Motorola SB6141 vs SB6121 cable modem. Compare and find out if Motorola SB6141 is really the best cable modem for you today. Get easy to understand info as well as customer reviews on these two super speed bestseller DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems and find out why you should buy the Motorola SB6141 or the Motorola SB6121 and buy them at one of the LOWEST PRICE!

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Motorola SB6141 vs SB6121
By Funner Montag
When this article was first written, the Motorola SB6141has just been released in
the market by Motorola and it was so hot that the modem was literally flying off
the shelves at Amazon. In fact it was out of stock for a few days before Amazon
managed to replenish it – albeit with only limited units.
As you are comparing the Motorola SB6141 vs SB6121, I would assume that you
would have also heard about or know its predecessor, the Motorola SB6121 and
you would like to know if the Motorola SB6141 is better than the Motorola
SB6121 and which of these modem better suits your requirements and give you the
best value for your money.
Is the Motorola Sb6141 really the best
cable modem for you as claimed by many
people?
Before you reach out for your credit card
to buy the Motorola SB6141, let’s take a
good look at both of these excellent cable
modems from Motorola and find out if the
Motorola SB6141 is still the best cable
modem for you.

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By the end of this simple to understand article, you should be able to decide which
cable modem to buy and then buy it with full confidence that you are making an
informed decision.
However before we look into the differences between Motorola SB6141 vs
SB6121, it is very important to first understand at least on a very high level what is
DOCSIS 3.0 and how it helps both the Motorola SB6141 and SB6121 cable
modems deliver the performance that customers are looking for due to the more
and more demanding requirements brought about by the use of today’s technology.
So What Is Thing Called DOCSIS?
and specifically DOCSIS 3.0…
DOCSIS is the acronym for Data Over
Cable Service Interface Specification.
Due to the foreseeable demands for
more and more speed as well as
bandwidth, an international
telecommunications standard called
DOCSIS was created to add a high-
speed data transfer mode to existing
cable TV (CATV) systems.
Doing so allows many cable television
operators to provide Internet access
over their existing hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) infrastructure without having to
invest more money into newer infrastructures.
An initial consortium of thirteen companies specializing in networking and
electronics technologies spearheaded by CableLabs jointly developed the DOCSIS
standard. Some leading names in the consortium include Intel, Cisco, Netgear,
Texas Instruments, Broadcom and Motorola.
The first version, DOCSIS Version 1.0 was published in March 1997 with the
latest version, DOCSIS 3.0 released in August 2006. DOCSIS 3.0 was released due
to increasing demands for symmetric services such as IP telephony.
DOCSIS 3.0 incorporated the enhancement of both upstream and downstream
transmission speeds. To ensure that existing investments are not wasted, cross-

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version compatibility has been maintained across all versions of DOCSIS; with the
devices falling back to the highest supported version in common between both
endpoints.
Channel Bonding of Motorola SB6141 vs SB6121
Both Motorola’s easy to use
SB6141 and SB6121 cable
modems unlocks the potential of
providing additional services to
customers by the service
providers.
By utilizing the services of
DOCSIS 3.0, the Motorola
SB6141 is able to channel bond
up to eight downstream channels and four upstream channels while the Motorola
SB6121 is capable of only bonding both four upstream and downstream channels.
Through the use of the channel bonding technologies via DOCSIS 3.0, the service
providers are able to offer their customers advanced multi-media services with data
rates of over 300 Mbps for the Motorola SB6141 and over 160 Mbps for the
Motorola SB6121. Both modems are capable of achieving over 100 Mbps when
sending or uploading data.
How Does Channel Bonding Work In Both Motorola
SB6141 and SB6121?
DOCSIS 3.0 enables cable Internet providers to exploit the extra capacity through
channel-bonding technology. Using DOCSIS 3.0 allows them to offer ultra-fast as
well as other value enhanced broadband services.
To look at it in a simple manner, channel bonding just combine all the smaller
parallel data pipes into one large single broadband conduit.
Picture it this way – instead of just using eight single channels; each allowing a
maximum of 40Mbps, what if you can combine all eight to provide a huge channel
that is capable of a theoretical maximum output of 320 Mbps. That in fact is the
theoretical throughput from the Motorola SB6141.

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Wow, But Can I Expect 320 Mbps Of Throughput?
The answer is unfortunately, no.
This is because actual speeds will
vary and will often be less than the
theoretical value.
Another thing is that data
transmission speed is always
approximate and dependent upon
various factors such as the network
configuration, capacity of the
network and the volume of the
traffic on the network.
You will also never expect to get the maximum theoretical throughput in practical
implementation as the throughput will generally be less due to physical layer
overheads such as error correction coding (ECC), burst preamble, guard interval
etc
So, Who Can Provide Me The Fastest Speed?
As of the end of 2011, Shaw Cable’s announcement 250 Mbit/s download 15
Mbit/s upload will be the fastest deployment in North America. Closely followed
by is Videotron's 120 Mbit/s download and 20 Mbit/s upload service in Quebec
City.
In the United Kingdom
however, broadband provider
Virgin Media announced on 20
April 2011 of its intention to
start trials with a whopping
download speeds of 1.5 Gbit/s
and upload of 150 Mbit/s; again
all based on the DOCSIS3.0
specifications.
Moving forward, the U.S.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has also urged U.S. providers to

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make 100 Mbit/s a standard speed available to an approximately 100 million
households before 2020.
If you look at wired technologies, so far only DOCSIS, FIOS, E-line (Advanced
Powerline networking with bandwidth equivalent to fiber) and Ethernet in the first
mile are likely to achieve this speed on a large scale in that time frame.
Finally, Motorola SB6141 vs SB6121 – What Is The Real
Difference?
For practical purposes, technically and design
wise, the Motorola SB6141 is very similar to the
SB6121 except for one thing – the download
capacity of the SB6141 is twice the capacity of
the SB6121.
Motorola SB6141’s theoretical downstream
throughput is 320 Mbps because it is capable of
bonding up to eight channels while the SB6121
is 160 Mbps because it can bond up to only four
channels.
If you are subscribing to Shaw Cable (you have
to check with them if you are in an area where they provide the 250 Mbps through
put) or Virgin Media in the UK, then you must get the Motorola SB6141 to be able
to enjoy the maximum capacity. Otherwise the Motorola SB6121 is sufficient.
So by now, I believe the distinction between Motorola SB6141 vs SB6121 is clear.
For most people, either the Motorola SB6141 or the SB6121 will do for a long
time.
However, most people would prefer to buy the Motorola SB6141. This is because
not only is it newer, but at the point of writing, the Motorola SB6121 is cheaper
than the Motorola SB6141 by only $10 (of course, prices are subjected to change
without notice).
So the rationale is why not get a faster and newer hardware for such as small
difference. By pay this small premium, you are in fact future proofing your

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investment. Should this bigger bandwidth be available to you in future, you can
still continue to use your Motorola SB6141.
Click here or the image below to check price of the Motorola SB6141 at Amazon
or here to check the price of the SB6121.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Works with TWC, April 24, 2012
By Greystny
The SB6141 is listed on TWC's list of approved modems. No
issues with install. Easy to access menu to view power levels.
Fast and works as advertised. Highly recommend.
5.0 out of 5 stars The Bomb, April 19, 2012
By Bluquick
Anyone that has broadband should have this modem at home.
This modem increased our speed by 10 MPS plus .. Very easy set
up. Works like a dream and has 1 gig network connect. Don't

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worry about a fancy box its whats inside that counts.
Was delivered 5 days ahead of schedule AMAZON rocks.
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Modem, April 26, 2012
By Justin Meyer "The Messenjah"
This modem was set up and working in 5 min. Works perfectly
with Charter and is much faster than their standard rental
modems. Saved $8 just because it comes in a non-retail box.
Could not be happier with this product!
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, May 11, 2012
By Claythrow
Best modem I've ever used, hands down. Use mine with the
Apple Time capsule and it integrates perfectly. Owned the 6121,
and the 6580, this one is quicker if you pay for the speeds. I'm a
telecommunications professional so I know how to tweak
things. This modem does not give you any options for that, but
untweaked and paired with the apple time capsule (which kind
of tweaks itself, very well I might add) is faster than the 6580
tweaked to it's peak.
I don't have an explanation why, and I'm not a "Mac" loyalist,
but as much as this modem is an amazing product, so is Apple's
time capsule. Until the next technology comes around, this
modem is all you will ever need. Amongst the many, MANY
modes I've gotten to test and play with, this is hands down the
fastest. You can't adjust anything on it, but it's still faster than
modem or modem/router combos that can be tweaked,
significantly faster.
You can access all the logs and signal info, and another odd

