Forum Discussion

Harry_Slaughter's avatar
Harry_Slaughter
New Contributor
3 years ago

How long should a modem last?

A technician suggest that my modem might be the reason for my degraded internet connection the last 2 months. He said they only last 2-3 years and I might try replacing it.

I paid about $150 for this Arris CM8200 a couple years ago, thinking it was high quality. 

How long have your modems lasted? Is 2 years really the lifespan?

  • Darkatt's avatar
    Darkatt
    Honored Contributor

    The lifespan of electronics can differ, primarily based on the power itself. I have a UPS that provides a filtered 60hz ac power whether I have electricity from the grid or not. Filtered power means that devices connected to it doesn't see electrical spikes, and power spikes can cause electronic life expectancy to drop dramatically. Power spikes can be caused by many things, even the Air Conditioning to your home starting and stopping. That being said, I have an Arris 2460 modem, that I have had since 2015. 

  • Bruce's avatar
    Bruce
    Honored Contributor III

    I bought my Arris Surfboard SB6182 (DOCSIS 3.0) on 3 June 2015 (7 years, 2 months and 28 days ago) and it still works.

    After upgrading their telephone network, Cox freely issued me a TM3402A (DOCSIS 3.1 & telephone modem) to replace the SB6182.  However, the DOCSIS side of the replacement combo device died one year later…so I reinstalled the SB6182.  Still going!

    Without providing a technical reason, I think the tech is just playing swaptronics.  It's what dumb people do.

    How is your Internet service degraded?