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thively
join:2004-01-06
San Jose, CA

thively to chlorophyl

Member

to chlorophyl

Re: [Business] Buying a DOCSIS 3 Compliant Cable Modem

Hey all,
I just bought a Motorola SB6120 at Fry's Electronics in Campbell, CA for $120. I just prefer to do it this way.

So if you have a Fry's Electronics around (west coast) then let it be known, they had about 20 in stock.

It's not on their web site yet a »www.frys.com/ so I assume it might be a really new item for them.

EG
The wings of love
Premium Member
join:2006-11-18
Union, NJ

1 edit

1 recommendation

EG

Premium Member

In case any conclusions are being jumped to in this thread.

One still has to actually subscribe to the Ultra (or be automatically upgraded to Ultra) and the Extreme speedtiers in order to get those speeds. Just purchasing the modem via retail isn't enough.

C_Chipperson
Monster Rain
Premium Member
join:2009-01-17
00000

C_Chipperson

Premium Member

said by EG:

In case any conclusions are being jumped to in this thread.

One still has to actually subscribe to the Ultra (or be automatically upgraded to Ultra) and the Extreme speedtiers in order to get those speeds. Just purchasing the modem via retail isn't enough.
(example) If I am on the 12/2 tier, and buy a D3 modem, would my powerboost speed increase? Would the modem utilize channel bonding? I understand that sustained speeds would be 12/2 but just curious

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

1 edit

dadkins

MVM

said by C_Chipperson:
said by EG:

In case any conclusions are being jumped to in this thread.

One still has to actually subscribe to the Ultra (or be automatically upgraded to Ultra) and the Extreme speedtiers in order to get those speeds. Just purchasing the modem via retail isn't enough.
(example) If I am on the 12/2 tier, and buy a D3 modem, would my powerboost speed increase? Would the modem utilize channel bonding? I understand that sustained speeds would be 12/2 but just curious
PowerBoost? Not nessesarily.
Also, no channel bonding would occur if you didn't subscribe to one of the D3 service levels.
AVonGauss
Premium Member
join:2007-11-01
Boynton Beach, FL

2 edits

AVonGauss

Premium Member

said by dadkins:

Also, no channel bonding would occur if you didn't subscribe to one of the D3 service levels.
Are you sure about that? I don't believe the number of bonding channels is dependent on the service level, but I could also be wrong.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix

Premium Member

said by AVonGauss:

said by dadkins:

Also, no channel bonding would occur if you didn't subscribe to one of the D3 service levels.
Are you sure about that? I don't believe the number of bonding channels is dependent on the service level, but I could also be wrong.
I think the channel bonding would just require the CMTS to support it
ie if in a D3 area you would get it but other wise not

C_Chipperson
Monster Rain
Premium Member
join:2009-01-17
00000

C_Chipperson

Premium Member

said by DarkLogix:

said by AVonGauss:

said by dadkins:

Also, no channel bonding would occur if you didn't subscribe to one of the D3 service levels.
Are you sure about that? I don't believe the number of bonding channels is dependent on the service level, but I could also be wrong.
I think the channel bonding would just require the CMTS to support it
ie if in a D3 area you would get it but other wise not
Thanks all for the quick replies. I come up with some odd questions thinking about this stuff
thively
join:2004-01-06
San Jose, CA

4 edits

thively to AVonGauss

Member

to AVonGauss
said by AVonGauss:

said by dadkins:

Also, no channel bonding would occur if you didn't subscribe to one of the D3 service levels.
Are you sure about that? I don't believe the number of bonding channels is dependent on the service level, but I could also be wrong.
My SB6120 is bonding 3 channels and I only have 16Mbps Blast service. I upgraded the modem (bought my own) but haven't upgraded my service level.

Getting up to 90Mbps Power Boost. The burst is so short because it's so fast it's hard to measure because it drops to 16 nearly immediately.

Downstream Bonding Channel Value
Channel ID 2 3 1
Frequency 681000000 Hz 687000000 Hz 705000000 Hz
Signal to Noise Ratio 38 dB 38 dB 38 dB
Downstream Modulation QAM256 QAM256 QAM256


Upstream Modulation [3] QPSK [3] 64QAM
said by C_Chipperson:

(example) If I am on the 12/2 tier, and buy a D3 modem, would my powerboost speed increase? Would the modem utilize channel bonding? I understand that sustained speeds would be 12/2 but just curious
And so as I just mentioned, I am getting faster power boost speeds while staying on my 16/2 "Blast1" tier. Up isn't any faster Still 8-10Mbps, but down is ridiculous. I don't know if that's totally normal as most people don't report that kind of power boost, either that or they're not testing from the right source.
I'm using »speedtest.comcast.net/ along with windows perfmon to monitor and graph the network speed.

