Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Note: This is for the SB6183. This listing has since been updated to include other cablemodem options. Presumably the seller wanted to make sure people with links to the original product didn't miss that there were newer options. Even in a 105Mbps or 150Mbps Comcast region, this modem is worth consideration. Most of Comcast's DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems have only 4 or 8 bonded channels, while most of their regions support bonding 16 downstream channels. This modem has 16 channels available. While 4 and 8 channel units are capable of delivering Comcast's promised speeds, users will be more subject to local congestion. With cablemodem, you share channels with your neighbors. You benefit from full speed on each channel when neighbors are idle, but if neighbors are consuming bandwidth the channels have contention. When more channels are available, DOCSIS cable modems can distribute traffic between more potential channels. As channel usage drops, your modem's traffic will shift to less-busy channels. For comparison, I upgraded from an 8 channel modem to this 16 channel modem. Old modem: On a 105Mbps plan, I typically peaked at 105Mbps while maintaining about 95Mbps. With 150Mbps, I peaked at 150Mbps while averaging about 125Mbps. This modem: 105Mbps plan peaks at 140Mbps and maintains 105Mbps. 150Mbps plan peaks at 180Mbps and maintains 150Mbps. In other words, on the very same plan, I enjoy 10-20% faster downstream with the hardware as the only difference. Results will vary from area to area, depending on the state of Comcast's network. They're preparing for faster speeds in some areas and upgrading equipment in advance, but other areas without competition may tend to linger on less advanced hardware.