Is it worth it to buy your own modem?

Nvidiaguy07

Platinum Member
Feb 22, 2008
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Getting Comcast this week. They charge 7 BUCKS a month to use their modem. I'm guessing it I'm probably better off buying my own.

How much do modems cost? And which ones are good? (never bought a modem before)

Any reason not to buy your own assuming your going to stick with Comcast either way?
 

Venom20

Senior member
Apr 12, 2011
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I purchased my current modem. It was about $90. Their fee was $6 per month. so in 17 months I'll break even (more or less). Figured I'd be with them for a while. With my last ISP I did not rent. Their fee was $5 and I was with them for 4+ years. That was a huge waste of $200+. Moneywise it's good to purchase your own. I personally have never had a modem go bad on me.

I purchased a RCA DCM475, amazon.com currently has it for $70.

I'm personally not a fan of Motorolas (worked at an ISP for a while and the surfboards always went bad). But that's just me. I have a few friends who swear by Motorola Surfboards.

I'd recommend something with DOCSIS 3.0 for future compatibility with increased speeds.
 

Nvidiaguy07

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Feb 22, 2008
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billyb0b

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Nov 8, 2009
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No, it appears their star ratings are internal to Comcast. 1 star indicates DOCSIS 3.0 specification met, 2 and 3 star look like Comcast testing internally in their test environments. You'll be quite happy with the 6120.

I ran the SB5101 for over 6 years on Comcast's network and never had an issue with that modem, it's given 1 star as well.
 

Nvidiaguy07

Platinum Member
Feb 22, 2008
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No, it appears their star ratings are internal to Comcast. 1 star indicates DOCSIS 3.0 specification met, 2 and 3 star look like Comcast testing internally in their test environments. You'll be quite happy with the 6120.

I ran the SB5101 for over 6 years on Comcast's network and never had an issue with that modem, it's given 1 star as well.

ordered one from amazon after i saw this post. Ill be receiving it this week. Thanks for the advice.
 

Cr0nJ0b

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2004
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I had some issues with my cable internet and speed. I was using the provided modem from Cox and it was just crapping out and getting really low throughput.

I went out and bought my own DOCSIS 3.0 modem and I love it. My speeds improved, to like 16Mbps from 5Mbps. I have it connected to a Gig switch which works great for my 2 connections. I would say 100% it's a good idea.

Also, FWIW, I passed the same advice to a neighbor with identical results...3x speed boost and better reliability.
 

rdb4133

Senior member
Feb 15, 2012
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For sure it's completely worth it to get your own. As other have recommended get a DOCSIS 3.0 if you want the fastest possible speed (depending on your plan) if you are on a lower tier plan then a DOCSIS 2.0 is fine and you can usually catch good Motorola/Linksys ones for under $40 sometimes. I'm using a Linksys CM100 and it's been working great for well over a year now with Comcast. I also find it's faster at finding a signal when turning back on than my old Motorola SB5120 which I now just keep around as a backup.
 

freethnker

Junior Member
Jan 31, 2012
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Be careful of buying a modem on eBay that has not been removed from the system. I bought a Motorola modem in the past and upon calling Comcast to register it, I was told the previous owner had not deactivated it and there is no way to register the modem until it is removed by the original user. Went thru a lot of trouble with this so just giving a heads up.
 

Nvidiaguy07

Platinum Member
Feb 22, 2008
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Be careful of buying a modem on eBay that has not been removed from the system. I bought a Motorola modem in the past and upon calling Comcast to register it, I was told the previous owner had not deactivated it and there is no way to register the modem until it is removed by the original user. Went thru a lot of trouble with this so just giving a heads up.

Seems kinda ridiculous. Friggin Comcast.

Got mine in last week, everything seems good so far. Should i try to update the firmware or anything like that?
 

sm625

Diamond Member
May 6, 2011
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I had comcast 2 years ago. I used a motorola surfboard I bought on newegg for $40. Never had a problem with it. Just today I switched back to them and they are telling me my modem doesnt work. I think the modem works fine. There's no reason to believe it mysteriously stopped working after being in a safely stored for 2 years. They're just trying to scam.