ARRIS SURFboard Approved SB8200 Frustration

My Old Man Fifth313ment Talk Works great and saves you money but has a sensitivity to errors which can cause major headaches!.

I purchased the Arris SB8200 for Xfinity Gigabit Internet service as they have a deal for two years for the same price as the 400Mbps plan ($69.99). So in order to save almost $15 a month I decided to buy my own modem to replace my aging Motorola (Arris) SB6141. My SB6141 netted me 259Mbps down and 35Mbps up on my previous plan of 400Mbps down and 35Mbps up, which is great for a 8x4 channel Docsis 3.0 cable modem. So since Arris bought Motorola modem cable division I decided to get another one having had a great product with the 6141. The Arris SB8200 is also the only Docsis 3.1 modem with two Ethernet ports capable of doing 2Gbps down and is the most future proof of any modem on the market at the time of writing this review. And you can get a refurbished model for half the price which is even better!

Inside the Arris SB8200 is a Broadcom BCM3390 chipset (a much needed change from the SB6190’s Intel Puma 6 chipset which had hardware bugs and caused them a lawsuit for good measure), 3GB of RAM, 128MB S34ML01G200TFV00 Spansion flash memory NAND and 16MB Macronix MX25L12805D SPI NAND flash memory. The SB8200 is capable of downstream bonded channels up to 32 SCQAM or 2 OFDM and upstream bonded channels up to 8 SCQAM or 2 OFDMA (32x8 SCQAM and 2x2 OFDM). The Ethernet ports are only Gigabit Ethernet and therefore the Max you will get is 950Mbps average down and it will never be possible to the the boxes 10Gbps selling spiel. Even if you don't have Docsis 3.1 in your area or a Gigabit internet speed plan this modem will serve you for many years to come. And this modem has 3GB of RAM, which the other Docsis 3.1 modems have 256MB or less! RAM! Oh and with most providers (Xfinity included) you can call them and add a separate IP address for the second Ethernet port for a small fee (Xfinity charges like $5.95 if I'm remembering correctly). This would be great if you wanted to connect a gaming console directly to the modem for the best speeds and then connect your home router to the second. And eventually you'll be able to kick in 2Gbps by merging those two Ethernet ports!

Setup of the device was quick and easy and you simply plugin the coxial cable, Ethernet cable to your device (router for 99% of the people) and power cable and you are off and running. A quick call to your internet provider (Xfinity for me) to add the HFC MAC address and the modem is registered and provisioned and I'm up and running within ten minutes. Xfinity will try to send out a tech but you can get them to override it if you know what you are doing. Gigabit internet can be extremely temperamental as we'll discuss later which is the reason Xfinity requires sending out a tech on all Gigabit plan installs. And again this is simply a modem so you will need a router if you want wifi or the ability to connect more than one device.

The performance of the Arris SB8200 is top notch and I was easily able to pull my provisioned modem speeds from my Xfinity service. I was able to test 1.4Gbps down (Fast.com also includes backend speed as actual can only be 950Mbps as I mentioned above) and 45Mbps up. On Speedtest.net my tests are almost always 930-960Mbps (or near that) down and 40-50Mbps up. These speeds are AMAZING and just my upload speed is faster than most people's download speeds! Right now Xfinity is only utilizing Docsis 3.1 for the downstream channels so the modem lights will have a blue light for downstream and a green light for upstream (this is not an error or bug).

My issues arose with my Xfinity service and resets, slow speeds (300Mbps Max down), etc. Xfinity sent out a tech and that did nothing. So another rech came and found a ton of ingress coming from 4 lines on my tap. He trapped them off and I was up and running with Gigabit speeds again. Then the resets started, at night almost every 10 minutes! It was only happening between 10pm and 7am average, EVERY NIGHT! I had more techs out, supervisors and more supervisors! After a month (and many hours of my time and speaking up) the issue was resolved as it was a bad line amplifier which was causing noise and caring my upstream to spike into the high 50s, which triggers resets on the modem and t3/t4 errors. Now my neighbors were having issues on certain channels and slow internet but their modems WERE NOT RESETTING! And we knew my modem wasn't bad as it was fine for over 12 hours a day with no errors at all in the log until night began to fall everyday. And In fact my neighbors never lost internet, EVER but my internet was almost useless at night time. So the Arris SB8200 is extremely sensitive to t3/t4 errors and the threshold for errors and resets is much higher for the Xfinity owned gateways and modems. Also Arris had out out a firmware update previously about severe sensitivity to t3/t4 errors and I had the latest version but I was still having issues so they still need to work on this. If you are experiencing issues with your Arris modem navigate to http://192.168.100.1 and you'll be able to see basic signal information, modem error logs, modem and firmware info. You can use this information and post it in the support forums to get help and diagnose any problems.

