Reddit reviews ARRIS SURFboard SB6141-RB 8x4 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem (Renewed)

Just an FYI since I've seen you reposting these a few times now, you're not likely to get much traction on the cable modem at that price: Refurb SB6141's with a warranty and prime shipping on amazon for $44 and refurbs go on sale all over the place, all the time. They're regularly on woot for $40, they're all over ebay, Newegg, etc.

$2 a month is not bad for renting at $24 a year. I have seen some as cheap as $30 so do the math over how long you will be needing to rent it.

Here is a refurbish for $30
https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SurfBoard-SB6141-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B00OMDZAV0

New https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-SB6141-DOCSIS-Cable/dp/B00AJHDZSI/ref=sr_1_3

I would not go with a cable modem router combo due to a single point of failure (SPOF). You can get a router cheap too these days.

First things first - the cable modem and the wifi router are two completely separate things. In your specific case, the two things are integrated in one device - but I highly recommend not doing so.

Comcast charges a ridiculous amount of money for the "modem rental". Are you renting your modem/router from Comcast? If so, I highly recommend buying your own cable modem and wifi router. You will recoup the cost in just a few months from the rental savings. I'm saying this from personal experience - after spending 3 times the cost of the modem for just the rental fees.

The cable modem is a device which connects to your Comcast cable and lets you connect your other home devices to the modem. Even the cheapest most basic DOCSIS3 modem will support speeds that far surpass the actual internet speed you will buy from Comcast - and these are super reliable devices - so just buy the cheapest.

For example, this Arris refurbished model is available for $30. Non refurbished is $50 - although refurbished is honestly just fine. Consider that I was paying 8 bucks a month for the modem rental while I could have bought my modem outright for 30 bucks.

Now for the wifi router. This is mostly the real reason why people complain of poor internet speeds. And often this is because of poor wifi coverage to begin with - i.e. the wifi signal is simply not strong enough in all your rooms. As someone else said, the best thing you can do is to place your wifi router high up and in a central location that has the best "line of sight" to most rooms. Typically a central passageway, mounted high up on the wall. You would connect to your cable modem with an ethernet cable, by the way.

In my case, upgrading to a better more powerful wifi router with 4 antennas (from 2) made a huge difference. From my experience, I can recommend this Asus model which has 4 antennas and costs $67. There are many other models you can research and buy. It has run non-stop for over a year without requiring a reboot or without any of the flakiness I had with my other router that would randomly shut down or reboot itself. Wirecutter recommends TPLink Archer C7 which also costs $70 and they say it has really good coverage. Avoid the more expensive "802.11 AC" routers. This AC technology is great but is honestly overkill for your needs, just as you don't need to buy some expensive cable modem.

By the way, you can also download an app on your phone that will tell you how good your wifi coverage is in different parts of your house or establishment. Just search for "wifi coverage" or "wifi analyzer" in your app store. As someone also said, there are some advanced tweaks you can do. See this article, if you are so inclined.

Lastly, besides your wifi signal coverage and strength and quality of wifi router, your internet connection itself needs to be reasonably fast to support multiple users. Nowadays, everyone is streaming videos and such on their smartphones so everyone "needs" high bandwidth or fast internet. And all these multiple videos streaming quickly eat up your internet connection's bandwidth. What is interesting is that there isn't that much of a price difference between the different Comcast options. Or to put it another way, there is no $40 or $50 option at all. 25mbps is quite low to be honest - at least when multiple people hammering away at your internet. It is not horrible or anything - in fact it is perfectly decent for average home use - it is just not blazingly fast. There is a $10 difference between 25mbps and 100mbps, and a $3 jump to 200mbps. So if you don't mind the extra $13, you are in serious blazing fast territory. Consider that Netflix takes about 3-10mbps, so you can imagine that 200mbps will give you a lot of room and speed even with multiple users logged in and streaming high quality video. Else, you can start with 25mbps after you make all the other improvements to your setup, see how it goes. Then you can easily upgrade to 200mbps if needed.

