Any recomendations for a cable modem?

[RD_151]

I finally took the plunge and ordered cable today. I have to get a modem by friday. Well, they didn't give me a list of compatible models, so thats on obstacle. I guess i will go to Best Buy, Circuit City, etc etc, and see if they know what modems are gonna be compatible. Aside from the compability issue, what do you guys recomend. Sorry, I've been out of the technology loop for a long time now. Oh, and I know, i should get DSL, but the cable connecion is only gonna cost $34.99 and DSL is gonna be closer to $50.

I'm not sure how much slower cable is gonna be, but I guess it SHOULD be worth it.

Ok, thanks in advance guys.

I should probably post this over at HWC, but I haven't been able to get my password to work for a year or so Oh well.

 

[Jeslek]

Anything Cisco...

 

[Luis G]

i'¡m using a Motorola SB4100, it has USB and Ethernet (10/100Mbps) connectors.

using 100Mbps ethernet improves your ping times.

 

[Bubba]

don't get an rca. dropped my cable. bad service.

 

[Luis G]

yeah, stay away from RCA and Future Network modems.

one thing that sometimes ensures quality is the cablelabs docsis certification. be sure to get a certified modem and not a "docsis compliant" modem.

 

[RD_151]

Ok, so far I'm leaning toward this:

Motorola SURFboard External Cable Modem

Motorola SB4200

It seems to be very similar to what you are using Luis. Should this be fine?

Its relatively inexpensive too!

http://www.circuitcity.com/frame1.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1870639815.1036522738@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccdadcgjhmijhlcfngcfkmdffhdffl.0&upper=head.jsp&lower=frame2.jsp&left=leftdept.jsp&right=verity_search.jsp&inleftcat=Shop+%26+Learn&productType=1&search=MODEM&qp=0


btw thanks for the quick response.

Should this be fairly compatible? It seems that almost every superstore has this so I'm hoping its quite compatible.

 

[Luis G]

Any DOCSIS modem should be fine, i'm very comfort with this motorola modem, i've had experiences with RCA, COM21 and Future Networks cablemodems. Of all those, the motorola is the best.

i read the modem details from Motorola page and it seems fine, and it has ethernet 10/100 and usb interfaces.

I assume you are in the USA, so be sure to get the SB4200 (DOCSIS) and not the SB4200E (European DOCSIS).

 

[Gonz]

I've been using the Motorola Surfboard 3100 for two years with zero problems. I'd like to get the 4100 because it has a disconnect button.

Circuit City &/or Best Buy have deals. If you order broadband thru them, the modem is about $20.

 

[Aunty Em]

The one you get given free by your ISP.

Unfortunately it doesn't have a brand name on it and it was made specifically for NTL and has both USB 1.1 and 10/100 Ethernet connectors, but I've had no trouble with it at all.

Attachment(s):

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[fury]

I'm using the Com21 DOXport 1110XB which has both USB 1.1 and 10/100 Ethernet connectors, and so far has given me no trouble, only time I've had to reset it was after I'd set up my router. My cable service limits me to 3000/128 down/up so I can't say much for the performance since I have no real idea of what it can achieve. But I can say it's easily handled the upper limits of both ways of the pipe.

 

[RD_151]

Aunty Em,

I wish I got a "free" one. They want $150 for theirs, and there is no way in hell I'm paying that for it. Its bad enough they are charging me $50 for a "self install" package. I can't image how on earth they came up with that number, what for a CD and some cable? Ok, I don't know much about this, but I can't image is should be more than $5 worth of material (and they wouldn't let me opt out on this). And they were so persistent to sell me THEIR modem for $150, and charge me $100 for them to set it up for me. I think not. Well, maybe I should have shopped around more, but its convienient to have it all on one bill with my cable, and after the intial garbage its relatively inexpensive.

Thanks guys. I think I'm gonna pick up the Motorola after work.

Now I'll have to find out how to set up a wireless network so I can use the connection on my laptop too. Is that gonna be difficult? I should probably look into it soon I guess.

 

[Luis G]

Linksys makes some cheap wireless hubs, you might want to consider taking a look at their website http://www.linksys.com/

 

[Aunty Em]

Aunty Em,

I wish I got a "free" one. They want $150 for theirs, and there is no way in hell I'm paying that for it. Its bad enough they are charging me $50 for a "self install" package.

They tried that over here but the take up was very low, so now there's a battle for supremacy going on between the different providers and there are some great deals about. No doubt that will change when they have saturated the market.

My ISP and cable company are the same so the connection fee was also very low, but I didn't have to pay it because they screwed up by not allocating the job to an engineer on the day it should have been installed. So I had to wait a month until it was, after having given up my second phoneline because I no longer needed it! I was not a happy bunny. I have voicemail but the call waiting interfered with my then dial-up connection. So after two irate phone calls they waived the fee. So I was a bit happier. All in all they're not a bad company really and the alternatives are far worse.