.
And, what about the TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND Ultimate Wireless N300 too?

Also, at a higher price point, if i can afford it, the ASUS RT-N56U seems like a really good router. Are there any better routers for this price too?

Please help guys! Thanks.
 
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diizzy said:
http://www.amazon.com/N750-Dual-Rou...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B007KZQM9Q

Buy it, its a great router for its price. Think of it as a WDR3600 with more flash and it does support OpenWRT too. All Atheros-based :-D
//Danne
Click to expand...

Hmm, thats a really great price. Nice shape and design too. I dont care for usb ports, but its nice to have a couple in case for future or whatever. The reviews are mixed, a lot of people love it and a lot hate it... mostly because the connection gets dropped and most people are complaining about that so its not just isolated incidents... it looks like its a common problem with the router design or something. I think ive decided on the ASUS RT-N10P, its an awesome price at $30 in stores, nice little design, its an asus so i know its gonna be reliable, and its a pcmag readers choice, good reviews too.
 
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Okay, you want the ASUS RT-N10P, get it for $4.99 and free shipping after rebate by using this code at newegg's checkout:

EMCPEWE42

That offer (courtesy of slickdeals) ends after tomorrow, so get it now.

While it's lacking 5GHz, can't really complain for $5.
 
evilsofa said:
Okay, you want the ASUS RT-N10P, get it for $4.99 and free shipping after rebate by using this code at newegg's checkout:

EMCPEWE42

That offer (courtesy of slickdeals) ends after tomorrow, so get it now.

While it's lacking 5GHz, can't really complain for $5.
Click to expand...

After looking into it, a 5ghz router would be nice, especially since it will be on a far less populated frequency with no microwave or other RF signals. What would be a good 5ghz router for less than $50? I cant seem to find a good one for that price. Any help guys??

EDIT: oh wait, 5ghz routers have less range than 2.4ghz and are not universal-not all devices can connect to them... HMMM. Maybe i should stick with a 2.4ghz router then.
Source: http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/5-pros-and-cons-to-5-ghz-wi-fi-routers.html
 
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The routers we have been talking about - the N600 routers - are so named because they have both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. 300 for one, 300 for the other. Or for dizzy's router, 300 for one and 450 for the other, making it an N750.
 
jmilcher said:
Exactly. I chose this after I bought two Motorola's that both had issues. The Zoom was MUCH better and pretty cheap.
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What made the Zoom better? Ive decided im going to get it, but i dont think its cheap per say.
$70 at my local microcenter http://www.microcenter.com/product/366191/DOCSIS_30_Cable_Modem_Approved_For_All_Services_-_5341

Ive also decided im most likely going to get the TP-LINK TL-WDR3500 for $35 at the same place.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/400747/TL-WDR3500_N600_Wireless_N_Dual_Band_Router

.....................
Please help me out with my last reply above, guys?:confused: Thanks! (quoted below)
DarkDubzs said:
I think ill get the TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 after all then. Its in my local microcenter, but heres a little problem. Whats the difference between these two!? Theyre the same thing but different prices, wtf?
http://www.microcenter.com/product/396398/N600_Wireless_Dual_Band_Gigabit_Router
http://www.microcenter.com/product/400747/TL-WDR3500_N600_Wireless_N_Dual_Band_Router
Click to expand...
 
DarkDubzs said:
I think ill get the TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 after all then. Its in my local microcenter, but heres a little problem. Whats the difference between these two!? Theyre the same thing but different prices, wtf?
http://www.microcenter.com/product/396398/N600_Wireless_Dual_Band_Gigabit_Router
http://www.microcenter.com/product/400747/TL-WDR3500_N600_Wireless_N_Dual_Band_Router
Click to expand...

The WDR3600 has Gigabit Ethernet ports, while the WDR3500 has 10/100 Ethernet ports. That's irrelevant for internet speeds, unless you're lucky and rich enough to have faster than 100 Gbps Internet (you don't). If you need your wired networking (if you have any at all) to be faster than 12.5 megabytes per second, that's what unmanaged switches are for (like this one).
 
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evilsofa said:
The WDR3600 has Gigabit Ethernet ports, while the WDR3500 has 10/100 Ethernet ports. That's irrelevant for internet speeds, unless you're lucky and rich enough to have faster than 100 Gbps Internet (you don't). If you need your wired networking (if you have any at all) to be faster than 12.5 megabytes per second, that's what unmanaged switches are for (like this one).
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Yeah, thats exactly what i was thinking, i just wanted to make sure. No, right now ill only have 2Mbps down speed from Time Warner Cable for $15:(:mad: My parents are on a tight budget right now, hopefully when i get a job i can help pay for a higher speed like 50Mbps.
Also, i though gigabit speeds were 1000Mbps or 1Gbps? Google lied to me!!lol And Google Fiber says they have 1000Mbps speeds and say they are 1 Gbps, so i assume from that that 1000Mbps=1Gbps
Source: https://www.google.com/webhp?source...544&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=1000+mbps+to+gbps
 
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The WD My Net N750 uses better hardware than the TP-Link (it's the same platform but with more flash and gbit switch) but oh well, do as you wish.
//Danne
 
diizzy said:
The WD My Net N750 uses better hardware than the TP-Link (it's the same platform but with more flash and gbit switch) but oh well, do as you wish.
//Danne
Click to expand...

Many of the reviews for it said it kept dropping wifi and connections, i could tell they were not just isolated occurrences, it seemed it was pretty common, so it must be a flaw in the design of all of them, so thats why i decided against it in the end.
 
Hah, you can read the same thing about the TP-Link. It all boils down to the firmware and both have very good 3rd party support as the use Atheros SoC. Oh well, now you learned something new.

For what its worth, I have several WDR3600 and N750 installed in different places and both work fine but if you can get N750 cheaper, hell why not since its better.
//Danne
 
diizzy said:
Hah, you can read the same thing about the TP-Link. It all boils down to the firmware and both have very good 3rd party support as the use Atheros SoC. Oh well, now you learned something new.

For what its worth, I have several WDR3600 and N750 installed in different places and both work fine but if you can get N750 cheaper, hell why not since its better.
//Danne
Click to expand...

The WDR3500 is only $35 and so is the N750, and i just have a bad vibe about the N750 for some reason. Ill try the 3500 and if for some reason im not satisfied or something, ill try the N750 next. Also, Western Digital is new to networking, it has mostly just been in the storage industry with hard drives and such, so they would be more prone to product flaws and failures as they have less experience with networking.
 
Now you're taking stuff out of thin air and your reasoning doesn't make any sense but despite all this, have fun I don't care...
//Danne
 
I'm a big fan of the Ubee DDM3513

It's been VERY reliable on Comcast but it's only 4x4, which is still good enough for all but the highest tiers. My parents are running the Ubee U10C035 which is almost identical (still 4x4) and it pulls 120+ mbps downstream.
 
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