But now that the line and backend errors are corrected it's smooth sailing and I'm saving myself a ton of money (the new Xfinity modem charge is $14 plus tax and it will be $15 by the beginning of 2020 so you pay for the modem in a little over a year) every year and you'll have the newest technology that is even better than the Xfinity modems and gateways, many of which use the Puma 6 chipset which I mentioned above (causing severe lag and timeouts which can kill online gaming or video watching). So I'm paying $69.99 and getting Gigabit speeds of 950Mbps down and 48Mbps up which is a great deal hands down and you won't find speeds that cheap ANYWHERE ELSE! The Arris brand is keeping the Motorola spirit alive and kicking which is great for competition! The Arris SB8200 is the best modem you can buy for your money right now and if you can find a refurbished unit on Amazon even better (they didn't have any when I bought mine but three weeks later they did and for $100 cheaper)!

My Old Man M M tell us DON'T BUY.

DON'T BUY THIS MODEM. I'm so surprised that I experienced all of the same issues as the other negative reviewers. I ordered this modem because of a notice from xfinity that the DOCSIS 3.0 modems were no longer being supported (or something like that). Having a used SB6121 for about 5 years, which was still running great, I thought it was a good opportunity to upgrade, especially since I have had such a good experience with the older Surfboard modem. I had the modem for about 4 months, and suddenly it locked up on me, and we were out of internet for a couple of days. A lot of people seemed to have the same experience after 4-6 months. This also happened coincidentally after I came back from vacation. It seems like it it has happened to some others who gone on vacation to find their SB8200s locked up. Maybe it has to do with the overheating issue? But for 2 days, an ISP tech visit, hours of back and forth calling with xfinity support and Arris support, we determined it was the modem. This WASTED SO MUCH TIME. I was looking forward to getting some work done before returning to work after vacation. Instead I was on the phone and with a technician throughout the better part of my whole weekend. Arris support was the worst. They refused to acknowledge my issue and tried to hurry me off the phone, throwing the ball back at the ISP. I told them my old modem worked right away after activating it back. They said they could not continue to troubleshoot unless I reactivated the new (SB8200), so again I had to call the ISP to switch back to a non-working modem, taking me offline for another few hours. With each call I had to repeat the same troubleshooting steps. Doesn't the customer support communicate with one another? Finally, on my third call Arris determined it was the modem and gave me the options for a replacement. The standard option requires you to send it back first, before getting the replacement. Give about 2 weeks for this. The advanced option lets them send it to you within 7 days for $15. The expedited option is $50. I chose the standard option. But really, I want my money back. I don't want another unit I can't trust, and I have to wait over 2 weeks for it. Unfortunately it failed outside of the Amazon refund window. After all of these negative reviews, I would hope Arris recognizes the problem with their units and somehow communicate to their customers they are working on improving it. I don't think this should be an Amazon's choice product anymore. I really felt let down by this one. I'm going to wait for the replacement unit, hopefully it doesn't fail again in another 4 months and require 12 hours of customer service to get another unit.

My friend BigBird tell us Annoying Stalls.

My ISP is Xfinity (Comcast). A fairly slow100 Mb/S. Should not be stressing out the SB8200. It can run fine for hours and then "stall" for some reason. It takes about 45 seconds to clear, and then resumes normal operation. I don't have to reset it or pull the power cord. Still, very annoying for a state-of-the-art product. From the web interface "Product Information" page, I am running hardware version 6, software version SB8200.0200.174F.311915.NSH.RT.NA (believe it or not!). Can't the software guys come up with something more succinct?? I went to the Arris support page: no firmware updates available.

My modem does not get super hot like others have complained about. Warm, but not hot. Plus, getting to the web interface page (192.168.100.1) is very intermittent. Sometimes it will work, sometimes my browser (Chrome) times out trying to get there. So, it's not a configuration or firewall issue. It's LOUSY FIRMWARE in the SB8200. I can't believe they haven't fixed the stall problem & this problem by now. This product has been available for a couple years. Very disappointing reflection on Arris.

When (if) this modem eventually craps out, I won't be buying another Arris product.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: This modem requires signal levels not considered "standard" by Xfinity (Comcast). Comcast considers 38 - 40 dBmV upstream power within range, but this modem requires 45 - 51 dBmV. Have your Comcast tech install an 8 dB attenuator on the modem (he can do this on site - no need to change anything @ the headend). My modem has been rock solid since my tech installed the attenuator on my modem (2 days). I will post an update next week after watching it for 7+ days.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Modem has been running for 45 days without a single re-boot. I can get to the web interface (192.168.100.1) 100% of the time. Speed test has consistently been what I'm paying Comcast for. DEFINITELY HAVE YOUR TECH SET THE UPSTREAM SIGNAL LEVELS TO THE PROPER VALUES. I think that would eliminate 80% of the negative reviews of this product.

