If you're going to get your own, jump up to the "Motorola SURFboard SB6120 Cable Modem".
http://mydeviceinfo.comcast.net/
http://www.google.com/products/catal...wBQ#scoring=tp
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If you're going to get your own, jump up to the "Motorola SURFboard SB6120 Cable Modem".
http://mydeviceinfo.comcast.net/
http://www.google.com/products/catal...wBQ#scoring=tp
I've been given a tentative 'go-ahead' on a new modem, so I've been looking at the Motorola SB6120, as suggested. It seems like a good choice.
I've also seen the SB6121. According to specs they will both run on under my W2K OS. As nearly as I can see the SB6121 is a newer, maybe slightly upgraded, SB6120. True? Both are apparently acceptable to Comcast.
While both are on the 'acceptable' list, I've read postings about each sometimes not working with Comcast. Is this a frequent and ongoing problem?
Is one of these modems going to keep me happier, longer, than the other? Keep in mind that I run an older, slower, system, but at the same time want to keep open the option of upgrading the entire system.
Either would do you nicely and if Comcast ups your speed then the Channel bonding of up to 4 downstream and 4 upstream channels will take effect. Remember, do not get the modem near a heater. Learned the hard way. HEAT is enemy of modems. Bet most of the folks complaining the modem was trash, dropped them or let them get overheated.
If the SB6121 is on Comcast's Approved List for your future speed needs, by all means, go ahead and get it.
This is going slowly, but I hope in the right direction.
I bought a new modem, an SB6121. When I looked at it in the store I saw that the ethernet cable was missing. The clerk was rather surprised, but pulled one off the shelf. When I finally set up the new modem, I found that the power cable which plugs into the back of the modem would not fit. It was too large. Back to the store to exchange.
They transferred one from one of their other stores in Sunnyvale. I set it up this morning and called Comcast with the new MAC address. I gave them all the information, and they said, "Oh, that MAC address is already registered to somebody in Sunnyvale. You'll have to go back to the store and have them deal with that."
So, I took out the SB6121 and reinstalled the old rental modem. Then we took our daughter out to lunch. Later on I tried to go online, and could not.
Another call to Comcast. They re-entered the MAC address for the old modem after taking the router out of the system. It worked again. Then he looked up the MAC address for the SB6121, and could find no indication that it had been previously registered. So, he re-entered the MAC address for the SB6121, and it works now, most of the time. It's been through one period when it would not connect online.
I've tried to put the router back into the system, but have had no luck thus far. Whenever I try to add the router the system refuses to go online. I'm running right now without the router.
And it seems to be running extremely slowly. I've run two successful tests on Speedtest.net. That gave a ping=35ms, a d/l of 0.07, and an u/l of 0.35 for the first, and a ping of 35, d/l of 0.08, and an u/l of 0.95 for the second.
Something just isn't right. Any thoughts?
You're right, something's wrong. I'd take it back and demand a brand spanking new one. Not one that one or more people have returned because they also couldn't get it to work.
I just spoke with the Comcast tech again. That's always an interesting experience.
He said that he can see the modem from his end, and that it's set up correctly, registered, and all that. He pinged my modem, and said that there is "a problem every 3 or 4 lines." He translated that to say that I was receiving a poor signal, which in turn was causing the slow speed.
Speed from speedtest.comcast.net is: ping=31, d/l=0.21, u/l=1.59.
Does the "poor signal" explanation make sense?
Yes.
Next step would be to get Comcast out to repair the poor signal.
I really don't understand what's happening here. Tonight I put the system back into it's original configuration. My wife suddenly realized that she could not watch a NetFlix movie because the Comcast phone tech had me take the router out of the system. The new modem, the SB6121, would not seem to work with the router. So I was running with the SB6121 and no router. However, the Comcast tech pointed out that I was using a router IP address. Would that cause the new modem to run so slowly? The router was totally out of the system.
Anyway, I pulled the SB6121 modem out of the system, and put the Comcast rent-a-modem back in, wired through the router. My wife got her NetFlix back, and my system speed jumped up--ping=35, d/l=2.16, u/l=2.88.
The Comcast outside tech is scheduled to arrive tomorrow between 7:30 and 8:30am to test for poor signal up to the house. Once it goes under the house it would have to be a bad splitter or cable. I'll deal with that. Let's just hope they don't send "Larry the Cable Guy."
Could the slowdown on the new modem be that IP mixup? How would I change the IP? I rebooted numerous times with the new modem in the system, without the router, that it can't be that simple. There must be something more to changing the IP.
Still sounds like there may be an issue with the 'new' modem.
Hopefully the Comcast tech will be able to help you locate, and resolve the problem.
Sunday morning, and the tech has come and gone. He seemed very good, very professional, and very willing to explain things.
He replaced all connections inside the box outside, the splitter and the cable ends. He found noise on a second line into the house, very seldom used, and disconnected that. The speed from the pole was good, in the high 20s. He ran a temporary cable from the box outside directly to my modem to eliminate the degradation on that part of the line. I'll re-route that temp cable so that I retain it as a direct run to the modem.
When all was said and done, and the dust all settled, the speed at the computer (using the Comcast rent-a-modem) was only very slightly better that before. I'll give it a day to settle in, then try the Motorola modem again.
When you get to it, when the router is powered up, Power cycle the modem then check for internet service, if none, the power cycle the router also.
Anyway what works for me.
I spent way too much time with that modem over the weekend. I progressed to first name basis with the Comcast techs. One was here at the house Sunday morning at 7:45 and checked/approved the signal strength. Spent several hours in the afternoon with a phone tech. My system was hitting a download speed in the area of 0.5mbps, with the sb6121 modem. We moved the ethernet cable to my daughter's laptop and hit in the mid 20's. The modem is okay, and the cable is okay.
The final answer, we're thinking, is that the modem is simply overpowering my old computer. It just cannot keep up with the data flow speed, and is therefore all but shutting down.
I'll be returning the modem today. The stated reason will be "incompatible with my computer." Maybe I'll try a docsis 2 model. Maybe.
How old is you nic?
Found then to be a problem several times and if it is a old 10 MB one, that can cause all kinds of fits.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Train
To be quite honest, I don't really know how old the NIC is. I'd guess that it's at least 6-7 years old. On top of that, I don't know now who made it. And I didn't realize that they came with various MB ratings.
Short of opening the case, how can I find these answers?
****************
As soon as I typed that I had a flash of inspiration. I looked at the visible plate on the rear of the tower. It's a D-Link. Then I found the box (saved all this time). It's a D-Link DFE-530TX+. The box claims "10-100 Auto-negotiation with rates up to 200Mbps"
Should that have been sufficient?