Thursday, June 23, 2016

Can you keep up with the ARRIS SURFboard SBG6900AC?

Do you ever get frustrated when you are watching that newly released episode of your favorite show that you have waited for ages to be released then the video starts buffering just when the story takes an un-expected twist. Or maybe you’re a gamer; you decide you will be gaming with your friends all weekend long since you have nothing planned. Just when you are at the peak of your powers while playing, the game starts lagging. Well the question that I have for you is that can you keep up with the new and improved modem, the ARRIS SURFboard SBG6900-AC?

The new and improved ARRIS SURFboard SBG6900-AC is 3 products in 1: a DOCSIS 3.0 CableModem, Dual-Band Concurrent 802.11ac Wi-Fi Access Point and 4-Port Gigabit Ethernet Router. The DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem is 16X Faster than DOCSIS 2.0. Furthermore, the 4 – Gigabit Ethernet Ports present enable you to enjoy very fast internet speeds. With download speeds up to 686 Mbps and Wi-Fi speeds up to 1900 Mbps it’s the most powerful Wi-Fi Modem in the SURF board lineup. It also supports the latest Internet standard; IPv4 and IPv6. Additionally, this modem is compatible with major U.S. Cable Providers. It is also equipped with 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi adapter.

One of the biggest up-sides to this modem is the increased download speeds from 343 Mbps that was witnessed in its predecessor the ARRIS SURFboard SBG6782-AC, to 686Mbps, which is twice as fast. This will mean that you will be able enjoy no buffering while streaming HD videos, no lag while gaming with friends and best of all, no more dead spots. Not forgetting the Wireless solution that is brought about by the 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi access point that offers 65% better performance than the 802.11n Gigabit Wi-Fi access point. The 2.4/5.0 GHz Dual-band Concurrent configuration also increases the range of the WiFi coverage.

Well since we are human, not everything can be perfect and so this product also has a down side to it too. While 4 and 8 channel units are capable of delivering Comcast's promised speeds, users will be subject to local congestion. With the cablemodem, you share channels with your neighbors. You will only benefit from the full speed on each channel when neighbors are idle, but if neighbors are consuming bandwidth the channels have competition hence decreasing the speed. Despite the slow speeds, one can still enjoy 10-20% faster downstream with the hardware as compared to an 8 channel modem.

With internet speeds that make this device ideal for streaming HD videos and gaming on multiple devices at a time, one should clearly get this modem as is it a league above the rest. With some vendors on Amazon.com selling the device at a competitive price of $199.99, I wouldn’t hesitate on getting my hands on it. However, when installing it, make sure that you get the right tech guys to sort you out so as to enjoy the fast internet speeds being offered by this modem. Just in case things get messy, don’t worry, you are covered by the 2 year warranty that is offered.


ARRIS SURFboard SBG6900AC DOCSIS3.0 Cable Modem/ Wi-Fi AC1900 Router