[DEAD]Motorola SURFboard 6121 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem: $54.99 w/google wallet checkout

[EarthwormJim]

HOLY crap that Charter thing, I have Charter humm if I need a new modem and can't use my own what model do they provide?

You're not a new customer, so you're fine as long as you don't change your packages.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

So what's so special about that SB6121 modem Charter is making me pay monthly for compared to the one on sale? What makes it more "powerful," "reliable" and "secure?"

It means they can charge whatever they want and you just have to deal with it. It is secure and reliable income for them.

 

[PokerGuy]

Interesting.... I never even knew that TWC was charging me for the modem, but it looks like they're charging me $3.95 per month. At that rate, it would take about 18 months to pay for itself, probably not worth the investment.

Now if indeed you can get a speed bump from going with this modem instead of the crappy one they provide, then it is definitely worth it. What are the chances?

 

[Pariah]

Interesting.... I never even knew that TWC was charging me for the modem, but it looks like they're charging me $3.95 per month. At that rate, it would take about 18 months to pay for itself, probably not worth the investment.

$55 / $3.95 = about 14 months

They added the fee in a few months ago. I got a letter in the mail telling me the fee was being added. Any new customers now are charged $5/month.

Now if indeed you can get a speed bump from going with this modem instead of the crappy one they provide, then it is definitely worth it. What are the chances?

Somewhere around 0%. They'd get more customers if they advertised they were doing it. So why would they keep it a secret if it were true? TWC's internet tiers are pretty much universal throughout the US. Only one of the plans Anubis listed is one of those. So either Anubis lives in one of the "minor regional variations" areas, or he doesn't know what he is talking about.

 

[CurrentlyPissed]

So what's so special about that SB6121 modem Charter is making me pay monthly for compared to the one on sale? What makes it more "powerful," "reliable" and "secure?"

Charter did the switch long ago. There are plenty of valid reasons to force a standard modem so they can offer correct speeds. This is the modem they provide for you.

Either way, you don't pay monthly for the modem from charter since they did this. At least, I do not.

 

[TaranScorp]

I'm paying $10 lease per month with the Dish network. Should I get this Modem?

 

[Fox5]

Interesting.... I never even knew that TWC was charging me for the modem, but it looks like they're charging me $3.95 per month. At that rate, it would take about 18 months to pay for itself, probably not worth the investment.

Now if indeed you can get a speed bump from going with this modem instead of the crappy one they provide, then it is definitely worth it. What are the chances?

Probably not worth the investment? Do you plan to no longer be using their service in 2 years?

I'm paying $10 lease per month with the Dish network. Should I get this Modem?

Only if dish is providing you with cable Internet. If they're DSL or Sattelite, then no go.

 

[VirtualLarry]

We had their 30/5 speed and tried 3 different modems that TW supplied - with every one we would lose the signal about 5 times and hour. Finally had to step back down to the 15/2 speed with the earlier modem. Never get disconnections with that. They redid all the wiring from the pole all thru the house to the modem and couldn't solve it. Tempted to get one of these and try again as that was about a year ago, but don't know if it will be any better.

That's one of the drawbacks of DOCSIS 3.0 too (channel bonding). Reason being, that, if any one of the bonded channels goes out of sync, I read it has to retrain all of the channels with the head-end. So just one out of sync == retrain of all channels. Which, due to multiple channels and DOCSIS 3.0, takes longer than DOCSIS 2.0 I think too.

But when it's running fine, it runs faster.

Edit: Channel bonding is like a RAID-0 array of cablemodems. That's why it has to retrain if one goes out - just like losing the entire RAID-0 array when one drive goes out.

 

[kmmatney]

I don't use it as a router, all I have plugged into the modem is a TV and an Asus N56U which I use as a router. Both the modem and the router have wireless networks active. Not necessary, but never been a problem so I never bothered to turn the modem one off. I've never had a problem with dropped connections with either. I'm not sure what you mean by resetting connections. I've not heard that term used.

If you start doping anything complex network-wise, then having both routers on (Double NAT) will be a problem. It certainly screwed up my Windows Home Server and FTP site, and things would only work if I put the All-in-one router in bridged mode. You can Google "Double NAT" to see the issues having 2 routers will give you. If you aren't doing anything too complex on the network, then it's no big deal.

 

[JBT]

Interesting.... I never even knew that TWC was charging me for the modem, but it looks like they're charging me $3.95 per month. At that rate, it would take about 18 months to pay for itself, probably not worth the investment.

Now if indeed you can get a speed bump from going with this modem instead of the crappy one they provide, then it is definitely worth it. What are the chances?

If you are using a old DOCSIS 2.0 modem you WOULD likely see some speed improvements, by purchasing this deal. If you are using an DOCSIS 3.0 modem already. No you probably wouldn't see anything.

A benefit of renting a modem is that fact if it breaks the ISP will give you a new one.

 

[PokerGuy]

I had a newegg gift card laying around so I went ahead and bit, I ordered one of these. Thanks for the deal OP!

 

[Acanthus]

I have the SB6121 and the Wifi randomly goes down every time you add more than a couple of devices to it. Seemingly every 12-48 hours, requiring either a wifi reset or a full modem reboot... it is so obnoxious that i disabled routing on the device and hooked it up to my Netgear 802.11n+ router to stop the random outages.

