NETGEAR - 16 x 4 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem - Black

It's very hard to find a modem without WiFi that also has the phone service (which is what I wanted), however this one absolutely does the trick. Everything seems to be going great so far. No more rental fees for the equipment and no more of WiFi running on the Comcast Gateway even though I turned WiFi off. The latter is one of the main reasons I wanted a new modem without WiFi. It was still running WiFi (the light on Gateway was off, but in the actual Gateway settings it kept showing it was running a hidden WiFi signal). I have my own router that is much better than the Gateway from Comcast and I don't want their WiFi signals interfering with my router. Set up was a breeze. The instructions say you must call Comcast to activate it, but that was not true for me. I was able to activate it by launching the web browser and the set up screen to activate it popped up. It gives you an option to sign in with your Comcast email to activate or use your Comcast account number. If I remember correctly, there was also another option, but I can't remember what it was. Also, be sure to restart your modem before hooking your router up to it because in my case I just unhooked the modem from running directly into the computer and plugged it in to the router and booted the router up and it would not work. I'm guessing this was a MAC address issue since it was originally directly connected to the computer. Once I restarted the modem and hooked it up to my router, everything was fine.

After we switched from ATT to Comcast Xfinity, we needed a new modem. A quick note about why we switched. We decided to scrap our basic TV service and move to streaming TV. At best, ATT only could get up to 25-50 mbps speed, which resulted in frequent wifi slow downs and interruptions. We are currently are at a minimum of 100 mbps speed, and so far no problems at all! We also had an Orbi router to handle our WiFi, and we needed a modem that worked with both internet and voice/phone. The NETGEAR CM500V - 16 x 4 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem - provides the connection to high-speed cable Internet with speeds up to 680 Mbps and supports 2 phone lines. As a DOCSIS 3.0 version, it is 16X faster than 2.0 devices. A Gigabit Ethernet port provides faster access and downloads. It was interesting that when the Comcast service agent came to hook us up, he said we had one of the best systems he has seen. The system works great . . . no down time and no slow downs!! And I don't have to pay the monthly rental fees, and in one year, we will have paid for the unit!! Hopefully this great performer will continue to perform for many years.

First, I am required to mention that as a beta tester for this modem, I received the beta version of this NETGEAR product for free, However, my review will provide my honest experience and opinion. I've been using this modem for many months, and have not had a single problem. Voice quality on Comcast phone service is excellent. My internet speed plan is 300/10, and the modem has no problems delivering. I've never had to reboot it for technical problems. It was rebooted due to several power failures in my area, and it came back up with no problems. I also had to reboot it when Comcast increased my speed tier from 250/10 to 300/10 (Comcast requires a reboot to update the modem with the new speed tier). The only possible disadvantage is that it does not have a battery backup built in, but with the proliferation of mobile phones, a battery backup is generally an unneeded expense. The modem may be a bit on the expensive side, but the payback period vs. renting a modem from Comcast is about 12 months. If I had not received it for free, I would have purchased it.

Wanted to replaced the modem/router that my cable company provided since each upgrade they provided seemed to get worse instead of better. We purchased this modem along with a Netgear Nighthawk router on the advice of a Best Buy associate. I am very happy with the speed, range, and their ability to handle many devices at once. I am an analyst, and I work from home by connecting to my company's VPN. Our home phone is internet based. Plus my family and their friends utilize multiple devices (laptops, tablets, fire tv sticks, smart tvs, online gaming systems (Playstation & XBox) and smart phones... often at the same time. This Netgear modem/router combination handles all of it well, and my family is happy with our wifi for a change The only problem I've had is that I have not been able to get my company's Shoretel VoIP phone to work. I am unsure if this is a Netgear issue or not.

I am one of thousands of cable customers who thought it was better to rent a modem vs buy. Hate to admit it, but I have been renting my cable modem for 15 years at close to $10 per month. The most recent modem and router provided by the cable company was spotty from the start and it opened my eyes to finding a better solution. Thanks to a helpful Best Buy employee, I found this simple, but effective NetGear modem and then added a two station Orbi router to improve our WIFI signal/speed throughout the house. My total investment was just over $300. Set up time was just under 2 hours (including the call to the cable company to activate the new modem). We average 8 devices using the WIFI access at the same time and everyone seems happier with the performance over the past 5 weeks. With what I paid in rent, I could have purchased these sooner and upgraded 3-4x.

I have been toying with buying my own modem for years. I have my router in the basement, wifi AP on the 2nd floor, and my modem EMT in my den. I only wanted an EMT (telephone) modem. Researching one that is Xfinity supported limits my options. Through the years I have read horror stories of xfinity customers getting their purchased modems especially the voice ones activated in a timely matter. While Xfinity increased my download speed lately (for free) and my rental modem could not keep up with the new speeds. This Netgear CM550V was so easy to install! Completed it all online without having to talk to separate tech support for provisioning the internet part and voice part. Had it up and running in 15 minutes. Now my download speeds are around 295mps vs 130mps. Has been rock solid for 2 weeks now. If I have problems I will update.

Please check with your service provider before purchasing this modem. I was told by the Best Buy associate that "Because it works with Comcast it would work with Optimum." The internet worked at 75/100 MBps, and the phone line, which is why I picked this particular modem, did not work at all. I spent about two weeks back and forth with Optimum and Netgear trying to update the firmware. Neither wanted to take responsibility. Finally I just returned it, and ordered an Arris TM822 from the Best Buy website. Best Buy needs to stock the modems that are compatible with the local ISPs. Optimum denies any compatibility with "Comcast Certified" devices despite what anyone in-store will tell you.

Instructions say to call Comcast but like other reviewers, I was able to just plug it all in, restart my router and I got prompted to sign into my account and have it auto activate. No more rental fees woohoo. It was even able to activate my telephone line as well without calling. I have triple play from Xfinity. It did restart itself a few times during installation to complete it's set up. Speeds great, I am able to get my full speed tier of about 175Mbps down and 10Mbps up. Once you have it all set up, you do lose the ability to manage it through the Xfinity portal (which is no big deal) and it will say that the device isn't supported even though it is listed on their device compatibility page as fully supported. This thing will pay for itself in about 14 months since rental fees are about 10/month. I paired it with a Netgear Nighthawk R7000 router.