advice on 'best' cable modem to buy.....

Question

Level 1

107 points

advice on 'best' cable modem to buy.....

Our current Motorola modem is dying. Have had it forever. I am having to reset it every morning. So we are in the market for a new modem. Any advice on what to buy, look for, etc. is much appreciated. Or does it matter? Could I just run to WalMart or Radio Shack and buy one that says it's Mac compatible?
We have 3 computers- mine which is a MBP (2.2mhz, running Leopard), a MacBook(2.4mhz, running Leopard) and a G4 (733mhz, running Tiger). We have a new Airport Extreme (the old Airport died a couple of months back). Of course I want it easy to set up..... ;-> Thanks for any advice! Muchly appreciated. Judy

15" MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.5), 2.2mhz/200G hard drive/24" second monitor

Posted on Nov 23, 2008 6:47 AM

Reply

Answer 1

nerowolfe

Level 6

13,090 points

Nov 23, 2008 9:34 AM in response to mrstee

Doesn't your cable company provide one? I don't even own mine - it belongs to the cable company and they have replaced it once before, free, when it did not work properly.
Not all modems will connect with all cable systems. I would call your cable company for an answer to your question.

Reply

Answer 2

Nov 23, 2008 9:47 AM in response to mrstee

mrstee wrote:
Our current Motorola modem is dying. Have had it forever. I am having to reset it every morning. So we are in the market for a new modem. Any advice on what to buy, look for, etc. is much appreciated.

Cable modems are cable modems. Buy one with ethernet, stay away from ones requiring USB.

Reply

Answer 3

Nov 23, 2008 10:03 AM in response to mrstee

mrstee wrote:
Our current Motorola modem is dying. Have had it forever. I am having to reset it every morning. So we are in the market for a new modem. Any advice on what to buy, look for, etc. is much appreciated. Or does it matter? Could I just run to WalMart or Radio Shack and buy one that says it's Mac compatible?

Most cable companies will have a place on their site where you can get a list of modems that are compatible with their system. Also, where I live, you can get a package deal at Best Buy or Circuit City with a cable modem and service with the dominant carrier (Comcast). I just bought the modem that was a part of that package, only without the service.

Just make sure you get ethernet and not USB.

charlie

Reply

Answer 4

Nov 23, 2008 10:07 AM in response to nerowolfe

nerowolfe wrote:
Doesn't your cable company provide one?

They rent them here for $3 a month. When they messed with the network and made my rented one obsolete, I got such a screaming deal on a modem that I figured it only had to last for 10 months before I came out ahead if I just bought it. I've had it three or four years.

charlie

Reply

Answer 5

nerowolfe

Level 6

13,090 points

Nov 23, 2008 10:18 AM in response to Marc Wilson

Marc Wilson wrote:
Cable modems are cable modems.

Perhaps by definition but not in reality. My cable modem is a very specialized modem supplied by the cable company. It includes an optional phone service and will not connect to the cable system unless it is registered and the MAC checks out.
Some modems such as LinkSys allow MAC spoofing in order to connect to a system such as the one I use, but to lump all cable modems together is incorrect.

Buy one with ethernet, stay away from ones requiring USB.

Only if it is compatible with the cable service.
All cable modems are not interchangeable.
Some cable companies encrypt the data for privacy, and there is no standard for the type of signal that is on the incoming line.

Reply