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AA34
join:2013-06-12
Miami, FL

AA34

Member

Motorola SB6141 vs Zoom 5341J

Hello people of dslreports. Please bear with and forgive my sentence structure and long post. I decided to buy a modem yesterday and ended up buying the zoom. Bought it from Best Buy for $69.99, went through the self-installation process online, up and connected within 5 min. without talking to a representative on phone. After it got provisioned though, the US led light started to blink even though the modem configuration page stated both of the upstream bonds were already locked.

I got worried I bought a lemon. It didn't affect speed performance but did get a few T3 timeouts. Read a thread with other people stating the same, decided to clear the log, then reset the setting back to factory default on the modem. Bam! Now running for 24 hours and nothing in the log whatsoever. Guess it was normal when a modem gets provisioned for the first time.

However I'm contemplating whether to return it back for the white Motorola SB6141 I saw sitting next to it at Best Buy instead. While it doesn't have any issues WHATSOEVER as far as performance is concerned (that's really good!), it does have a few kinks. For starters, the Zoom runs a tad bit too hot for my taste. It's not too hot that it'll burn my fingers upon touching it, but it's not something I'd like to hold on to for longer than 3 min. I'm concerned that the device might be so hot, that it'll reduce the lifespan of the modem. I plan on keeping the modem for at least 3 years. Don't want it to burn out on me right after Best Buy's return policy but so far it's good. Maybe I'm just being paranoid on this issue. After all, I never had any other 8x4 Docsis 3.0 modem besides this one, it could be they all run at around the same temperature.

The rest are minor issues I've noticed while owning the Zoom 5341J for about a day, but I'll list them anyways for other people who are reading this thread but haven't made up their mind on which modem to purchase. The Zoom's settings page doesn't render properly on Firefox or Chrome You always have to scroll down to see the info. It runs fine on IE though. Being logged in times out in about a minute which is really annoying when your troubleshooting your modem and happen to look at a screen for a while or go afk. The log is hidden, but is accessible using the link »192.168.100.1/RgEventLog.asp

You need to access the url twice, the first always asking for login and redirecting you to the connection category while the second time takes you to the actual log.

I'm basically wondering whether I made a good choice buying the 5341J and if the SB6141 have the same issues as described above. The main reasons I bought the Zoom were because it was the cheapest out of the two and it had a 2 year warranty vs. Motorola's 1 year warranty. I don't mind paying extra for the Motorola it it offers more stability or less kinks. I don't want to come off as nagging or whining, I just want to make sure I get my money's worth and am interested if the SB6141 is better than the 5341J. I would've bought both of them and tested them myself however, at the time, I thought it would just complicate things having to register both modems on a single connection. Thanks to any that reply.

graysonf
MVM
join:1999-07-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL

graysonf

MVM

Basically, you plug a modem in, get it activated, then forget about it until it breaks.

That's what I did with my Zoom 5341J over a year ago.

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad to AA34

MVM

to AA34
They are both well-regarded 8x4 modems on this forum.

One major difference between them is that the Motorola SB6141 is built around the TI/Intel Puma 5 (TNETC4840) chipset (»www.ti.com/lit/ml/spat18 ··· t181.pdf and »www.electronicspecifier. ··· tion.asp), while the Zoom 5341J modem uses the Broadcom BCM3382 »www.broadcom.com/product ··· /BCM3382 and »www.broadcom.com/press/r ··· =s434809) chipset.

Depending on the particular signal conditions at your home, one modem may perform somewhat better than the other.

Wayne99021
Premium Member
join:2004-12-28
Mead, WA

Wayne99021 to AA34

Premium Member

to AA34
I have always been a Motorola person, but after reading the good reviews on the Zoom 5341J I bought one when it came time for a 8X4 modem.
I too noticed it seemed to run pretty hot which didn't seem right, but it seemed to be working OK.
The modem lasted 1 week then it crapped out on me.
I sent it back to Amazon for a refund and bought a SB 6141 and have not had one problem with it. You can lay your hand on top of that modem and can hardly feel any heat.
A lot of people swear by the Zoom, but my experience with it has been a total zero so am sticking with what works best for me and always has. Motorola.

jaynick
lit up
Premium Member
join:2001-02-06
Sterling Heights, MI

jaynick to AA34

Premium Member

to AA34
I too had a Zoom 5341J and had basically the same issue as Wayne99021 See Profile and now have a SB6141 and can say it's rock solid. Having said that, a very few lemons in the wild is rare and can happen with any make and model. The Zoom is well received by many folks here.

