Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Installed the SB901 wireless cable modem with Comcast ISP in the Bellevue region, and struggled with it for a month. Two laptops, one running Windows XP, another running Windows 7, would sporadically lose wireless Internet connectivity on almost every session (every day). The wireless access point would remain connected to these laptops, but Internet access would fail. Restoring access involved 'kick the box' measures like re-booting the laptop, or disconnecting from and reconnecting to the wireless access point (no real idea what was restoring access). A Mac OSX laptop seemed to fare better for reasons unknown -- but this is not an endorsement of OSX over Windows (we use everything). With a little quick & dirty research, found the following (which you can take with a grain of salt): (1) Some users of Motorola products that combine both cable modem and wireless router functionality (such as the SB901) report having wireless connectivity issues (see the 1 and 2 star Amazon reviews for this product - you can also find similar reviews for other Motorola combo products). (2) Unsubstantiated rumor: Motorola has a reputation for making excellent cable modems and mediocre wireless routers. Linksys and Netgear have a reputation for making excellent wireless routers, but not so good cable modems. Hey, it's a rumor, so nobody should get bent out of shape over this. (3) More unsubstantiated hearsay: Products combining cable modem and wireless router functionality in a single unit tend not to perform as well as separate, dedicated products. Dedicated, separate products make technical support and diagnosis of connection problems easier. Separate products also enable the customer to choose best-of-breed solutions from the best vendors. (4) We have returned the SB901 as defective, and based on Amazon reviews replaced it with the following: i. Motorola SB6120 DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem (over 500 raving Amazon reviews) ii. Netgear N600 WNDR3700 Wireless Router (over 350 strong Amazon reviews) (5) Above combination is working well -- no more spontaneous loss of wireless internet access. It's blazing fast, and the Netgear wireless router is full-featured and easy to configure -- it enables the user to set an SSID and password, whereas the SB901 went the simpler route of providing a pre-defined SSID and password. Only downside is the SB6120 + N600 WNDR3700 combo was 3X the price of the Motorola SB901 unit. If we had the time to identify a more economical product set, we'd consider alternatives. Meanwhile, I can admire all the fancy LED lights on products we did buy, while enjoying reliable 24/7 connectivity.