OptimumOnline → Re: [OOL] Optimum trying to "boot" my sb8200 from provisioning?

My modem came with a 12v 1.5A power supply but the modem itself states that it requires a 12V 2A power supply. As the modem was new, I decided to buy a high quality 12v 5A power supply before plugging it in to give it all the juice it wants so that it’s not underpowered. The nice thing about getting a 5A power supply is that it’s not even running at 50% capacity so it’ll stay nice and cool which is good for the longevity of the unit.

Can you take a look at the power supply to see what the amperage is? I noticed that many of the new revisions are coming with an underpowered supply for whatever reason. This is easy enough to check and could be causing issues if the modem isn’t getting the proper amperage that it’s requiring.

Can you link to that on amazon lol, ill order one asap

Amazon doesn’t carry everything. If memory serves me right, it has a 2.5mm pin so you need the mean well supplies that end in P1M such as the one below. I bought the P1J which is on amazon but that has a 2.1mm pin hole so it wouldn’t plug directly into my modem and I had to buy an adapter on eBay. To say the least, you’re benefiting from my mistake! LOL

The below supply may also not come with the power cable to plug into the wall but it uses a standard pc power supply cable so that usually isn’t an issue for many to find one that they have lying around.

GST60A12-P1M:
»www.digikey.com/en/produ ··· 10659858

If you want to only buy from amazon then the below supply with converter should work.

GST60A12-P1J:
»www.amazon.com/MEAN-WELL ··· &sr=8-11

Adapter Plug Converter 5.5millimeters x 2.1millimeters Female Plug to 5.5millimeters x2.5millimeters Male Plug:
»www.amazon.com/OMNIHIL-A ··· =1&psc=1

I will add this, it might be worth getting the amazon one with the adapter as it’s a little more universal. For instance, my Netgear CM600 has a 2.1mm plug so if you wanted to use the power supply with it you’d just need to remove the adapter. The ONLY issue with using an adapter is that it doesn’t have those notches on the outside barrel which allows the modem plug to snap onto the usual barrel notches and keep it secure. What this means is that it’s easier to pull out the plug but usually people just set it and forget it so that shouldn’t be much of a concern.

Thanks for this info as i did want to make sure i was learning from someone.

Coming back to this thread after a hot minute:
- the RF issues described have nothing to do with slightly under-spec'd power-supplies.
I bought a used CM8200 from Ebay back in July/August - and it came with a 1.5A power-supply that was actually branded (e.g.: taken from) DirectTV
This modem had ZERO persistent problems - we're talking about ZERO correcteds+uncorrectable errors for DAYS and 940/52 speeds until the power-supply died mysteriously in late December.
No rhyme or reason, no lightning, was behind a surge protector, but it just died after a brief power outage (5s).

No biggie, bought the not-cheapest cheap PSU on Amazon (12V 2A, 5.5x2.5 mm plug) for $14 :
»www.amazon.com/gp/produc ··· F8&psc=1
and it's on 11 days of uptime now with once again ZERO correcteds+uncorrectable errors.

This level of RF quality is a function of my signal, not the modem: DS at +7 to +9.5 dBmV, SNR at 40.5-42 dB , US at +48 dBmV and yeah, it's not even ventilated , just standing upright, several inches of clearance around it, running firmware AB01.01.009.51_080720_183.0A.NSH

I was contemplating knotting the DC cable of the PSU on both sides, as I don't have any ferrite cores handy - but alas, even that seems to be paranoid overkill, once again....

Right. Power supply issues and DOCSIS signal issues are two completely separate things. Thanks for sharing your experience!

You stated the reason for the failure in your reply! It makes perfect sense that the power supply died during a brief power outage as during the brief spike of it turning back on the modem tried to pull more power (2A) than what the supply could handle (1.5A). 2A from the modem during boot up is 33% more amperage than what the power supply is rated for! This is electronics 101! Why don’t you supply a 20,000 BTU window air conditioner with a 120v 10A circuit and see what happens? I’d bet that the power supply was struggling the entire time and it was only a matter of time before it burned out. You’re just lucky that it didn’t take your modem with it when it decided to crap out!

With that said, I never said that the modem couldn’t operate with 25% less amperage from a power supply than what the modem was designed for but it’s highly possible that you could’ve shorten the life of the modem by not providing the proper amperage that the electronic device requires. There’s a reason it says 2A on the bottom and that’s not just because they felt like throwing that number on there. As someone who has built their own PCs for over a decade along with being into high end audio electronics, I prefer to supply my devices with a greater margin of power than what is required as, from my experience, I’ve benefitted from this method over the years. Much like power cords, if I have to run a high power device over a long run you can bet that I’m picking one gauge higher than the recommended gauge wire for that run as there’s something know as voltage drop and the thicker the gauge the less drop that occurs.

As an example, if you dropped a 1,000 horsepower engine into a sports car that came with a 500 horsepower engine would you not also upgrade the transmission and rear differential? If you didn’t, you can surely expect that your tranny/rear end would blow. Electronics are no different than cars and everything has to match accordingly.