So I ended up buying a cable modem...

[Ichinisan]

The link light on my sb6121 flashes because my router is only 100Mbps and not 1000Mbps.

I think the color of the light is what indicates link speed.

[edit]
Yup.
http://www.surfboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ARRIS_SURFboard_SBG6121_Quick_Start_Guide.pdf
Blue is 1,000 mbps (gigabit)
Amber is 10/100 mbps (10base-T, FastEthernet)

Some link lights flicker to show activity. Many (most?) just blink steadily, which annoys me.

 

[Icepick]

This thread convinced me to ditch TW's modem and buy my own. I'm getting the 6141 at the next paycheck. I hate paying the $7 monthly fee.

 

[Ichinisan]

This thread convinced me to ditch TW's modem and buy my own. I'm getting the 6141 at the next paycheck. I hate paying the $7 monthly fee.

I wouldn't pay full retail. Maybe get a used one on eBay.

All types frequently get damaged in thunderstorms. If it's leased, your ISP replaces it. I'd hate to lose an $80+ device a few months after buying it.

 

[NoCreativity]

I wouldn't pay full retail. Maybe get a used one on eBay.

All types frequently get damaged in thunderstorms. If it's leased, your ISP replaces it. I'd hate to lose an $80+ device a few months after buying it.

(Anecdotal evidence ahead) I've owned two cable modems (DOCIS 1.1 and 2.0) over the last 14 years. About to get my third (Upgrading to DOCIS 3). I don't dismiss what you are saying about lightening strikes but is it really that prevalent? I can't recall anyone I know losing one to a lightening strike*.

You can lose a $60-80 modem to lightening strike once a year and still break even or come out ahead of renting one. I'll take those odds.

*except a coworker who lost one due to the fire fighting efforts used to put out the fire in his house caused by a lightening strike.

 

[sourceninja]

...

 

[blankslate]

My modem didn't get killed, but I lost my router to a lightning strike. Surge protector didn't flip either. I'm pretty sure it ran though the cable line, though the modem, and into the router. The only port that was burned out was wan.

I've been meaning to get something like this http://datainterfaces.com/sp-se-b01-...tjYaAhu98P8HAQ

No surge protector can guarantee protection from a lightning hit.

The main value of surge protectors of better manufacturers, aside from a better likelihood of equipment survival, is the manufacturer's connected equipment warantee that you might be able to collect on.


....

 

[Ichinisan]

(Anecdotal evidence ahead) I've owned two cable modems (DOCIS 1.1 and 2.0) over the last 14 years. About to get my third (Upgrading to DOCIS 3). I don't dismiss what you are saying about lightening strikes but is it really that prevalent? I can't recall anyone I know losing one to a lightening strike*.

You can lose a $60-80 modem to lightening strike once a year and still break even or come out ahead of renting one. I'll take those odds.

*except a coworker who lost one due to the fire fighting efforts used to put out the fire in his house caused by a lightening strike.

My friend lost one when his apartment burned down. His renter's insurance had lapsed too. He was borrowing my NES, Zelda 2 (maybe some other NES games too), 2 NES controllers, and some computer hardware / repair tools.

My mother's modem was fried in a thunderstorm last year (along with the HTPC, network switch, and $300 cableCARD tuner). Whenever we have a major thunderstorm in my area, we have a rush of calls from people with damaged equipment. Somewhat often, the modem survives while network sockets on the router and PC get fried (can't sense link) -- but modems often do get fried. We sometimes have fallout for a couple weeks after the storm as people return home from trips and find damaged equipment.

 

[Ichinisan]

No surge protector can guarantee protection from a lightning hit.

The main value of surge protectors of better manufacturers, aside from a better likelihood of equipment survival, is the manufacturer's connected equipment warantee that you might be able to collect on.


....

This.

 

[waggy]

I just got comcrap. got the 105 but usually get 125

[/URL][/IMG]

Though as a wireless router it fucking sucks. was thinking of getting a new modem but i have X1 and don't that run the tv too?

 

[boomerang]

I just got comcrap. got the 105 but usually get 125

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4647414913


Though as a wireless router it fucking sucks. was thinking of getting a new modem but i have X1 and don't that run the tv too?

I have X1 in Florida with my own modem and router.

 

[westom]

My modem didn't get killed, but I lost my router to a lightning strike. Surge protector didn't flip either. I'm pretty sure it ran though the cable line, though the modem, and into the router. The only port that was burned out was wan.

You should look closer at what that protector says. It has a ground wire that must make a low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) connection to single point earth ground. Receptacle safety ground is not earth ground. Second, it is for low frequency signals (ie Arcnet). It will probably harm higher frequency signals such as TV signals.

Problem is that you assumed a surge was incoming. And forgot that the same current must also have some other outgoing path. If a surge was incoming on the WAN and had no other outgoing port, then no damage existed. So what was the other outgoing path in that previous damage? And why did that surge completely ignore protection required to be on that cable where it enters the building?

The most common incoming surge path is AC electric. Adjacent protector (doing what its manufacturer said it would do) may have made surge damage easier. May have given that surge even more paths into the router.

Outgoing path is easy. Out via the WAN port and to earth ground via cable (installed for free) protection.

You had damage because a surge was all but invited inside and incoming to everything. But it only found a best outgoing path via the router's WAN port. This event was a warning. You had surges inside. Protection means no surge current anywhere inside the building. Facilities that can never have this damage always earth every wire inside every incoming cable - either directly (ie internet cable) or via a 'whole house' protector (ie AC electric, telephone).

Protection from direct lightning strikes is routine. Telco COs suffer about 100 surges per thunderstorm. And phones all over town remain functional. You could install same for about $1 per protected appliance. But that means learning about the proven solution and not putting any protectors adjacent to appliances.

A destructive surge can be hundreds of thousands of joules. How many joules did that previous protector claim to absorb? Hundreds? Thousand? A destructive surge easily went right through that previous protector - as manufacturer specification numbers suggest. Learn why others who cannot have damage use something completely different - also called a surge protector.

A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. That coax protector has an earthing wire just for that reason. Your previous protector had no earth ground. So it did only what the manufacturer said it would do when av router was destroyed. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. That defines the difference between proven solutions and that protector that did not (could not) protect a router.

 

[Ichinisan]

You should look closer at what that protector says. It has a ground wire that must make a low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) connection to single point earth ground. Receptacle safety ground is not earth ground. Second, it is for low frequency signals (ie Arcnet). It will probably harm higher frequency signals such as TV signals.

Problem is that you assumed a surge was incoming. And forgot that the same current must also have some other outgoing path. If a surge was incoming on the WAN and had no other outgoing port, then no damage existed. So what was the other outgoing path in that previous damage? And why did that surge completely ignore protection required to be on that cable where it enters the building?

The most common incoming surge path is AC electric. Adjacent protector (doing what its manufacturer said it would do) may have made surge damage easier. May have given that surge even more paths into the router.

Outgoing path is easy. Out via the WAN port and to earth ground via cable (installed for free) protection.

You had damage because a surge was all but invited inside and incoming to everything. But it only found a best outgoing path via the router's WAN port. This event was a warning. You had surges inside. Protection means no surge current anywhere inside the building. Facilities that can never have this damage always earth every wire inside every incoming cable - either directly (ie internet cable) or via a 'whole house' protector (ie AC electric, telephone).

Protection from direct lightning strikes is routine. Telco COs suffer about 100 surges per thunderstorm. And phones all over town remain functional. You could install same for about $1 per protected appliance. But that means learning about the proven solution and not putting any protectors adjacent to appliances.

A destructive surge can be hundreds of thousands of joules. How many joules did that previous protector claim to absorb? Hundreds? Thousand? A destructive surge easily went right through that previous protector - as manufacturer specification numbers suggest. Learn why others who cannot have damage use something completely different - also called a surge protector.

A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. That coax protector has an earthing wire just for that reason. Your previous protector had no earth ground. So it did only what the manufacturer said it would do when av router was destroyed. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. That defines the difference between proven solutions and that protector that did not (could not) protect a router.

