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Makakoa602's avatar
Makakoa602
New Contributor
2 years ago

Looking for a good modem

Hello, I am looking for a good modem for the Ultimate Plan.

I thought I would get the ARRIS / Surfboard SB6190 but then saw something about the issue with the Puma 6 chipset.

I wanted a modem that had 32x 8 channels but can't seem to find one that will work with the Ultimate Plan and not have  a Puma 6 Chipset.

Any modem recommendations?

Is 32x8 channels better than 24x8 channels will it make that much of a difference? 

Please help me choose the right modem for the Ultimate Plan.

  • I haven't had any issues with my SB8200.    It seems unforgiving to some signal issues that I have had in the past.   

  • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
    WiderMouthOpen
    Esteemed Contributor

    If budget isn't a issue, I suggest the Arris S33 modem. BTW, do you have Ultimate Classic or Ultimate? What is your upload?

    • Lovemylab's avatar
      Lovemylab
      Contributor III

      It looks like Best Buy has the Arris S33 marked down to almost the same price as the Arris SB8200 right now. In that case, it would be my first choice if I had to pick something up.

      • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
        WiderMouthOpen
        Esteemed Contributor

        I see the S33 as 157$ and the SB8200 as 153$, so yea, same price just about. I also found this comparison between the two. The SB8200 seems to have more RAM, not sure if that matters performance wise or not. Also, I think it matters what hardware version of the SB8200 you get.

  • Lovemylab's avatar
    Lovemylab
    Contributor III

    Simplistically, I would recommend getting a current DOCSIS 3.1 model that is a stand-alone modem. I have only used Arris and Motorola modems in recent years so I can't comment usefully on the Netgear units. I'd suggest comparing the Motorola SB8600 and Arris SB8200 as a starting point and then consider whether you are missing any features that you need.

  • Bruce's avatar
    Bruce
    Honored Contributor III

    Your choice of internet modem is limited to what Cox allows on their network at Michael's link.  The Puma 6/7 defect was years ago and as Extra suggested, stick with DOCSIS 3.1.

    List of Puma DOCSIS 3.0 modems:
    approvedmodemlist.com/.../

  • It was always my understanding that Puma 6 was the only 32x8 DOCSIS chipset ever produced.  I believe this chipset design was also used in a lot of SoC's installed in entry level PC's at the time which would explain some odd out of box experiences I had with setting them up for clients.  If you go with a DOCSIS 3.1 modem you won't have to be concerned with any of the Puma 6 problems as they all primarily use Broadcomm based solutions.