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thing is that it uses the signal more efficiently and posts better
specs, on the same signal. I did a lot of testing on this and I
don't have an explanation for it, but compared to the other very
similar Motorola's (and all other modems, but the Motorola's
are the oddity) and it posts better numbers with the same
signal, not talking speed here, but errors, s/n, power levels,
packet loss etc. If someone has an explanation please post it as
this is my forte and I can't wrap my head around it.
But bottom line, from a telecommunications worker, just buy
this modem and be done with it. IMO there is nothing better,
and I've seen em all. Side note, there is one modem that has 8
upstream channels (this has 8 down and 4 up, which is more
than 90% of modems) I forget the name of it, but this modem
tests far better, is better built, and very few companies are
offering 8 upstream channels now anyway, so it's not only not
as good a modem, but the extra bonding on the upstream is
useless to most anyway.
I couldn’t agree more with the last reviewer “Claythrow” that right now, there is
nothing better than the Motorola SB6141. In fact the SB6141 is the best cable
modem there is. On top of that, there is this huge discount that Amazon is giving.
Click here to buy the Motorola SB6141 from Amazon now and start enjoying the
user experience that you are looking for.

9. Page 9 of 13
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tthhee MMoottoorroollaa SSBBGG66558800..
If you are convinced that the Motorola SB6141 or SB6121 is good and you also
need a wireless router, then you should check out the Motorola SBG6580.
The Motorola SBG6580 is both a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem as well as a wireless
router in the same box. In fact the Motorola SBG 6580 casing is similar to that of
the Motorola SB6141 or SB6121. Motorola added the “G” to the name to indicate
that the Motorola SBG6580 is a gateway modem. A gateway modem is a modem
that has a router build in – kind of like a 2-in-1 stuff.
Many people prefer a gateway modem as it saves space. You also don’t have to
worry about having two power sources for both your modem and router.
However some people prefer the modem and wireless router functions to be in
two separate boxes because the rationale is that if one box goes down, then they
only has to replace the bad box.
However for me, unless I already have a good wireless router, I feel that it is more
convenient to have a combo box like the Motorola SBG6580 as not only does it
save space, I also don’t need two power sources for two boxes. The combo box
functions exactly like two separate boxes minus the messy connections and
power sources.
At a quick initial glance, the price tag on the Motorola SBG6580 may appear
slightly more expensive than the Motorola SB6141 alone but you have to bear in
mind that it also has the wireless router features incorporated into the same box.
As such it is actually cheaper than buying a separate cable modem and wireless
router of a similar class. In fact, the total cost of both good wireless router and a
cable modem will generally be more that of the Motorola SBG6580.
Some people commented that when your gateway modem goes down, then you
whole internet access also goes down because both the modem and router are in
one box.

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However they forgot that if one of the boxes breaks down, then they still cannot
use their network until they replace that faulty box. In the case of the Motorola
SBG6580, all they need to do is just replace the whole unit.
However do note that in general wireless routers, gateways and cable modems
tend to last a long time. If they break, they somehow tend to break within the 90
days period.
So the choice is really up to you. In summary:
1. Buy Motorola SB6141 if you want the fastest and best cable modem and
you already have a good wireless router. You are also future-proofing your
investment with the Motorola SB6141 if your provider does not deliver that
top speed at the moment.
2. Buy Motorola SB6121 if you know that is all you will ever need. You also
already has an existing wireless router that you can connect to this modem.
As compared with options 1 or 3, you will save a few dollars with this
excellent Motorola SB6121 cable modem.
3. Buy Motorola SBG6580 if you want a combo in a single box. This eliminates
the messy wiring and also the need for separate external power sources. It
is just like buying the Motorola SB6141 with a build in wireless router.
Setup is easy as well. This would be ideal if you are looking for both a
wireless router and a cable modem.
By the way, if you have been renting your cable modem, you will get better
quality hardware as well as save money in the long run with these Motorola cable
modems or gateway.
Click on the links above now to buy your cable modem or gateway and start
enjoying super speed access to the internet.
Latest update!
Technology is always moving at a very fast pace. After I updated this article with
the Motorola SBG6580, Motorola released another model – the Motorola
SBG6782-AC.
This model is also similar to the SBG6580 except it has another component called
MoCA added to it. With MoCA, the Motorola SBG6782AC has the added capability

11. Page 11 of 13
of being a wired router (apart from the 4 Ethernet ports at the back) on top of its
wireless capability.
Since you are buying a cable modem, your house would already have been
“cabled”. As such you can easily add MoCA end point connectors to your cable
outlets at your rooms and you would have an equivalent of an Ethernet
connected home except in this case, the cable has an even bigger pipe that will
give you stable connections to the internet without additional wiring costs.
If you are interested in this type of technology, click on the following link to check
out this easy to understand article “Motorola SBG6782-AC: advanced all in one
modem router combo with MoCA”.

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