cable modem? what kind and where?

[mechadon]

If I was going to buy a cable modem rather than rent through my provider, what company makes a good, fairly priced external one? And are there any good online retailers selling them? I could not find on Egghead and buy.com

Thanks

[god_father7]

dont think theyr on sale yet - but r supposed to be later on this year - to early next year...

[chacmool]

I've seen numerious sites for the purchase of cable modems...$300-$400

However, without the software from the cable provider, they may not work.

I have DSL, so I'm not sure on the sofware thing. I am sure that you can buy them.

[god_father7]

i have cable internet but have never installed any internet software.

ive deleted windows twice now due to errors and installed successfully, having the internet working all the time - without installing any software.

i think as long as the signal is there, and u have the modem, u can pick up the internet. But i think the cable company sets u an account on ther server or something like that

if im wrong, dont blame me

[Halo3]

Cable modems are designed to download their configuration files once they achieve block-synch. (Block-synch is the term used for a modem that has successfully discovered its upstream and downstream paths.)

Unfortunately, the vast majority of cable modem providors will NOT provision (create and propagate the necessary account information) a third-party cable modem. Instead, they insist that their subscribers use their cable modems--as they have been tested with the network. This provisioning information is needed to allow several things to occur: routing, DHCP/IP information, TFTP of configuration files, DNS, etc.

Another problem exists in the difference between the type of cable modem you purchase and what your cable network will support. There is a vast number of proprietary cable modems, and a relatively newer line of DOCSIS-compliant cable modems. Without knowing more about your cable network, it is hard to say which kind of modem you could/should purchase.

------------------
Semper Fi,
L.G. Huber III, MCSE/MCP+I/A+/N+

[This message has been edited by Halo3 (edited 07-26-2000).]

[MARKBLACK]

Hi mechadon,
cable modems are fairly new on the market, with connection speeds being 500k against the 56k modems I can see why you would be considering but at present I havn't seen any for sale yet.

Markblack
.....them who wait get a better deal.....

[Xayd]

My advice would be to take what the cable co. gives ya. Speed with cable/DSL is gonna depend more on network capacity and traffic than anything else. It's not as "modem dependent" as 56k.

Not worth the 300 or 400 bucks that you'll spend on a cable modem, just rent it.

Xayd

[robo555]

I would recommand that you rent your modem. Firstly, if your modem breaks, your ISP will replace another one for ya, and if your ISP upgrades it's service, you would get another modem as well. But if you buy your own one, and it breaks, they're not gonna do anything about it.