surfboard 5100

Steve Day · 09-01-2013, 23:17

Tonight my modem reset and i was upgraded from 10 to 20 meg as per the "free" upgrade thing.

My virgin page now tells me I have 20 meg and the green box says I need to upgrade to the hub to take advantage of it.

however, speed tests on my venerable and so far rock steady 5100 surfboard also indicate that this is happy to do the 20 meg too.

can i run this modem with 20 meg? I would in all honesty prefer to do so if possible as this modem has given me 7 years of trouble free use up to now. I see little point in fixing something which ain't broke.

cheers
Steve

babis3g · 09-01-2013, 23:38

It seems that VM want any one have the newest SH that is why your green box have the suggestion so may be different opinions here

can i run this modem with 20 meg?
If your current modem got the update and you getting the updated speed should not be problem
As far i know this modem can go up to 38mb
However if i am correct this is docsis 2.0 so will not work good if you ever change highest tariff

thenry · 09-01-2013, 23:39

get the SuperHub in mate and put it in modem mode if you currently use your own choice of router. The Motorola is outdated. It wont be able to handle increased upload and it wont be configured to run 30meg+.

Kushan · 10-01-2013, 07:36

That modem is absolutely fine for 20 meg, people have used it on 20meg for years.

General Maximus · 10-01-2013, 07:47

If you are happy on 20mbit (the tier) and you are happy with the speed you are getting then stick with it dude. The modem can probably only use use one or two downstream channels so if you ever do have a problem with speed (congestion) or want to move up a tier you will have to move to the shub which is docsis 3 and it can load balance across more channels.

raging bull · 10-01-2013, 17:24

Another one on 20meg, just like myself who doesn't bother with games.
Just another means of communication for me, saves on the travel costs?

Steve Day · 10-01-2013, 17:36

not a big gamer now, no. I used to be a WoW player and that worked absolutely fine for me at 2meg let alone 20meg

games I found were much more about "ping" and latency than bandwidth throughput.

I am just an middle aged luddite now who really just wants his kit to work and not to have to grapple with some buggy new stuff if i don't have to

thenry · 10-01-2013, 17:41

the SH runs fine in modem mode. the combo is no longer forced on a customer.

horseman · 11-01-2013, 18:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus

…. The modem can probably only use use one or two downstream channels so if you ever do have a problem with speed (congestion) or want to move up a tier you will have to move to the shub which is docsis 3 and it can load balance across more channels.

Pardon Sir…but I think you'll find that the Motorola SB's Broadcom BCM 3348 chipset was limited to a single tuner albeit (euro/cable labs) DOCSIS2 certified upto 55mbps downstream (upto 1024QAM) and 30mbps (256QAM with S-CDMA) upstream. However even though quite impressive originally with it's 200MHz 32bit processor it's 2002 legacy architecture is now starting to show it's age and single stream is all you'll get whether your approaching the enemy from the front or enfilading with a rear flanking tactic, albeit good for upto 860MHz!

General Maximus · 11-01-2013, 19:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus

The modem can probably only use use one or two downstream channels

Quote:

Originally Posted by horseman

Pardon Sirâ€¦but I think you'll find that the Motorola SB's Broadcom BCM 3348 chipset was limited to a single tuner albeit (euro/cable labs) DOCSIS2 certified upto 55mbps downstream (upto 1024QAM) and 30mbps (256QAM with S-CDMA) upstream. However even though quite impressive originally with it's 200MHz 32bit processor it's 2002 legacy architecture is now starting to show it's age and single stream is all you'll get whether your approaching the enemy from the front or enfilading with a rear flanking tactic, albeit good for upto 860MHz!

so how does that differ from what I said other than that you have clarfied that it only uses the one channel?

Mr K · 11-01-2013, 22:30

Stay as you are. God knows who needs more than 20MB. 30MB will hardly be any different, even if you manage to get it with the Superdud. Plus you don't want to waste your valuable time on these forums trying to get the thing to work.

thenry · 11-01-2013, 22:35

This is a Local Forum for Local people, we'll have no trouble here......

**Hugh** · 11-01-2013, 22:37

Good for you, Mr K - you know so much more than all the telecomms companies and all the consumers in multi-user households who are often HD streaming, gaming, downloading/uploading, Skyping, VPNing, and all the other internetty stuff that people do...

Your user case obviously should be the model we all should base our usage on.

Mr K · 11-01-2013, 22:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh

Good for you, Mr K - you know so much more than all the telecomms companies and all the consumers in multi-user households who are often HD streaming, gaming, downloading/uploading, Skyping, VPNing, and all the other internetty stuff that people do...
.

Cheers Hugh, you're too kind

Actually most of the above happens in my household and 20MB seems to be more than enough. Reliability is equally, if not more important than speed, and as the OP says no point in fixing something that ain't broke. Still each to their own...

ferretuk · 11-01-2013, 23:13

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5...ily-needs.html