US Cable Support → W.O.W. > Recommendation on which modem to buy?

Recommendation on which modem to buy?

I'm signing up for WOW internet and would like to buy a modem instead of rent one. Anyone have any recommendations on something that would be ok for a few years for a 15 meg connection?

And on that note, any recommendations for a wireless router as well?

I'd be cost-effective as possible so I don't need anything extreme. Thanks in advance.

If you're not getting UltraTV, then a Scientific Atlanta DPC2100r2 will work perfectly as this is the modem WOW uses for people who lease it. It's only docsis 2.0 but will work fine for 15 meg. If you decide later you want 30+ meg service, this modem will not work for that.

If you buy one, make sure they know what model you have so they can push their config file to it. If they don't push their config file, you will be at docsis 1.0 mode which has problems with connectivity and speed. If the tech gives you a speech about how they can't touch your modem, call back and get a different person to do it. They can and will push files to customer owned modems as long as they have a config already made for that model.

Get a Motorola modem that supports Docsis 3 standards. As long as you don't need the UltraTV stuff (special modem needed) then you're good to go. They should support all the latest Moto modems out there for the past few years (as long as they are D2 or D3 rated). That will give you all the basic speeds and also support the faster speeds above 30+ megs. I own a Surfboard 6120 (SB6120) and it runs just fine with the faster speeds.

As far as wireless, I'd get a wired modem and then pick up a wireless router. That way if one part fails, or you want to upgrade, you can do it easier. I have the modem connected to a wired router which feeds a switch and a wireless AP. It's easy for me to do independent upgrades of components while running 28 different devices (PCs, Laptops, Kindles, DirecTV boxes, smartphones, xboxes, etc.)
--
Certified Jenius!

See my posts elsewhere regarding challenges in getting WOW to fix broadband issues unless and until you get one of their cable modems in place, even temporarily.

I signed up a month ago and had the same concern. What I did was let WOW install their modem, prove that it worked, and let it sit a month. Their modem actually failed (or something) after 2 weeks. I had a tech come out, he installed a "new" one (more like a "refurb") and the problem went away. I let it soak a week (i had a new modem ready in my basement the whole time) and after i was happy with the speed, I ditched their modem for my new one. The model I chose was a Moto SB6121 (found a deal on newegg.com). I installed it in like 10 minutes, with no hassles from the tech support phone line, and it is working great. Latency went down compared to the DPC2100, but overall the speed is the same since i only have 15meg service.

Oh, you won't have any problems with the modem. But when WOW has problems somewhere between their head end and your house--no matter where that is--they'll tell you that without their modem in place, their hands are tied and they can't really even begin to help.

I've been through this dance three times. So I'd go to the WOW office, pick up one of their units, install it, then call to get the broadband issue of the day fixed. Maybe they could find it right away, but one time it itook several weeks and the final resolution was WOW Dan looking at things--and 6 hours later he had it resolved.

And yet, even Dan said "yeah, we really need our modem in place for me to help".

It turned out that the problems I had every time were down the line somewhere, outside of my house--and outside the modem.

Nonetheless, I had to go get their modem and pay the rental fee just to enable them to start the troubleshooting process.

This last time the tech took pity on me and simply left the WOW modem in place, without charge.

So yeah, every week someone comes here asking about "I wanna get my own modem and not pay the fee". I was one of those people, until WOW beat it out of me. To be fair, I would still be using my own modem, but I know now for sure that any troubleshooting can't start until I get a WOW modem in place. That's the cost of having my own. I save the $5/month, but a couple times a year I'm wandering over to the WOW office and paying them a few bucks to borrow theirs, then wandering back to return it.