Netgear Readies Nighthawk CM1200 Multi-Gigabit DOCSIS 3.1 Cable Modem
Netgear’s Nighthawk CM1200 looks towards the future of cable internet with DOCSIS 3.1 support
Netgear is adding the Nighthawk CM1200 cable modem to its Nighthawk consumer networking gear lineup where it supplants the CM1100 at the top end. The DOCSIS 3.1 modem is able to utilize 2 OFDM and 2 OFDMA channels and up to 32×8 QAM channels in DOCSIS 3.0 mode. Ready for future multi-gigabit (and symmetric gigabit) cable systems, the Nighthawk CM1200 is able to support 2Gbps transfer speeds when link aggregation is enabled and two of the four total Gigabit Ethernet ports are used to connect to a compatible Netgear Nighthawk wireless router (or another 802.3ad/LACP compatible device should work as well). From there you would need to use a 10 Gbps or another aggregated gigabit link or even 802.11ac Wi-Fi to get greater than gigabit speeds to a single client though it could still be useful without that in a situation with multiple gigabit clients vying for WAN uplink bandwidth simultaneously.
The Netgear CM1200 modem further supports four IPs allowing business users to use multiple static IPs from the ISP. While the current public information does not disclose the chipset used, it appears to be the same Broadcom BCM3390 chipset used in the CM1100.
It will be available soon with a MSRP of $229.99 which is a decent chunk of change to part with for a modem and there are cheaper options if you do not need top end internet speeds, but if you do then it may be worth it to not pay rental fees where it could pay for itself in less than two years (about 17 months if you are with Comcast with the caveat being if you need unlimited data in the central region you may be better off paying for xFi Advantage at $15/month including the rental fee for unlimited data). The Nighthawk CM1200 is compatible with most if not all US cable companies including the big guns of Comcast, Cox, and Spectrum.
I recently cut the X1 cable TV cord (we are using Youtube TV right now) to reduce my bill and have been looking at buying my own modem once again to also ditch the $13/month rental fee (!) but we’ll see as the 802.11ac wave 2 Wi-Fi is actually pretty good on this Arris TG1682G gateway (wife approved!) and I would need to also buy a new router and APs (so longer ROI).
What are you using for your home network setup?
The problem with these modem, modem/router combos is the lack of manufacture firmware support, your depended on your ISP in my case Comcast to fix problems and to issue security updates. Comcast wants you renting their $14 dollar a month modem, they aren’t interested in keep your personnel hardware working properly.