Recently I started looking for a modem to replace my aging Motorola SB4100. Based on the good reviews, I decided to buy the Motorola SB5120. Unfortunately, I found the SB5120 extremely hard to find (Amazon did not have it in stock at the time). The SB5101 however was in stock everywhere for about $50. Out of frustration, I contacted Motorola to ask about availability and the significant differences between the 5120 and the 5101. The Motorola technician that I talked to told me that the reason the 5120 is scarce is that it is no longer manufactured. He also explained that the difference between the two modems is the internal chipset. The 5120 is a TI and the 5101 is a Broadcom. He also said that there is no difference in performance; both are capable of 38 Mbps downstream and 30 Mbps upstream (limited by the cable company's tiers and number of users on the net).
Finally, I asked him which he preferred (since I could still track down a 5120 if I was willing to pay enough...). He stated unequivocally that he preferred the SB5101 and the Broadcom chipset. He also stated that the speed on the modems is artificially capped by the cable companies so that they can sell tiers of service. This modem, he said, has a lot of available overhead so as the broadband companies compete and raise their level of service, this modem can handle it. Finally, he told me that there is a new DOCSIS standard (3.0) recently approved; the 5101 modem is upgradeable to DOCSIS 3.0 should the cable company choose to do so.
That said, I followed his recommendation and bought a 5101. Motorola SB5120 Surfboard Cable Modem Docsis 1.1 and 2.0 Certified USB
My old RCA modem for my [...] service turned flakey so I called Comcast to come out and see what was wrong. They replaced the modem with some no-name cheapie and I saw my download rate drop from 4 MBps to 1.2 MBps ! Yikes! I called their techs again and asked what happened. Their response: "The ping looks great, you can't trust those speed test websites (dslreports in this case) and modems don't make any difference in speed". Yeah, right. I immediately bought this Surfboard modem, replaced the no-name one, called Comcast to enable the MAC address and what was 1.2 MPs download immediately prior to the modem switch-out was now happily above 4 MBps and a totally solid connection! The cable modem makes a huge difference and this is a great one!
Used the SB5120 to replace Linksys BEFCMU10 (Version 3.0). The SB5120 performs better and is much more stable.
I had performance and reliability problems using VOIP service over my Linksys cable modem. Under load the Linksys cable modem has high latency and performs poorly. The Linksys cable modem required a reset a few times a week. (Note: no problems with my Linksys VOIP router.)
With the SB5120 my VOIP connection sounds better and is more stable (no cable modem resets required). My overall latency is lower and WEB pages load much faster.
Packet forwarding performance is much better with the SB5120.
I echo the sentiments of several of the reviewers about slow degradation of modems over time resulting in flaky function with intermittent loss of service, and subpar download speeds. I also share the experience with tech support at Comcast that was clueless about this possibility, never suggesting it, doing a lot of meaningless tests with reassurances, making me go through a lot of purposeless handstands as they tried to troubleshoot the difficulty.
Exasperated, to experiment on my own, I replaced my 5 year old RCA modem with this Motorola, basically to save the tech fee for a housecall if it was simply the modem, and it most certainly was that. So the savings in the tech fee paid for the modem!! (...) Although my download speed never exceeded 3.5 Mb/s with the old modem, I was supposed to be getting 5+ Mb/s. With this Motorola modem I am getting about 9.2 Mb/s!! The surfing efficiency is very noticeably improved, and I should have tried this months ago.
The installation is trivial, and once the ISP configures the modem, you're up and running. If you are using a router in a network, you may have to reconfigure your router with the new setup. My Linksys router would not function even though I reset it, until I went through the steps to completely reconfigure it which only took a couple of minutes.
This modem also has a handy standby switch which effectively breaks the connection of the modem to the network computers as an added security feature when you are not using the internet. It does have a very narrow profile with a shallow footed base, so with cords attached, it is a little metastable on a desktop. It is best to place it against a more solid structure on the desk, or if you have it in the kneewell of a desk, as I do, it fits beautifully and securely against the sidewall on top of my multimedia subwoofer.
Highly recommended product. - Internet - Modem - Motorola - Broadband'
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