Motorola SB6120 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 eXtreme Broadband Cable Modem
by Motorola
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Category: CE
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: MotorolaFormat: CD-ROM
Platform: Windows
Model: 545101-011-00
Product features:
- Designed to provide a cost effective, next generation technology to offer a high speed residential or commercial service tier
- User-friendly online diagnostics and bonded channel status page
- Features a 10/100/1000Base-T Gigabit Port for incredible wired network speeds
- Capable of downloading up to 2000 times faster than 56k analog phone modems; up to 4 times faster than DOCSIS 2.0 broadband
- Intuitive, easy to read front panel operational status LEDs
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (3.3 Feet/1.0 Meter)
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to B-Male Cable (6 Feet / 1.8 Meters)
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (9.8 Feet/3.0 Meters)
- AmazonBasics RJ45 Cat5e Ethernet Patch Cable (50 Feet/15.2 Meters)
- AmazonBasics RJ45 Cat5e Ethernet Patch Cable (14 Feet/4.2 Meters)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Motorola SB6120 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 eXtreme Broadband Cable Modem
Customer Review: If your cable connection and the cable company's equipment are working as they should be, I don't think you'll have problems
Summary: 5 Stars
Update: August 2010:
My saga continues. I purchased yet another SB6120 at Best Buy last month and sent it Charter corporate so that they could flash it with different firmware. They were unable to flash the modem with different firmware remotely because it would never sync up and lock on when it was plugged in at my house. When I received the flashed 6120 back, I plugged it in only to find that while it would lock on, it would drop the connection every few hours for about 10 minutes. Frustrated, I took that 6120 back to Best Buy for a refund. I went back to using my trusty Linksys DOCSIS 1.1 modem with no problems whatsoever.
Charter just released (i.e. within the past week or two) their Ultra60 service in my area. Of course, I needed to use a DOCSIS 3 modem in order to take advantage of the service. When I called to inquire about the service, they recommended that I purchase a Zoom DOCSIS 3 modem from Best Buy, which I did. After upgrading the service and plugging in the Zoom modem, I'm getting great throughput (averaging 63 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up.) However, after using the Zoom modem for a day, I discovered that it, too, was dropping the connection every few hours for about 10 minutes.
Frustrated, I called Charter. Surprisingly, I proceeded up the food chain relatively quickly this time and a senior technician was out at my home the next day. He spent two and a half hours here. In that time, he ran a new line from the tap in my front yard to the house. More importantly, he discovered that not only was my tap "leaking" (and was thus susceptible to outside interference), but the next tap down the street was also "leaking." Basically, I guess there were some loose connections inside the box that the wires from your house connect to. Another engineer came out the following day and confirmed that both taps were leaking profusely and that there may also be a problem with the line that runs from the tap underneath the street. Charter is still trying to pinpoint and fix all of the problems as we speak.
The long and short of it is that I'm convinced that the lightning that struck the cable tap out in my front yard earlier this summer caused all of my subsequent problems with getting other SB6120s online. The senior Charter technicians also believe this, as well, from what they told me. DOCSIS 1.1 modems are apparently nowhere near as picky about interference as DOCSIS 3.0 modems are. That seems to be why my DOCSIS 1.1 modem had no problems and four DOCSIS 3.0 modems (three SB6120s and one Zoom DOCSIS 3) all had problems locking on at all or dropping the connection once locked on. Charter's technical people were unable to detect any of the interference by running tests remotely, but the techs that came here saw the interference loud and clear. Therefore, I have revised my rating of the 6120 to give it five stars. However, I will be keeping my Zoom modem once Charter fixes all of the issues because the SB6120 is way overpriced on Amazon right now ($119) and it is not in stock at my local Best Buy. However, it is going for $84 + tax at Best Buy currently.
Update: June 2010:
Well, I'd love to say that all is well. The first 6120 I had was perfect. . .until lightning struck the cable company's equipment in front of the house and the surge fried my modem. Lesson learned, by the way -- plug the coax into a surge protector, as well. Don't just protect the electrical.
Anyway, a week ago tomorrow, my old 6120 was fried. I purchased another one through Amazon last week only to find that once Charter started trying to provision the modem, all the lights would come on on the modem except the "Online" light. The very bizarre thing is that when I first plugged the modem in (before I called Charter to have them provision it), all the lights on the modem were on. As soon as they started trying to provision it, the Online light never came on solid again. I went back and forth with Charter and they insisted that it had to be a problem with the modem because I was able to plug my old Linksys DOCSIS 1.x modem in and it worked just fine. Their logic definitely made sense. So, I boxed the first replacement 6120 up and sent it back to Amazon immediately and requested a replacement.