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

EG

Premium Member

Just to offer the other side of the coin, my experience has been nothing but positive with the Zoom 5341J. It's been a bulletproof performer for 2 years for me now. Can't say that I've ever noticed that mine ran too hot. YMMV.

Phil123
@fda.gov

Phil123 to AA34

Anon

to AA34
The SB6141 has been ROCK SOLID for me for a couple of months now. It replace an older Motorola Surfboard, which too had been ROCK SOLID.

My SB6141 does get rather "warm" (if I place my hand on top), but not so warm I can't comfortably leave my hand there. Definitely a bit warmer than my old Motorola (SB5100, or something like that; it was a rental).

I don't have it here, but SNR runs about 37, and download power close to 0 and upload power in the 41-45 range.

Wayne99021
Premium Member
join:2004-12-28
Mead, WA

Wayne99021 to EG

Premium Member

to EG
I agree with what you are saying.
I have 3 or 4 friends who use the Zoom 5341J modem and have never had any problems at all with it. They say their signals are better with it than what they were seeing with the Motorola modems. Heat has never been a problem.
I am not saying the Zoom modems as a whole are bad, I just got a bad one and was a little gun shy so went back to what I know has worked for me in the past.
EG. I know you keep up on this stuff. What is the Arris/Motorola modem thing all about? Who bought who?

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

said by Wayne99021:

EG. I know you keep up on this stuff. What is the Arris/Motorola modem thing all about? Who bought who?

Well I'm not EG See Profile, but ARRIS acquired the Motorola Home division from Google back in April. See: »www.lightreading.com/cab ··· 40156408

Wayne99021
Premium Member
join:2004-12-28
Mead, WA

Wayne99021

Premium Member

Thanks for that information and the link.

Randomer
@comcast.net

Randomer to AA34

Anon

to AA34
I can also vouch for the sb6141. Mine doesn't run hot at all and I've had 0 issues since they fixed the line. 0 downtime and 0 issues. As for the zoom it seems like a highly recommended modem. As others have said, one may work better than the other on different quality lines, vice versa

AA34
join:2013-06-12
Miami, FL

AA34

Member

Thanks guys for the feedback. Think I'll stick with the zoom then since it's working without any problem for me so far. Pleased to see other people vouching for it as well.
E_C
join:2012-09-26
San Francisco, CA

E_C

Member

When people say "warm" or "hot" here, how hot are we talking and is it the entire device or just some small area? My 5341J, which I have in vertical orientation, is barely warm at all - I had a hard time finding any warm parts on it. My 6121, on the other hand, was noticeably warm but not uncomfortable.

Did anyone with a "hot" one try swapping for a different one to see if it behaved differently rather than switching models?

jaynick
lit up
Premium Member
join:2001-02-06
Sterling Heights, MI

jaynick

Premium Member

said by E_C:

When people say "warm" or "hot" here, how hot are we talking and is it the entire device or just some small area? My 5341J, which I have in vertical orientation, is barely warm at all - I had a hard time finding any warm parts on it. My 6121, on the other hand, was noticeably warm but not uncomfortable.

Did anyone with a "hot" one try swapping for a different one to see if it behaved differently rather than switching models?

I found the one I had trouble with was kinda narrow standing Vertical and not as sturdy for upright. It was very hot to the touch, way more than normal. Every couple days it lost connectivity and I had to leave it off for 20 minutes before it would sync up again. This began to happen after 3 weeks. At the time I bought it, it was available only from Amazon or B&H photo. I got it through B&H but because I was leery it may have been a bad batch, I got the SB6141 from Amazon. By the time I got to deal with the warranty it was over 30 days so I got no refund but eventually got a replacement with the process. Have it in the box for a backup in case the moto craps out. I did plug it in to check the heat issue and found it not as bad as the original but warmer than most. Great modem when it worked.

AA34
join:2013-06-12
Miami, FL

AA34 to E_C

Member

to E_C
said by E_C:

When people say "warm" or "hot" here, how hot are we talking and is it the entire device or just some small area? My 5341J, which I have in vertical orientation, is barely warm at all - I had a hard time finding any warm parts on it. My 6121, on the other hand, was noticeably warm but not uncomfortable.

Did anyone with a "hot" one try swapping for a different one to see if it behaved differently rather than switching models?

My zoom is also in a vertical position with the zoom logo facing upwards. The hottest spot seems to be around the area where the zoom logo is located (Top-right corner).
BeefJerky9
join:2005-05-28
Spring, TX

2 recommendations

BeefJerky9 to AA34

Member

to AA34
I started with the Zoom 5141J and ended up exchanging it for the SB6141.

