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GoodyearAZ's avatar
GoodyearAZ
New Contributor

Surfboard SB6141 with Premier Internet service speeds

I have a Surfboard SB6141 modem, Netgear N600 (WNDR 3400 V3) router and Premier Cox Internet. I check my speeds every once in a while and have never broke 100 Mbps. The equipment is rated for 300 Mbps and besides an occasional obvious hiccup, they appear to be working well.

Is 80 - 90 Mbps realistically all I can expect from the Premier plan? I've read many posts complaining of not getting the full speed, I realize that Cox advertises 'Up to' for every plan.

I've thought about paying the extra $12 a month and getting the Ultimate plan, I know Cox recommends my modem for Premier service but if I upgraded and left the modem and router alone, what kind of speeds could I hope for? It is rated for 300 Mbps.

Why leave the equipment alone? Because I've spent a lot of time looking over the recommended modems and modem/wifi combos (leary of the combos), many complaints faulty products coupled with poor customer service - it's a leave well enough alone situation. 

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  • Jerry's avatar
    Jerry
    Contributor II

    I have Premier, a SB6141 with a Linksys router and I get 170Mbps +/- on the Cox speed test wired. Which, however, is not the speed I would get beyond the Cox servers. But a high last mile speed means a high(er) speed where it really matters. Although that speed, in turn, relies on a variety of factors beyond anything Cox can control and no matter what equipment I might have.

    Speaking of which, the rated 300Mbps mentioned is for two way traffic, so expected download would be half that, give or take. Premier used to be rated to 100Mbps. I'm not sure if it's been upgraded to 150Mbps in all markets yet. You might want to check that and ask if your modem has been reprovisioned accordingly.

  • GoodyearAZ's avatar
    GoodyearAZ
    New Contributor

    TiffanyR,

    I have good quality Cat 5e cables, according to Cat 5e specs should be more than capable, however I will upgrade them asap particularly from the modem to the router, the rest of my hardwired connections are streaming devices which are running good.

    I am checking speeds on a wireless connection, I do or did have a Cat 5e cable long enough to connect to my router and will recheck that way, I am wondering if, as Jerry mentioned if my modem has been reprovisioned on Cox's end - could you please check that for me?

    Thank You

  • GoodyearAZ's avatar
    GoodyearAZ
    New Contributor

    Thanks for the heads up on the reprovisioning.

    The description on the Cox website for the Ultimate package says 

    Up to 300 Mbps

    DOWNLOADS

    I'm only going by what they say.

    As for the Premier package, it's 150 Mbps, at least in my area (Phoenix AZ) - I pasted this from my Account page, it doesn't say Premier on this but that is the package we have right now.

    My Internet

    Service Connected Connected

    Cox Internet

    Up to 150 Mbps download

    • 1024 GB data plan
    • Up to 10 Mbps upload
    • Now available with Panoramic WiFi!

    Thanks for the help.

  • GoodyearAZ's avatar
    GoodyearAZ
    New Contributor

    I chatted with customer service today, apparently my modem has or at least was having a 'Return Status' issue and that it is from 2013. The SB6141 is listed on their site as acceptable so I'm slightly perplexed about its geriatric age of 4 years, which the tech mentioned twice. I have to dig through my box o old cables to see if I can identify the cable that was put on when I first switched to Cox 4 years ago to find out if it is the cable from the wall plate to the modem. 

  • cpljp's avatar
    cpljp
    Contributor

    Your router is your bottleneck. It can't hit over 100 hardwired nor is it AC wireless capable. Upgrade your router and as long as your computer can also support higher speeds, you will be good to go. Most likely an equipment issue here, not a Cox issue. 

  • GoodyearAZ's avatar
    GoodyearAZ
    New Contributor

    I thought the WNDR3400 router is 300 Mbps 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz, is this not the case? 

  • StephanieA's avatar
    StephanieA
    Former Moderator
    GoodyearAZ,

    I confirmed the provisioning on the modem and everything looks fine on the account at this time. I also checked the specs on your router and it does state it is a 300Mbps + 300Mbps however it is still only an N router and not an AC and the Ethernet ports look to be 10/100 Mbps. I suggest contacting Netgear to confirm.

  • GoodyearAZ's avatar
    GoodyearAZ
    New Contributor

    Qoute:

    "StephanieA wrote the following post at 28 Jun 2017 2:42 AM:GoodyearAZ,

    I confirmed the provisioning on the modem and everything looks fine on the account at this time. I also checked the specs on your router and it does state it is a 300Mbps + 300Mbps however it is still only an N router and not an AC and the Ethernet ports look to be 10/100 Mbps. I suggest contacting Netgear to confirm. "


    Hi StephanieA,

    Thank you for looking at the provisioning on the SB6141 and confirming the specs for the router.

    Can you tell me by 'everything looks fine at this time' - do you mean it is no longer showing a 'return status' error?

    On a side note, I am planning on purchasing a new modem and router - looking at Netgear CM700 or CM1000 coupled with either Netgear AC1750 or AC1900. 

  • ChrisL's avatar
    ChrisL
    Former Moderator
    @GoodyearAZ

    Given the choice of those two modems you'll probably be happier with the CM1000. If I'm not mistaken I believe the CM700 has been discontinued. Whatever router you choose will need gigabit Ethernet ports and should have wireless-AC if you wish to have a chance at achieving 300Mbps using wifi.

  • GoodyearAZ's avatar
    GoodyearAZ
    New Contributor

    I ended up with a Arris SB6190 and Netgear AC1900 - also upgraded to the Ultimate package this past Saturday - connection is smoking although I've already had to unplug the modem twice to reboot it as the speed dropped below 10 mbps, immediately after reboot speed was back up.