The SBG6782-AC SURFboard eXtreme is a totally good combo deal.
Internet Routers
Hey, guys.
It's Dong Ngo here, and this is a regular cable modem.
You know, this device connects to a cable TV line-in and then brings the fast internet at home.
After that, you can use a Wi-Fi router like this one right here and connected to via the modem's LAN port and then the router [unk] the internet connection to the rest of the devices in your home either via Wi-Fi or more network cable.
Now, if you put
these devices together, you will have a combo device like the one I have today, the new SURFboard eXtreme combo device from Motorola.
Now, so far I have never recommended any combo devices at all for a few reasons.
Number one, they are kinda high risk.
High risk because if either parts fails-- the modem, all the router parts, you have to replace the entire thing that is costly and time-consuming.
The second reason is,
in combo devices, the router part tend to be weak and slow and when you are tired of it, you cannot just get rid of it.
You stuck with it.
And speaking of being stuck with it, well, I believe getting a combo device is somewhat like dating a lady with a very cute puppy.
You risk loving to the puppy itself.
So when you see this, remember, it's danger and it's a lot of work.
Now, the new SURFboard here is different, however.
It's because it comes with high-end hardware component both of the
modem and the router part.
And that means it's very future-proof.
The modem part actually support the latest DOCSIS 3.0 standard to awful up to 343 megabyte per second internet speed.
Now, that is faster than basically all existing cable services and that could be that way for a long time.
The router part support the latest 802.11 a/c or AC for short, Wi-Fi standard to offer the speed of up to 1.3
gigabit per second when use with an AC-enable client.
It's also a true dual-band Wi-Fi router, meaning it support all existing Wi-Fi clients regardless of the standard.
The on the back, the SURFboard has 4 gigabit LAN ports but no WAN port.
Instead, it comes with 1 coax port right here, the connector similar to the one found in the modem.
This means that this device here only works with internet cable services and not any are
those services such as DSL or satellite dish.
To make up for that, it has one more thing built-in.
This coax connector right here also support MoCA.
Now, MoCA is very similar to power line.
But instead of using the power line, it use the cable TV line-in to extend your home network to different rooms.
That's very convenient because you have to use actual network cable to extend your wide network.
On the inside, the device has a very robust and easy to use
WAP interface and it has a lot more to offer us than any other combo devices I've ever seen.
Now in my testing, the SURFboard offer very good performance both as a router and a modem.
As a router, it offers fast speed, very stable signal and also very good range.
Now, testing the modem part was kinda tricky because the internet speed depends on how much you pay.
I put it at home-- I tried it at my home and it offers exactly the same speed as my existing modem.
And guess what?
I have a very fast modem.
With that said, at the [unk] of some $200, the SURFboard here-- actually a very good deal for cable internet user especially when you want to upgrade your network or you just move to a new service because it's cheaper than buying an AC router separately and a modem separately and the support for the MoCA like this adapter right here is a bonus.
For more on this, check out my full review at cnet.com.
If you're curious about the lady and the dog,
well, like many combo deals, sometime you managed to look them both.
I know I do and I said that even nothing on wood and that's because I'm Dong Ngo.
And this has been the first look at the SURFboard eXtreme cable modem and Wi-Fi AC router with MoCA from Motorola.
And next time, please make the name shorter.