My husband bought this modem for his parents, not believing me when I told him their cable company would provide their modem. He waited way too long to return it, and it’s been sitting on my nightstand for so long, I don’t remember when he bought it.
It’s a motorola SURFboard eXtreme Cable Modem - apparently designed for gamers (I have NO idea why he got this for his folks - they can barely manage email…)
Model SB6120 - still in its original packaging. It’s free to the first person who is willing to pay postage to have it shipped from southern Maryland. PM me or email me at my username at yahoo. Please! I want this gone and I hate to toss it in the trash.
Buying a cable modem is often a good idea, as they usually make you pay ~$100 or more a year for a piece of crap. Buying a Motorola 61xx series for $50-60 is a good move if you’re sure you will keep the cable service for two years or more.
They’re in Ocala, FL - I think Bright House is their provider. And in their case, it’s really better for all involved for them to use the company’s modem, even if they’re paying a monthly fee. No one in the family lives close enough to help them out if they have computer/modem problems, so if their modem fails, they just call Bright House and it’s handled.
Times have changed. My cable company, Charter, now offers 100% free modems (no install charge if you do it yourself) with DOCSIS 3.0. Why should I buy one that *might *work when Charter gives me one free that is guaranteed to work?
I don’t know if this is a regional policy, but I used to live in a Charter service area (moved out last summer) and they don’t even allow new customers to use their own modems anymore. I got grandfathered in because I owned one already (and they DID charge modem rental fees at that time) but every single time I called to complain about their miserable speeds, they’d immediately point the finger at what they disdainfully called “customer-owned equipment.”
At one point the connection went completely dead, and after a lot of back-and-forth over the phone they grudgingly agreed to send a technician to my home. The guy put on this little show of bugging his eyes out at my Zoom modem and saying, “I haven’t seen one of THOSE in YEARS! I better install one of ours!” (My modem was less than one year old.) Upon further investigation, it turned out that someone had accidentally disconnected my line at a junction box.
Terrible company. I never thought I’d be relieved to get back with Comcast, but somehow Charter accomplished that feat.