My Old Man Fun Hobbies experience Docsis 3.1 latest Texhnology pros and cons right here....

The product arrived in a very nice box. Split case glossy package that was well formed to protect the product and of course attractive. Upon separating both halves and opening there say what appeared to look identical to my previous model however it is not. Upon closer inspection this is the new Docsis 3.1 well raved about online. You will first notice two gigabit ports. This is where the Con is and it also applies to every other brand D-3.1 modem on the market with multiple E-net ports. You may only choose one. Attempting to use two will cause ISP confusion and your devices will not function properly. You would need your provider to assign another ISP address to the second port and some may or may not opt for this feature or may charge an additional $10/mo fee. Since it is also not wireless you will need to provide your own wireless router and any sub Ethernet network ports if you choose to multiply incoming/outgoing connections. The Pros are obvious this beast is insanely fast. Even with my iPhone I am getting 500mb/s download speeds and 40 mb/s upload speeds which is a hardware limitation at my end although it is ridiculously fast compared to most people’s standard home hardware. These speeds eliminate all buffering issues with streaming, and allow ultra fast downloading of very large files for you IT guys. For the price I recommend the Arris SB8620 and if your service offers higher speeds to consider using this model even for 250, or 400 mb/s speeds it will be more true to those speeds than its predecessor SB6190.

My Old Chap MF said Would love to love this, BUT....

This modem performed well out of the box. Then 2 days later and 6 phone calls to my ISP and to Arris, I had 5 flat out stoppages where I had to reset or reboot the modem. Lights said it was working, but the modem would no longer do its thing. Sent it back and picked up a modem from my ISP (lucky to have a free modem laying around!) and all is now working. I've had Arris modems with great performance for years and this one worked extremely well when it worked. Emphasis on "when it worked". BTW, this was at the higher end of things, 460 Mbps down, and I was looking to future proof things with a Docsis 3.1 setup which could hook me up at 960 Mbps when I chose to move over. That will have to happen with another brand, apparently.

My Old Chap Blue Wolf said **** DO NOT BUY **** Product is unreliable, and customer service stinks worse than a soiled diaper..

God how I hate this useless, brick of a product, and the uncaring, backward facing company that made it. After three months, my Arris DOCSIS 3.1 modem died. Three months. It took me quite a while, working with my service provider, to confirm that the modem had killed my network, but confirm it we did. We verified everything from signal strength coming into the modem to two way communications between the modem and my ISP. It had basically bricked. So I ran out to my local computer store and purchased a replacement modem because I didn’t want my internet to be down for days on end while I was trying to get the original modem replaced. It’s a good thing I did that, as you will see. Anyway, the minute I plugged the new modem I bought in and had it provisioned, my networks popped back into existence. This was ABSOLUTE CONFIRMATION that the modem was at fault.

OK, that was inconvenient enough considering it was basically a brand new modem, but it got much worse. Although I had purchased a new modem, I thought I would at least get a replacement for the old modem since it was still under warranty. I could just keep it around as a backup in case I had an outage again. So I called Arris. Great God almighty, their customer service is a grist mill. I spent over an hour on the phone trying to get them to send me a replacement modem. Instead of just accepting that I had a faulty modem, they INSISTED I run test after test, crawling around behind my equipment, rerouting cables, running diagnostics, resetting the modem, rebooting my computer, everything short of crawling through snake infested sludge. Finally they asked me to call my service provider and re-provision the old, defective modem so they could run some other feeble test. I refused, but the moron on the phone, script burned indelibly into his brain, kept repeating over and over again “but that is the next step.” Technician wanna cracker? It wasn’t until I finally got a manager on the phone, and dug my heels in that they agreed to send me a replacement. Thank God I had bought a replacement. To get a replacement sent out immediately, Arris wanted me to pay an additional fee. Seriously? Bringing down my network and wasting an hour of my time on the phone wasn’t enough? Since I now had a working modem, I took the “standard” option in which I have to send the old modem back and then wait 7-10 more days to get a replacement. Now that’s some customer service! Nothing like being without your internet for weeks on end because of a crappy piece of equipment. I just don’t get it. Why not just say “I’m sorry you had this problem. Since replacing the modem made the problem go away, you obviously have a defective modem. We’ll just send you a new one.” I could then send them the old modem and they can run tests and diagnostics till the cows come home ... on THEIR time, not mine. Even if they can fix it, and it wasn’t really broken, so what? Reset it, and sell it as a refurbished product. They get money back from the product, and the customer, me, is happy because I got a quick replacement. Instead, they treat you like you’re an evil villain trying to get a new modem out of them for no good reason. Bruhahahaha!! I will control the world with replacement modems! No one can stop me now! Sheesh.

