SWEET: Motorola Surfboard Cable Modem $44 AR

[dc]

the 5100 supports upstream up to 30Mbps. oh yeah. that's useful... lol.

stupid cable companies and their crappy caps.

 

[azoomee]

Originally posted by: optimistic
How do I find out if this will work with my cable service?

My service is Charter Pipeline in Los Angeles CA
The modem I'm renting from them is Surfboard SB3100 Cabel Modem.

Should I just call them and ask?

Yes, just call and ask -- they should tell you. The Surfboard is supported by most of 'em.

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

Comcast technician says Surfboard modems are his choice since the Motorola website is like the only modem company to offer diagnostics for the modem right on their webpage plus he's had the least amount of service calls on this modem(not just him but the entire service dept.) With that said, I have a Surfboard model 3100 and I think the eternet port may be fried. Anyone know about warranties or if it's even worth repairing, or just get a new one? Right now they are leasing me a 3com shark fin something or other model.

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: optimistic
How do I find out if this will work with my cable service?

My service is Charter Pipeline in Los Angeles CA
The modem I'm renting from them is Surfboard SB3100 Cabel Modem.

Should I just call them and ask?

Lets start a poll to see if optimistic should just pick up his phone to call and ask.


POLL RESULTS

Pick up the phone and ask... 23%

Sleep on it and ask the question with a clearer head tomorrow... 17%

Consult Nancy Regan's astrologer... 10%

Ask Magic 8 Ball... 7%

Strongly urge not to pick up the phone and ask... 13%

Ask Dr. Phil... 1%

Not sure... 29%


We here at the Gallup Corp. hope this aids you in your decision.

 

[edplayer]

Some cable guy posts on this forum I visit. He said that the Surfboards are the best cable modems. He gave some specific technical reasons (which I forgot) and said they had the lowest returns/problems with them.

He also said the Toshiba PCX2200 is one of the worst. One of the reasons he said was cause its among the highest that had problems (actualy physical problems).

 

[rectifire]

I have this modem (Motorola Surfboard4200) and it works awesome. It works great with Charter Pipeline in the Los Angeles area, so Optimistic has nothing to worry about.

In fact, check http://www.charter.com/products/internet/requirements.asp for the Charter communications acceptable cable modem list. The SB4200 is one of their recommended modems.

 

[tinkakat]

Running a surfboard SB4200 for over 7 months on opt. It,s the greatest.

 

[steve27]

SB4100 and SB4200's are hackable depending on your ISP as well

 

[eshtog]

what do you guys mean when you say hackable? can you make them faster or something?

 

[steve27]

You can uncap the modem.

This means you can trick your modem into downloading your own edited config file. Usually the modem will attempt to download the config off your ISP's TFTP server, but by changing your IP to that off your TFTP server you can get the modem to download your edited config off a TFTP server you run on your computer through the ethernet port.

You can set your cap to whatever you wish. Newer Surfboards have firmware that disables the ability to download from your ethernet port. Also some ISP's force you to upgrade firmware, and other use some methods to not allow you to do this.

I reccomend you not try this unless you want to take a chance at getting your service taken away or possible criminal convictions : )

 

[damonpip]

Looks like the SB5100 is a pretty good deal too, considering it's brand new. Only $89 from Motorola.

 

[wondersteve]

Can someone post a link for the $25 off coupon please?

 

[Joe221]

Originally posted by: chuenl
The SB4200 is going to get old...

The new Motorola SB5100 is coming out and it is DOCSIS 2.0.

I don't know if I should get an Linksys cable modem (DOCSIS 1.0) at OD for $30, or I should jump to SB5100 for $64 (+$10 shipping).

Amazon has it for $68 delivered.
UPDATE The bastards raised the price to $70.

 

[RDMustang1]

Kind of an off topic question... I run a server off of my mom's cable.. without the server her connection is great... with the server it still runs great... if the server is maxing out her bandwidth for long periods of time she gets intermittant dropping of signal (cable modem doesn't reset or anything but no traffic comes in or out)... We've had the cable people check it out but I haven't questioned them personally (just my mom).. I found that a splitter on the line to give her cable tv (she pays for it) increases the drops so a friend said maybe it's a weak signal... The customer service people say we have a weak signal but when the technician came out he said it was REALLY strong and that it was no way the problem... He said it could be a bad ethernet wire or something (I still don't see how a bad wire causes all 5 computers to drop signal even if their connection doesn't go through that wire, but I'm no expert)...

Anyone heard of anything like this? The only thing I haven't checked out is if the cable modem just can't handle all the work cause I don't know how to check this without changing the modem which is a big PITA and requires loss of service for a few days while they update their records (stupid AT&T, now comcast)...

 

[ivwshane]

Originally posted by: steve27
You can uncap the modem.

This means you can trick your modem into downloading your own edited config file. Usually the modem will attempt to download the config off your ISP's TFTP server, but by changing your IP to that off your TFTP server you can get the modem to download your edited config off a TFTP server you run on your computer through the ethernet port.

