Amazon.com: Customer reviews: NETGEAR Cable Modem CM500 - Compatible With All Cable Providers Including Xfinity by Comcast, Spectrum, Cox | For Cable Plans Up to 300 Mbps

Top positive review

Bam! Saved $11/month in 2 days and 5 minutes! (UPDATED 4/5)

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2018

Five minutes after arriving on our doorstep, the new cable modem is up and running. Bracing myself for difficulty with Comcast, I was pleased at how easy setup was without ever having to speak to Comcast's clueless CS. Using a laptop with an Ethernet jack, here's how easy it was:
1) Wrote down my Comcast account number (This is the MOST important step!!!)
2) Connected modem to cable, power, and phone line
3) Connected Ethernet cable to modem and computer
4) Waited three minutes for the first three lights to blink steady (they'll blink and flash while the modem is syncing. You could wait up to 10 minutes for sync).
5) Turned off WiFi
6) Opened web browser, and Firefox had a nice little 'show login page' button appeared (if this doesn't show, you can go to xfinity.com/activate)
7) Entered my account number and street address
8) The modem reset itself. I plugged that into my Luma and we were off to the races!

Ironically, Comcast sent a new tower modem a week ago. I don't know if it's me, but this seems faster than that did - speed about the same but ping time is now 9ms instead of 14 and pages that seemed to load slowly before pop in immediately. Biggest bonus is that we're saving $11/month going forward.

UPDATE: 4/5/18 - Everything was working perfectly until Comcast turned off my service this weekend because the modem wasn't registered in the right database and Comcast thought I had no equipment. Object lesson: After activating online, call Comcast to make sure the equipment has registered across all of their databases - 5 minutes could save you 2 hours! The modem, however, is working flawlessly and I still highly recommend it!

1,325 people found this helpful

Top critical review

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Stopped working after 2 months

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2018

This modem was great and behaved exactly as advertised, but only for two months. I started to notice spotty internet last week and blamed it on Comcast and then my internet went completely out 3 days ago. All the modem lights were on, my router was working fine, but I couldn't get internet. The Comcast technician came over for an hour today until we finally realized the modem wasn't responding correctly so I replaced this with my old modem and got my internet back.

So there you go bought Jun. 13, officially dead Aug. 14. Outside of the return period and now I'm stuck with a paperweight. The technician also warned me against Netgear modems too, he said they tend to fail earlier. I do NOT recommend getting this you can get cheaper more reliable modems (Arris). Thanks Netgear for disappointing me, you've lost a fan.

367 people found this helpful

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Kate Rose Tyler

be cautious when buying this modem - heed the warnings from the rest of us

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2018

Style: 300Mbps Max DownloadPattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase

I bought this modem with high hopes. we have a 4-year-old Netgear Nighthawk router for our 4-computer and 2-xbox gaming household. it's held up perfectly and still functions as well as the day we got it.

this modem, not so much.

I should have listened to the 50+ other reviewers who lamented about the modem working for 1-3 months and then continuously dropping connection, necessitating a power cycle/restart. ours did the same thing. we power cycled it four times and it worked between every power cycle for about 10 minutes, then would drop connection again. the same exact thing everyone else was complaining about.

we are a house of 4 online gamers (me less so, I mostly stream Netflix/Hulu and play Nintendo consoles, but I occasionally join the online fray). 3 of us built our own custom gaming machines and we pay for fast internet (Spectrum in San Diego is great, aside from Cox but they're not available in our area of SD). I don't want to sound like a snob, but we know what we're doing when it comes to computers and wireless devices.

this modem gets VERY HOT. we didn't have it in an enclosed space, it was free-standing on an open shelf. not smothered at all. it was hot within the first half an hour of us plugging it in for the first time. we suspect that the heating problem fries one a component inside the modem that controls the signal. I myself don't know a whole lot about modems, but I suspect what's malfunctioning is either the modulator or the demodulator (incidentally where the name modem comes from; MODulator and DEmodulator, swap the letters D & E), the parts that turn the signal you get from your ISP into data your computer can read, thus giving it its connection, and vice versa.

