Motorola Surfboard SB5101 Cable Modem
by Motorola
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List Price: Our Price: $46.95 You Save: $23.04 (33%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $22.50 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Motorola Surfboard SB5101 Cable Modem
Customer Review: It Just Flat Out Works
Summary: 5 Stars
This modem replaced an 8 year old failing Motorola Surfboard. The Comcast technician said, nice dinosaur, regarding the old beige beast. Since I did not rent that dinosaur, it was free many years ago after rebate, I decided to buy my own to replace the dinosaur.
What can be said about a black box that just works as advertised? It works.
Well there's a bit more to it than just it works. I'm using this on Comcast cable. My old modem was delivering 2-3Mbps near the end of its life. This one consistently delivers what I pay for, 15Mbps. Unless your modem is broken or near failing, this modem should not deliver some magic speed increase.
Remember that you can't just unplug your rented modem and install one you purchase. You have to decommission the old modem and commission the new one. This can be done over the phone, but it may take a good 15 to 30 minutes on the phone with Comcast tech support (not the modem's problem, Comcast's problem). They require the infinitely long serial number and MAC address from your new modem. Comcast does this for free, but it can be a long process on the phone. In fact my phone tech person had no idea what he was doing and bumbled the job several times. And then I did something stupid on my end to complicate matters more.
My strongest advice when you call to commission the new modem, leave your old one plugged in, don't have a router or VOIP (Vonnage / Ooma or the like) device plugged in, connect your computer directly to the modem, and follow the technician's instructions to the letter. My mistake, I thought I knew more than the technician did.
If this new black beauty lasts half the lifetime of my dinosaur, I'll be really happy with money well spent.
Customer Review: Very good cable modem
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been a Comcast high-speed Internet customer for about 5 years. The modem Comcast provided as part of a package deal was a Motorola Surfboard 4100. About 4 months ago, I noticed that I was getting barely more than 1/2 the speed I was paying for, which was 6Mbps. I complained to tech support. They sent a technician out and within 3 sec. after walking into my office, he said, "Oh...I know exactly what the problem is; you have an 'end-of-life' modem. You need to upgrade to a 2.1 DOCSIS modem, and I would recommend a Motorola Surfboard as one of the best." So I got on my favorite shopping site, Amazon, and bought one. Not only did it work perfectly from day one, my average download speed on Speakeasy.net is ~22Mbps -- almost 6 1/2 times what I was getting with the old Surfboard -- and the upload speed increased from ~364Kbps to ~1.6Mbps.
Would other brands do as well? Probably, but I stuck with Motorola because the last one was 100% reliable; never had a problem. The only reason it was not delivering the speed is because Comcast's system had changed and the old modem's software could not keep up with it. I also like the fact that Motorola moved the standby button to the top where it is more easily accessible. I have a new Vista computer and have to put the modem on Standby after putting the computer to sleep, because (not sure why) Internet activity tends to wake it back up.
I found it disappointing that Comcast apparently does not alert its customers when their modems are obsolete. If you're having a similar problem, check with your ISP. If you need to upgrade your modem, I highly recommend this one.
Customer Review: Great product!
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the SB5101 to replace the current cable/wireless all in one modem the cable company gave me (I also purchased an Apple Time Capsule as my router). I was setting up to a wireless router, and it was incredibly easy to do. The "Geek Squad" had me so scared that I wouldn't be able to set up my own home network (I am really good with computers, but they said, even so, I would "mess it up"). But when they estimated it would cost about $300 for them to come out and set it up for me, I laughed and said I would take my chances on my own.
It's a fast connection and communicates flawlessly with my router. I have Charter as my cable provider, and I called them and added the Ethernet MAC id for my modem, and within minutes, I had high speed internet.
The design is really sleek and compact, it's also great that it has a power off/disconnect button on top to allow you to reset the modem without going through the hassle of unplugging everything.
A big reason I wanted to change my set up from the original one the cable company started me with is because having a separate wireless router allows for a MUCH better wireless signal. In addition, I am also now going to save $9.99 a month on my cable bill because I won't be paying for the leased equipment - so basically, this modem will pay for itself in 6 months!!
I really recommend this modem for anyone looking to do a separate modem router home networking system, or for anyone looking to get a great deal on a modem (seriously, check your bill, this WILL pay for itself!).
Enjoy it!!!
Customer Review: much better than a rental
Summary: 5 Stars
After years of renting a box from the cable company, I finally bought one. I got it, opened it up, plugged it in, called Cox tech support to give them the serial number and MAC number and was up and running in 5 minutes. I don't know that I can claim an increase in speed over the Toshiba PCX2200 that I rented from Cox, but the performance is at least as good. Honestly, I never had any complaints about the performance of the prior modem, I have always had a fast connection to the internet. The real benefit is that I now own one for the same price as 4 months rental of the other one.
I am also using a D-Link DI-624 wireless router. Some previous reviewers complained that this modem either did not work with D-Link routers or needed special cables. The only thing I did was re-boot the router after the modem was activated and it worked great. At first I used the same ethernet cable that I had been using with the old modem, but, when I realized I had to return the cable with the modem to Cox, I replaced it with the cable that came with this modem (both appear to be standard ethernet cables). Because I pressed the standby switch before disconnecting the cable, I didn't even have to re-boot anything after replacing the cable. I have to wonder if those reviewers had their cables connected properly?
One note: I am using an ethernet connection to a wireless router and not USB, which is an option if connecting the modem directly to your computer. I cannot comment on how this modem works with a USB connection.
I highly recommend this unit.
Customer Review: Plug it in, and forget it!
Summary: 5 Stars
As an FYI, Amazon has this product listed 3 different ways as "Motorola Surfboard Broadband Cable Modem SB-5101" and as "Motorola Surfboard SB5101 Cable Modem" and as "SURFboard Cable Modem". All are listed at 3 different prices, too!
I did a little bit of homework, and the Motorola seemed to have good reviews. This product is supposed to be the same in function as the SB5120 except that the SB5101 uses a slightly different chip set.
I chose to buy a cable modem so that I could replace the rental unit from the cable company. Make sure your cable company supports this cable modem before buying!
For my setup, I have my cable service from the evil Comcast, my cable modem, and an older Linksys wireless router. The day my Motorola cable modem arrived, I took it out of the box, glanced at the Quick setup guide, and plugged it in. I called Comcast, navigated through their Byzantine automated phone menu system, and read off the MAC ID to the tech services person. He did some stuff on his end to first recognize the new cable modem. Then he had to do some other configuration on his end because of the router. Once that was done, viola! We've been using the cable modem for the past week or so without incident.
To me this is the best kind of electronics product. It takes ~30 sec to hook it up, and once it's done, you can forget about it. It took longer to open the package (and much longer on the call with Comcast) than it took to hook it up.