I encountered the same problem that it seems many Comcast customers do with this 5141J. Every so often the modem tries to renew some internal management IP and fails, and for some reason this modem does a full reboot when this happens. Therefore, I lose connectivity during that time, and it always seemed to happen while I was using it; this annoyed me.

With the SB6141 (and pretty much every other cable modem out there), it simply reverts to a "new" IP request rather than a "renew" without it needing to reboot. Therefore, I don't lose connectivity. The SB6141 has been solid for me, and I'm happy with my decision to switch to it.

AA34
join:2013-06-12
Miami, FL

AA34

Member

said by BeefJerky9:

I started with the Zoom 5141J and ended up exchanging it for the SB6141.

I encountered the same problem that it seems many Comcast customers do with this 5141J. Every so often the modem tries to renew some internal management IP and fails, and for some reason this modem does a full reboot when this happens. Therefore, I lose connectivity during that time, and it always seemed to happen while I was using it; this annoyed me.

With the SB6141 (and pretty much every other cable modem out there), it simply reverts to a "new" IP request rather than a "renew" without it needing to reboot. Therefore, I don't lose connectivity. The SB6141 has been solid for me, and I'm happy with my decision to switch to it.

What did it show in the logs when it renewed the internal management IP?
BeefJerky9
join:2005-05-28
Spring, TX

BeefJerky9

Member

said by AA34 See Profile
What did it show in the logs when it renewed the internal management IP?

Since I no longer have the modem, I can't pull them myself. However, a quick Google search pulls up an example from someone else's log which looks right:
quote:
Fri Jan 11 03:27:25 2013 Critical (3) No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=...
Fri Jan 11 03:27:06 2013 Error (4) DHCP RENEW sent - No response for IPv4;CM-MAC=:...
Fri Jan 11 03:27:06 2013 Critical (3) DHCP RENEW FAILED - Critical field invalid in response
And, thinking back, I don't think it actually did a full reboot, however, it did disconnect from the network then reconnect. Either way, it's a loss of connectivity for ~45 seconds that regularly disrupted my work.

AA34
join:2013-06-12
Miami, FL

AA34

Member

Ah. Thanks for the replying! Apparently I have it too. So far it seems to be occurring during the middle of night when everyone is asleep so I can't tell if it actually disconnects for me. I've been trying to monitor the logs ever since your last post so when it occurred, I'd see whether it disconnected me from the net but so far it occurs so infrequently for me. Although my us light is blinking blue again ever since that dhcp renew yesterday on June 20th .

Like you, my work also depends on it maintaining a connection. It would be a huge deal for me if it occurred somewhere between 9 a.m to 12 p.m since I participate in real-time auctions and 45 seconds means the different between losing and winning, let alone just missing on an item all together. I just hope it continues happening during the night rather than day and it continues to occur infrequently although something tells me that's just wishful thinking. Conteplating about returning the 5341J for the SB6141 now before my 15 day return policy is up...

Err, also to any zoom owners, on the Zoom 5341J, is there any way to view a message on the log without it cutting off?


fuziwuzi
Not born yesterday
Premium Member
join:2005-07-01
Palm Springs, CA
Hitron EN2251
Nest H2D

fuziwuzi to AA34

Premium Member

to AA34
I have a Zoom 5341J and have not experienced any of the issues you have. The config renders properly on my Firefox browser (v21) without any issues. While the modem is warm to the touch, it isn't any more warm than most other electronics I have. And my signals have been strong and consistent, no time outs or waiting to connect. I've had this modem for about 6 months, now, and have no issues with it. It provisioned quickly and has been running great ever since. I just looked in the log, there has been no event recorded since May 19 when there was a Comcast outage in my area.

AA34
join:2013-06-12
Miami, FL

AA34

Member

said by fuziwuzi:

The config renders properly on my Firefox browser (v21) without any issues.

Yeah, I just found out it renders properly on my laptop with a screen resolution of 1280 x 800 while it doesn't on my crt monitor 1024 x 768. Lol
said by fuziwuzi:

While the modem is warm to the touch, it isn't any more warm than most other electronics I have.

Searching on the web for reviews, various users seem to complain about some zoom units being too hot while others state it's lukewarm at best, or they can barely feel the heat emitting. Curious why this is. Even had someone reply their sb6141 was more hotter than the zoom! Maybe people just a have a different perception of what's hot and what's considered warm I guess.
said by fuziwuzi:

And my signals have been strong and consistent, no time outs or waiting to connect. I've had this modem for about 6 months, now, and have no issues with it. It provisioned quickly and has been running great ever since. I just looked in the log, there has been no event recorded since May 19 when there was a Comcast outage in my area.

That's good to hear. Thanks for taking the time to chime in with your experience.