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Posted by $Bill on October 8, 2005, 4:20 am
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Timothy Daniels wrote:
> "$Bill" wrote:
>> What would you do if the modem was upstairs ? :)
>
> Good point! Maybe I'll have to resort to the old RJ45 A/B switch
> box that I used to use. It's a manual rotary switch that I used to
> switch my PC between DSL and cable, and it has a center OFF
> position that can be used to cut the connection. It cost me $15
> at Fry's Electronics a couple years ago.
That would work too. ;)
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Posted by on October 10, 2005, 12:43 pm
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On Fri, 7 Oct 2005 12:02:15 -0700, "Timothy Daniels"
> Thanks for the info. I was wondering why the prices for the
>D-Link and Motorola cable modems had drifted back up to
>their initial prices seen in July. Maybe the expected competi-
Don't limit your looking to just D-Link and Motorola. Linksys, Zoom,
Xyxel, Scientific Atlanta, and RCA all offer cable modems. If I were
you I'd call your cable company and ask them what they use, what they
recommend to be used, and what they recommend to not be used.
>introduces a DOCSIS 2.0 cable modem. I also wonder if the
>high recall rate seen with Motorolas by your ISP was with the
>SB5100 model - the one with the Broadcom chipset. Maybe
My ISP never used Motorola modems. I've been with them since their
inception and they initially used Nortel modems for their first couple
years and then they moved to Scientific Atlanta modems & that's what
they offer to this day, just newer models.
They just told me on the phone that they have had many support calls
from people who bought Motorola modems on their own from Best Buy,
Circuit City, whatever...they never gave me specifics, but I do know
that some Motorola modems have trouble interfacing with some routers &
the workaround is to put a hub between the two, but I don't know if
that was the problem my ISP has been running into or not.
>that's why Motorola later went with the Texas Instruments chipset
>for their SB5120, a model that has identical features as described
>on Motorola's website. Right now, the only feature that leans me
The opinions on the Broadcom vs. TI chipset issue are split. Some
people will swear the 5100 is better than the 5210 and some will swear
the opposite.
Just as an FYI, that PCX2600 you were eyeing sports a TI chipset.
>toward the Motorola is the quick disconnect button on the top
>that allows one to quickly disconnect if there appears to be
>unexpected internet traffic occurring (spyware?, spambot?
>virusmail?). Do you know if any of the other DOCSIS 2.0 cable
>modems sport such a "panic" button?
No, I don't know of any other modems with such a "panic" button, but
it really strikes me as a non-feature anyway. Most people nowadays are
going to have some sort of router and/or firewall behind their modem &
it's going to filter out all that poo anyway.
If it is still a concern to you then make your own panic button. Just
plug the modem by itself into a surge supressor power strip and just
hit the power button on that when you "panic."
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Posted by Timothy Daniels on October 10, 2005, 1:40 pm
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> "Timothy Daniels" wrote:
>> Thanks for the info. I was wondering why the prices for the
>> D-Link and Motorola cable modems had drifted back up to
>> their initial prices seen in July....
>
> Don't limit your looking to just D-Link and Motorola. Linksys,
> Zoom, Xyxel, Scientific Atlanta, and RCA all offer cable modems.
I'm restricting my search to those which comply with DOCSIS 2.0
so I don't have to upgrade in another 6-12 months, and not all
manufacturers have offerred products complying with DOCSIS 2.0.
Zoom does, RCA doesn't, etc.
> If I were you I'd call your cable company and ask them what they
> use, what they recommend to be used, and what they recommend
> to not be used.
<grrrrrrrr....> I subscribe to Comcast service, and like any
large utility company, it only lists what is "compatible" with
its system, and that list is for DOCSIS 1.1 compliance. It
does not list recommendations or reliability experience,
and it does not release any field experience it may have on
various manufacturer's products. Believe me, I've tried to
wrest some information out of them, but they remain tight-
lipped and/or ignorant.
*TimDaniels*
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Posted by Warren on October 10, 2005, 2:21 pm
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Timothy Daniels wrote:
> I'm restricting my search to those which comply with DOCSIS 2.0
> so I don't have to upgrade in another 6-12 months, and not all
> manufacturers have offerred products complying with DOCSIS 2.0.
> Zoom does, RCA doesn't, etc.
RCA cablemodems starting with the DCM315 are DOCSIS 2.0 compliant.
>> If I were you I'd call your cable company and ask them what they
>> use, what they recommend to be used, and what they recommend
>> to not be used.
