#1:ARRIS (SB8200) - Cable Modem - Fast DOCSIS 3.1 , Approved for Comcast Xfinity, Cox, Charter Spectrum, & more | 1 Gbps Max Internet Speed, 4 OFDM Channels
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Customer reviews
Works With Optimum
If you’re going be one of the unfortunate ones that have to be an Optimum customer, this modem works with their service. I refuse to pay rental fees to Optimum because they’re already nickel and diming their customers into poverty and finding a modem that’s compatible with their service is like finding a leprechaun riding a unicorn. Well here it is. No, it’s not the cheapest option but it works and handles the speeds above 1gig. Spent about 10 minutes on the phone having it activated but once it was done it’s incredibly faster than the old Arris I had. 989 meg down and 39 up. For optimum that’s good with their 1gig cable service. Their upload speeds will always be trash because of the way they have their cable residential customers networked.
Quick, easy installation on Spectrum; huge speed increase; replace Cat5 cables with Cat5e or higher
This is a review of the ARRIS (SB8200) - Cable Modem.
Tip: Before selecting a new cable modem, go to the website of your ISP and review their list of "approved" cable modems. You could also call your ISP to find an "approved" modem. Your ISP may prefer that you to use one of their modems. Sometimes their modems are provided at no additional cost, so you might be able to save some money. I verified that this Arris SB8200 cable modem was on the "approved" list for my local ISP (Spectrum). While I am very happy with the Arris SB8200, you might consider finding an "approved" modem that has come out more recently (a newer model).
Short review: I recently replaced my 10-year-old cable modem with the Arris SB8200 modem. I am on a 400 Mbps (megabit per second) plan with Spectrum. With the new modem, internet speed more than quadrupled (to 480 Mbps). I am quite pleased. I have read reviews by people who claimed to have had bad experiences using this modem on a Sprectrum system, but I had no problem whatsoever. Installation and activation were very easy and quick. The self-installation via the web did not work for me, but I easily activated the new modem with a quick phone call with Spectrum (no wait on phone; less than 10 minutes to activate). I discovered some problems with my home network that I discuss below, but these were completely unrelated to the new Arris modem
Have MAC ID (from box or modem label) before you activate: You must report the MAC ID for the new modem to your ISP to activate, so have it handy before you start.
Important Tip: The rest of this review concerns internet speed issues from causes other than the modem. The most important lesson learned: Make sure you replace all your old-style Cat5 Ethernet cables with newer Cat5e or Cat6 cables. Cat5 cables are limited to 100 Mbps (megabits per second) and may be “bottlenecking” your system.
My system: My home was built with an Ethernet system that supplies at least one Ethernet outlet in every room. I have been using Ethernet instead of WiFi. The Cat5e Ethernet cables supplying this system come together in a central distribution box, which houses the cable modem and a router. In some rooms, Ethernet switches (splitters) are used to share an Ethernet outlet among several devices. Of course, internet speed may drop due to any of these components.
Before installation:
-- Studied the Quick Start/Installation guide (available online) before modem arrived.
-- Watched a 4-minute Sprectrum video on how to install a new cable modem.
-- Learned what the various lights on the modem mean (including solid and flashing lights).
Cable modem installation with Spectrum:
Note: For this installation, Spectrum service was already established (on old modem).
-- Turned off computer
-- Connected modem directly to computer with a new Ethernet cable (Cat5e), bypassing router and home Ethernet system
-- Turned on modem: Based on behavior of lights, modem appeared to update its firmware (automatically). After about 6 minutes, lights indicated modem was ready.
-- Turned on computer: Opened web browser and attempted to go to the Spectrum self-install web page. Would not connect.
-- Called Sprectrum to activate modem: Gave the MAC ID of new modem to pleasant costumer service rep. After updating the MAC ID, rep remotely reset modem.
-- Ran speed test: Speed had been 90 Mbps with old modem, it was over 400 Mbps with new modem. (Glory be!)
Lessons learned about home’s Ethernet system:
-- After the modem had been activated, I moved it into the Ethernet cable distribution box and hooked it up to the old router. Ethernet speed was only 90 Mbps, just like when using the old modem. Hmmm.
-- Installed the new router, Ethernet speed was still only 90 Mbps. Hmmm.
-- Turned on WiFi and connected computer via WiFi: Speed jumped to over 400 Mbps. Great!
-- Turned off WiFi to test Ethernet system. The switches/splitters are gigabit rated, so I hoped they were not the cause of the "bottlenecking."
-- Replaced all the Ethernet cables with new Cat5e cables: Ethernet speed jumped to 480 Mbps. Problem solved!
-- Besides higher internet speeds for the computers, Youtube videos on the television are much, much improved. Very pleased.
Summary: Your new Arris modem may (by itself) enable you to get much higher internet speeds. However, make sure all of your network gear (router, switches/splitters, and cables) can support 1 Gbps (gigabit per second). For example, if you have Cat5 cable anywhere in your system, your speed will be limited to 100 Mbps, so replace them with Cat5e or higher cables.
Works properly for at lest a month.
