Motorola SB6120 vs SB6121 – Which To Choose?
You wanted to buy the Motorola SB6120 but your friend told you to buy the SB6121. So you are not sure which of these Motorola modems to buy now. Don’t worry, you should be able to get a clear picture on Motorola SB6120 vs SB6121 stacks up in this article and make the appropriate decision.
What Are The Motorola SB6120 and SB6121 Modems?
Before you proceed to evaluate the SB6120 vs SB6121, the most important point to note is that both of these two modems from Motorola are modems that are compliant to the DOCSIS® 3.0 standard. What this means is that they are very fast modems and theoretically you can get data rates of more than 100 Mbps in both directions through the use of channel bonding technologies. They are also backward compatible to DOCSIS/EuroDOCSIS 1.x and 2.0 and supports IPv4 and IPv6.
What Is DOCSIS 3.0 And Why Is It Important?
DOCSIS stands for Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification. Motorola worked together with a consortium led by Cablelabs to release the DOCSIS 3.0 specification in August 2006. DOCSIS 3.0 is important because with DOCSIS 3.0, cable internet providers are able to provide ultra-fast broadband services through the use of channel bonding technologies.
How Does Channel Bonding Works?
Conceptually this is very simple. Just imagine right now you have a data channel that gives you a maximum throughput of 40 Mbps of data. What if you can expand this 4 times? With the DOCSIS 3.0 specifications, you will get theoretically 4 x 40 Mbps or a whopping 160 Mbps of throughput. That’s why most users of either SB6120 or SB6121 will find that they get an enormous speed surge when they switch over to either modems.
SB6120 vs SB6121 – A Comparison Of The Specifications
I do not want to reproduce the technical specifications here but you could easily download the technical specifications from the Motorola site or the link at the bottom. In every comparison basis, for example when you are comparing the SB6120 vs SB6121, the easiest way to see the difference is to put them side by side. However with these two and as far as the technical specifications are concerned there are no differences at all!!!
However there are some very minor differences in these areas:
- Modem shape – The SB6120 is more rectangular and boxy in shape while the SB6121 is rectangular but rounded in shape. The SB6120 is slightly bigger but thinner at 146mm x 146mm x 38mm while that of the SB6121 is smaller and thicker at 133mm x 133mm x 42mm.
- Modem price – Depending on which merchant you buy the modem from, the SB6121 could be priced higher by a few dollars as compared with the SB6120.
- Modem Availability – As Motorola is replacing the SB6120 with the SB6121, you may find that merchants may run out of the SB6120 as they will not be replenished as stocks are cleared.
SB6120 vs SB6121 – Which to Buy?
By now you would have come to a clear conclusion. The reason you are looking at a comparison of SB6120 vs SB6121 is because you want a fast blazing modem so that you can enjoy your internet experience; be it for work, surfing, entertainment or playing games. Both modems will deliver that.
As both products are 95% identical, your choice actually come to whether you are willing to buy an old product box design that is discontinued by the manufacturer or buy the latest redesigned box for a few dollars more.