SurfBoard SB6141 Multiple Ethernet Req

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
G

gtran7

Honorable
Dec 4, 2013
3
0
10,510
Hello fellow techies,

Being a Comcast customer for a year now, I did not realize I was consistently paying a monthly rental fee for the modem. Knowing this, I plan on finally purchasing my own modem to negate that monthly fee.

The modem that sequences my satisfaction needs is the ARRIS / Motorola SurfBoard SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem (White Version). Doing further investigation and research on this modem, I realize that it only has 1 Ethernet port.

In my family, I require at least 3 Ethernet ports; what is the simple solution to solve this? Note, I am on a budget so I do not plan to purchase an expensive router. Could an old/poor quality router work, or would it be counter-productive to my new modem? What about a splitter or external port?

Thank you for your help and feedback, much is appreciated.
 
Solution
B
If you use the new modem you purchased you would need 3 ip addresses. I would bet they will charge you something like $10 per ip per month for the 2 extra ones you need. You can put a $10 switch behind the modem to get extra ports when you run like this.

Still the monthly fee for the extra ip addresses will very quickly exceed the cost buying a router so that all your devices can share a single IP.
Sort by date Sort by votes
Wolfshadw

Wolfshadw

Titan
Moderator
Aug 3, 2006
28,224
1,514
133,290
Your old router is likely limited to 10/100mbps throughput. While it would probably still work, you're are limiting yourselves. My solution was to go ahead and purchase a wireless router that included multiple 10/100/1000mbps Ethernet ports. This way, my laptop and Kindle can connect to the Internet and my smart phone can access my computer network.

-Wolf sends
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

bill001g

Titan
Aug 9, 2012
28,326
2,756
125,640
You must have a router of some kind because the ISP limits you to a single IP address behind the modem on most accounts. You could put a switch behind the modem and pay for multiple IP addresses but it will not take long before the extra monthly charge exceeds the cost of a router.

I am going to suspect what you were renting from the ISP was a modem and router in a single box and from a cost standpoint it is cheaper to buy both in a single unit. I generally recommend separate router and modem if you can afford it since it gives much more choice.

If you can get a router for free then you could make it work until you could afford something better. You should be able to get a pretty nice router for $50.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

gtran7

Honorable
Dec 4, 2013
3
0
10,510
Thank you for you answer.

As of right now, the ISP provider provided only a modem. I'm sure that there is a router integrated in the modem also because I do not have a router.

To clarify, if I buy a switch for the modem I would require more IP addresses?

I have to connect 2 wired Ethernet connections and 1 wireless laptop. What is my best course of action?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

bill001g

Titan
Aug 9, 2012
28,326
2,756
125,640
If you use the new modem you purchased you would need 3 ip addresses. I would bet they will charge you something like $10 per ip per month for the 2 extra ones you need. You can put a $10 switch behind the modem to get extra ports when you run like this.

Still the monthly fee for the extra ip addresses will very quickly exceed the cost buying a router so that all your devices can share a single IP.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom