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Review on πŸ”Œ Arris Touchstone CM8200A DOCSIS 3.1 Ultra-Fast Gigabit Cable Modem (Black) - 32X8 by Ken Reiff

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Arris Surfboard SB8200 disguised as a power user

This cable modem has 5 stars: It works as expected: Connected to Comcast in the SF Bay Area and I get DOCSIS 3.1 enabled 32 channels down and 4 channels with 10ms ping time , 160 Mbit/s download speed and 6 Mbit/s upload speed. YMMV of course. Test it yourself in the modem's built-in web application at 192.168.100.1 and once enabled, use www<dot>speedtest<dot>net to determine throughput. A few things to note: This is the North American version and once connected, look for a green light on the front that turns blue indicating a DOCSIS 3.1 connection. The old Motorola Surfboard DOCSIS 2.0 had 4x4 channel support. In Comcast's 150Mbps plan, the CM8200A makes no noticeable difference. Perhaps Netfix and Prime's 4K movies buffer faster, but that wasn't an issue before. So keep that in mind when you update. I upgraded because Comcast said my old modem was no longer supported. I recently cut the cable so I can watch more videos and I love finding great deals on using the latest hardware. As another point of reference, I've had a 60Mbps plan with a DOCSIS 2.0 4x4 cable modem for about 3 months and have never had any trouble watching 4K HDR or Dolby Vision movies. Typically, 4K requires a download speed of around 25 Mbps. As mentioned, this cable modem will work on Comcast even though it's not listed as a supported device. Tell your Comcast technician that this is the Arris Surfboard SB8200 and give them the MAC address below. It didn't work for me until I restarted it after waiting the recommended 30 minutes. Next I'm deducting a star because of the seller Chommy85. Not that they were terrible: I received the product earlier than expected, it came at a great price of $84, it's slightly scratched as to be expected for a used product, and it works as described above. However, the product was sent to the USPS in separate pieces in an unfilled bag. This includes the modem, the power adapter and the Ethernet cable. These are not fragile parts but I expect them to be securely packed in the box. Now the next version of Chommy85 is more controversial: the price has increased by $50 since I bought it 4 days ago. This could be because the modems left in storage are not scratched, are used less, or have higher demand. I don't know, but that doesn't make it great and it costs about $50 less than a new SB8200. I know that for the new price I would rather buy a new DOCSIS 3.0 SB 6190 than this used modem and save over $30. Finally, you can find reviews of this modem (OK, SB8200) and other recent modems here: mbreviews <dot>com/category/modems Honestly, if you're out of business, this DOCSIS 3.1 modem is probably too good for you. what you can really use in your home network. But if you find a lot of interesting things on it, rest assured that the CM8200A won't be a problem due to bandwidth issues on your network for years to come.

Pros
  • Regular price
Cons
  • Negative result available