Cable Modem: Any reason not to just buy a Surfboard SB6141

[twinrider1]

Almost certainly changing ISPs from a DSL to a cable provider, so I'm in the market for a cable modem. It's all new to me, so I've been reading up.
Seems like the Surfboard is far and away the most common choice. I'm not a power user. I'm at 18 Meg now, looks like I'm moving up to 30 soon, and don't anticipate going over 60 in the next few years. Average nuclear family; the main pc plus a ton of wireless gadgets.

Requirement #1 is dependability. I want it to work, period....five 9s.

Any reason not to go with the SB6141?

Thanks.

 

[mike208]

Almost certainly changing ISPs from a DSL to a cable provider, so I'm in the market for a cable modem. It's all new to me, so I've been reading up.
Seems like the Surfboard is far and away the most common choice. I'm not a power user. I'm at 18 Meg now, looks like I'm moving up to 30 soon, and don't anticipate going over 60 in the next few years. Average nuclear family; the main pc plus a ton of wireless gadgets.

Requirement #1 is dependability. I want it to work, period....five 9s.

Any reason not to go with the SB6141?

Thanks.

I just bought one myself to get rid of the 10 monthly fee from my ISP. Only had it a few days, but its working fine. Currently on sale , $69.99 at amazon and I think a little under $75 at best buy if I recall correctly. I do think its an older model and now has an upgraded model that supports stupid fast speeds, but as you said, you won't even reach the top speed of the SB6141 any time soon.

 

[twinrider1]

Thanks. Ordered one today.

 

[XavierMace]

6141 is a great choice.

 

[paperwastage]

Any reason not to go with the SB6141?

only if you're on Time Warner Cable, and you care about future-proof + >=300mbps connection

(SB6141 8x4 isn't compatible with TWC's infrastructure for 300mbps)
http://forums.timewarnercable.com/t5/Connectivity/Ultimate-300-on-SB6141/td-p/77059


that's the only downside I know of

 

[jegesq]

As paperwastage said, if you are on TWC and don't anticipate going to anything faster than is allowed by 8x4, the 6141 would do the job.

But TWC and most other providers are now provisioning for >300mbs, and Gig speeds, in which case, you would need, at a minimum, something like the Arris SB6183 (or a 16x8) modem, or even higher (like the SB6193 or the Netgear CM600, but only the latter is currently approved by TWC).