>
> <grrrrrrrr....> I subscribe to Comcast service, and like any
> large utility company, it only lists what is "compatible" with
> its system, and that list is for DOCSIS 1.1 compliance.
They focus on DOCSIS 1.1 compliance because that's what they require if
you're connecting a new modem to their network. Note that a DOCSIS 2.0 modem
also complies with DOCSIS 1.1.
> It
> does not list recommendations or reliability experience,
> and it does not release any field experience it may have on
> various manufacturer's products. Believe me, I've tried to
> wrest some information out of them, but they remain tight-
> lipped and/or ignorant.
You'll never get them to bad-mouth a vendor that they may need to do
business with in the future, nor would they ever want to say something that
could not be backed-up with statistics.
Reliability is as much a function of how the customer treats their modem as
anything else. For example, the RCA models that used the molex-type power
connector did not do well in homes where the modem or it's cable was
frequently moved, but they were, for the most part, rock-solid in other
homes.
Even the crappiest constructed modem that passes the testing, and makes it
to the allowed modems list will do fine if you take care of it. And even the
best constructed will fail sooner if you abuse it.
When it comes down to it, a good, solid, well constructed modem can be had
for under $80 before any rebates. Comcast charges $3 a month to lease a
cablemodem. Even if you pay $80 for a piece of crap modem, in 26 months it
won't matter. Go buy a SB5100 or SB5120 for $60. There's no reason to
believe that you won't get at least 20 months of reliability out of it, and
it's DOCSIS 2.0 compliant, which is more than Comcast requires now. There is
little chance that it'll be obsolete in less than 20 months.
And let's say after a year it dies, or it becomes obsolete. What have you
lost? $24. If your time is worth $10/hour, how much have you already spent
researching this minor purchase? And how many more months did you pay to
lease a modem by taking your time researching?
You're not getting many answers because few people analyze such minor
purchases with such scrutiny. A trip to the grocery store often costs more,
and has more possible pitfalls.
The next time you're near Radio Shack, Best Buy, Circuit City, or whatever,
just buy it. Or decide not to buy it. The consequences of even the worst
choice are not worth the trouble. But turning the research of cablemodems
into a hobby might just be worse than making the wrong choice.
--
Warren H.
==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Shop for gifts for fans of "The Simpsons":
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/simpsons
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Posted by Timothy Daniels on October 10, 2005, 6:02 pm
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> Timothy Daniels wrote:
>> I'm restricting my search to those which comply with DOCSIS 2.0
>> so I don't have to upgrade in another 6-12 months, and not all
>> manufacturers have offerred products complying with DOCSIS 2.0.
>> Zoom does, RCA doesn't, etc.
>
>
> RCA cablemodems starting with the DCM315 are DOCSIS 2.0 compliant.
Interesting. There seems to be only ONE web retailer carrying that
modem (known as model DCM315R), and a search of the RCA
website didn't bring it up, although it does seem to have a webpage
which describes it:
http://www.rca.com/product/viewdetail/0,2588,PI700648,00.html
I wonder why it's so "popular".
>>> If I were you I'd call your cable company and ask them what they
>>> use, what they recommend to be used, and what they recommend
>>> to not be used.
>>
>> <grrrrrrrr....> I subscribe to Comcast service, and like any
>> large utility company, it only lists what is "compatible" with
>> its system, and that list is for DOCSIS 1.1 compliance.
>
>
> They focus on DOCSIS 1.1 compliance because that's what they
> require if you're connecting a new modem to their network. Note
> that a DOCSIS 2.0 modem also complies with DOCSIS 1.1.
Yyeeeessss..... I know that....
>> It
>> does not list recommendations or reliability experience,
>> and it does not release any field experience it may have on
>> various manufacturer's products. Believe me, I've tried to
>> wrest some information out of them, but they remain tight-
>> lipped and/or ignorant.
>
> You'll never get them to bad-mouth a vendor that they may need to do
> business with in the future, nor would they ever want to say something
> that could not be backed-up with statistics.
Yes, that was my point - getting info about modem reiliability is
impossible from a large ISP.
> Go buy a SB5100 or SB5120 for $60.
The cheapest retail price for a SB5120 is $75 shipped.
> The next time you're near Radio Shack, Best Buy, Circuit City, or whatever,
> just buy it. Or decide not to buy it. The consequences of even the worst
> choice are not worth the trouble. But turning the research of cablemodems
> into a hobby might just be worse than making the wrong choice.
Thanks for the advice on prioritzing my values. But that was not
part of my request.
*TimDaniels*
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