Motorola SB6120 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 eXtreme Broadband Cable Modem
by Motorola
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List Price: Our Price: $74.95 You Save: $25.04 (25%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $55.19 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Motorola SB6120 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 eXtreme Broadband Cable Modem
Customer Review: So Long Comcast Leasing
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been a customer of my cable provider - Comcast - for more than four years, and during of these years I rented RCA DCM425 modem. Honestly, I cannot say that this modem was total waste of my money, because it gave me promised speed of my plan; however, this modem crashed quite often, and I spent time to reboot this thing. This problem was not a big deal for me, but in the last two months, modem took whole day to reboot, and my download speed was five times smaller than it should be. I chose to buy my own modem, but anyone who think about buying own modem should consider these two factors.
First factor, the major benefit of having own modem is concluding in paying leasing fees that turned from reasonable two dollars per month into seven dollars per month in my area. The second is major drawback of having own modem is concluding that if anything happened with your own modem, it is going to be your responsibility to take care for this modem instead of Comcast.
After my decision is made, I checked the list of approved modems by my Internet provider on the official web site. This is important, because if Motorola SB6120 was not in the list, Comcast won't allow me to use this model of cable modem. Also, users must check end of life date in order to get permission from Comcast to use SB6120 or any other models.
Well, after some information about buying vs. leasing information, lets talk about the modem itself.
Inside The Box:
Pretty much everything that you should have for connection your new modem to your desktop or laptop.
10 of 10.
Design:
Well, design of this modem did not change my view of modems as devices with office austere style. We have black color which fits almost everyone and vertical position - it may place horizontal too - that make our modem looks as a solid choice for almost all users. I also like power adapter which is smaller and weighs less than RCA power adapter.
7 of 10.
Installation:
The process of installation is describing in the install sheet, but there are two steps that users must know. Disconnect leased modem and router. Then connect new modem directly to PC - remember that router must install only after modem is fully configured - . Remember, simple connection of all required cables and cord is not enough for Internet connection. In order to get Internet, users should select one of four possible ways to do this task. First, users can call Comcast to arrange modem installation if they feel that they cannot perform this task without professional help. On the other hand, full process of installation is really easy for most users. Just making a phone call to Comcast office after you connect the modem directly to computer, and tell them correct MAC address of your modem and some other stuff. All process will not take a lot of time. Third, users can use special CD from free Comcast installation kit. Just follow instructions, and you will be set in minutes; however, users must know that with Internet installation, they also installed several programs that they might not need at all like Norton(tm) Security Suite and Comcast version of Internet Explorer. Also, installation with CD might perform only one time, because if something went wrong and users exit the program, and then come back, they will see the error message - it may be something wrong with my installation CD - . The last step which I did in order to make things work is automatically pop-up Internet Explorer window with Comcast Self Activation Page. First enter your account number, then install required software and select replacing modem option from the list. The whole process will take some time - do not turn your PC off during installation - and then you will see the window with message that installation is completed and your account information. Considered that you do need to install drivers for this modem, and four ways to get Internet, the installation is so easy. The only drawback in my opinion is lack of USB connection that might be a big deal for some users.
10 of 10.
Performance:
The great thing which I say about modem is it does not get hot as my old one, because of well ventilated body of modem. The same compliment goes to power adapter which is also well designed. The other good thing about this modem is nice front panel lights that inform users about status of the modem. The negative things of this modem are lack of power and reset buttons. The only way to reset this modem is unplug the modem from the AC. The same goes to turn off the modem. This modem has never crashed - I own this modem for only two weeks - but I really prefer to have these buttons. The next and most important thing for any modems is download and upload speed. As was mentioned before, I did get promised speed by Comcast in the last two months - the best I got once was 12 Mbit/s download and 1.5 Mbit/s upload while the common speed was 3 Mbit/s download and 1 Mbit/s upload - My promised speeds by the provider are 15 Mbit/s downstream and 3 Mbit/s upstream. According to Speedtest.net, my download speed is 20 Mb/s and my upload speed is 3.5 Mb/s which match with Comcast PowerBoost. In addition, the version of DOCSIS is being a great factor in Mb/s race, and it strongly affects your Internet speed. In this case, this DOCSIS 3.0 modem has backwards compatible to DOCSSIS 2.0. Honestly, I have checked yet what version of DOCSIS is being used in my local Comcast area, but even if it is 2.0 it is great to have newest technology standard for future time.
