Motorola SB6120 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 eXtreme Broadband Cable Modem
by Motorola
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Motorola SB6120 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 eXtreme Broadband Cable Modem
Customer Review: Faster Than Docsis 2.0
Summary: 5 Stars
I discovered that Comcast had upgraded my internet connection from Docsis 2.0 to 3.0 (who knows or cares what the heck Docsis is - bottom line, it's a much faster connection standard that allows faster data transfers). If you are considering this modem, it is more expensive than the regular old 2.0's, and is backwards compatible with 2.0 (so you won't hurt anything buying this one). Check your Comcast account to see if you in fact have 3.0 in your neighborhood (there's some really complicated Comcast menus to figure it out, but a little searching in your account will get you there).
I had recently purchased a new Motorola Surfboard SB5101 Cable Modem and my internet connection went crazy wild faster compared to my four year old dinosaur modem. So I purchased this new modem thinking my internet speed would increase again. The increase was not wild crazy, but much snappier.
Install is very easy. Like any new modem with cable internet, the modem has to be registered with Comcast. Connect everything up, power, cable connection, and ethernet connection. Power up the modem and call Comcast. Once they access your account you will have to provide the MAC address printed on the outside of the modem box. They will then send a reset / registration signal to your modem. Once this happens, about a 5 minute job, you are in business. Sometimes it takes two hits to make the modem work.
I did some very extensive SpeedNet tests prior to the install and then after. Download speeds were just around 21Mbps before and they stayed exactly the same after the upgrade. Upload speeds were 2.8Mbps before and 3.8Mbps afterwards. Nice improvement on uploads. Although the measured speed did not change, it was crystal clear internet usage is much faster. Before there were some webpage delays, pauses before loading. Now pages load instantly. It seems like coming up to full speed happens much quicker than with the old modem.
This model is certified by Comcast, so there should be no problems making this work.
Customer Review: Best Modem I've Ever Used
Summary: 5 Stars
We were experiencing random and frequent disconnects from our Charter 10MBPs cable line using hardware they provided. They came out a few times to check the line but couldn't find any issues. At that time, we were renting an older Motorola Surfboard (DOCSIS 2.0) cable modem and they swapped it out for a comparable Ambit model to see if that would fix the issue. At first, things seemed fine, but the modem starting rebooting itself and the problem came back. We finally found out there was a good amount of noise coming in on Charter's line and they couldn't do much to fix it.
It was very stressful having an unstable connection and also paying to rent a piece of hardware that wouldn't deal with a problem on their end. Knowing we will stick with some sort of cable provider in the future, whoever the ISP is (currently and unfortunately, Charter is the only option here), we decided to try out the Motorola SB6120 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 eXtreme Broadband Cable Modem because of its high ratings and knowing we'd have something compatible in the future with the DOCSIS 3.0.
We've had the modem hooked up for over a month now and haven't experienced one disconnect. Our upload and download speed have almost doubled and the device doesn't even get the slightest hot (the other modems we've had got a little hot before our disconnect problem). Not only did this modem fix our problem, but we don't have to pay Charter for their modified and problematic hardware anymore. This pays for itself within a year.
The installation was very easy. I had to reboot our Linksys Wireless N gigabit router a few times for the light on the SB6120 to turn blue (if it's amber, it means it doesn't have an outgoing gigabit connection). After it propagated with Charter's servers, it's just been sitting there and doing it's job in the best way possible.
I highly recommend this router, especially if you are tired of low grade hardware that the ISPs rent to you. If you are playing games, streaming HD media, or just surfing and want something reliable, then definitely try this modem out.
Customer Review: Channel Bonding is great! +Comcast setup Instructions
Summary: 5 Stars
Firstly, the channel bonding is definitely noticeable. I went from a model-year 2000 Motorola SB4200 to this modem. Using a bandwidth tester, my downstream automatically went from 12mbps to 20mbps, sustained! What was more impressive though, was the upstream bandwidth--jumped from 1.4 mbps to 4-5! I don't believe Comcast has my area serviced with DOCSIS 3.0 just yet, but I know it's coming soon.
As far as setup goes, this is what I did:
1) Connect your cable modem to everything, and plug in the ethernet to your computer directly. Try to avoid sending your coax cable through any splitters. My house has the coax coming in from a pole so I can visually ensure this.
2) Plug it in, and wait for all the LEDs to light up. On a PC, type in CMD in the run command box, and type in ipconfig. On a mac, simply check the network pane in the system preferences.
3)You should see your external IP address. If you see anything like 192.168.XXX.X, wait a little longer and try again. It look about 6 minutes for my modem to assign my computer the external IP.