Today, the replacement (this is my third 6120, mind you) arrived. I plugged it in expecting to have the same experience I had with my very first 6120 a few months ago (i.e. it just worked). Instead the second replacement modem did the same thing the first replacement did when Charter was trying to provision the modem (all lights on except the Online light). I called Charter right away and they sent a tech out to the house within 90 minutes to check signal levels and other things. The tech called and tried to have them provision the 6120 while he was here -- no go. They say they can't see the modem. He went and got a Ubee DOCSIS 3 modem and plugged it in. . .worked just fine. He went and got an older Motorola 5101 and plugged it in. . .also worked just fine.
I called Motorola support and they were completely baffled as to why I've had two 6120's in a row that couldn't get online after I had one that performed flawlessly for a couple of months. They said the firmware on the 6120 I have now is a known good firmware, so that's not likely the problem. Motorola recommended that I try to purchase the modem again at a big box store just incase I got two bad modems out of the same batch via Amazon (which he did say was pretty impossible, and I agree.) Unfortunately, the closest big box store with this modem in stock is about 45 minutes away. . .I think I'll pass on that for now. I called Charter back to have them provision my trusty Linksys DOCSIS 1.x modem a little bit ago and they, too, were surprised that two 6120's in a row wouldn't work since they supply customers with the very same modem from time to time. So, I have requested a refund from Amazon this time and will be putting the 6120 sitting next to me in a box back to them shortly. I'm not sure if the problem here was Charter's provisioning or the 6120 hardware, but I know that I had one 6120 out of three work flawlessly (hence the reason I gave some stars, but definitely not five stars anymore.) I will undoubtedly try another DOCSIS 3 modem down the road, but I think I'm going to keep my old trusty Linksys around for a while longer.
Original Review, May 2010:
I've had this modem for almost two months. I bought it to replace the Cisco-Linksys BEFCMU10 Ethernet Cable Modem that I'd had for seven years. I wasn't having any problems with the Linksys modem, but Charter sent me a couple of e-mails notifying me that I should consider upgrading to a newer modem to take advantage of upcoming upgrades to their infrastructure.
I have the fastest package available in my area from Charter: 30 Mbps down/3 Mbps up. My old Linksys modem consistently averaged between 20-23 Mbps down and 1.5 Mbps up as measured by the speed test at speakeasy dot net. After I called Charter to provision the new Motorola modem, without making any changes to my package, my throughput increased to 28-31 Mbps down and consistently 3 Mbps up using the same speed test and same server location to test as before.
I noticed one of the recent reviewers mentioned that this modem does not work with the Time Capsule. I have a 500 GB Time Capsule that I've had for about two years and it is my primary wireless router that is connected directly to this cable modem. My Time Capsule is operating the same way with this Motorola modem as it has for the past two years--no problems for me.
I am currently waiting for Charter to roll out their 60 Mbps down service in my area. I call them about once a month to see if it's available, and it's not as of yet. I'm glad to know I'm set for a while, and I hope to get at least 7 years from this modem as I did with my previous one.
I would encourage anyone who is currently "renting" a cable modem from their cable company and paying a monthly fee to consider purchasing a modem if they're going to commit to using cable-based internet service for any length of time at all. Most people who are renting a modem are probably paying $5/month or $60/year for their modem. That means this modem will pay for itself in a year and a half in most cases. Your cable modem is not tied to any one provider and is easily able to be set up with a different company when you move. I used my previous Linksys modem with Comcast in two different states, and two other cable companies, as well, with no problems. The only issue I had with Comcast with my old Linksys modem was when the technician came to my home to set up the service in Georgia, the moron had the audacity to insist that because I'd used the modem in another state previously, it wasn't compatible with Comcast in Georgia. When I told him that he was incorrect, he went so far as to call his supposed "manager" and put them on speakerphone in front of me. The "manager" also insisted that I would not be able to use my own modem with their service and would have to either purchase a new modem in Georgia or rent a modem from them which, of course, was conveniently right there in the tech's hand ready to be installed. I was so angry that I told the technician to get out of my home. As he was leaving, he continued insisting that I would not be able to get online. Once he was gone, I immediately called Comcast, read the MAC address of my modem to the phone representative, and was up and running in less than five minutes. I say all of that even though it's not related to this modem to warn others that if their cable company tries to tell them that they have to rent the cable company's modem, it's a line of bull!
Description of Motorola SB6120 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 eXtreme Broadband Cable Modem
Ultra-fast Internet at your fingertips - NEW lightning fast technology lets you surf up to 4x faster than traditional cable modems. The Motorola SURFboard SB6120 extreme Cable Modem unleashes the next wave of broadband technology at exceptional speed. The SB6120 is up to 4 times faster than DOCSIS 2.0 broadband cable modems making it capable of reaching data rates up to 150 Mbps. That makes gaming, shopping, downloading, working, high-quality voice and video conferencing, and peer-to-peer networking applications - far more realistic, faster, and efficient than ever before. The SB6120 delivers your complete personal media experience, at lightning-fast broadband speed.Digital Cameras & Photo Categories
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