Rate Your Cablemodem – Good Or Bad?

DPC2100 I’ll note up front that if you have a DSL modem and not a cablemodem, that’s fine – go ahead and rate it by posting a comment below.

I’ve gone through several cablemodems and one DSL modem over the years. The majority of them were provided by the ISP directly, and in a few instances I had to use what the ISP provided because they would not support equipment not supplied by them (which I think is b.s., but that would be a whole other article).

My personal experience with broadband modems is as follows:

Westell: If I remember correctly, I think the model I had was a 6100, and I’d have to rate this one as ‘bad’. This was the sole DSL modem I ever owned and was also the smallest. While it worked fine most of the time, when it didn’t the lights basically told you nothing, or at least mine didn’t. Sure, it had send/receive/connect lights on it, but they were worthless because of ‘timed’ blinks and not real-time pulsing blinks. In other words, tough to troubleshoot if the connection got flaky.

Motorola SURFboard: This one I also rate as ‘bad’ because to date it’s the only brand I’ve ever used where the modem itself outright failed. Cablemodems for the most part are not supposed to wear out ordinarily, but SURFboards do; in the past I went through two of them, both SB5100 models. The SURFboard basically kicks the bucket with no warning, however I assume by now with the 61xx and 65xx models that they have a better life span.

Scientific Atlanta: This one I rate as ‘good’. I’ve owned multiple models from SA and have never had one fail. It is the only I’ve ever used that’s a true set-it-and-forget-it. In addition, the activity lights are pulsing-blink style that let you truly know what’s going on with send/receive traffic at a glance. The current model I have is the DPC2100R2 (pictured above), which is almost as small as the Westell was, but works like it’s supposed to without complaint.

What broadband modems have you used? Which worked and which didn’t?

Post a comment and tell us all about it. Make sure to list make, model and whether it was supplied by your ISP or if you bought it outright.

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Chuck
Right now I have this huge DSL modem provided by AT&T as part of my subscription. I can’t complain too much though because it has secure wireless included for free. I used to use a Scientific America cable modem myself, and still have it saved in case I ever go back to a place that uses cable modems. I suppose then I’d have to invest in my own wireless router but those have gotten so cheap now that isn’t a big deal anymore.
Chuck
Er, meant to say Scientific Atlanta, not America, sorry.
Kidd
Linksys Modem (pre-cisco), paired with a WRT54G router. I’ll rate them together as top notch, no problems with either in 6 years.
T2000kw
No problem with the one surfboard modem I have. It was my own (SB5100) and was replaced by the cable company when I added phone service (not because it failed). The new one doubles as a cable modem and a phone termination device to provide landline telephone service. It’s not called a surfboard modem, but it is essentially 1/2 surfboard, half phone device. I kept the surfboard in case I ever need it for any reason. (It was a thrift store find for a few dollars and worked fine out of the box, apparently never used.) The one I own was used for several months before adding phone service and the modem change. The dual-device modem has worked here for a couple of years now and hasn’t quit yet. I don’t have absolute confidence in Motorola products (based on what I’ve seen with their mobile phones), but they do make some good electronics.
Anonymous
I’ve had two motorola SBG 900 all in one router / cable modems fail on me within two years, so when I wanted phone service through my cable provider, I let them give me a motorola surfboard 5222 cable / phone modem which was installed on one IP address, but due to technical difficulties in getting my wireless router to function with it, they provided me with another IP address to run a zoom 5350 docsis 3 modem / router as well. So far, no complaints with either.