Customer Reviews

Motorola SURFboard SBG900 DOCSIS 2.0 Wireless Cable Modem Gateway (Black)

5 star:		(153)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

I work in the computer/software industry and am generally critical of the cheap throw-away quality of most electronics. I was nervous about this purchase because I had read two other reviewers mention 1) The Motorola SBG900 allocated two IPs from the broadband provider such as Comcast if you connected more than one computer, and 2) the range was poor. I doubted the first, and I live in a small house for the second.

I have been using a DLINK wireless router for the last 1-1/2 yrs. Reliable but it has a high-pitched hum that is incredibly irritating. I returned the first, only to get another with the same whine, so I figured it was a manufacturing/component flaw. I stuffed it in a corner of the basement to keep from hearing it. This was my experience with my DLINK wireless router, not the Motorola.

So here's what I found re: the Motorola SBG900. Powered it up, Comcast prompted me to download their "installation software" when it detected an unknown cable modem, clicked Yes 5 times, and was on the Internet. Then I configured the wireless portion to match the WEP 128-bit settings from the powered-off DLINK (used the same SSID, Shared Key, etc.), activated the firewall, hid broadcast of the SSID, and both my laptop and desktop connected without a hitch. Even I was surpised. Their wireless NICs are DLINK and Intel, so compatibility wasn't an issue. I never even opened the manual which comes on the CD. I was happy to see a number of WPA (next generation) security options when selecting the encryption mode. However, I didn't bother with that now, but may later, since I'm already on 128-bit WEP. Also the range is the same as my older DLINK, so I'm very content with this purchase. Very happy to reduce the clutter by consolidating devices. Even in the world of MIMO and future technologies, 802.11G (54Mbs) is fine for my needs. I recommend this cable modem.

I don't know what the other reviewer did, but this thing works great, right out of the box! It was a no brainer. I traded in a Lynksys modem and Netgear WiFi router. THAT combo wouldn't let me videocam. This Motorola does!

But this Motorola was a much cheaper option, works with Comcast and supports webcams with no additional setup. I'm so glad I got it and HIGHLY recommend it. It's cheaper and takes up less space if you need to purchase both a modem and WiFi router. It was SO easy.

The SBG900 is a decent combination cable modem/wireless router, but it has some shortcomings that may or may not matter to you. There is no WAN uplink, so it can't be used as general gateway unless you are connected to the internet via the cable modem coax. There is only one wired ethernet port, so if you want to connect more than one wired device you'll need another piece of hardware. (There is also a USB-based internet connection, so you might be able to hook up two wired devices but I haven't tried it.) The firmware doesn't support MAC spoofing, which is a pain but not a showstopper for most people. The range is worse than I was expecting: The signal is mediocre from one room away, two rooms it is nearly unusable.

It was very easy to set up. I had it up and running in about 10 minutes, most of which was spent on the phone with comcast to give them the new MAC address. Configuring all the security options was pretty painless as well, and I haven't experienced any dropped connections or other problems since I set it up several days ago.

This unit is great for people who aren't looking for many features and don't need much range. Anyone else may find it lacking.

Why buy modem and router when U can have them both in one box ?? - it`s great space saver :) - i`v got very good signal in every place of my house - even outside. I can strongly recomend this item. Work perfect witch my build in wireles card in my laptop.

I just bought this excellent product! So far, it's working as advertised. We use it with my housemates - 1 desktop connected via ethernet cable, and 4 wireless laptops, one of which is more than >4 yr old thinkpad. It worked so fast without any prolem. Their technical support helped me in setting-up the wireless network via phone conversation without any waiting time.

Thanks for customer reviews from amazon, I get a glimpse on the actual experience of those who bought it ahead of me.

I will write a review again if I find a problem on this unit, which I hope I would not.

Edited: 25 Dec 06
i commented on this product after 1 wk of using it, and now it's almost 4 months and still i'm impressed with it. one review said that the range is not good, but i beg to disagree. it worked even when i'm on the yard and 5 apartment units from where i installed it and there is no degradation in quality. even when i use it simulatneously with my laptop, desktop, 3 housemates and 2 visitors, there seems to be no change on its performance.

i even created a local area network on my computers, and oh boy, it's so fast, i read/write on my next computer wirelessly but as if i'm using my local hard disk when i read/write gigabytes of files on my 2 computers. because of it, i don't need an external HDD to backup my data.

the LAN works impressively even when there is power outage in my internet service provider.

i usually don't write review on other products unless i'm extrement disappointed or impressed. i think it's unfair if i don't share my very satisfactory experience with this product.