 

[Vinwiesel]

That's one of the drawbacks of DOCSIS 3.0 too (channel bonding). Reason being, that, if any one of the bonded channels goes out of sync, I read it has to retrain all of the channels with the head-end. So just one out of sync == retrain of all channels. Which, due to multiple channels and DOCSIS 3.0, takes longer than DOCSIS 2.0 I think too.

But when it's running fine, it runs faster.

Edit: Channel bonding is like a RAID-0 array of cablemodems. That's why it has to retrain if one goes out - just like losing the entire RAID-0 array when one drive goes out.

Good description. I had the older 6120 modem which worked great, until Comcast started supporting 4channel bonding in my area. Suddenly, I was getting dropped every 10 minutes. Techs were out several times, but nothing really helped. CC insisted that the 6120 was the problem, so I replaced it with a 6121 which was listed as fully supported , but I was still getting dropped hourly.

Finally, the HOA decided it didn't like the appearance of my cable routing, and a technician reattached the cable to the outside of the building slightly differently, and I had 3 months uptime without a drop. I believe the only thing that changed is the tech cut the screw plug off the end of the cable in order to move it, and attached a new one afterward.

The moral of the story is that a single channel will tolerate a marginal connection, but 4/8 channel bonding has to be flawless. The 6120 now works perfectly as well. Every time I have a problem the technician has blamed the modem, but in 15 years it has never once actually been defective.

I would only get the 6141 if you plan to have a connection higher than 150mb/s, because the more channels you have, the more opportunity there is to get dropped. In my area, 50mb is the top speed, and the 6121 works great.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I have the SB6121 and the Wifi randomly goes down every time you add more than a couple of devices to it. Seemingly every 12-48 hours, requiring either a wifi reset or a full modem reboot... it is so obnoxious that i disabled routing on the device and hooked it up to my Netgear 802.11n+ router to stop the random outages.

The 6121 is only a modem, no wifi. AFAIK.

 

[Acanthus]

The 6121 is only a modem, no wifi. AFAIK.

Ahh you are correct. This looks identical to mine (same housing) but doesn't have the routing and wifi capabilities.

The model i have works fine as a modem and nothing else

 

[PreOmegaZero]

Got an e-mail from TWC that they are now charging $5.99 month for the Cable Modem.
Guess I am going from renter to owner now...

 

[PokerGuy]

Is this thing a router/modem combination, or just a modem? I already have a couple of nice routers, so I want just the modem function. Am I correct in assuming that's what the SB6121 does?

 

[Imported]

The nice thing about this modem is that it is officially supported by all the carriers. Comcast gives the 6121 3-star certification, while the 6141 only has one star. I have the 6141 which will work on Comcast, but it took a long amount of time on the phone to get it working. I was also supposed to get free 3mo trial of "Blast Extreme" service from Comcast, but they don't have the correct configuration to make it work with my 6141, although it works on my friends 6121. The 6141 might be better for the future if the speeds get faster but for now the 6121 is OK.

Interesting. I had no issues with my 6141 on Comcast (now sold due to switching to u-verse at a new apt). I plugged it in, it went to the website and I followed the steps there. Didn't have to call or anything.

 

[jackstar7]

It's a modem-only and it is working well for me.

Not sure how, but I'm seeing double my download speed for my uploads now. 13/25 with this modem on a 10/1 TWC plan.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

A few things on this thread:
1) TWC is increasing their fees from $3.95/mo to $5.99/mo (link: http://arstechnica.com/business/201...re-cash-from-customers-by-raising-modem-fees/). At that rate it will pay for itself in 10 months (55/5.99= 9.182 months).
2) If you need a router Newegg currently has an offer that saves $29.99 off the combo with the Asus RT-N66U router (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833320091). That potentially brings the offer down to $25 for the modem.

I doubt all of this stacks, but if somebody cares to check it out there is all the information on it

 

[PokerGuy]

Mine should be arriving today. What's the best way to determine UL/DL speed, is it still speedreport or dsl report or something like that?

 

[jackstar7]

Mine should be arriving today. What's the best way to determine UL/DL speed, is it still speedreport or dsl report or something like that?

Speedtest.net tends to get the job done.

 

[JBT]

It's a modem-only and it is working well for me.

Not sure how, but I'm seeing double my download speed for my uploads now. 13/25 with this modem on a 10/1 TWC plan.

That's actually pretty typical if you are on a mid or high tier offering and go from a DOCSIS 2 to 3 modem. You probably now have bonded channels for each up and download speed. Most of the companies toss you a bit more speed for doing this.

 

[Monotaur]

Hmm.... I went to purchase this today and when I tried to apply the code "WALLET", the website says that "The promo code WALLET has been closed and is no longer active.". Anyone else have this happen to them? Do I need to choose to pay with Google Wallet first before applying the code? Or, am I missing something else?

Thanks!

 

[Sahakiel]

Hmm.... I went to purchase this today and when I tried to apply the code "WALLET", the website says that "The promo code WALLET has been closed and is no longer active.". Anyone else have this happen to them? Do I need to choose to pay with Google Wallet first before applying the code? Or, am I missing something else?

Thanks!

Promotion expired.
Ran out of funds.