4)If steps 1-3 have worked successfully, then all is well because you are physically connected and working! All that's left is the MAC-address registration. If you open a web browser, an activation page should load. You'll have the option of activating as a customer or a technician. I chose technician because the customer activation had me downloading some sort of clunky software.
5)Now make sure you enter your account information correctly. Go through the steps. At some point, the page will perform a diagnostic test. If you're a geek like me, you can check some of the values like the SNR, TX, RX levels against this guide [...]
6)If you decide to connect your modem to a router (which I'd guess most people would do), make sure you reboot your modem after you reconnect your ethernet cable into your router's WAN port.
At any time, you can access the router diagnostic page by typing in 192.168.100.1 It's quite handy.
Hope this helps!
Customer Review: Lightning Speeds Are Now Available !!
Summary: 5 Stars
UPDATE: June 21, 2010
The Motorola SB6120 Cable Modem is VERY, VERY FAST when compared to the earlier DOCSIS 2.0 modems --
After completing over 1000 connection speed and line-quality tests, the SB6120 gave these results:
[...]-- Phoenix to San Diego
Average Download Speed = 87 Mbps (Maximum = 108 Mbps Download)
Average Upload Speed = 6.1 Mbps. (Maximum = 7.20 Mbps Upload)
Latency = 26-52 Ms.
Jitter = 0-3 Ms.
Packet Loss = 0.0%
Setup was very easy, and a quick call to Cox Cable (Phoenix) to activate the MAC addy had me rockin' in the free world in just a few minutes' time !!
AND, you DO NOT have to subscribe to the high-priced DOCSIS 3 package in order to get some terrific speeds -- I'm on a 20/2 package, but even the "local" speeds are super -- WITHOUT the increase in monthly costs !!
The SB6120 has paid for itself long ago, and now it's ALL GRAVY !!!
I highly recommend this modem -- AND the use of Category 6 (Shielded) Ethernet Cables to connect to your Computer and/or your Gigabit Router.
The SB6120 Modem feeding a D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit Router and the D-Link DWA-522 XtremeN (PCI for PC) Adapter (also available at Amazon.com) are capable of speeds and line-quality that the more common Category 5 cables cannot match.
Protect your wireless home network from interference caused by microwave ovens, motors, printers, large appliances, etc. --- Category 6 shielded Ethrnet cables are also available at Amazon.com -- at a true value price -- and WELL worth the money !!
One other thing:
Insure that your internet connection is fully optimized by the use of a top-quality Network Interface Card (NIC). I have gotten solid, stable connections and super-speeds since installing the Intel PRO/1000/GT -- it's a 10/100/1000 NIC that can handle ANY speeds that can flow off the internet.
Don't worry about installation -- It's so easy, a cave-man can do it !!
Customer Review: If DOCSIS 3 is available to you, BUY this product!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I know it might seem expensive and you can rent one from your cable modem for a lot cheaper, but do the math on how long it would take to rent the modem before it equals the cost of this modem. Then figure how long you are likely to have cable Internet. :) Seems like a good deal, doesn't it?
Anyway, this modem is GREAT! It will do a lot better than a DOCSIS 2 modem even if it is still on a DOCSIS 2 network. You will more than likely see a speed increase immediately. If you are on a DOCSIS 3 compliant network, the speed increase will be DRAMATIC!! I am on Comcast in Little Rock, AR. When doing speed tests on [...], with the powerboost they have included, I get speeds anywhere from 40 to 50MBps down. That is up from the slow as heck DOCSIS 1 modem I had before. Since the DOCSIS 3 compliant modems have channel bonding, it increases your throughput quite a bit. Going to[...] you can get a more accurate representation of your speed. With that site, the modem being so fast, and the powerboost figured in, it has to go to like the 25Mb file test before it can give me an accurate reading. It has to go that big to get past the powerboost portion and get a real test for the 7 seconds it needs.
All in all, this modem is outstanding. You call your cable company, give them the information they need to switch it over, wait a couple minutes for the database to sync up, plug in this modem, and you are DONE! I haven't had a single problem out of this modem since I got it. It is just fantastic. I am so happy with the speeds I am getting now. I am downloading things soooooo fast now. I am only paying for the 12Mbps service too. By the way, 12Mbps / 8 bits in a byte = 1.5MBps which is what you should see as your top speed on average if you have a bandwidth meter for your network connection. It can go up to 1.6 or 1.7, but on average it will stay topped out at 1.5.
I just can't stress enough how much I think people should upgrade whatever modem they have to this one. What you have is crap, I promise!!!