Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Sorry for the Dyslexia - This review is on the Motorola SBG 6580 SURFboard eXtreme Wireless Cable Gateway - during my video I used an imcorrect model number :( BIG PLUS to this unit: You do not have to buy a seperate WIRELESS N ROUTER which saves about $100 or so additional cost. Some have said they bought the lesser Motorola unit and then bought an extra Wireless N router. This seems like an unneccessary expense to me. Things to know: This modem will ONLY work for CABLE-delivered Internet such as Comcast Xfinity (tm) and some other ISP's using CABLE Internet signals. It will NOT work on AT&T UVerse network (because UVerse uses a hyped-up DSL technology) 1. Unbox unit 2. Connect AC Power Adapter to wall (recommend plugging into UPS power supply)- plug the other end into the back of this router. 3. Connect COAX cable from ISP wall plate to your modem. This is the same hexagonal cable connector type as used to connect to CABLE TV. 4. Grab the included cat 5e ETHERNET CABLE (looks similar to a telephone cable) and plug one end into your laptop or PC and one end into one of the 4 ethernet jacks on the back of the unit. 5. If you don't have an ETHERNET jack on your laptop or PC you'll be going wireless - run the included INSTALLATION CD and follow the directions. 6. Open your webrowser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, etc) and type in the modem address 192.168.100.1 then enter your username-- admin and password-- motorola and hit login button. 7. You'll be looking at a web-based SETUP SCREEN with TABS from left to right. 8. Click on FIREWALL tab, locate the IP FLOOD DETECTION checkbox and UNTICK IT (remove the checkmark) then click on the APPLY button. 9. Pick up phone and call your ISP. From the box that shipped with your device - read the ISP the model number (SBG 6580) and the __HTC MAC ADDRESS__ ID number (the MAC ID varies from one unit to another and is printed on the bottom of your modem itself as well as the shipping box. The HTC Mac Address is the FIRST of the two listed Mac addresses, the second one is the GATEWAY address. 10. Be sure your isp offers DOCSIS 3.0 SIGNAL or you will not reap the max speed from this device. About the accompanying video: about 4 minutes of hands-on demo with this device including real world speed test from the Internet. Remember to go to FIREWALL settings and un-tick IP FLOOD DETECTION - if you don't you will not get max performance. Otherwise simple to set up and blazingly fast. Note: Hard-wired (ethernet) is always going to be much faster than wireless. This proved true on my network, 30.77 mbps download speed realized (hard wired) vs 10 mbps Wireless. Overall I'm extremely happy - no negatives at all. A Must-Have piece of equipment. Important: Your ISP needs to provide good quality signal and use DOCSIS 3.0 technology to achieve the higher speeds (30 and above) mentioned in this review. Don't blame this equipment if you have a bad ISP connection you won't get the performance. My ISP is Comcast. Fiber optic is a lot faster than UVERSE IMHO. ***UPDATED 4/11/2012: Comcast and Motorola have teemed up to release an important FIRMWARE UPDATE! In reading recent forum discussions about this product, I discovered a 'problem' where the modem required hard-power off (unplug power and reconnect power) at random, and on a DAILY BASIS. I myself began to experience this unpleasant phenomenon, and it wasn't until I called Comcast Support and asked to have the modem "re-provisioned" (by Comcast over the telephone) that this nagging issue finally resolved itself - via a FIRMWARE UPDATE. I went from 3.0.x.x. firmware to 3.3.1.0-GA-11-070-NOSH and once again, life was "good" and rock-solid high speed Internet a reality. Download speeds tested at 38 mpbs and 5mbps upload, heap plenty fast, Keemo Sabe. If you have problems with your modem losing connectivity, I strongly recommend you call your ISP Provider and request tech support 're-set' or 're-provision' the modem. You might get lucky and get the new firmware - you CANNOT get it from Motorola. Motorola will refer you back to your ISP. Hope this helps I wouldn't want any other equipment than this! ***UPDATED 6/12/2013: Comcast, in response to pressure by AT&T, has increased their Internet speeds 'across the board' for all tiers of Internet service. What this means to you is that if you (like me) are a Comcast BLAST customer, you may experience unheard-of speed. I ran speed tests this morning as was stunned to see I am getting 55.47 MBps download and 10.69 MBs upload. This equates to 6.93 Megabytes per second download. Now that is FAST! You could download 416MB in just ONE minute! That is incredible. Also, Comcast has been pushing a lot of firmware updates out to the device, which now is rock solid and requires no maintenance or resets. Finally, new customers are reporting that they don't have to do anything more than screw the coax cable (from Comcast) onto the back of the device, plug the unit into A/C power, and then either connect via hardwire (plug your ethernet cables into the back of this unit) or wirelessly. See the side of the device for your specific WiFi WEP code which you must type into your wireless devices to gain access to your device. While I previously felt this was a wonderful unit - I now am totally convinced of it, and have the ongoing reliability to prove it. I fly for a virtual airline, and rock solid Internet communications is vital during flight ops. This equipment is as reliable as you could ever wish for. UPDATE 7/4/2013 - a close family friend got tired of paying "RENT" to Comcast for their Internet Modem, and elected to purchase this unit (albeit from B**T **Y Big Box Retailer in lieu of Amazon. I highly recommend Amazon over Big Box stores - much friendlier about returns - no restocking fee! no arguments! Friend reports this unit is now 100% plug and play - no longer need to go into configuration and turn off any settings. Friend completely satisfied - did not have to call Comcast at all.