Charter Internet - Replacing The Rented Cable Modem

[trentlad]

So I've been with Charter a while now and been paying $5 p/m for "rental" of their cable modem. It's a Motorola Surfboard and so far I've wasted 3 years: 12 x 3 = 36 months, 36 months: 5 x 36 = $180.

Yes I've left it 'that' long to get a replacement cable modem. Any replacement suggestions?

I know some cable modems aren't compatible with particular ISPs so help from other Charter members are most welcome but feel free to offer advice if you have any regardless.

Thanks!

EDIT: After 6 months of use... there's absolutely no difference what so ever using the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem over the standard DOCSIS 2.0 on the Charter internet service. IF anything, it's not a solid speed all of the time like DOCSIS 2.0

[trentlad]

This is the deals forum, probably should have posted this in general hardware. Any Motorola surfboard will serve you well. Sell for about 60$ in any of the popular e-tailers.

Hi, I am a Charter customer in Southern California. I replaced the Charter cable modem with the D-Link DCM 202 that I bought from Newegg more than a year ago. Knock on wood, I have not encountered any problem. You just have to call Charter and register the modem with your account.

Here is the link for the modem at Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16825112104

Thanks for that Peakr and Walter.

I know I can simply get the exact same surfboard but will Charter support some of the more advanced features like DOCSIS 3.0 that can enhance my browsing and internet usage (youtube, gaming, etc) speeds?

Like a cable modem such as the MOTOROLA SB6120.

[Hondacity]

yep they do..i upgraded mine.....with the moto that supports docsis 3.0

[RyderOCZ]

I have installed Linksys Cable modems for several Charter customers.

[zanzabar]

i have that dlink from the link above and its much better than the moto, but i would get a docsis3 as 2 should be gone in the next year or 2. so the new moto in your only pick
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-009-_-Product

[Sentential]

I have that motorola SB modem and it is fantastic; no complaints whatsoever

[zanzabar]

I have that motorola SB modem and it is fantastic; no complaints whatsoever

can u run and post a speed test, and if u do some gaming or peer to peer sharing (or anything thats p2p/multi port) u dont get lag/drops

[trentlad]

Looks official, the Morotola SB6120 with DOCSIS 3.0 is functional with Charter Communications. It doesn't work out of the box but if you contact Charter for a firmware update then the file they send you will get the modem operational.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r220...620M-provision

[drteming]

I have Charter internet and got a SB 6120. I didn't need a firmware upgrade. Just called the rep and got it provisioned.

[trentlad]

I have Charter internet and got a SB 6120. I didn't need a firmware upgrade. Just called the rep and got it provisioned.

Provisioned.. so they were able to update the SB6120 through their network?

This is excellent, I have a couple of questions for you drteming:
1.) Do you like the performance?
2.) Any negative points?
3.) Did you experience any additional performance increase?

For instance, this is an example of the speeds I'm getting right now and they are pretty impressive.

[drteming]

Didn't need an update. I called Charter and gave them the MAC address of the modem. I definitely see an increase in download speed. I used to see around 8 Mbps and now I get around 16 Mbps according to speedtest.net.

[trentlad]

I just installed the SB6120 and check out the blazing speeds.. oh wait.



Well they suggest I wait for 24hrs to "allow the connection to get used to the new modem." I'm now officially using a DOCSIS 3.0 cable connection for online access.

Fingers crossed the speed ramps up.

[little_scrapper]

I just installed the SB6120 and check out the blazing speeds.. oh wait.



Well they suggest I wait for 24hrs to "allow the connection to get used to the new modem." I'm now officially using a DOCSIS 3.0 cable connection for online access.

Fingers crossed the speed ramps up.

I guess modems are like cars. Dont push em too hard fo the 1st 10K miles.

Here is my run from a MI server(SB5101):

I reduced my internet connection w/ comcast from a 12Mb line to a 6Mb line; cant even tell the difference. Still fast. However, once I did that, they started charging me a $5/mo modem fee. I guess they are going to get thier money one way or another. So I have also been thinking about getting my own modem. the only reason i havent is because if the modem breaks its on me. At $5/mo it will have to work flawlessly for about 2 full years for it to pay off.

Its just a trade off. $5/mo and if there are any issues I can just trade it out. $100+ (for a good one) up front, and if it goes bad within two years, its all on me. Money wise its about the same. Its still a toss up in my book.

Oh hell I see the SB6120 is now $80 and free shipping. Im ordering it right now. Only has to work for a year for it to start saving me money. Not that I'm really worried about the $$$. I got me one of them suger-mommas'

[zanzabar]

I guess modems are like cars. Dont push em too hard fo the 1st 10K miles.

