| Broadband (Cable/DSL) Modems |
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|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review: ( 496 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
131 of 135 found the following review helpful:
 Plug it in, and forget it! Aug 22, 2007
By H S
As an FYI, Amazon has this product listed 3 different ways as "Motorola Surfboard Broadband Cable Modem SB-5101" and as "Motorola Surfboard SB5101 Cable Modem" and as "SURFboard Cable Modem". All are listed at 3 different prices, too!
I did a little bit of homework, and the Motorola seemed to have good reviews. This product is supposed to be the same in function as the SB5120 except that the SB5101 uses a slightly different chip set.
I chose to buy a cable modem so that I could replace the rental unit from the cable company. Make sure your cable company supports this cable modem before buying!
For my setup, I have my cable service from the evil Comcast, my cable modem, and an older Linksys wireless router. The day my Motorola cable modem arrived, I took it out of the box, glanced at the Quick setup guide, and plugged it in. I called Comcast, navigated through their Byzantine automated phone menu system, and read off the MAC ID to the tech services person. He did some stuff on his end to first recognize the new cable modem. Then he had to do some other configuration on his end because of the router. Once that was done, viola! We've been using the cable modem for the past week or so without incident.
To me this is the best kind of electronics product. It takes ~30 sec to hook it up, and once it's done, you can forget about it. It took longer to open the package (and much longer on the call with Comcast) than it took to hook it up.
73 of 74 found the following review helpful:
Helpful Hints for the Motorola 5101 Apr 25, 2009
By Senior
"Senior"
I bought the Motorola Surfboard 5101 a couple of weeks ago on Amazon. Think they must have gotten a new vendor because the price was about $15 cheaper and there were hundreds of reviews for this cable modem.
I just wanted to point out some things that I picked up from the other reviews. I am a Comcast customer and I wanted to avoid paying the $3/month rental charge for their RCA modem. When I connected the 5101 even though I had all green lights I still had no internet connection. That is because you have to call Comcast and tell them your new MAC ID number that is shown on the modem. This is not pointed out anywhere in the instructions. The Comcast tech did not ask for my serial number. After a few minutes he made the change and said everything was OK.
I rebooted the modem and computer but I still could not connect to the net. I remembered from other reviews that it takes about ten or fifteen minutes for the change to take place. After 15 minutes I rebooted everything and I had my internet connection.
Also there is no mention that the 5101 works with Vista. Thought I might have to download some drivers but I didn't. It works just fine with Vista.
After two weeks the 5101 modem has been working with no problems. I do use that Standby button when I am not connected to the net just because all those green lights are a distraction.
Hope this helps.
101 of 106 found the following review helpful:
Speedy cable modem, easy installation Apr 23, 2007
By Dawn L. Darling
We just ordered th SB-5120 from Fry's, and they sent this model instead. The SB-5101 has almost identical specifications, just the case is a little different, and I guess the 5120 includes TurboDOCS software. We previously had an old Toshiba, which has given stellar service for 5 years, but we decided it was time to replace it before it failed. The Motorola Surfboard was very easy to install, just plug in the ethernet cable to the router (or to your PC), connect the coaxial cable and plug in the power. There is no need to install software or drivers unless you want to use a USB connection. We also had to call Cox Highspeed Internet to give their tech support the new serial number and MAC address of the new cable modem (the Cox website neglects to tell you this step). That was the hardest part of the whole process - it took about 20 minutes, taking into account resetting and rebooting the system at their request. I am not sure that this modem is any faster than the old one, but we have a low signal on our line to start with.
Overall it was very easy to set up and has been fast and reliable. It plays nicely with our router, and has caused no problems in constant daily use on a home network with 4 computers.
53 of 54 found the following review helpful:
Very good cable modem Dec 01, 2007
By DKT
"Don"
I have been a Comcast high-speed Internet customer for about 5 years. The modem Comcast provided as part of a package deal was a Motorola Surfboard 4100. About 4 months ago, I noticed that I was getting barely more than 1/2 the speed I was paying for, which was 6Mbps. I complained to tech support. They sent a technician out and within 3 sec. after walking into my office, he said, "Oh...I know exactly what the problem is; you have an 'end-of-life' modem. You need to upgrade to a 2.1 DOCSIS modem, and I would recommend a Motorola Surfboard as one of the best." So I got on my favorite shopping site, Amazon, and bought one. Not only did it work perfectly from day one, my average download speed on Speakeasy.net is ~22Mbps -- almost 6 1/2 times what I was getting with the old Surfboard -- and the upload speed increased from ~364Kbps to ~1.6Mbps.
Would other brands do as well? Probably, but I stuck with Motorola because the last one was 100% reliable; never had a problem. The only reason it was not delivering the speed is because Comcast's system had changed and the old modem's software could not keep up with it. I also like the fact that Motorola moved the standby button to the top where it is more easily accessible. I have a new Vista computer and have to put the modem on Standby after putting the computer to sleep, because (not sure why) Internet activity tends to wake it back up.
I found it disappointing that Comcast apparently does not alert its customers when their modems are obsolete. If you're having a similar problem, check with your ISP. If you need to upgrade your modem, I highly recommend this one.
17 of 17 found the following review helpful:
Surfboard SB5101 Modem Mar 21, 2007
By DRG
Very simple to install (just plug it in), fair price, everybit as fast as the modem I was renting from my cable internet supplier for $3.00/month. You have to call your internet provider so they can do whatever they do to activate the modem in their system, which is easy enough--the tech guy I was talking to basically informed me that this is one of the best on the market.
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