You can set your cap to whatever you wish. Newer Surfboards have firmware that disables the ability to download from your ethernet port. Also some ISP's force you to upgrade firmware, and other use some methods to not allow you to do this.

I reccomend you not try this unless you want to take a chance at getting your service taken away or possible criminal convictions : )

I talked to a tech at my ISP and he says they don't do any capping, he also said there is a way to get faster speeds but his instuctions didn't help. I wonder if it's worth it for me to get this modem so that I may uncap it, according to the tech my isp doesn't care.

 

[RDMustang1]

Originally posted by: ivwshane

Originally posted by: steve27
You can uncap the modem.

This means you can trick your modem into downloading your own edited config file. Usually the modem will attempt to download the config off your ISP's TFTP server, but by changing your IP to that off your TFTP server you can get the modem to download your edited config off a TFTP server you run on your computer through the ethernet port.

You can set your cap to whatever you wish. Newer Surfboards have firmware that disables the ability to download from your ethernet port. Also some ISP's force you to upgrade firmware, and other use some methods to not allow you to do this.

I reccomend you not try this unless you want to take a chance at getting your service taken away or possible criminal convictions : )

I talked to a tech at my ISP and he says they don't do any capping, he also said there is a way to get faster speeds but his instuctions didn't help. I wonder if it's worth it for me to get this modem so that I may uncap it, according to the tech my isp doesn't care.

Considering you only get 1.5mbps/256k he is obviously wrong about you being capped, and I really would bet he was wrong about them caring if you uncap... A friend did it, they said first offense was a warning, second was prosecution because it violates FCC laws or some other federal law... We aren't lawyers so we don't know if that's right but he hasn't pushed his luck a 2nd time because even if the 2nd offense is really losing cable he doesn't want that cause dsl around here is SLOW and EXPENSIVE..

 

[bupkus]

Considering you only get 1.5mbps/256k he is obviously wrong about you being capped, and I really would bet he was wrong about them caring if you uncap... A friend did it, they said first offense was a warning, second was prosecution because it violates FCC laws or some other federal law... We aren't lawyers so we don't know if that's right but he hasn't pushed his luck a 2nd time because even if the 2nd offense is really losing cable he doesn't want that cause dsl around here is SLOW and EXPENSIVE..

Just how did they find out? If it's so easily detectable then what's the point? I mean to say, I would love to bump up the speed, that's what this entire industry is about. But even if I succeed, if I get caught and then warned, the time spent is time wasted.
IOW, how does one get away with it?
Anyone can break into a bank, it's getting away with it that's the problem.

Disclaimer: At no time does the opinions of this client represent the opinions of this forum... or the opinions of this client.

 

[RDMustang1]

Originally posted by: bupkus

Considering you only get 1.5mbps/256k he is obviously wrong about you being capped, and I really would bet he was wrong about them caring if you uncap... A friend did it, they said first offense was a warning, second was prosecution because it violates FCC laws or some other federal law... We aren't lawyers so we don't know if that's right but he hasn't pushed his luck a 2nd time because even if the 2nd offense is really losing cable he doesn't want that cause dsl around here is SLOW and EXPENSIVE..

Just how did they find out? If it's so easily detectable then what's the point? I mean to say, I would love to bump up the speed, that's what this entire industry is about. But even if I succeed, if I get caught and then warned, the time spent is time wasted.
IOW, how does one get away with it?
Anyone can break into a bank, it's getting away with it that's the problem.

Disclaimer: At no time does the opinions of this client represent the opinions of this forum... or the opinions of this client.

They have software/personnel that can see you are getting 12mbps when you're supposed to be capped at 1.5..

 

[Maverick215]

I want to say that the new 5x00 was at bb for about the same price, dunno for sure though, might be worth looking into if you have one near by

 

[Joe221]

Originally posted by: Maverick215
I want to say that the new 5x00 was at bb for about the same price, dunno for sure though, might be worth looking into if you have one near by

CC has it for 80-20 MIR.

 

[bupkus]

Maybe this should be in hot deals, but it's
$99.99 - $20 instant rebate - $20 MIR - $40 Activation MIR = $19.99

I tried phoning into BB about the activation fee but their pc people were too busy to answer the phone.
BTW, that's for the Motorola SB5100.

Here's the linky. I don't know if it matters, but I used my Phoenix zip code.
See page 16.

 

[thadoctuh]

Originally posted by: bupkus
Maybe this should be in hot deals, but it's
$99.99 - $20 instant rebate - $20 MIR - $40 Activation MIR = $19.99

I tried phoning into BB about the activation fee but their pc people were too busy to answer the phone.
BTW, that's for the Motorola SB5100.

Here's the linky. I don't know if it matters, but I used my Phoenix zip code.
See page 16.

Docsis explanation here

Robin.d.h.Walker's Cable Modem info
is incredibly informative and detailed

and of course BBR Cable Modem Forum

so far the Best Deal for the SB 5100 looks like CC and BB with the mail in rebate...

I'd like to get it for less if someone would clearly explain how

Edit: somehow my original comment/question about above post wasn't included .... on page 16 of above link i don't see the SB 5100.... I see a Linksys Modem