if you buy this modem, it will eventually fail. we turned it on for the first time on May 31st, and it failed yesterday, July 9th. Netgear normally makes fantastic devices, our AC3200 Netgear Nighthawk router has served us well for four years. eventually we'll have to buy a new one but four years is a long time for a router and I attribute its longevity and ability to handle massive amounts of traffic for four years straight to its superior technology and build. I highly recommend the Nighthawk routers, they are great.

we had to bust out our old Arris one and I am on the hunt for a replacement for this Netgear one. the Arris one is doing a fine job for now. my bf originally had it for his Cox connection where we used to live and it served him well. he plays games like DOTA 2, Fortnite, League of Legends, Rocket League etc so he needs a good connection. we have two people hardwired to our internet using our router as a switch to support the dual ethernet connections since most standard consumer modems only have one ethernet port.

run far away from this modem. the second star is ONLY because while the modem was alive, it performed perfectly. if not for the fatal overheating flaw and subsequent hardware fail, this modem would be fantastic. it allowed us 240mbps down with our 200mbps plan from Spectrum.

29 people found this helpful

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22 comments

RyeLusion

Intel puma 6 chipset on CM700 increases latancy 10X over CM600. Dont Buy this!

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2019

Style: 500Mbps Max DownloadPattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase

Most of you who follow tech related news are aware that this product contains the Puma 6 chipset from intel. Intel Puma 6 chip has been shown to have some latency issues with this and other 32 x 8 modems. The chipset just isn't up performing 32 x 8 tasks. A class action lawsuit has been filed and its clear the issue still exists. In short you don't want this modem because it will be slowing down your internet connection relative to other, better designed modems. This isn't a recommendation against netgear, many netgear routers don't have this issue, and other manufacturers used this bad chipset as well. But do yourself a favor and check if the device you are looking at has an intel puma 6 chipset before buying, you will save yourself a ton of headache and have faster internet response times if you opt for one that doesnt have this chipset in its specifications.

17 people found this helpful

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0Comment

Was great to start, but didn't last

Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2018

Style: 1000Mbps Max DownloadPattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase

Worked fine for 2 months now I am rebooting almost daily to get my rated internet speeds. 20mb/.5 before reboot, 175/6 after reboot. 31 channels locked down / 4 channels locked going up. Since I can fix my issue by rebooting the router I know it's not a ISP problem. For the price and the reputation of NetGear I expected much better.

15 people found this helpful

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11 comment

Rob

UPDATE 2 days LATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2019

Style: 1000Mbps Max DownloadPattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase

If you bought the 1Gbps speed from comcast and bought a Arris Surfboard......then you know the pain. I was lead to buy a surfboard of 1.4Gbps but its false advertisement and isnt docsis 3.1. You need docsis 3.1 modem for 1Gbps, and this netgear was the missing piece!

Install was easy, I plugged it right up and called the Xfinity agents up and this sweet agent did all the work after she put in the MAC address and Model number on my account to activate, then unplugged the router and BOOOM! 1GBPS!

Speed test confirms speed and im happy I now have what I paid for! EASY PEASY!!!!!

UPDATE AS OF 3/21/2019********

so the box didnt work consistently it seems. but it could still be xfinity! we had 1gbps straight line from the pole but then it went to 50 mbps download and 40 upload and stayed there forever. we tried isolating the router and speed testing the modem and still same speeds. xfinity guy tries to get my stuff to work for hours but no go. new xb6 modem installed for 15 a month and all my services work. who knows. maybe they secretly forced me into this as a conspiracy theory or the modem just didnt work! hahhaa. well who knows but right now my speed tests are 980 Mbps! im happy but all in all.......

BUY THIS WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT IT MAY NOT WORK WITH TP LINK AC2300 router since i failed with that setup and my modem coulda been bad aswell. Try it and be prepared to return if need be! Goodluck!

