Editor’s Note: This product has been removed from our side-by-side comparison because it has been discontinued. You can still read our original review below, but Top Ten Reviews is no longer updating this product’s information.
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Motorola Cable Modems Comparison Chart
Here are the best DOCSIS 3.0/1 cable modems for networking your home or office and why buying a modem is better than renting from your ISP. Make sure to do some comparison shopping before you. Cable modems don’t have any moving parts, and they’re incredibly durable, so they can last up to a decade or longer. Most cable modems become outdated before they physically fail, so in all likelihood you won’t need to replace yours until a new, faster modem speed standard becomes available. In this article we will review and compare the three four best Gigabit cable modems (in our opinion) in the market right now. These are Arris SB8200, Netgear CM1000 / CM1100 and Motorola MB8600. UPDATE: At the end of 2018 Netgear launched an updated version of its Gigabit modem offering, namely the CM1100 which we are including in this article as well.
If you are renting a modem from an internet service provider, it is most likely a modem and router combo. Buying a combo unit is the most cost-effective way to replace a rental, especially if you stream content to wireless devices in your home network like phones, tablets or laptops. The Motorola MG7550 is a high-speed cable modem and gigabit router packaged together in one well-designed housing. If you're looking for a DSL modem-router, check out the Netgear AC1600.
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The modem features 16 downstream channels capable of downloading at 686 Mbps, and four upstream channels capable of 123 Mbps uploads. Like the Motorola MB7420, the MG7550 unit’s modem portion includes a full-band digital tuner that automatically finds the channels with the least amount of traffic and focuses its work through those channels. This means you get a fast and reliable network connection.
The router portion of the MG7550 is a 3 x 3 gigabit router, which means it has three send and three receive channels. It is more than capable of broadcasting content throughout a small- or medium-size home or office. There are four Gigabit Ethernet connections on the back panel for hard-wiring to a computer, gaming console and other Ethernet-capable devices.
The MG7550 is supported by four of the largest cable internet providers: Comcast, Charter Spectrum, Time Warner and Cox. These companies charge as much as $120 per year to rent a modem that is likely less efficient at delivering service than the MG7550. At less than $200, your investment will pay for itself long before the two-year Motorola warranty term has expired.
The front panel has seven LED indicators to alert you of the status of the router and modem. Ideally you will see five green LEDs and two blue LEDs if you are using bonded channels and transmitting wireless content. The status indicators are clearly defined in the user manual supplied in the retail packaging. If you misplace the user manual, it is available for download on the manufacturer’s website.
The rear panel is color-coded for easy setup. The yellow section houses the four Gigabit Ethernet connections. Below the Ethernet outputs is a red section that include a reset button and buttons to turn WLAN and WPS on and off. Turning the WLAN button off disables the Wi-Fi output. You need to enable the WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) button if you want to allow devices, such as phones and tablets, to use the wireless network without entering a password every time they connect.
The blue section on the rear panel holds the coaxial connection that sends data to the modem. Below the coax connection is a power switch and power supply input. Placing the heavy coax connection and power supply input near the bottom of the MG7550 helps keep the vertical-standing device upright.
Motorola offers a two-year manufacturer warranty. If you have questions regarding your modem and router combo, you can contact the company’s U.S.-based technical support team either by email or phone.
If you are currently renting a modem from one of the larger cable providers, it is probably a modem and router combo. The Motorola MG7550 modem-router can replace that combo unit and save you money within the first year of ownership.
![]() Editor's NotesMotorola Cable Modems Comparison List
April 02, 2019:
Motorola Cable Modem Lights
First of all, if you're in the market for a cable modem, there are two things you should generally avoid buying. One is a combination modem and router. They are generally much more problematic than separate devices because they can't be provided with the same firmware updates that many routers require over their lifespan, and they don't even really save you any money. The second is a 32x8 channel DOCSIS 3.0 modem, as these are run by what's called the Intel Pump 6 chipset, which has exhibited a fatal flaw that causes troublesome latency spikes and disconnects. It's been this way over the entirety of the chipset's lifespan (nearly two years), so there's no reason to believe that Intel will be rolling out a fix anytime soon. Finally, if you don't plan on upgrading to gigabit-class service in the forseeable future -- and most people in the USA don't even live in regions that offer it, nor will most of the rest of us ever need that kind of bandwidth -- then you probably don't need to shell out big bucks to be an early adopter of DOCSIS 3.1. If you're into future-proofing your setup, though it is something to consider.
Motorola Modem Support
With that out of the way, if you're on a budget and don't plan on streaming multiple 4K videos at the same time while someone else is playing games, the Netgear CM500 base model may be your best bet. The Motorola MB7621 is only a bit more expensive, though, and can provide upgraded performance, especially for networks with a lot of users. On the other end of the spectrum, the Arris SurfBoard and Netgear's CM1000 and CM1150V provide next-level DOCSIS 3.1 functionality in addition to exceptional DOCSIS 3.0 backward compatibility, though they are considerably pricey. Plus, Netgear's voice-enabled modems are generally limited to the Comcast Xfinity phone+cable bundled packages. In the middle of the performance range are the TP-Link and Motorola's higher-end unit, but the Netgear CM600 may be the best of the bunch (for most users, anyhow), simply because it provides excellent real-world speeds at notably reasonable price.
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