I understood some of this. Thank you.

Since my mother has lost so much equipment, what's the best way to prevent surges from finding their path to ground through her cable modem? Should I just remove all surge protectors? Unfortunately, most of the sensitive electronic devices don't have a grounded power supply.

I've noticed some Cat5 Ethernet jumpers are shielded and have metal plates on the sides of the connectors. Would that be a good thing or a bad thing? I'm thinking it would be safer for a surge to find its way to ground by traveling through the cable's shielding to another device instead of going through the data conductors (and the devices' circuitry).

 

[westom]

Since my mother has lost so much equipment, what's the best way to prevent surges from finding their path to ground through her cable modem? Should I just remove all surge protectors? Unfortunately, most of the sensitive electronic devices don't have a grounded power supply.

You keep thinking in terms of blocking or stopping a surge. A safety grounded power supply is not earthed - and is completely irrelevant to hardware protection. That third prong is a safety ground to protect humans; not transistors.

Again, protection is always about where hundreds of thousands of joules are harmlessly absorbed. That means energy connects to earth BEFORE entering the building. Facilities that cannot have damage routinely earth a 'whole house' protector. This is a completely different device that (to keep you confused) is also called a surge protector.

Your cable already (should have) has protection as required by code. A hardwire connects that cable low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) to single point earth ground. Go outside to inspect it. Or follow a quarter inch bare copper wire from the breaker box to earth grounds outside the building. That is your earth ground. That is where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate.

A missing earth ground means a 'whole house' protector cannot be effective.

A surge on an ethernet cable shield means a surge is inside the building. So protection does not exist. Protection means a surge current need not be anywhere inside a building.

BTW, we are only discussing 'secondary' protection. Each layer of protection is defined by the earth ground - not by a protector. Also inspect your 'primary' surge protection layer. A picture demonstrates what to inspect:
http://www.tvtower.com/fpl.html

A utility demonstrates good, bad, and ugly (preferred, wrong, and right) earthing solutions:
http://www.duke-energy.com/indiana-business/products/power-quality/tech-tip-08.asp
Protection starts there - not in any protector.

This is all new. It will not be understood until at least a third reread. Many questions will result. But new information can never be grasped in one reading. For example, obvious (only after many rereads) is that safety ground is completely different from earth ground. Protection of appliances is about where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate - in earth ground.

 

[Scarpozzi]

When I moved, I had to switch from Comcast to Charter. I kept the same cable modem and it wouldn't work right away. I used my phone to get the correct frequency settings. I logged into the modem and set it up for Charter and was good to go. The tech they sent to "install" my service knew nothing about cable modems and was zero help when it failed to work initially.

Anyhow....Charter was charging me $60 a month for crap service so I cut the cord about a year ago and simply stream 4G from Verizon now when I need it. I used to do this on my RAZR, but switched to the MotoX(2013) Dev Edition and it still works great. So I pay $65/month for cellphone + internet and it's fast enough to stream movies/music. It helps that I have 2 young kids that keep me from gaming.

 

[Annisman*]

Thanks for this thread guys, I'm now saving 8$/Mo. and my download speed went from 18mb/s to 26mb/s.

 

[maddogchen]

I just got one of these. I recently upgraded my service to 150mbps with comcast. I had was told the modem I had from them was 4x4 and too slow for 150mbps service. They offered to send a new one. I instead bought this. So far I have no complaints. It works great.

I have it attached to a virtual machine running pfsense and I'm using ubiquiti AC access points.

Cool! Could you share what SpeedTest results you are getting on the 6183 modem? I have the 6121 and I'm supposed to have a 150Mbps connection with Comcast. I usually get 110Mbps. Do you get closer to 150?

 

[WackyDan]

I am paying $40 for a 15mbps connection and off and on Time Warner would keep charging me for cable modem, have not been paying for last 2 years but starting this month I was being charged $7 again. I called them and tried to get it waived but it didn't work. So I finally started shopping around for a modem, didn't want to spend $60 - $100 so turned to fleabay and found this dude selling his SB6121 for $35, received it today, works great! and my speed bumped up to ~60mbps!! I had heard that for a free modem upgrade I could get a higher speed but never bothered to go though the process... but today I have a happy camper!!!