6 people found this helpful

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Ryan

CM1000 modem

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2020

Style: 1000Mbps Max DownloadPattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase

This is a decent modem, but it is outclassed in specs and build quality by both the Arris SB8200 and the Motorola MB8600. It is also vulnerable to a critical exploit which can potentially leave your network open to others.

I originally chose the CM1000 because I had a great history with my CM600. Throughout the years I owned the CM600, the device never needed reboots, and my signal quality was great. It is currently serving as a modem at my parents home.

Now that I have gigabit internet, I needed a more powerful modem. The CM1000 disappointed me with the build quality. The base is made of plastic and feels very cheap and wobbly. I also think having a thin and wide plastic base looks less than appealing, but most people won’t be looking at their modem, so it isn’t a huge dealbreaker. The CM1000 has lesser specs than the competing 3.1 modems however, and this was very noticeable. The modem homepage loaded extremely slow, and during the 2 weeks that the modem was working, the connection was not always perfect.

I gave up on the modem after having completely lost connection to my isp. Upon further research into troubleshooting, I found out that this modem is susceptible to a vulnerability known as “Cable Haunt.” This is a critical security exploit which can potentially give an attacker control of your modem. This issue is made worse due to the fact that firmware updates are pushed out by ISP’s, and not every internet provider will update modem firmware. I was stuck with a modem that wasn’t currently operational, and one that had a security exploit that wouldn’t be fixed as my ISP (Suddenlink) does not push out firmware updates.

My solution was to switch to the MB8600, which has much better build quality, a surge protector on the coaxial input, more RAM, and is not currently listed as being vulnerable to the Cable Haunt exploit.

6 people found this helpful

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22 comments

MotownRock

Slow. Poor Support. Weak Warranty

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2018

Style: 300Mbps Max DownloadPattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase

Bought this to replace the unit I was renting from Xfinity. Installation was on par with any other modem – connect the wires, quick setup, and activate with Xfinity. The problem was inconsistent, and at times, awful performance. When connected to a router that had been reliably connecting at 50 to 80 Mbps, with my old modem, this device often cut the signal to less than 10 Mbps.

I’ve been happy with multiple Netgear routers in the past and realize that tech devices can be hit or miss when they are mass-produced. The real issue with this purchase was Netgear itself.

I called the support line, and after holding for an agent, he had me reboot and quickly told me it was an ISP issue and to call Xfinity. Spoiler alert: The Netgear agent turned out to be wrong.

After long but productive troubleshooting call with Xfinity, we ruled out any line or compatibility issues. Switching between the 2 modems pinned the quality issues on the Netgear device with packet loss of 14-20% (over 5-10% is significant).

My next call with Netgear to get a warranty exchange was worse than the first. The rep provided inconsistent and very misleading information. My first questions were whether the replacement would be a new device and if I would have to pay shipping in either direction. The agent said that I would get a “working” replacement and that there was a “zero cost” exchange option. When pressed, she said the replacement would be refurbished that I had to pay for return shipping with “zero cost” option. If I wanted a refurbished unit, I could have bought one for less money instead of paying for new PLUS shipping. When I asked her to escalate the call, she said her manager was busy but would call me in “4 or 5 hours.” That would have been after 11pm so she promised that I would get a call the next day. That was 3 days ago and still no callback.

My take is that Netgear support will say anything to clear their call queue and company doesn’t fully stand behind its products. I actually got better support from the cable company. Think about that.

I wound up returning it to Amazon with zero hassle and paid a few bucks more for TP-Link modem with better specs. I’ve had good luck with a recently-purchased TP-Link router and am hoping for the same with their modem. As for Netgear, they’ve lost this customer and I encourage other potential customers to think carefully before buying Netgear based on their trust of the brand.

5 people found this helpful

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Trevor Williams

Died After Three Months

Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2020

Style: 2000Mbps Max DownloadPattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase

There was another review which pretty much echoes my experience except that my modem started to fail just after the three-month mark. It's a real shame because in the 10+ years I've purchased my own modems (just two prior to this one) I've never had one fail before, let alone fail in just three months of use.