Their modem costs money, buy your own. Even a non-refurbished modem will pay off within two years. Grab a router too, but I won't even suggest one because your needs for size of the house, wireless bands available (B, G, N, AC....) are worth looking into. You just have to have them come and type in the mac address for setup, though you should be able to call it in.

They are all contractors too as /u/foufcfk mentioned. Perpetually understaffed, and underpaid.

Also, tech was probably just being a tool. Whatever line is coming in you can move yourself. Just grab a crimping set for coaxial cable and leave this all behind in your head.

>It's not inexpensive

yep, a little pricey, but if you live in an apartment building and know the neighbors, you could offer them wifi for a fraction of the price and pay for it. Coworker paid $10 a month to his neighbor.


> Although my routers range is crap



If you have the xfinity modem/router combo then ditch it. I had friend get a new Motorola SB6141 modem and a (refurbished) NetGear R6250. I recommend that combo to anyone of my friends who complain about their comcast and sway them by telling them they get charged $7-10 a month from CC to lease it. For about $150 you save $7-10 month and you have a way better setup. If you do drop the cable internet then you still have a very good router and can resell that modem on CL. So far, I have three friends who use this setup and have no problems.

The modem cost $80-90 depending on where you buy it. It was on sale for $50 on amazon for a refurb, but no longer is. From my understanding, the difference between the White and the Black Sb6141 is that the white one is retail and the black one is sold to companies who recirculate it.

The router is $75, but is refurbished. Most people frown on refurbs, but this is from amazon so

1. you can always return it with in the first 30 days if it fucks up
   
2. buy the 2 year plan for like $5 when you check out.
   
   I've purchased 3 refurbs myself and never had an issue with them.

Shit, I have an sb6121.

edit: looks like the upgrade is the sb 6141

Don't do it. Get a modem and get a router. I'd get a cheap refurb modem as the standards are changing and prices will drop.

When the cable modem standard changes (or you change to an incompatible provider) you just unplug the router, plug it into the new device and everything is ready to go; all your devices have their password, all your guests and all the devices you forgot about still are connected.

You didn't mention speeds or carrier so it's hard to spec it for you. I have had several friends get this router and recommended it many times and had zero complaints. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IUDUJE0/

I'd just get a cheap refurb router from Amazon, Arris SB6141 (these were $30 but jumped up to $40 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OMDZAV0 ) or SB6183 (dropped to $45 https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-SB6183-RB-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B01ERK1JLM )and plug it in. Look and see what devices your provider supports and the speeds they support (my 6141 is up to 343Mbps but some carriers only support it to 110Mbps, I've had this refurb for 3 years and it's running great).

So what you are renting is the modem which is that Optimum Arris 822. You can easilly buy this 6141 and stop paying them the $5-$10 a month to rent. Just call ahead or check your ISP website to see if they have a list of pre-approved or not.

The Airport Express is meant to be an express router. You may have the Airport Extreme but it is possible you are using that device as a router.

You're probably going to want to purchase a router with better range. Netgear is a popular consumer friendly option and a quick amazon or google should point you towards the one that fits your price range. A budget of $70+ would be preferable.

> Edit: I also I already plan on buying the Motorola SB6190, is that a bad choice?

Save yourself some money and grab one of these. No reason to waste money on a modem that's much faster than your service. It's so cheap you can always sell it and get something else if you need to upgrade.

Get this modem, it's cheap and good https://www.amazon.com/SurfBoard-SB6141-DOCSIS-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B00OMDZAV0/

here is 39 on amazon https://www.amazon.com/SurfBoard-SB6141-DOCSIS-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B00OMDZAV0?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0 modem and get that router on newegg, contact your cable company to have modem activated instead of trheirs and return their rental. router you set yourself .

Amazon has this one for only $30 if your connection is less than 300mbps.

I have seem then for as low as $20 for some models. The biggest risk with buying a refurb modem is that the MAC address may already be associated with another account and you can't always have them removed. Call your ISP as soon as you get it and make sure that it will work. If not, just send it back because amazon makes returns easy.

For cable (coax), if your buying your own modem you need this, then many have good results from this inexpensive router/WiFi. Asus router/WiFi's are good too, many here also suggest the Ubuiquiti line....almost any current technology is better than the the leased equipment.