This products works perfectly with my Dell laptop and customer services are helpful. The only catch is actually from my Windows XP operation system: you need to download a patch from Microsoft for the wireless part to work appropriately. Overall, the products works beyond my expectation and after three weeks I have nor have any problem.

I purchased this device today and feel obliged to write a review as I had used the reviews on this site to make the decision for the purchase. For starters I had a similar experience as most of the other reviewers. To provide a bit of background I was connecting one Macintosh, one PC and a Vonage device to the modem, I use Comcast as my Internet Service Provider(ISP). I am replacing a RCA modem and a Netgear router.

The modem took only a couple of minutes to setup, and similar to one of the other reviewers, I waited for over 15 minutes for registration of the MAC address with Comcast. Once registered I was able to connect instantly with the Macintosh - no issues whatsoever, which I have found to be typical of Apples. I had a bit of difficulty with the PC, not sure why, but the problem literally resolved itself! I suspect this is an issue with my PC, rather than the modem. In any case it works flawlessly now.

I experienced quite a bit of difficulty with the Vonage device and spent about two hours with the tech support. The issue ultimately was the firewall setting on the cable modem. Again, I do not believe this is an issue with the modem but rather an issue that Vonage would likely experience with any device. I believe it was more an issue with poor Vonage tech support.

Here is a quick breakdown:

Benefits: Excellent packaging, ability of one device to take the place of two (router and modem in one), reasonable price, increased speed performance when compared to my previous modem - both in terms of speed and range (which is admittedly a roughly three year old RCA 802.11g model), ability to connect via Ethernet and Universal Serial Bus (USB).

Disadvantages: Would have been nice to have a second Ethernet port, but not really a necessity.

In summary I believe this to be an excellent cable modem and probably the best on the market. The price is reasonable given the functionality and it was great to eliminate the wireless router and accompanying wires.

I did my homework before purchasing the SBG900 and read the reviews on Amazon to get a feel for the product. Most of the reviews have been extremely positive, but there have been a couple of questionable ones dealing with certain issues; the range for starters. Would this be a problem in an average size house? The software; would it be too complicated for the average user to adjust security settings, etc., and would it be reliable while running all sorts of programs at the same time without it losing its connection and crashing. Everything about this product has made my life easier because prior to that I had just rented a scientific webstar modem from cox cable which had infuriated me to the point that it was about to become a projectile out the window. It wouldn't work well with my Vonage phone service, it would crash constantly when I was using Vonage while surfing, it wouldn't allow a USB connection from the computer....I could go on. Needless to say drastic measures had to be taken and I purchased the Motorola SBG900 with optimism. I can't explain how easy it was to get everything up and running with this unit. Step by step, unboxed the modem, hooked it up, connected the USB cable to my computer, ran the software, made sure the firewall was turned off for vonage. Called up Cox, registered my Mac ID. started surfing from the USB connection while on the phone. Hung up the phone, activated WEP on my wireless cards and entered the key on the wireless settings in Windows XP, checked the speed online 6.4mb download and 550K upload ( 6mb connection from cox is the plan I'm on ), no complaints there. Took the laptops all over the house, out into the garden and nearly halfway down the street; still had a strong wireless signal everywhere. Ran as many software internet sucking programs at the same time while using Vonage and not once did the modem crash, lose sound on the phone or miss a beat while surfing. Bottom line is if you want to make life easy for you without worrying about separate routers, unreliable and cheap cable modems, then seriously think about buying this product as life is too short and its such a relief when something works straight out of the box and works well.

Bought this direct from Amazon based on the great price, combo features, and good reviews and was not disappointed. I use mine with an Apple Powerbook. Literally took it out of the box, plugged it into the wall, plugged it into the computer with an ethernet cable, called my cable company with my MAC address, modified some modem settings and activated WEP (as instructed in the pdf manual), disconnected the ethernet cable. and was surfing wirelessly in less than 20 mins. Range is great too in my 1200sqft two story townhome. Three to four bars throughout including my patio out back. Can't comment on further extent of range for those of you living in mansions. Overall, great product.... am very satisfied. Would definitely purchase again.

I started by calling my internet provider(Cox). Once they registered the correct MAC ID the modem worked almost instantly. I never even opened the CD that came with the modem. I configured the modem from a wired connection on my laptop, including setting up a WEP key, then I was able to set up the wireless connection later. I also have two other computers wirelessly connected. We have a large(>3000sqft colonial) house and one of the pc's is in a family room over the garage at the oposite end of the house. After configuring the keys on those computers they easily connected wirelessly. I walked in every room of our house with the laptop and my connection was 100% at all times. I still plan on attaching my printer to the USB port but don't have the correct cable yet so I can't comment on that aspect.

So far I'm thrilled!