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need DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem advice

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by cwerdna, Aug 27, 2011.

  1. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    I've never had cable modem service before (had DSL then FiOS). I'm temporarily renting a modem from Comcast and they provided me w/a Ubee DDM3513 but want to stop renting soon.

    I'm on the Performance tier and when I visit DOCSIS Devices and select Performance, there are 65 supported modems listed and 21 of them support DOCSIS 3.0. I recently got an alert for the Motorola SB6120 for $73.70 (being discussed at Motorola SB6120 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem $75.68 Amazon - Slickdeals.net). I have no idea if this is a good deal or a good modem. It's currently $73.54 sold by Amazno or $72.79 "Sold by Digital Media Source and Fulfilled by Amazon."

    I'd rather have reliability over the highest performance. I don't run anything over MoCA at home.

    Someone at Tivocommunity recently claimed "Some Costco stores have the 6120 for as little as $54." I checked my local Costco and they have no cable modems. I had a guy w/the terminal in front check and there are none anywhere near me unless I want to drive 150+ miles to get to the closest Costco with one. It showed up as $74.99 in their system for a SB6120.

    Any suggestions? Anything better/more reliable than the SB6120 for not much more than $75?
     
    #1 cwerdna, Aug 27, 2011
  2. Scummer

    Scummer Eh?

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    I used a SB6120 before and it was solid and fast. But it only works as a modem for dynamic IP addressing. If you are running a static IP address setup, like I do now, the SB6120 is not the device for you. You need a router.
     
    #2 Scummer, Aug 28, 2011
  3. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    'Performance' is in the eyes of the marketer. A very inexpensive DOCSIS 2.0 modem may meet your service tier. What are your speeds ?
     
    #3 SageBrush, Aug 28, 2011
  4. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    I'm on the Performance tier at either 15 megabits down/3 up or 12/2. I'm not in front of a computer to be able to run a test.
     
    #4 cwerdna, Aug 29, 2011
  5. xpcman

    xpcman Senior Member

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    a DOCSIS 3.0 modem is overkill for your use.
    I use a Motorola SB5101 on Comcast and my through-put is much higher than your rated speed. I have an extra one that may daughter used for a year in Oakland. $40 for the whole thing ( modem splitter and cable). My restults are 24.5 Mbps download and 4.26 Mbps upload.
    use XFINITY Speed Test to test your current speed.
     
    #5 xpcman, Aug 29, 2011
  6. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    #6 SageBrush, Aug 29, 2011
  7. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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     Interesting, I just went to Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test and got a surprisingly high result of 25.34 mbps down and 4.25 mbps up even though I'm (according to my confusing bill, on the Performance tier) with my Ubee DDM3513. Results via the XFinity speed test page are very close at 25.46 and 4.35 mbps.

    From chatter like Docsis 3 modem for lower tier useful? - Comcast HSI | DSLReports Forums, Do I need DOCSIS 3.0 modem? Considering SB6120 - Comcast HSI | DSLReports Forums and glancing thru [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS"]DOCSIS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] it seems like I still might be better off going with DOCSIS 3.0 modem anyway.

    I will consider your offer.

     
    #7 cwerdna, Aug 29, 2011
  8. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Is that a good idea? Getting my own cable modem fesible? - Comcast HSI | DSLReports Forums and [Connectivity] Problems provisioning own cable modem - Comcast HSI | DSLReports Forums point to it being potentially a bad idea. There seem to have all sorts of warnings in other threads. Unclear whether they're true or just people spreading what they've heard...

    (FWIW, I used to buy and sell frequently on Ebay ages ago. I've had a couple bad buyers and been ripped off by two sellers before. At least Paypal came to the rescue in the case of one seller but not the other. Luckily, the second case was for not a huge amount of money, but I was out some money, never received the item and never heard from the seller. It doesn't help much that in both cases they just let their account get unregistered...)
     
    #8 cwerdna, Aug 29, 2011
  9. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    ^^ Getting ripped off is certainly a possibility. I try to play the odds --
    If I think my chance of being defrauded is x percent, I want at least x percent discount on the Ebay price compared to what I would pay outside Ebay.

    I only buy from sellers with very high feedback ratings, and I take a couple of minutes to review what they sell, and the actual feedback comments. No free lunch -- you have to spend some time to save money.

    Comcast has a 'burst' mode that IIRC requires DOCSIS 3.0. That aside I think DOCSIS 2.0 will serve you fine, but I am far from well informed in this area. dslreports.com is a good place to read up a bit. Do not bother calling Comcast -- they are flaming idiots.
     
    #9 SageBrush, Aug 29, 2011
  10. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    In the case of my two ripoff sellers, one I actually didn't really intend to buy from (it's long story) but that person suddenly ended up the auction early, leaving me the "winner". The had a high feedback rating, IIRC and little negative feedback.
     
    #10 cwerdna, Aug 29, 2011
  11. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    Last summer, I checked with my provider about getting faster service. Making the jump from 2 to 3 would actually reduce my bill $4 per month. The catch was needing a new modem.

    I took the plunge with the Motorola modem/router, which was brand new for retail back then. It has worked great, totally worth the buy.
    .
     
    #11 john1701a, Aug 30, 2011
  12. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    buy the cheapest modem you can find. both your reliability and speed is controlled by your service provider, not your modem.

    only caveat on cheaper products is their power control circuitry. if you want to spend money, do it on a good UPS. not only will it protect your modem, it will protect your computer as well

    the last modem i bought (have comcast and do not rent theirs) was in 2003 from Best Buy and rebates, store credits, etc discounted it to Zero so i might be out of the loop on the prices of this stuff but my "dinosaur" regularly tests up to 22-25 Mbps
     
    #12 DaveinOlyWA, Aug 30, 2011
  13. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Although I'm tempted by used SB5101s on Ebay due to their cheapness, I'm still a bit wary. Even if I try to filter by those who have good feedback, if I want to email them about the circumstances about why they're selling it, that takes time and they might not know or be lying. I'd also possibly need to do it for several on sale since I might not win the bid or someone might overbid...

    Even if activation goes w/o a hitch, if I end up having connectivity problems, that means I have to call Comcrap support and they might point the finger at my modem (which will be in unknown condition or could be failing)...

    Last time I called Comcrap about them putting me on the wrong plan and a crazy puzzling bill (one portion even the rep couldn't explain or figure the bizarre line items), I spent >1.5 hours hours on the phone w/them (a fair amount on hold) after having to talk to 2-3 people to get my bill and plan fixed. There wasn't even a technical problem!

    Renting a modem from them again (to troubleshoot) might be a pain as I visited their (VERY busy) office last time to drop off a useless standard def STB they incorrectly sent me and pickup the CableCARD that I did need. I had to wait at least 20 mins, not including the 35-40 mins I spent driving back/forth.

    The SB6120 on Amazon is now down to $69.99...
     
    #13 cwerdna, Aug 30, 2011
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