Trouble with Arris Surfboard SB6141

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Level 1

12 points

Trouble with Arris Surfboard SB6141

Hi all! I switched to Time Warner Cable today for my ISP, and had purchased an Arris SB6141 cable modem to save on the rental fees. I own the newest model of airport extreme, and my Mac is running OS X Yosemite v. 10.10.5. I cannot get either the AE or Mac to recognize the cable modem. TWC could ping the modem and I can directly connect my work laptop to the modem and connect. I have searched and tried many of the suggestions on the other posts, without success.

I am not an IT specialist, so any assistance at a basic level would be appreciated, including recommendations or suggestions on a different modem to purchase.

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 9, 2016 7:36 PM

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Answer 1

Bob Timmons

Level 10

186,980 points

Sep 9, 2016 7:58 PM in response to SafetyGuyOK

I cannot get either the AE or Mac to recognize the cable modem. TWC could ping the modem and I can directly connect my work laptop to the modem and connect.

When you purchased the modem and hooked it up.....you then had to call TWC to get the modem authorized to work with their service, correct?

TWC likely asked you for the ID of the modem, also known as a MAC Address, correct?

What computer was connected to the modem when TWC "authorized" the modem for their service? Was it the work laptop?

I have searched and tried many of the suggestions on the other posts, without success.

We don't know what you have searched and tried.....and don't really want to ask you to do things that you have already done. Please provide a summary of the things that you have tried as a result of your search.

Finally and unfortunately, the SB6141 is known to have issues with the Apple routers.....or vice versa depending on your view. Both are good products......but they just don't seem to work that well together for some users.

Here is just a short sample of posts to verify this issue: https://discussions.apple.com/search?q=sb6141

So, you may need to make a decision between keeping the modem and trying another router, or keeping the AirPort Extreme and trying another brand of modem.

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

156,554 points

Sep 10, 2016 6:11 AM in response to SafetyGuyOK

I'd get a different modem. The Motorola SB5101 is a reliable alternative. They are abundant on the used market, and practically free. Get two and keep one as a spare.

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Answer 3

SafetyGuyOK Author

Level 1

12 points

Sep 10, 2016 6:10 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Hi Bob, thank you for the reply. Like I said I'm not IT savvy, so here is what I've tried:

I pulled the power cable from the cable modem and the AE
I called TWC support, they said they could ping the modem, but not access the settings and pointed me to Arris tech support
I worked with Arris tech support and reset the modem to the factory settings (although I think nothing really changed)
I found one post discussing changing the AE's setting to NAT (I can no longer find that post)
I reset the AE and reattached everything this morning, still nothing
I have switched out ethernet cables several times

I did just come across your post on 2/11/2016, and will try that.

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Answer 4

SafetyGuyOK Author

Level 1

12 points

Sep 10, 2016 6:10 AM in response to John Galt

John, thanks! That is my next plan since I can still return the modem, but not the AE.

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Answer 5

Bob Timmons

Level 10

186,980 points

Sep 10, 2016 6:26 AM in response to SafetyGuyOK

Can you post a link to the 2/11/2016 thread?

Do you want to continue to try to set up the SB6141 to see if it might work?

A guess at this point is that the modem is not fully resetting, so it will not recognize any device except your work computer. Until the modem fully resets, it won't work with any other device.

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Answer 6

SafetyGuyOK Author

Level 1

12 points

Sep 10, 2016 6:29 AM in response to Bob Timmons

My apple Airport Express will not connect to my modem ARRIS Surfboard SB6141

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Answer 7

Bob Timmons

Level 10

186,980 points

Sep 10, 2016 6:34 AM in response to SafetyGuyOK

Follow those instructions carefully, especially the part about leaving the modem powered off for at least 30 minutes....60 or more would be better.

If you can get things up and running, the next hurdle will be to see if the modem and AirPort will stay connected for 3-4 days, or whether you lose the Internet connection after only a few hours or a day. A loss of connection will indicate that the modem and AirPort just don't like each other.

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