Here is my run from a MI server:

I reduced my internet connection w/ comcast from a 12Mb line to a 6Mb line; cant even tell the difference. Still fast. However, once I did that, they started charging me a $5/mo modem fee. I guess they are going to get thier money one way or another. So I have also been thinking about getting my own modem. the only reason i havent is because if the modem breaks its on me. At $5/mo it will have to work flawlessly for about 2 full years for it to pay off.

Its just a trade off. $5/mo and if there are any issues I can just trade it out. $100+ (for a good one) up front, and if it goes bad within two years, its all on me. Money wise its about the same. Its still a toss up in my book.

Oh hell I see the SB6120 is now $80 and free shipping. Im ordering it right now. Only has to work for a year for it to start saving me money. Not that I'm really worried about the $$$. I got me one of them suger-mommas'

if u break in a motor by taking it easy the rings will never seat correctly, that rule is just from stupid people who dont change the oil affter 200miles to get rid of the shavings affter u break it in. it also helps people get used to the car so they dont crash it.

on topic, the modem dose not have to get used to anything, the switches may not have static switching so they have to populate your mac to them and u may have to wait for the 1st maintenance day to get a proper flash of your speed settings to your modem and their routing/control hardware

[Jowy Atreides]

The line must sync up to the correct snr profile.

Routers don't need broken in.

[little_scrapper]

The line must sync up to the correct snr profile.

How long does that take?

[trentlad]

I'm getting double speeds today but it's not up to the speed that I had on standard DOCSIS 2.0. Not sure if this will be the final increase in speed or if there's still room for improvement.



My guess, it's staying this way since the server has been relocated (compare the location in my two posts - also the new location is 25miles closer). So it's more than likely that they have, as you say, updated my snr profile update and/or relocated my MAC address to the correct switch.

Why is it slower on DOCSIS 3.0? Surely they have fewer users in this line.

[little_scrapper]

if u break in a motor by taking it easy the rings will never seat correctly, that rule is just from stupid people who dont change the oil affter 200miles to get rid of the shavings affter u break it in.

I suppose I could have made the sarcasm more obvious.

[Kingcarcas]

What about Time warner cable? Thing is it's hard to find a modem with VOIP.

[little_scrapper]

Here is my run from a MI server(SB5101):

Oh hell I see the SB6120 is now $80 and free shipping. Im ordering it right now. Only has to work for a year for it to start saving me money. Not that I'm really worried about the $$$. I got me one of them suger-mommas'

I got my SB6120 about 15 minutes ago and its already activated and here is my first run from the same server as a comparison.



So I'm getting consistently in the high 50's now with the SB6120 over the SB5101( which was consistently under 30). I'm happy with it so far. hehe.

[trentlad]

So after the discussion I've just had with Charter tech support (if what they've said was correct) here's the deal:

If you're signed up to Charters 8MB internet service then you'll actually get MUCH HIGHER speeds by using DOCSIS 2.0 as long as your connection server is close. I was literally getting 16MB... double the package speed, as you can see from my speed test result before making the switch.

For instance, this is an example of the speeds I'm getting right now and they are pretty impressive.

However, if you switch to DOCSIS 3.0 and remain on the 8MB package then you'll be downgraded to the speed of your package. So now my maximum is 10MB and my server is 20 miles away. No idea how far away my DOCSIS 2.0 server used to be.

I may seriously consider switching back to a DOCSIS 2.0 modem now. Not only am I getting half my bandwidth speed but the speed isn't consistent at all. The argument of there being fewer people using DOCSIS 3.0 is quashed by the fact that most users on DOCSIS 3.0 are using 60MB and 30MB connections and hence draining the crap out of these servers.

Assumptions: Not sure if a closer DOCSIS 3.0 server would increase my speed, I highly doubt it due to my last point.

[zanzabar]

cant u change the mode on the router if it was a problem

[trentlad]

I asked if that was possible and Charter told me I couldn't use a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem on a DOCSIS 2.0 connection line.

[zanzabar]

I asked if that was possible and Charter told me I couldn't use a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem on a DOCSIS 2.0 connection line.

thats crap that moto dose both

[trentlad]

You are quite right my good man! Thank you very much.

After reading this article I can see that I have green LED's being displayed and hence I'm not getting any channel bonding so there's no way I'm on DOCSIS 3.0 at all. How can I achieve channel bonding?

http://blog.jseaber.com/2010/08/21/c...sb6120-review/