Does a cable modem affect speeds?

[sirjahmez]

A couple of days ago I got a letter in the mail from Adelphia cable. It said that they were going to upgrade my service from 6Mbps down and 768kbps up to 16Mbps down and 2Mbps up for no charge. They say that all I need to do is have a modem from an approved list and do somethings online to switch.

Their list of approved cable modems are:

Make: Arris Motorola Motorola SA Thomson
Model: CM450A SB5100 SB5101 DPC2100r2 DCM425

Currently I have a Motorola SB4200 that I bought from the cable company for cheap.

So my question is does a cable modem have to do anything with the speed? I always thought all cable modems were the same. If I have to get a new modem then which one of the ones in the list should I get or if there are any other better ones not mentioned then tell me.

Thank for the help.

 

[JackMDS]

Typical Cable Modem and Cable/DSL Router might be Sub 10Mb/sec.

Since you are going to get 16Mb/sec. You need to check that both the Modem and Your Router can do more than 10Mb/sec. on the WAN Side.

The data Sheet of the Hadware can be a wonderful place to check it.

:sun:

 

[Fardringle]

Motorola's Data Sheet for that modem says it is capable of a theoretical maximum data rate of 38Mbps. However, it's entirely possible that your ISP wants those two specific modems because they are the only ones that will work with the equipment they are going to be using to provide the faster speeds. It can't hurt to try with your 4200 to see what happens before you spend money to get a new modem.

Also, as Jack mentioned, if your home router only has a 10Mbps WAN/Internet port, it really doesn't matter what your modem can do since you'll never get more than 10Mbps through the router.

 

[sirjahmez]

Cool. Thanx for the help. Well...I was looking at Adelphia's website about the new upgrade thing and about the modem it said:

If you purchase a new modem, please make sure that it
is a CableLabs CertifiedTM modem that is DOCSIS 2.0 or higher; you should see this
logo on the packaging.

Looking at the data sheet of the modem I have now that Fardringle showed me, my current one is only DOCSIS 1.0 certified. Is the reason why I need a new modem for the upgrade is because of the one I have is out of date?

Also, if I need a new modem, which one should I get? I was looking at the Motorola SURFboard® Cable Modem (SB5120) or the D-Link High-Speed DOCSIS 2.0 Cable Modem. I was thinking about the D-Link because it was 20 dollars cheaper.

Oh yeah and also about the router. I didn't think about it. Currently I have a D-Link DI 614+, which is a wireless router. I looked on the D-Link website and googled it, but the only information on it's speed that I could find out was about it's wireless speed. It said that it's wireless speed is 22 Mbps, but nothing about it's wan speed. I use both the wireless and connect to it through ethernet. So I guess wireless I'm ok, but not too sure about my wired connection. I have another wireless router, D-Link DI-524, but I don't know if that'll be any better.

Thank for the help. I really don't know too much about this networking thing and all.