8 of 10
Value:
In conclusion, I say that I like this modem very much. The installation is easy, the speed is great, ventilation system is very good, and newest DOCSSIS 3.0 is a great option. Of course, for some users who do not mind using modem with DOCSSIS 2.0, because their Internet providers will not update the network in present future, and users who want to buy modem with wireless router feature might save 10 bucks or pay more 20 bucks more for more featured modem, but in my case I think that 77.79 is a great price for this modem.
10 of 10.
The final grade is 9 of 10.
Customer Review: Comcast Customer Review/Gamer Review
Summary: 5 Stars
As a Comcast Customer, I'm sure I wasn't the only person annoyed by the modem rental increase at the beginning of the year (2011). I never really thought about it before, but I was paying more per year to rent an old DOCSIS 2.0 modem Comcast gave me (which had likely been in countless homes before my own) than I'd spend one time to purchase my own. So, I decided to ditch the rental and own.
At first, I thought I'd just buy what I already had: a Motorola SURFboard SB5120 DOCSIS 2.0. So glad I didn't! Instead I shelled out a bit more money and picked up the Motorola SB6120 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0.
I read the reviews on Amazon prior to purchase, but was skeptical about the claims of increased speed with this modem. It didn't make sense to me, as I'm paying for an internet package with certain limitations on download/upload speed. It only seemed logical that better technology wouldn't be able to surpass limitations the package I pay for has in place. But in the end, what drove me to choose the SB6120 over the SB5120 was the idea of future-proofing; if I'm paying for it, I might as well get the better option.
Once I had the SB6120 running as my own modem, however, I was pleasantly surprised. My Comcast Internet package deal, which has not changed throughout my recent modem replacement, is as follows: Performance 12 Mbps download/2 Mbps upload with powerboost. Also, my area supports DOCSIS 3.0, so my package, utilizing a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, would automatically increase to 15/3 with powerboost. I took some speed tests (speedtest.net) before and after the new modem, and here's what I got on average:
SB5120 DOCSIS 2.0 Modem:
12 Mbps/2 Mbps
SB6120 DOCSIS 3.0 Modem:
20 Mbps/3 Mbps
Now, is this definitive proof that the SB6120 performs miracles with your internet speed? To many, I'm sure it's debatable. I've read a lot online about how people similar to me (similar internet packages) are getting increased speeds with a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, but there's always someone who quickly dismisses such claims as lies (they typically site powerboost as the cause for such "speed increases").
For me, I don't know. All I can say is that, with my set-up (note: I'm a gamer and run a PS3), I now have a faster internet connection with my new DOCSIS 3.0 modem, which mean the games I play online are blazing fast. Perhaps the old 2.0 was junk, perhaps something else, but the one thing I know for certain is that all I did was update my modem. I'm very satisfied with this purchase.
EDIT: As of 01/22/11, there have been no issues with modem. Have not had to powercycle or reset modem for any reason. Setting up with Comcast was a bit of a pain--was transferred to the wrong department twice, and the directions I received from the technician I spoke with were unclear, but since successfully completing set-up of modem, have had no issues whatsoever.
EDIT: As of 01/31/11: Modem went offline for at least 11 hours after 5 days of uninterrupted connection (occurred on 01/26). Location: Colorado. Recently read 2 other reviews by Comcast customers using this modem in Colorado, and they are not happy. I'm in the Springs, and other than being offline on the 26th for several hours, no other issues to date. Previous modem would also go offline for hours on occasion, so I believe it has to be my connection. Still happy with the equipment. It can work in Colorado.