Also I came across this, for tuning the WiFi settings, it references an Asus router/WiFi but might help if you can transfer the settings to whichever WiFi equipment your using.

I've been using this ARRIS Surfboard SB6141 refurb for two years now with 200mbit service. I hit about 230 with it.

Or there's a higher end version for $10 more here.

EDIT: Just saw that you need wifi built in. Here's a ARRIS Surfboard SBG6700AC-RB w/ AC1600 modem/router combo unit for $69.

I used to use something similar to this Zoom modem. Then I had AT&T for a few years and was stuck being forced to use their crappy unit in bridge mode. When I went back to cable Internet, a family member gave me an Arris SB6182 that I've been using ever since.

If you're not planning on moving off the 75 Mbps plan you could probably get by with something like this

[This](http://www.amazon.com/SURFboard-SB6141-DOCSIS-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B00OMDZAV0/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1451792779&sr=1-5&keywords=ARRIS+SURFboard+SB6141
) is a decent one. Better than that rented POS.

Antenna is a very good thing and will save you quite a bit of data. OTA, you'll be able to pick up ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, PBS, and the subchannels on it. Post your TV Fool, and that will tell you what broadcasters are available in your area, as well as what type of antenna you need, and which direction to point it. That will get you anywhere from 4 channels to 60+ depending on your area. I personally get 18 channels for free OTA.

Regarding speed, 25/2 should be fine, as for streaming in HD, Netflix recommends a 5Mbps connection per streaming device. Buying your own router and modem would save you money, as you wouldn't have to pay the rental fees any longer. Here is the Comcast approved Modem list. I'm partial to Surfboard modems, as I'm still rocking a 10-year-old SB5101, and it works plenty fine for my needs. It is advised that you have a separate router and modem, as if one unit goes TU, you can replace that with a new unit, and not have to buy a complete AiO package again. You can get a SB6141 for $54 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-SB6141-RB-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B00OMDZAV0/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1538714118&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=sb6141&psc=1

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https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-N450-Wi-Fi-Router-TL-WR940N/dp/B003Y5RYNY/ref=pd_bxgy_147_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B003Y5RYNY&pd_rd_r=12c1fbb5-c858-11e8-9abb-7d2cd28fbd32&pd_rd_w=B3NVq&pd_rd_wg=hixrV&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3f9889ac-6c45-46e8-b515-3af650557207&pf_rd_r=RMSV9JQNBEK2AXMWGW91&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=RMSV9JQNBEK2AXMWGW91

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This is what I was running before I upgraded, the router is really up to you and how much you want to spend. If you aren't pushing too much bandwidth just get something cheap, There is a Asus router everyone loves that goes on sale at Tmobile every once in a while that you can flash with a custom firmware that makes it act like the next higher model, I just can't remember the name of it.

I prefer modem and router seperately. If you go that route I would recommend this modem: https://www.amazon.com/SurfBoard-SB6141-DOCSIS-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B00OMDZAV0/

Mediacom can be great if you live in the right area. I have been in a spot where it constantly fluctuated, but right now where I live (NE side) it is solid. I don't know how it is near the hospital.

The modem takes your ISPs service and makes it usable for 1 static device. A router acts as that static device and makes your service usable for multiple devices on its own internal network. You need both functions, whether in 1 device or 2+. A modem is a relatively straightforward device that will not vary in core functionality, whereas a router can vary wildly in features, functions, price, speed, range, etc. Usually the router+modem combo units have crappy routers.

I recommend getting a regular DOCSIS 3.0+ modem, perhaps like this and then a separate router, try this search

Post your logs from the modem/router thing. We can determine if it's the modem or line.

or buy any one of these and a router.

https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-SB6141-RB-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B00OMDZAV0/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1524341602&sr=1-6&keywords=arris%2Bsurfboard&dpID=41U9A4DF3CL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch&th=1

Here:

• https://smile.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-SB6141-RB-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B00OMDZAV0
  
• https://smile.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-EdgeRouter-Advanced-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B00YFJT29C
  
• https://smile.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Unifi-Ap-AC-Lite-UAPACLITEUS/dp/B015PR20GY