It does what it is supposed to do. It is nice to be able to have this in the corner of the house where the cable comes in and then have the main wifi hub in the center of the house where it has the best performance. I set this up with six decos in a 5000 square foot house and we have perfect seamless internet everywhere. Way better than using an all-in-one unit. It also gives you the flexibility to upgrade wifi late without replacing the modem, since modem tech is way ahead of and more mature than wifi tech.
Large File Upload Issue Resolved!
Technology advancement obsoleted my 12 year old Motorola SB6121 cable modem. My Xfinity internet connection would drop for 90 seconds when I uploaded a large file to a Google Drive folder. I started eliminating one component at a time, until I basically connected my laptop directly into the modem, and large file uploads were still failing.
When I started investigating, I learned that the SB6121 was no longer a supported modem in the Xfinity network. A random blog post suggested replacing anything over 8-10 years before spending/buying expensive support time.
I struggled when choosing a new modem. Should I pay more or less? Docsis 3.0 or 3.1? And Motorola, now Arris, doesn't have the best reviews. In the end because of my good experience with Motorola (aka Arris) Surfboard modems, I stuck with Arris and purchased this more expensive Docsis 3.1 modem. The risk you take at buying a Docsis3.0 modem is that it'll be obsoleted sooner and have to go through the who troubleshooting/decide what to get problem.
Cable modems are simple devices. There's no buttons. It's just a couple of connections, power, and LEDs. But the "activation in the Xfinity app" didn't work for me. I had to get on Xfinity chat support, but the India agent did a great job (although it still took about a half hour).
All in all, it took me 3 hours to swap in the new modem, including reconnecting all my devices and getting the Tivo MOCA network back online. The file upload issue is gone. The Tivo is a little snappier. And my wifi speed jumped from about 120Mbps down/20Mbps up to about 400Mbps down/25Mbps up... over wifi (ax). (Direct connect laptop into the modem was about 950Mbps down/40Mbps up (paying for 800Mbps))
Oh yeah. One more thing. Comcast tried to sell me an XB7 modem-wifi gateway for $15 and I turned them down. 1) I want to control my own gateway, 2) Not keen at giving up bandwidth to strangers, 3) Maybe it's a security hole, 4) Wasn't clear if it was a one time total $15 or $15/month, but I'm betting $15/month - Eff That! If I'm giving away bandwidth to strangers, Comcast needs to PAY ME!
Worked great for 58 days - then it didn't - Thanks Comcast
UPDATE 3 **************
You can read my sad tale below if you choose. But a quick summary may suffice. I got the SB8200 and it worked for 58 days. It then stopped working. It was replaced by Arris but the second modem did not work, either. That modem was replaced by Arris and the third modem did not work. The odds of getting three bad modems were pretty near zero so attention turned to Comcast. A tech came out and confirmed that the SNR was way low and the signal levels were out of bounds. He ran a new cable to the Comcast distribution box and installed a new splitter. The third modem connected immediately and worked perfectly. The fact that my old modem (not a docsis 3.1) worked had initially suggested that the problem was the new modem instead of the Comcast line.
Arris support was GREAT through all this. I got right through to a live tech after about 3-5 rings (after their voice menu system answered and directed my call). They replaced the modems quickly (I had to send old modem back via ground - free return shipping - but they sent replacement modem via next day delivery). This is some of the best support of any company I deal with. It is pretty much the opposite of Comcast where getting to a live agent can be very difficult.
This review was originally a 2 star but is now a 5 star - and I would give Arris support 6 stars if I could.
ORIGINAL POST *********************
I have had this modem for 58 days. It was working well connected to Xfinity. Good download speed. Then, today it became intermittent. It ran for a couple of minutes, then lost internet connection, then was back but at slower download speed. Then it was running fine. That pattern continued to repeat. I had hoped it was an Xfinity issue, but I reconnected my previous modem and everything is working just fine.
Before purchase I had read the bad reviews, but there were way more good reviews so I hoped that I would be one of those customers that got a "good one". Nope. Besides EVERY modem I looked at had about the same number of bad reviews. Many saying - don't buy this. So what is one to do?
UPDATE **************
I contacted Arris customer support. I got through to a tech IMMEDIATELY. He said they needed to check the modem while it was online. Since I had already installed by backup modem, I had to contact Comcast and switch my MAC address back to the Arris and get in connected. I then called Arris back and again was connected to a tech, immediately. The reason this is a 2 star rather than a 1 star is because of the ease of contacting support. The tech looked at the modem stats and agreed it was bad. After a 5 minute delay while he consulted with a supervisor, he approved my return of the modem. He emailed me a prepaid shipping label and said they would send a new modem to me as soon as they received the old one back.
So what Arris may lack in quality, they do mostly make up for in good customer support. Realistically, any product can fail, so the experience in dealing with a failed product is an important part of the buying process. Arris support gets 4 stars from me - one star off for making me reinstall the modem so they can verify it was bad. Though that was a perfectly reasonable request from them, I had pretty good evidence of my assertion that it was their modem which was the issue.
Update 2 **********
I got the replacement modem. I spent about 90 minutes on the phone with Xfinity and Arris customer support trying to get that modem working with Xfinity. We could not get the modem to work - it seemed like it was working for a few seconds here and there. So I am sending this replacement back and will get yet another replacement (for the replacement). Hopefully the 3rd times the charm.
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