Cable Modem recommendations?

[Madcowz]

I will hopefully be getting Optimum online cable service soon, & was wondering if anyone could help me out with some cable modem recommendations. Now I know Optimum online provides you with a modem, but at a hefty price tag of $200. With reports of different modems producing higher up/down speeds, I'm thinking I can probably buy one of the better one's out there for less than $200 & hopefully get better results. I DID call optimum online up and they said any DOCSIS compliant modem would work. So any suggestions?

 

[odog]

motorola SB3100, or SB4100.. the SB3100 can be had in the $125-150 range the SB4100 is about $30 more expensive.

whatever you do... stay away from any and all of the COM21 modems, they are pure junk.

 

[scm518]

I just got OOL and got 2 cable modems that they supplied with it. I got the Surfboard 3100 and the surfboard 4100 -- and after side by side comparisons, there is no difference. I will never use the USB option that the 4100 offers and I suggest that you do not either, otherwise, why get that speed just to not be able to use it with the USB connection. I get about 5500/950 constant with both modems. the 4100 also "boasts" the "offline" button or something on the front as a security measure to essentially turn off the online connection when your computer does not need it (you press it manually) - i have read many articles that say the button does not actually work -- so who knows -.

Just a note -- I only have to pay $99 for the modem with a one year contract with OOL and I just signed up so you may want to look into that more..

Sean

 

[dkozloski]

My ISP, GCI, provides COM21 modems exclusively and they work great. There are very few complaints by anyone and the few complaints are unfounded over 90% of the time. Most of the trouble in this area involves idiots digging up the cables or construction workers.

 

[MrMojo]

My ISP switched from Com21 to Toshiba cable modems, the tech said the reason was that they're the most reliable long term.

 

[Zach]

@Home here was using RCA's.. then they got some 3Com's.. went back to RCA's. A tech said that it was because the 3Com's ended up "frying" more. I've had them all break down, or so they've said. I can't really trust them to tell me the truth about that though...

But, overall, my original RCA and my new RCA (different stlyes, one little and sits, old was tall) have lasted.

 

[odog]

<< There are very few complaints by anyone and the few complaints are unfounded over 90% of the time >>

i've had a roughly 80% RMA rate with the COM21 doxport 1010. they can't lock onto a damn data stream for sheet, they go bad when you give them a dirty look... overall they are just plain junk.

 

[Madcowz]

Aren't the Surfboard (SB) series also manufactored by other companies?

 

[phlashphire]

I'm currently using the USB connection for the Motorolla SB4100, is it worth it to buy a network card? Would there be a noticeable increase?
I think the highest d/l I've seen so far w/ the USB connection is ~45kb/sec.
Haven't tweaked the modem settings or anything yet.

 

[Madcowz]

Yes, it would probably be worth it to buy a network card. If you're getting only 45k/sec downloads you're either being limited by your USB port or perhaps your cable is capped or just regularly slow. You can't do much with the later but you can get network cards for like $10 so I say it's definitely worth it

 

[fitzhue]

My RCA cable modem from @Home has worked like a charm ever since I got it a few years ago. Sometimes insanely fast download speeds (3Mbps), but the upload is just short of horrible. @Home is capped at 128Kbps or about 16KBps. Never had any other modem and have never seen the reason to get a new one.

 

[Vrangel]

Ask here.
If you go through it Terayon Terajet does 8000/1000.
SB does 5500/1000 ,has lower ping and is more reliable.