The attached graph is going through a switch and a router. But when I plug my computer directly in to the cable modem I've seen it almost peg 100Mbps.
Bazuul
join:2003-09-30
San Jose, CA

Bazuul

Member

I can confirm using 3 bonded channels with SB6120 as well. I have the 16mbps tier but have seen powerboost over 50mbps. Upload stays around 2mbps.

I've tried a couple times to get upgraded to ultra or extreme but the techs didn't think they could do it without a consumer modem.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix to thively

Premium Member

to thively
said by thively:

said by AVonGauss:

said by dadkins:

Also, no channel bonding would occur if you didn't subscribe to one of the D3 service levels.
Are you sure about that? I don't believe the number of bonding channels is dependent on the service level, but I could also be wrong.
My SB6120 is bonding 3 channels and I only have 16Mbps Blast service. I upgraded the modem (bought my own) but haven't upgraded my service level.

Getting up to 90Mbps Power Boost. The burst is so short because it's so fast it's hard to measure because it drops to 16 nearly immediately.

Downstream Bonding Channel Value
Channel ID 2 3 1
Frequency 681000000 Hz 687000000 Hz 705000000 Hz
Signal to Noise Ratio 38 dB 38 dB 38 dB
Downstream Modulation QAM256 QAM256 QAM256


Upstream Modulation [3] QPSK [3] 64QAM
said by C_Chipperson:

(example) If I am on the 12/2 tier, and buy a D3 modem, would my powerboost speed increase? Would the modem utilize channel bonding? I understand that sustained speeds would be 12/2 but just curious
And so as I just mentioned, I am getting faster power boost speeds while staying on my 16/2 "Blast1" tier. Up isn't any faster Still 8-10Mbps, but down is ridiculous. I don't know if that's totally normal as most people don't report that kind of power boost, either that or they're not testing from the right source.
I'm using »speedtest.comcast.net/ along with windows perfmon to monitor and graph the network speed.

The attached graph is going through a switch and a router. But when I plug my computer directly in to the cable modem I've seen it almost peg 100Mbps.
actually alot of people on D3 service have reported 90+Mbit (120 being the most I've heard so far)

and it makes since that the Powerboost is insane unless that add something into the config to dsiable bonding (would be counter productive normaly) then in a D3 enabled area if a D3 modem is used the available bandwidth would be 38*# of channels

and as the available bandwidth is higher the powerboost will be higher

that said if a D3 modem is used in anarea thats undergoing testing convertion sync you might not have the channels allthe time (if they are switching it on and off at the cmts and not expecting any D3 users
AVonGauss
Premium Member
join:2007-11-01
Boynton Beach, FL

AVonGauss

Premium Member

said by DarkLogix:

and it makes since that the Powerboost is insane unless that add something into the config to dsiable bonding (would be counter productive normaly) then in a D3 enabled area if a D3 modem is used the available bandwidth would be 38*# of channels
The change would be on the CMTS side I believe, but I doubt (guessing) that they will go out of their way to artificially curb the PowerBoost effect as it will level itself out naturally through attrition as more D3 modems are brought online on the segment. At the moment, I would imagine its current net effect is more positive than not as it would seem to be a good way to advertise the capabilities of D3.
AVonGauss

AVonGauss to Bazuul

Premium Member

to Bazuul
said by Bazuul:

I've tried a couple times to get upgraded to ultra or extreme but the techs didn't think they could do it without a consumer modem.
Consumer modem?

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

1 recommendation

dadkins to thively

MVM

to thively
Ok, so it will.
Makes no sense though... but when has that ever stopped Comcast, right?

I'll have to either plan a trip to Fry's and get one, or just wait til Best Buy gets them in stock.

Thanks for the info!
daveinpoway
Premium Member
join:2006-07-03
Poway, CA

1 recommendation

daveinpoway

Premium Member

I was just in the Fry's San Marcos (north San Diego County) store, and they have the SB6120 on the shelf for $120. It is truly amazing that the price is so cheap when DOCSIS 3.0 service is just starting to be rolled out in most places.