So here’s the bottom line. Arris makes crappy, unreliable equipment that bricks, and getting a replacement from them is like trying to convince the devil to take communion. Their idea of service is leaving the customer with a water boarding experience. If you want a modem that actually works and that the manufacturing company will stand behind, better keep looking. You’re wasting your time here.

My Buddy Poc Network // Tech say Gigabit, here we come!.

If you are looking to jump on the gigabit bandwagon for your home internet package, this is one of the best places to start. Among the current Docsis 3.1 modems on the market capable of handling these speeds, this model wins the prize when it comes to stability, speed, latency and hardware. We have been running it straight since our first test of the modem, without a single reboot yet--now going on 2 months (thus far). Our speeds have been consistent throughout this window and with no outages (knock on virtual wood) or any other red flags. As mentioned, it has the best hardware we have seen (including memory) in a Docsis 3.1 modem and it seems to reflect well with some of the Arris/Moto models we have benchmarked in the past--with the slight exception of the SB6190, which came close but latency had pulled that one down in performance some thanks to the PUMA chipset inside. This model sports a new chipset with low latency and the rest we have already pointed out.

**If you have found our review helpful, please vote it as helpful below so I know. This helps me provide quality feedback in the future.

My Old Fellow SteveO say Constantly resetting this modem to gain internet access.

Before I purchased this modem, I checked with my ISP to see if this modem is compatible with them, they said yes. First let me say that I have been a Arris Surfboard modem fan for many years until now. I like the fact that this modem has two ethernet ports because I really like to have all my computers plugged in to one port behind my router and my xbox plugged into the 2nd port. By having this feature, I am able to experience full speed that is needed by my xbox x when needed without the complications that routers bring from time to time. So, hear is my problem. I have to reset my modem to regain internet access every time after a long period of no internet use occurs ( ex. Overnight, sleeping hours, trips away from home and so on) Primarly this happens most with my xbox. The message my xbox keeps giving me is "cant find isp address". So, as of now, I am going to exchange this modem for a new of the same to see if the problem still occurs and I will follow up with another review in two or three weeks.

My Old Chap AmazonMunchies tell us TL;DR Works for Xfinity (Gig Speed).

TL;DR (Too, Long; Didn't Read) Version

Bought as a needed upgrade from the old 250 MB max modem to a 1 GIG speed provided by Xfinity.

The good
- It is an approved Xfinity modem (one of few that allows a 1 GIG Xfinity compatible device). Which means you don't have to pay those monthly rental charges, but you would still need to own it for approximately 2 years (varying depending on how much you paid it for) to recoup the cost.
- Small, compact, and can be discretely stored and out of sight.
- Easy setup. Plug-in and call Xfinity to activate.

The bad
- It is only a modem and not a router/modem mix. Which means you would still need a router to get your wifi.
- Pricey for a modem only.

Is it worth it? If you're trying to get the 1 GIG speed from Xfinity then yes.

Your questions, our answers

Do I also have to buy a router for the modem? And to make sure it obviously speeds up internet connection right?

Yes, you'll have to buy a router. Depending what your old device was and your current internet capacity availability.

How is this model different than the arris surfboard sb6121???

This model has a higher internet capacity speed. The SB6121 has a download speeds up to 343 Mbps.

Going with the cable modem option what’s the best router to pair this with for spectrum?

We have Google Wifi router and it works pretty well with roughly 787 Mbps wifi for a 1 GIG ethernet connection.

My Old Chap Beverage Enthusiast said Best current DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem, not at all reliable. do not buy..

The SB8200 (CM8200) series is the best cable modem for DOCSIS 3.1 that is widely supported at the time of this review.

Unfortunately just after 30 days it would drop the provisioned IP by my ISP and have to be rebooted every hour or so for a day. A tech from my ISP came out and thought it may be due to outages, however an hour after they left the modem stopped responding to signals from my ISP. After further troubleshooting with a different cable modem, it was readily determined it was the SB8200.

2 year warranty is worthless if you have to pay for shipping to ARRIS, wait 30-45 days for repair with a chance of 'no fault found' and be charged $30, and pay for shipping back.

Unfortunately the Netgear has 1GB ports, so I purchased another SB8200 with a replacement plan from Bestbuy. It's already restarting itself less than an hour after provisioning.