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Need a new cable modem

9 years ago

I need to replace my Comcast all in one cable gateway because I am having problems with it yet again. I thought about going out and buying the Motorola SB6141 cable modem. My question is should I buy the Motorola modem now, or wait till the DOCSIS 3.1 standard becomes available? To be honest wile I know what DOCSIS stands for I really don't know what it all means. What do you think of the Motorola SB6141?

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Comments (3)

Elmer J Fudd
9 years ago
All in one = modem and router in same box

SB6141 is modem only. I have its predecessor (6121) and it's been fine for the past few years. (a modem is like brakes on your car, they either work and all's well or they don't and you have a problem). I think Motorola makes decent modems. If you get that, you'll need a router too. I prefer separate units, but either separate or an all in one will both get you where you want to be. The all in one's I've worked with have been only mediocre at both tasks, I try to get better function with better separate components.

DOCSIS is simply the standard used for over the cable communications. Think of it as a language, like Spanish, all the connections need to speak the same or compatible languages. As an average user, you will NEVER detect a difference in a such a small number version difference, no need to wait. DOCSIS 3.0 is reasonably current, capable, and works fine to speeds that are in excess of most people's connections.
aellis722
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the reply, I knew all that about the Motorola cable modem being only a cable modem, that is fine with me. I have a router that I can still use. Thanks for explaining the DOCSIS standard to me. I was thinking the same about just going with 3.0 now and not waiting for 3.1, but I wanted other oppressions. You are right about the all in one gateways they all suck from what I have seen. The one I have now keeps dropping signal, or is just very inconsistent in general. Thats why I was looking to buy a cable modem, so I can tell Comcast where they can stick it.
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aellis722
Original Author
9 years ago
Went out and bought the Motorola SB6141 cable modem and having problems hooking it up. I hooked it up then called Comcast to activate it and not able to connect to the internet. Everything looks good on there end, or so they say but no luck getting it connected. What could be the problem? Just for the record I am running mac. I go to system preference click on network and it says several thinks depending on the time I look at it first message I got says that I don't have anything connected to to the ethernet port, second thing said something like while there was a ip address it was unable to connect and the latest i saw was it only had a message telling me that ethernet has a self assigned IP address and will not be able to connect Does anyone else have any suggestions on what I should do? Comcast is telling me its not there end and it has to be my computer, but when I hook the rented modem back up everything works fine.

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