I now have ntl's entry level broadband cable services. This provides me with download speeds of 64k and uploads of 32k. This is part of a triple digital package costing £20.99 a month. This includes a phone line, basic digital TV package, and the cable modem. If you pay a touch more of £20 ... Read review
I now have ntl's entry level broadband cable services. This provides me with download speeds of 64k and uploads of 32k. This is part of a triple digital package costing £20.99 a month. This includes a phone line, basic digital TV package, and the cable modem. If you pay a touch more of £20 per month, you can enjoy true broadband style of 512k download speeds.
Now, all this service is great but it wouldn't be here if I didn't have ... ...to me since it is under contract with ntl and we are currently renting it which is included in the price.
http://www.gi.com/noflash/sb4100.html - this is their webpage should you want to find all the tiny technical specs about this modem.
Well...ntl supplied us with this modem, which so far has worked well. It is an external modem no bigger than a small book. On the front are lights indicating status. Power, Send, ... more
I now have ntl's entry level broadband cable services. This provides me with download speeds of 64k and uploads of 32k. This is part of a triple digital package costing £20.99 a month. This includes a phone line, basic digital TV package, and the cable modem. If you pay a touch more of £20 per month, you can enjoy true broadband style of 512k download speeds.
Now, all this service is great but it wouldn't be here if I didn't have a cable modem. Ok, so the modem legally doesn't belong to me since it is under contract with ntl and we are currently renting it which is included in the price.
http://www.gi.com/noflash/sb4100.html - this is their webpage should you want to find all the tiny technical specs about this modem.
Well...ntl supplied us with this modem, which so far has worked well. It is an external modem no bigger than a small book. On the front are lights indicating status. Power, Send, Receive, Online, and activity. The first 4 are always on if you are switched on, and the activity light flashes when there is activity between the modem and the computer.
To set up, it is supplied with a CD, but first you must power it up and connect the coaxal cable line to the back of the modem (you may need to call ntl to provide an extension). Once this is done, you need to call ntl's customer services and register the modem by providing them with a modem number on the back of the modem, so their servers are able to communicate with the modem. For about 10 minutes the lights will be flashing as it attempts to establish a connection. This wait is only for the first time only. Any other time, after powering on from the mains, the modem will only take about 30 seconds to re-establish a connection. Way before my computer has booted into windows.
A good feature of this modem is a power button which switches off the power to the communications ports, so that there is an added security feacture for when you do not want to use the internet.
How does it connect to your computer? Well there is a USB port, which I am currently using. It worked straight away, plug it in, Windows automatically detected it, and installed the correct drivers from the CD. Another port which I still haven't got the hand of yet is the 10/100Base-T ethernet connection. This can be connected up to a hub and can allow up to 31 extra users to use this single modem. A total of 32 if you count the one plugged into the USB port. I am still trying to get my home network to access the modem without using windows Internet Connection Sharing. I'm a bit rusty on networks. Note: ntl maybe restricting multiple users, so it may not be possible to use this feature however I do not know of any restrictions yet. (I'll update if I do).
Apart from all that, you're pretty much not allowed to do anything with the modem, since it is not legally yours. (In my situation anyway). Another thing you might need to do is configure your computer for TCP/IP protocols, which is a "method" in which the modem will communicate. The manual on the CD documents how to do this, and it is quite easy to set up.
How much will it cost? Well, you can rent it from ntl, at £25 for the 512k service, or it is included in the triple digital package. If you want to buy this modem it would set you back by atleast £150. However, cable modems are currently rare in the UK, and this sector of industry is still young, and not long from now there will be much greater support. It is best to go with recommended modems from the ISP, as not all cable modems will support their specific standards.
Advantages: very small, compact fully featured, offers USB networking Disadvantages: expensive to buy - better rented.
...when I got given a Motorola SurfBoard 4100E modem to replace the LAN City brick. As far as cable modems go, this is one of the most unobtrusive. My LAN City Modem had been 6 inches wide a foot long and 2 inches high, with a strange shape due to the requirement of cooling fins on it. And it sure used to get hot. Imagine my surprise to see the diminutive Surfboard 4100E. Gone was the power supply transformer (also brick like!) and the modem was a mere ... ...beige plastic covering. This was a lot less obtrusive than the dark grey brick that had been sitting on my tower for the past year, and the footprint is very small (7x1.5 inches).
The LAN City had been badly marked – difficult to see what the lights meant on it, whereas on the 4100E on the other hand is very simple to understand. There are five LEDs on the front, being from top to bottom (the modem stands tall) as follows:
Power - Green LED ...
Morgenhund 19.07.2001 (20.07.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Motorola SurfBoard SB 4100
Advantages: Cable Modem - nuf said. Disadvantages: Speed restrictions at main server.
Hmm...if you've been keeping up to date with my opinions, you should know that I now have ntl's entry level broadband internet services :).
As a general outline (so not to repeat the other opinion, which can be found somewhere in my account), I now have ntl's entry level broadband cable services. This provides me with download speeds of 64k and uploads of 32k. This is part of a triple digital package costing £20.99 a month. This includes a phone ... ...you pay a touch more of £20 per month, you can enjoy true broadband style of 512k download speeds.
Now, all this service is great but it wouldn't be here if I didn't have a cable modem. Ok, so the modem legally doesn't belong to me since it is under contract with ntl and we are currently renting it which is included in the price.
http://www.gi.com/noflash/sb4100.html - this is their webpage should you want to find all the tiny technical specs about ...
robertliu84 02.05.2001 (01.05.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Motorola SurfBoard SB 4100
Advantages: Cheap and functional Disadvantages: Not a great manual
The Surfboard 4100 Cable Modem, made by Motorola, is provided as standard with the Telewest Blueyonder service. If you buy it separately it's about £150. I'm not going to discuss broadband in general here, just the modem itself - if you're interested in broadband I'll be discussing Blueyonder in another op later.
The packaging it came in was a BIG box - you'd have thought it was a valuable easily breakable antique if you saw the amount of polystyrene ... ...a Surf Board (duh.) on it. The picture was plain but attractive. I was worried that the thing would look like a Surf board when I first opened it - that would have been too cutesy, but fortunately it didn't. It's quite a sleek model, about 2 inches wide at it's widest point, and quite tall and deep. It looks like a stand up ioniser rather than a piece of computer equipment. It does only come in computer beige as far as I know, but for a modem it's ...
booknet 01.02.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Motorola SurfBoard SB 4100
