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Comcast Modem?

U

uRabbit

macrumors member
Original poster
May 13, 2011
90
0
Getting Comcast this week, after having moved to Washington. Getting the 20 mb/s speed.

Trying to figure out which modem to get. I don't want to lease one and end up paying $170 for it by the end of two years... I have looked at their list of "approved" modems, but they all seem super expensive. Have browsed Newegg.com, but not sure which one to get, really.

Anyone have any ideas? Would like it to be under $50 and have WiFi. WiFi is not as important as getting it under $50, as I have a Netgear WiFi router, but would just rather not use a router, is all.

Thank you!
 
Why do you not want to use a router? If you're trying to stay under $50 I'd suggest dropping the WiFi requirement.

Is price the only thing that matters to you? Does future proofing matter at all? Do you want DOCSIS 3.0? What level of service are you signing up for? You really need to clarify your needs/wants if you want recommendations.

If price is all that matters, Zoom has some decent and inexpensive cable modems. The Motorola SurfBoards, however, seem to be popular and have very good reviews. I have the SB6121 and would also highly recommend it but it is well over $50 (but easily recovered compared to renting a cable modem form Comcast).
 
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Well which ever modem you choose makes sure its a DOCSIS 3.0 modem. But honestly all 3.0 modems cost more than $50 last time I checked a few months back.
 
+1 for the Motorola Surfboard 6120, docsis 3.0. Use it in conjunction with an Airport Extreme on Comcast with their Performance Plus(20 MBPS) tier. I get an actual 35 down and 5 up.
 
Yeah you need a more expensive one because that speed tier is Docsis 3 spec. The older generation (up to 10 I think) can be had for much cheaper.
 
blevins321 said:
Yeah you need a more expensive one because that speed tier is Docsis 3 spec. The older generation (up to 10 I think) can be had for much cheaper.
Click to expand...

So the $7 lease isn't THAT bad of a deal then, I suppose. Still, though, $170 for DOCSIS 3.0 is about 2x as much as I could pay up-front.
 
You would still be saving money in the long run just buying your own modem.

Also after comcasts 6 month "special price" ends, give them a call and tell them you'll switch to a competitor service because it's cheaper and they'll lower your bill. I personally got them to take $15 off a month I'm sure others have haggled them lower.

Actually when you do call their 800 number they have a specific number if your unhappy with their service, just press that number(3 I think) and tell them what I said above so you basically keep a lower internet bill.


Best of luck!
 
uRabbit said:
Getting Comcast this week, after having moved to Washington. Getting the 20 mb/s speed.

Trying to figure out which modem to get. I don't want to lease one and end up paying $170 for it by the end of two years... I have looked at their list of "approved" modems, but they all seem super expensive. Have browsed Newegg.com, but not sure which one to get, really.

Anyone have any ideas? Would like it to be under $50 and have WiFi. WiFi is not as important as getting it under $50, as I have a Netgear WiFi router, but would just rather not use a router, is all.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

You should check out a dlink router(i dont know the model or anything i bought it at home depot.) I picked mine up for under fifty bucks i as well have comcast internet and my dlink router works great ive done speed test and im getting 23mb/s and the range on it is pretty far.
 
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I highly recommend the Motorola SB6120. I'm on the 15Mbps plan but get 20Mbps consistently. When the Comcast tech was setting it up, he claimed the faster speed was because it's a DOCSIS 3.0 modem. I don't know how true that is, but I've had no issues with the modem at all in the few months I've owned it. It's only $76 on Amazon, so it'll pay for itself in less than a year.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Being in the line of work that I am (apartment maintenance in a "luxury living" building w/ 440 units), you tend to come across things that people leave behind when they move out. Today, one of those items happened to include an ubee DOCSIS 3.0 modem U10C035 (and a Comcast DVR).

So... Looks like my luck has increased a little. ;)
 
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