Everything worked exactly as expected from when I received it on January 18th, 2020. It was only a few days ago when, out of nowhere, the modem just stopped working as intended. In summary, it could download content, but uploading became very inconsistent, thus making video conferencing all but impossible. On top of that, the overall connection became spotty at best, working for a few hours before completely staying dead for another few hours.

Given the shelter-in-place order my state is in right now, not being able to effectively work from home without a reliable internet connection was completely unacceptable.

Of course I blamed Comcast first.

A technician came to my home yesterday (very helpful, knowledgeable, and a DIY PC builder like myself) to inspect the hard line from the street, the line from the box on the side of my house to where it directly connects to the modem, and the modem itself. They upgrading some cabling in the box, but other than that the signal strength for them was strong and healthy. After several repeated attempts to get the modem to work, the conclusion was that the modem itself was at fault. After weighing the options and examining the evidence, I decided to accept their XB6 modem as a replacement.

I'm REALLY disappointed at my Netgear CM1200 modem crapping out, and so early into its life. Though I haven't rented a modem in a long time, I'd rather do that right now than risk spending another $200 on a Netgear product that might die within a quarter.

3 people found this helpful

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11 comment

Kindle Customer

Totally misleading product description - you need a router too because ports 2-4 do not work

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2019

Style: 2000Mbps Max Download w/VoicePattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase

This seems to be an otherwise great product but the advertising is false and misleading. It is a modem only and therefore only one of the Ethernet port actually works for ordinary uses. Here are two totally misleading statements in the Amazon listing for this product:
1. "4 x 1G Ethernet ports" - perhaps in theory they are Ethernet ports, but by design only one works. If you want wifi and to plug your computer in via Ethernet, then you will need to buy a router to add to this setup.
2. "• VERSATILE CONNECTIONS: 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports give you fast wired connections to your computer, separate WiFi router, printer, game box, and other devices." For the same reason, this is totally, blatantly false. There is only 1 Ethernet port that works for such purposes so to connect all of those devices you need to buy a router and plug that in and use the router to connect all of those devices. No router is included with this purchase.

3 people found this helpful

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C. Watson III

Can't recommend Netgear modems

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2019

Style: 500Mbps Max DownloadPattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase

I purchased this modem 6 months ago (yes I waited to write this review) only because Cox said customers needed to upgrade to a 3.0 or better docsis. I was using a motorola 2.0 surboard which has NEVER given me one problem (I have a NETGEAR R7000 router). I figured since I was using NETGEAR products they'd all work seamlessly together. Wrong! I could tell immediately that this thing didn't play nice dropping or changing connections but I've stuck with it trying and hoping it would come around but after months of unplugging and resetting I've come to the conclusion that it's just not good. I contacted customer support and like several reviewers on here have said, its a joke. They wanted me to go online first to create a case then contact them on the phone! What?! I'm going to go back to a cheaper Motorola product and see if that doesn't do the trick once again.

2 people found this helpful

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Mandini 99

Didn't last

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2019

Style: 300Mbps Max DownloadPattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase

We purchased this modem 7 months ago in April 2018 We started noticing that our Internet wasn't working at random times throughout the day. Now in January 2019 it stopped working one day. My husband thought it was dead. I took a chance and plugt the router cable up to it and it came on. I ended up finding a older Netgear cord that was compatible to use until we can replace this modem. Either the modem or the cord is defective. Since replacing the cord it works a little more consistent been we still have trouble streaming TV shows.
My husband works for home and the modem has been so unreliable that he has had to go to a coffee shop or a relatives house to work. We hope we can find a more reliable modem router combo for our next purchase.

3 people found this helpful

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5 star		71%
4 star		10%
3 star		5%
2 star		3%
1 star		11%

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NETGEAR Cable Modem CM500 - Compatible With All Cable Providers Including Xfinity by Comcast, Spectrum, Cox | For Cable Plans Up to 300 Mbps | DOCSIS 3.0

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