Educate me on cable modems

[Wind_Danzer]

Hey all...

I'll be moving into my own place in a couple of weeks and I plan to sign up for the Cox cable service. Now the price for a modem from them is 70 bucks but I know one of their tech guys and he states that I will be better off getting one from outside of Cox.

So what brand do you have and how do you like it. I want to keep it in the 70 to 80 dollar range but don't know where to start when trying to find one that will be good for me.

Thanks a lot!!

[Paradiddle]

They are all just about the same - like phones. I went to Fry's and saved maybe $10 from what Cox was selling - same brand.

They work - just get one. If you don't have time have Cox bring it out.

Jeff

[PondScum]

Agreed. I went the same route though i didn't feel like taking the extra 20 minute drive to Fry's so i got mine at BestBuy. I got the Motorola SB5100. They had about 3 different ones to choose from IIRC the Toshiba was the most expensive of them.

When i asked the salesman which was best of the 3 he said they are all the same, buy the cheapest one and save the $$$.

Think i ended up with the middle one as the cheapest one was out of stock. Cost me around $70 after some sort of rebate that i'll probably never see.

[timysahara99]

motorola sb5100 from bestbuy,

[JeepGal]

Im just curious what the difference is on all of these.

Adlephia gave me mine free. Is it a POS? I honestly didnt know there were significant differences in them. I got in on a sweet deal from them. 15 months at $25 a month, and free setup kit/self installation.

In my opinion, if theres no difference, save the time and energy, and let cox bring it out for you. If youre anything like me, you step foot into one of those stores, and you walk out whit much more then what you went in for.

Tam

[Jerry Bransford]

Tam, as Jeff said, there is really not much difference between cable modems. But just letting Cox bring one out of theirs to you is extremely expensive. They either charge $10 per month rental or want you to pay over $300 (when I last checked a few years ago) to buy their modem. Your 15 months at $25 ($375!) confirms Cox's modems are still unreasonably expensive to buy, especially since they have no real benefit over a standard cable modem you can buy locally.

But compatible modems that are just as good and fast as Cox's modem are only $70 or so from stores like Fry's. So there's a huge difference in cost between modems you can buy locally and Cox's.

[azdesertrhino]

I've had my Toshiba PCX2200 for approx. 1 year. Have had no problems. I'm on Cox. With rebate got the cable modem free at Best Buy!!

[JeepGal]

Originally posted by Jerry Bransford
...Your 15 months at $25 ($375!) confirms Cox's modems are still unreasonably expensive to buy...

ummm...maybe I wasnt clear...thats how much my cable service is a month. The modem was free

Tam

[Jerry Bransford]

Originally posted by JeepGal
ummm...maybe I wasnt clear...thats how much my cable service is a month. The modem was free

... for 15 months that is.

[Stu Olson]

Originally posted by Wind_Danzer
I'll be moving into my own place in a couple of weeks and I plan to sign up for the Cox cable service. Now the price for a modem from them is 70 bucks but I know one of their tech guys and he states that I will be better off getting one from outside of Cox.

Jamie, since you can get a Cox supplied modem for just $70, I would do it.

[JeepGal]

Originally posted by Jerry Bransford
... for 15 months that is.

hehehehe...youre killing me! NO, its FREE...the price for my service goes up after 15 mnths. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I think I paid a $1 for it:P

LOL

Tam

[PondScum]

Well i just moved a few weeks ago so i had to have COX come out and re-install my digital cable and my cablemodem.

When i called COX they did not even offer a modem for sale. You could rent one from them or buy your own those were the only 2 options.

I went ahead and got my own and had COX install everything. As mentioned already it's just not worth the $10 a month COX charges to rent when you can buy one for $70. COX customer service even recommended i go out and buy my own prior to them coming out to install my service.

As far as getting one for free from a company....yeah i'm sure there are companies offering them for free since they are so cheap now. Like anything else they'll get the money for it out of you one way or another.

The only thing i would recommend is checking the specs on the free modem you got and bounce those against what's for sale in the stores. If the specs are the same then keep what you have and call it good, if it appears your free modem is inferior to the $70 store ones then i'd spend the money and get a better one. If you don't know the specs on your current modem just call your ISP and ask them to give you them.

[cbassett]

On top of providing a bridging interface between your computer(s) and your provider's network, the cable modem is also performing IP filtering, being SNMP managed, modulating/demodulating your data, and combating a multitude of RF ingressors (noise) that would otherwise render your Internet connection unusable. All cable modems certainly are not the same. That's like saying a phone is a phone.
Alot of retailers are selling pure crap cable modems, including DOCSIS 1.0 only modems that will be perfectly worthless on all but the laziest cable system's plant inside of this year.

Only buy a cable modem that is at DOCSIS 1.1 / 2.0 capable. A good sum of service providers are running DOCSIS 1.0 right now. However, more and more are moving to 1.1 or 2.0 presently or in the near future.

The only modem manufacturers I would recommend buying would be Terayon, Motorola, or Toshiba.

[PondScum]

Originally posted by cbassett
On top of providing a bridging interface between your computer(s) and your provider's network, the cable modem is also performing IP filtering, being SNMP managed, modulating/demodulating your data, and combating a multitude of RF ingressors (noise) that would otherwise render your Internet connection unusable. All cable modems certainly are not the same. That's like saying a phone is a phone.
Alot of retailers are selling pure crap cable modems, including DOCSIS 1.0 only modems that will be perfectly worthless on all but the laziest cable system's plant inside of this year.

Only buy a cable modem that is at DOCSIS 1.1 / 2.0 capable. A good sum of service providers are running DOCSIS 1.0 right now. However, more and more are moving to 1.1 or 2.0 presently or in the near future.

The only modem manufacturers I would recommend buying would be Terayon, Motorola, or Toshiba.

Umm yeah what he said!

[cbassett]

Originally posted by PondScum
Umm yeah what he said!

Bottom line:
-all modems are not created equal.
-buy only DOCSIS 1.1/2.0 capable modems.
-buy only Terayon, Motorola, Toshiba modems.