Hey dummy...

Time Warner upped every one on 15mbps accounts to 60 mbps in response to google fiber in some markets. I'm still running a TWC issued modem (because lightning eats one every year on me) and they bumped me to 60 in the last few weeks. I'm in Charlotte.

 

[balloonshark]

I wouldn't pay full retail. Maybe get a used one on eBay.

All types frequently get damaged in thunderstorms. If it's leased, your ISP replaces it. I'd hate to lose an $80+ device a few months after buying it.

I had a cable guy tell me it's usually the modem that gets taken out in a strike. Two or three years ago I got hit and it took out my router, vonage device and my motherboard's NIC. The cable companie's modem worked just fine lol.

 

[sourceninja]

...

 

[DesiPower]

Hey dummy...

Time Warner upped every one on 15mbps accounts to 60 mbps in response to google fiber in some markets. I'm still running a TWC issued modem (because lightning eats one every year on me) and they bumped me to 60 in the last few weeks. I'm in Charlotte.

I know, and I mentioned something on those lines towards the end of my post that you quoted

 

[WackyDan]

I know, and I mentioned something on those lines towards the end of my post that you quoted

I don't think you were that specific. It sounded like you were attributing your speed bump to just the mere fact you bought your own modem... Which likely isn't the case.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Hey dummy...

Time Warner upped every one on 15mbps accounts to 60 mbps in response to google fiber in some markets. I'm still running a TWC issued modem (because lightning eats one every year on me) and they bumped me to 60 in the last few weeks. I'm in Charlotte.

Actually 15mb tier got bumped to 50mb. Now I'm not saying you can't get 60mb, but it's stated to be 50mb.

 

[maddogchen]

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4595807450

It all depends on where you live and how many people in that area are using comcast. I almost always get this result.

Cool. Thanks for the info!

 

[Sonikku]

Hey dummy...

Time Warner upped every one on 15mbps accounts to 60 mbps in response to google fiber in some markets. I'm still running a TWC issued modem (because lightning eats one every year on me) and they bumped me to 60 in the last few weeks. I'm in Charlotte.

And they insist people don't want faster speeds because they predominantly avoid the higher plans. Did they ever realize it was because of their outrageous prices? Price gouging bastards. 60mbps is what happens when someone actually manages to set up shop as competition on their turf.

 

[westom]

Did they ever realize it was because of their outrageous prices? Price gouging bastards.

That story started in early 2000s when Michael Powel (FCC Commissioner and a disciple of right wing economic politics) decided that less competition would mean better service. Rules were changed that basically said every region will only have two internet providers. Smaller providers such as Covad, PSINet, and Cavalier were literally driven out of business. Basic concepts that created innovation and competition (ie net neutrality, content providers verse data transporters, etc) were trashed to enrich the rich and powerful.

Just recently, the last of the small competitors are gone. And so the big providers are now doing another price increase. For example, Verizon is starting to eliminate DSL service in regions where the competition no longer exists. Force consumers to upgrade from their $30 or $45 per month plans to FIOS equivalent now exceeding $50 per month.

And so America has failed from the world leader in internet service to about 21st. And Michael Powel is not paid big bucks as the chief lobbyist for the cable industry.

Why is Comcast making so much money to build the three tallest buildings in Philadelphia, buy NBC, buy universal studio, almost buy a cell phone company, force surcharges on data providers such as Google and Netflix, and try to buy Time Warner? No competition means they can charge all they want.

Prices. S Korea (a world leader in innovation) provides 100 Mb for $20 per month. Why is America typically 20 or 50 Mb for at least 2.5 times more money? Michael Power, et al are successfully destroying net neutrality and other market forces that once meant profits come from innovation - not paying off politicians.

By destroying free market competition, American internet service has both diminished and become many times more expensive - when new technologies and the resulting innovations say prices should be dropping.