Best wireless cable modem for $125 or less?

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Hard and Confused

[H]ard|Gawd
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Sep 13, 2008
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I'm looking to get a wireless cable modem for my GF as they are getting high speed for the first time this coming week and want to kill 2 birds with one stone with this. I would like to get them a good cable modem with built in wireless so I don't have to deal with a cable modem and a sepperate wireless router.

Any ideas or should I just get a good cable modem and a WRT54GS? And if I go this route whats the best non wireless cable modem I can get? Are the Linksys cable modems any good?
 
It would probably be cheaper to pick up a modem and router than a combo unit. (don't quote me on this...?)

I'd go with a Motorola SurfBoard Modem and WRT54GL if you want 802.11G. Load DD-WRT on the WRT54GL and you'll be happy!
 
You mean a wireless router? Generally the cable company provides a cable modem with the service.
 
My cable company charges extra for the modem at a rate such that if you are going to have it for more than a year it is cheaper to own your own. A few years ago I bought a motorola surfboard and a WRT54G. The Surfboard has been totally trouble free. The WRT54G has always worked, but has been a bit fiddly and I've still not managed to get it working in any terribly secure fashion (couldn't get it to work with any sort of encryption, so just set the mac address filters to prevent my neighbors from hogging my bandwidth..). I'm no networking expert so that could be part of the problem.
 
The ISP will allow you to lease a modem, or buy it from them. As BikePilot suggested, just buy it, it will cost you less in the long run.

As for the router, a WRT54G with either DD-WRT or Tomato will be absolutely rock solid and will last a long time.
 
Do NOT rent a modem from your ISP. Most likely you'll get a used or refurbished unit that won't keep a solid connection. Better to buy and actually own your own modem. I went through three rented modems in two years and finally bought my own in the summer. I have the Motorola SurfBoard SB5101.
 
For best performance, you'll want a separate cable modem, and router.

Surfboard 5120 is pretty much considered to best cable modem....soon to be replaced by the newer 6120 model.

I'd shoot for a more current generation router than the wrt54gs you mention...the old wrt54g series has been eclipsed by several generations by now..current routers are several times faster.
 
Bay Area Fry's Electronics ad has a Motorola SBG900 Wireless Cable Modem for $99 after $30MIR.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
For best performance, you'll want a separate cable modem, and router.

Surfboard 5120 is pretty much considered to best cable modem....soon to be replaced by the newer 6120 model.

I'd shoot for a more current generation router than the wrt54gs you mention...the old wrt54g series has been eclipsed by several generations by now..current routers are several times faster.
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How about the SB5101 and WRT54G2 ? I can pick both up from Wal-Mart for $100.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
For best performance, you'll want a separate cable modem, and router.

Surfboard 5120 is pretty much considered to best cable modem....soon to be replaced by the newer 6120 model.

I'd shoot for a more current generation router than the wrt54gs you mention...the old wrt54g series has been eclipsed by several generations by now..current routers are several times faster.
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I keep hearing this, but my WRT54G v4 w/Tomato has no problem sharing my 20/20 connection with 10 different machines in my house, not to mention heavy torrenting. I have never had to reset it and it never slows down. What more do you need in a home setup?
 
Sorry, but no. I ran a WRT54g v4 with Tomato, DD-WRT and several other firmwares. It does pretty well, but it WILL NOT handle 20/20 with a lot of connections without slowdown. I added a heatsink on mine and overclocked it, too.

It's a good router for the price. It is by no means a great router.
 
dandragonrage said:
Sorry, but no. I ran a WRT54g v4 with Tomato, DD-WRT and several other firmwares. It does pretty well, but it WILL NOT handle 20/20 with a lot of connections without slowdown. I added a heatsink on mine and overclocked it, too.

It's a good router for the price. It is by no means a great router.
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What, am I imaging things?
 
It is great up until around 10mb or higher connections, and only to about 5mb or higher with lots of connections.

Still, there are a lot of people with connections lower than 5mb so it can still be a great router for most.
 
criccio said:
I keep hearing this, but my WRT54G v4 w/Tomato has no problem sharing my 20/20 connection with 10 different machines in my house, not to mention heavy torrenting. I have never had to reset it and it never slows down. What more do you need in a home setup?
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If you've tasted faster routers...you'd notice when you went back to the wrt.

I've run quite a few myself, with DD and with Tomato and with Hyper.

Their max simultaneous connections are well below more current generation routers.(about 60, versus over 200 with newer models or 10,000 if you build your own nix router)

For those with existing wrt54g routers...yeah it's fine to squeeze a little more life out of your existing unit. But for those looking to purchase a new router....I can't fathom the justification of purchasing an older slower generation router..when for just a couple of dollars more, you can get current generation performance. And..many of these current generations models support being flashed by DD. ;)
 
That may be true, but since I'm maxing out 2.5MB/s up and down I can't see how that can get any better.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
If you've tasted faster routers...you'd notice when you went back to the wrt.

I've run quite a few myself, with DD and with Tomato and with Hyper.

Their max simultaneous connections are well below more current generation routers.(about 60, versus over 200 with newer models or 10,000 if you build your own nix router)

For those with existing wrt54g routers...yeah it's fine to squeeze a little more life out of your existing unit. But for those looking to purchase a new router....I can't fathom the justification of purchasing an older slower generation router..when for just a couple of dollars more, you can get current generation performance. And..many of these current generations models support being flashed by DD. ;)
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For a lot of home connections and home users you do not see the difference though. Plus DD-WRT still has its place on the WRT54G for other reasons besides being a router, it is great as a Wifi AP and you can do some really cool stuff with it. There are newer routers that support it, but the ole WRT54G is a reliable choice for a lot of uses still.

and yes, I have used many newer faster routers and much more expensive wireless APs for comparison.
 
Grentz said:
For a lot of home connections and home users you do not see the difference though. .
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I can simply with a handful of computers and the wimpy 6 meg pipe I'm on right now. I could easily when I had my 28 meg pipe where I lived before. The QoS is a little better than stock firmware, but it can't hold a candle to better newer stuff. If I dust off my old 54g and put it back in use and try to game online with it while the kid is downloading or gaming or the wife is agressively online shopping...I'd be crashing into the ground while doing strafing runs with the A-10 due to lag.

Yeah it makes a decent AP ...I have probably 35-40 of 'em in use with various clients.

Todays broadband getting faster 'n faster all the time..why spend money now on something that is close to already a bottleneck for many connections..and is due to surely be a bottleneck in another year or two. Spend an extra 12 dollars and get something current..you can still get a current generation model that supports DD-WRT flashing.
 
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