EDIT: As of 03/12/11: This will be my last update unless the modem malfunctions. Since January 26, 2011, no issues whatsoever to report. I have read that modem may have issues being plugged into a powerstip, and that instead modem should be plugged directly into wall outlet. Modem was actually plugged into wall outlet on the 26th when only issue occurred; since then, have had unit plugged into powerstrip, and again, no issues.
Lastly, read that increase in speed may be due to internet provider's lax perameter's with service during update to DOCSIS 3.0. Apparently, once conversion is complete and Comcast has a better handle on things, download/upload speeds should be more strictly enforced, thus: you get what you pay for and even this unit won't work miracles with speed increases. We'll see.
Note: This modem was selling for $75 new on Amazon back in January. Sorry to see that they've jacked the price up so high, but glad I bought mine when I did.
Customer Review: Very Fast Modem, make sure to update your routers firmware though
Summary: 5 Stars
When Comcast upgraded South Florida to DOCSIS 3.0 I decided to upgrade from a SB5100 to this for my home network. The initial installation went by okay, it takes about 5 min to find a signal from Comcast (alot slower then the older 5xxx series surfboards) but when it finally connected I ran a speedtest and it was connecting at 32,000/4,000 which was amazing because I was only paying for 12,000/2,000 service.
The only trouble that I experienced with this modem was when I tried to hook it up to my D-Link DIR-655, upon my first attempt it would not establish a connection at all using the 1.11 firmware that I was using with my router. So I tried to see if it would work with newer firmware, I went to the D-Link website and downloaded the latest firmware on their website at the time which was version 1.21. That firmware allowed the router to establish a connection with my SB6120 but the signal would drop any time that one of the computers with a wireless adapter would try to download anything or stream stuff. My frustration made me think about using google to find an answer to my problem so I eventually found a link to d-links ftp server on a forum where they had their unreleased beta firmware. I installed the beta firmware 1.32NA which was the latest they had on June 15, 2009. The beta firmware has made the connection more stable and I havent had any problems since upgrading my firmware (review updated on April 3, 2010).
If you have connection issues or poor signal strength:
If you are having issues with your signal strength I would also recommend trying to remove any amplifiers you might be using on your cable tv to see if it fixes your connection drops. I was experiencing issues with connection drops that turned out to be a bad generic amplifier that comcast gave me, once it was removed the connection drops stopped but the signal strength wasnt very good (-3 db signal strength without an amp & I was running the line directly from the outside to the modem) so I purchased a different amplifier later on that greatly improved my signal strength to +7db - +9db.
I would highly recommend removing any excessive couplings, splitters, or objects you have to extend/join your RG6 cables because they interfere with your signal and water it down to the point where you get almost no signal when it gets to its destination. If you are in the market for an amplifier that will work with your modem I suggest using either a 4 PORT CABLE TV / HDTV / DIGITAL AMPLIFIER INTERNET MODEM SIGNAL BOOSTER INTERNET AMP or a 8-Port Bi-Directional Cable TV HDTV Amplifier Splitter Signal Booster with Passive Return Path where the line comes in from the outside to all the connections in your house, you will see a huge improvement in signal strength.
If you need to check the signal strength of your modem go to ip adress [...] and look for the tab on the top that says "signal" you will be able to see the signal to noise ratio and power level information in this area.
Customer Review: Easy to install
Summary: 5 Stars
Purchased this cable modem after reading the reviews on here and thought I should finally buy a modem after leasing one from Charter Comm for 2 1/2 years. It was $3 a month rental fee for the modem, but now it has gone up to $5 a month, so buying your own modem sure is the way to go now. I had already went through 3 leased modems though during that 2 1/2 years, so I'm not sure if those leased modems just don't hold up, are refurbished and just reused too much, but they sure did not last long. I had to call charter out 3 times to replace my leased modem and install another one. So my biggest concern was if this continued I was better off in leasing because they are replaced for free, but after the price went up, and was $5 a month now, I figured it would just be better to buy one, and I'll take my chances.
The install was quick, it did take like 2-3 minutes, once I powered it on and hooked it up and called charter to give them the MAC ID # for it to connect and to start working right away. So it does take a longer time to connect once it has been powered off and then back on then normal modems it seems. But you can basically tell by the lights on it, when it is ready to go.
