Which cable modem should I get?

rudy

rudy

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Comcast in lansing MI,

I am looking at the SB6141 right now.
 
well most cable isp have a list you may pick from i picked a motorola sb6120 it works great...
 
They pretty much all work the same. There is no magic modem that is going to get you 10ms less latency. Just buy what you can afford and dont look back.
 
Check your ISP see what they recommend. Comcast highly recommends the Motorola SB6120 for some reason, so I picked that up and it has been working great for me.
 
rudy said:
Comcast in lansing MI,

I am looking at the SB6141 right now.
Click to expand...

Do not get that modem. Even if your ISP recommends it, it has issues. Do some Google searches on firmware issues as well as T3 and T4 timeout issues.

I have the SB6141 on my ISP (Cable One) and it took forever to get it solved, which it's still not 100% but going from 3 - 4 dropped connections an hour to around 3 - 4 a day is much, much better. The tech who came to my house replaced every single line from the "neighborhood switch" all the way to my modem.

Also the Black SB6141 is supposedly a "refurbished" unit sold as "new" while the white one is the true new unit. From what I read, the black one was only given to ISPs to rent to customers, while the white one was the one to be sold directly to the customer. I got the black one, so I've never tried the white one.

Lots of info about it can be found on DSLReports.com (Broadbandreports.com) under the Motorola sub forum as well.

Get the SB6120; if I had it to do over that's the modem I would get.
 
They are not selling used (refurb) SB6141 as new modems. They just aren't retail boxed modems.

I have a white SB6141 and I'm quite happy with it. If you want a solid modem, with no nat/firewall, you should be fine with a 6141.
 
+Eric said:
They are not selling used (refurb) SB6141 as new modems. They just aren't retail boxed modems.

I have a white SB6141 and I'm quite happy with it. If you want a solid modem, with no nat/firewall, you should be fine with a 6141.
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http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r28188881-SB6141-black-vs-white-housing-Used-vs-New-

Additionally, what carrier are you using? Can you post your modem log here? 192.168.100.1 is the IP you enter into your browser to get to the modem page.
 
The Moto SB6141 and the Arris CM820A are both 8x4 modems (capable of bonding up to 8 downstream and 4 upstreams channels)

Both are TI (now Intel) chipset based, but either modem is only as good as its firmware. And even then it depends on what firmware your ISP is pushing to the device.

Many DOCSIS 3.0 cable plants only support 4x2 bonding anyhow, and if you're not subscribing to 100Mbit service, then there's little point in paying extra for a 8x4 modem.
 
This works great with Comcast

Zoom 5341J DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem 5341J

Make sure you get the model with the "J" in the model number
 
Zoom stuff is just awesome- I wish they made cars. Awesome warranty, performance, support. I've been using their stuff since the bad old 28.8Kbps modem days. I use their USB modem for cheap FAX server support on MS servers- absolutely bullet-proof.
 
The SurfBoard modem's are crap on comcast. Any comcast tech will tell you that.

I have comcast and have a Zoom 5341j and love it.

The arris modem's are what comcast will recommend.
 
Motorola SB6121 is the one I have. This is the only modem that Comcast business will allow if you bring your own.
 
Ehren8879 said:
The Moto SB6141 and the Arris CM820A are both 8x4 modems (capable of bonding up to 8 downstream and 4 upstreams channels)

Both are TI (now Intel) chipset based, but either modem is only as good as its firmware. And even then it depends on what firmware your ISP is pushing to the device.

Many DOCSIS 3.0 cable plants only support 4x2 bonding anyhow, and if you're not subscribing to 100Mbit service, then there's little point in paying extra for a 8x4 modem.
Click to expand...


I'm on Comcast's 50 mbps service and my Arris tg862 uses all 8 downstream channels and the extra streams can help if you're on a congested node.

When I was looking into modems a couple months ago the 6141 and the Zoom modem were the only ones available to the public with 8 bonded downstream channels, I didn't hear about any firmware issues with the 6141 but most people were recommending the Zoom modem because it was less expensive.
 
I have a 6120 and 6121. They are the same with the exception of one has a moca adapter or something in it.

Only the carrier can upgrade the firmware. Both come out of the box with firmware form December of 2010.

After doing a lot of back and forth and swapping modems/routers, the speeds are finally where they should be, although, I am not convinced it was my modem/router. I am going to toss my other router back in over the weekend and see what happens.



Note I live in central MN so kinda happy about the results.
 
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