Customer Reviews

Motorola External Cable Modem (SB4200)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was renting the Motorola SB3100 and replaced it with this model. Installation was as simple as calling the cable company with the new MAC address, plugging in the cables, and turning on the computer.

Now that I will not be paying a monthly modem rental, this modem will pay for itself in just a few months.

This modem also has a couple features that the SB3100 did not. It is upgradeable to DOCSIS 1.1 and it has a standby button that allows you to cut your computer from the internet without powering down.

I returned the cable company's rent-a-modem 2 hours after unpacking the Motorola. I have dynamic IP svc (unfortunately), so all that was required for setup was plugging it in and rebooting. (A call to the cable service was required to register the unit MAC ID). The DOCSIS 1.0 certification assures you it will work with most any cable provider, and the downloadable upgrade to DOCSIS 1.1 standard is simple. Also, I like the choice of ethernet (RJ14) or USB connectivity and the new "standby" switch. Lastly, the internal transformer means the power plug is a normal size, so it can be plugged in on my desk without hogging the whole powerstrip. Nice modem, nice price!

Like many others, I was looking to replace my leased modem with my own modem. I purchased the Toshiba PCX1100u based on many reviews here and elsewhere. The modem worked great, but after about 2 hours it would drop out and quit working. Reconfigured it several times with the ISP, but same problem showed up. Returned it and bought the Motorola SB4200. Hooked it up and was off and running within 2 minutes. It has never dropped out and I'm experiencing speeds that are faster than the old leased 3Com modem.

I have cox high-speed cable access and have been through a few other companies cable modem rentals. This time I bought the Motorola after looking at several and the one feature that I didn't find on any other modem was the STANDBY feature. Just press the button on the top and put the modem on standby. It is a great security feature and I just don't see why more modems don't have it.

When our original cable modem died, Time Warner (our cable/broadband provider) replaced it with the SB4200. Unlike others, we never had to pay a monthly rental fee on our cable modem, but getting the SB4200 was definitely a step up from the unit we had before. In fact, it was the unit we were considering purchasing when we thought all the cable company would do is replace our existing unit with an identical make/model.

All of our lost connection problems and modem retraining failures were ended when the tech activated our SB4200. It went in without a hitch, and our network's a fairly complex (for a suburban home) setup with 2 wired PC desktops, 1 wireless PC desktop, 1 WAP (Wireless Access Point), 1 wireless laptop (a Mac G4 Powerbook with an Airport card) and a Linksys 4 port wired router.

I especially like the modem's standby button, although we neglect to activate it routinely so we miss out on any additional network security it might provide.

I have owned this modem for almost 10 years, using it on a constant basis. I recently had a day of spotty service from my Cable Internet Provider. I called and the agent told me my modem was outdated and was on the "kill" list. We waxed poetic about how reliable it is and I mentioned that it sucks to finally find a piece of easy-peasy worry-free technology that just WORKS, only to have it become obsolete by my cable company's "upgrade". Ugh!

He told me this is a DOCSIS 1 modem and they are now running at DOCSIS 2, and soon, DOCSIS 3. So, buyer beware. He said I could upgrade to a DOCSIS 2, but buying a DOCSIS 3 would prevent me from having to upgrade yet again in the near future.


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... If you have a rental cable modem from your high speed internet service provider (ISP), switching to the Motorola SB4200 is the way to go; the money saved by not paying for the rental will pay for the modem in 5 months. As other reviewers have also pointed out, installation is relatively simple and the Standby feature is a plus. You will need to call your ISP to give them the "MacID" when you switch to this modem and, obviously, return your rental cable modem.

With the recent rebate offer for this modem, the cost was right for me to finally stop renting my cable modem from the cable company (an older RCA model), and save the monthly rental fee.

I got the modem, looked at the documentation on the CD that came with it (there really should have been some more printed documentation in the package), and verified how I'd connect everything together. My scenario is that I mostly play around on the PC on the second floor to do surfing and personal e-mail, etc, but my home office PC is in the basement on the opposite side of the house, and that's where I have the cable modem physically connected. The Home Office PC has an ethernet connection to a Panasonic Gateway (KX-HGW200) which in turn is connected to the cable modem. The gateway is used to network to my 'fun'/personal PC on the second floor through HomePNA (home phone networking adapter) so that I didn't have to wire Cat5 cabling throughout the house. Since I'd been running this 'home network' configuration for the past year, I know its a stable way of sharing my cable modem access, and all I had to do was unplug my old rented RCA modem, and swap it with my new Motorola modem. Once that was done, I wrote down the MAC ID (written on the label on the back of the Motorola modem), and called Comcast to tell them I had replaced the rental modem with my newly purchased modem. I gave them the make, model and serial number of my new modem (they only use the serial number to enter into their system so that they can see that you no longer have a serial number from a rental modem on your account), then I gave them my new MAC id (the physical id of the new modem). After being on hold for a bit, they came back on the line and said I was all set. I re-powered the modem, then after a minute I reset the Panasonic Gateway, and I opened a new browser window on the PC upstairs (through the Home PNA network) and I was surfing the internet with no problems. I did a speed test, and everything is working fine. I was at about 1400Kbps receiving.
BTW, don't expect that by replacing an older rental modem you are going to increase your bandwidth/speed. Your connection speed will basically be the same (which is why I ran the speed test, to ensure nothing had gone wrong), but the purpose for buying the modem is that after a while you will re-coup your purchase cost and start saving money because you won't be paying a monthly rental fee for the modem.

I got this modem from Circuit City. This was the only cable modem they sell. I got it up and running in my first attempt.
My connection seem to be very fast.
This modem has a special standby button. I found it very useful. I can get on and off the Internet by a press of this button. This is a great security feature. I looked at several competitors offerings and none of them has anything like that.
I don't usually like motorola's products, especially cell phones but this cable modem is a keeper.

I read the good and the bad reviews before I bought this modem. Since most of the reviews were above average and being an approved modem for Comcast I decided to give it a try. After hooking it up to my computer(2min.) I called Comcast (Used to be AT+T)and I had it up and running in a few min. .Now I don't have to pay the leasing fee for the Comcast cable modem. I have been using the new cable modem with no problem for a couple of weeks and I am getting the usual fast surfing speeds.The standby feature I like because it disconnects you from the internet but still keeps the modem on and ready. What can I say....its a great product!