My speed with leased modems has been all over the spectrum from very, very fast, to crawling slow. I'm under the basic plan and with leased modems had experienced speeds of over 100 Mbps to the normal of 5 Mbps for the current service that I'm paying for. Normally my speeds before were at 40-50 Mbps with the 2nd leased modem that I had for over 1 year installed. After that one died and the 3rd leased modem was installed, my speed dropped to 5 Mbps and had stayed pretty much between 5-10 Mbps, and never got any higher then that, so I was curious to see how fast this new modem was going to be.
After the install, I tested it and it has been right around 15 Mbps, for the first 1-2 weeks that I've had it, so I guess I'm satisfied with what I'm paying for. But it is so sporadic when I test the speed, like I find that late at night 1am-2am it is way much faster then during the day, probably because of less traffic. I also was told by the Charter tech who came out to do the original install, that your speed will increase dramatically depending upon your weather, and the colder it is outside, the faster your speed will be then, because they have to boost the signal on the "poles" to compensate for the temperature, and to increase your signal strength. I'm not sure if this is true or not.
I just tested the speed again, and ran 5 speed tests all in a row, about 2 minutes apart and I had one tested speed of 168 Mbps, my first speed with this modem of over 100 !!!! Then I got 50, 15, 18, & 35.... So I know it CAN be fast, but don't know why it is not consistently fast all the time, like it used to be with the 2nd leased modem that I had through Charter.
Over-all I'm quite satisfied with it though and think it is the way to go, if you are looking to buy a new cable modem.
Customer Review: Unbelievable - This is so great!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, I read the other reviews. People claiming to have huge increases in their speed - way above what the cable company tells them their top speed was. Okay, I was skeptical. I mean, most everyone here says they have Comcast - but I use Cox internet. With Cox, we are usually behind the times somewhat.
So I called Cox and asked them about DOCSIS 3.0. They support it, but only on their $89.95 a month tier. As much as I would like to go there, my wife would have me sleeping on the couch and surfing from the couch isn't too exciting. So, I am on their "25 Mbps" plan. According to the Cox rep, DOCSIS 3.0 is not supported on this plan, but this modem should work fine as it is backward compatible.
Okay, with all that being said, I bought this modem. Hooked it up in absolutely no time at all. The documentation is a joke, but seriously, do you need documentation? Plug it it - not too hard.
Let me tell you about speed. I tested my line before I installed the modem. I was averaging about 16-18 Mbps down and 1.5 up. After I installed it I was averaging between 60 and 90 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up. That is just crazy.
I rebooted, waited another day and speed tested it again. Exact same results. I can't figure this out. I have never seen anything like it. I am using a Windows 7 computer so I don't know if that makes a difference or not. My wife's computer experienced a little increase, but nothing like I did. Granted, she has an old NIC and old cabling. I am upgrading her cabling and NIC to see if that makes a difference.
Just so you know, this is a gigabit modem. I have a gigabit router. My computer has a gigabit NIC. If you don't have a gigabit system, you may not see the same results.
Actually, I can't explain why I am seeing these kind of results. It doesn't make sense. I just hope Cox doesn't read this review and tweak something!
Pros: Easy to setup. Unexpected speed. Ready for DOCSIS 3.0 which will probably become the overall standard in a year or two or three. Has tons of air vents so it shouldn't overheat.
Cons: The documentation is a joke. They show a picture of where to plug the wires in. If you run the installation CD, the only thing it does is show the same picture of where to stick the wires in. Here is a hint: electric to electric. Cable to cable, network to network.
This modem is a "no brainer." If you need a modem, you should buy a DOCSIS 3.0 standard modem anyway so you won't have to replace your modem in a couple of years when this becomes the new standard. Also, if you need to replace your current modem, why not get one that will boost your speed!?!
I can't promise you will see the same results that I have. I can't promise I will see the same results tomorrow. But hey, for $90, it is worth a try! This modem is fantastic! Remember, this is for cable modems, not DSL. Enjoy!