I can't speak for Time Warner, but word from Cox HSI is that they can't presently provision this model, meaning that there might be more than a few frustrated customers who purchase one of these and find out that they can't use it.

In order to to encourage sales of this new model, Motorola should have allowed it to be provisioned as a SB5120 (or some other DOCSIS 2.0 model) now, so that it could operate in DOCSIS 2.0 mode until the customer's ISP upgrades to 3.0 service.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix

Premium Member

I'm sure it can work in 1ch mode but cox might not have a "tested" config yet for it

Devious
Premium Member
join:2002-08-22
Seattle, WA

Devious to daveinpoway

Premium Member

to daveinpoway
said by daveinpoway:

In order to to encourage sales of this new model, Motorola should have allowed it to be provisioned as a SB5120 (or some other DOCSIS 2.0 model) now, so that it could operate in DOCSIS 2.0 mode until the customer's ISP upgrades to 3.0 service.
From what I read in the specs, the SB6120 is backward compatible with DOCSIS 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 and supports IPv4 as well as IPv6.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt to daveinpoway

Premium Member

to daveinpoway
said by daveinpoway:

In order to to encourage sales of this new model, Motorola should have allowed it to be provisioned as a SB5120 (or some other DOCSIS 2.0 model) now, so that it could operate in DOCSIS 2.0 mode until the customer's ISP upgrades to 3.0 service.

I think the problem is having a config file ready, ie Motorola provides a generic config file to the cable company, then the cable company decides what settings need to be adjusted for their system, and builds (or pays Motorola in this case to do it) a config file for each tier they plan to offer, tests it, tweaks it if nessesary, retests, etc.
Moto would probably provide a D2 version if requested/payed for, but Cox maynot be willing to release it, or may still be testing.

netcool
Premium Member
join:2008-11-05
Englewood, CO

netcool to AVonGauss

Premium Member

to AVonGauss
said by AVonGauss:

The change would be on the CMTS side I believe, but I doubt (guessing) that they will go out of their way to artificially curb the PowerBoost effect as it will level itself out naturally through attrition as more D3 modems are brought online on the segment. At the moment, I would imagine its current net effect is more positive than not as it would seem to be a good way to advertise the capabilities of D3.
Powerboost will indeed be rate limited in the future. In some markets very soon.
AVonGauss
Premium Member
join:2007-11-01
Boynton Beach, FL

AVonGauss

Premium Member

daveinpoway
Premium Member
join:2006-07-03
Poway, CA

daveinpoway to tshirt

Premium Member

to tshirt
What I was envisioning would be the SB6120 telling the provisioning system "Hello, I am an SB5120", so that whatever provisioning was used for that model would set up the 6120 for DOCSIS 2.0 service, without the need to develop/test any additional configuration files. Then, in the future, the proper file could be sent out to enable the DOCSIS 3.0 capabilities of the SB6120.

Obviously, I do not know the internal details of the SB6120, but it seems like Motorola could have programmed in a default condition such that this model would accept and respond to the 5120 configuration files that the ISP is already using.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

1 recommendation

tshirt

Premium Member

I'm not sure I see the value in that.
Rather then expending time/money/energy on making the 6120 act like a 5120 (sort of like buying a truck with a big V-8 and then cutting 7 of the sparkplug wires)
when with less effort/time/money you could write a generic "I'm a 6120, but I only run in D2 mode"
or what's really needed, "I'm a 6120,running in D3 backward compatible mode, limited to XXX/xxx speeds"
But any given cable provider stiil needs to be sure that mode will work on their system before they go with a system wide release.
daveinpoway
Premium Member
join:2006-07-03
Poway, CA

daveinpoway

Premium Member

I guess there are several options as to what Motorola could have done.

Mike Wolf
join:2009-05-24
Tuckerton, NJ

1 edit

Mike Wolf to EG

Member

to EG
said by EG:

In case any conclusions are being jumped to in this thread.

One still has to actually subscribe to the Ultra (or be automatically upgraded to Ultra) and the Extreme speedtiers in order to get those speeds. Just purchasing the modem via retail isn't enough.
As it looks like I dont think Comcast will be automatically upgrading anyone to the Ultra tier, as per this chart. Though I hope I'm wrong since I'm at that tier that would be upgraded automatically to Ultra.

»www.comcast.com/Customer ··· ?Id=4859