NETGEAR Cable Modem DOCSIS 3.0 (CM500) Compatible with Major Cable Providers Including Xfinity, Cox, for Plans Up to 400 Mbps

So I've had this modem for a few weeks. I used to have a Motorola Surfboard 6141 I believe (going off memory). That modem at times would randomly drop speeds down to 1mb/s maximum for no reason, then throttle back up. I tried to research this and found out it might have been related to the Time Warner Maxx internet package I have (I'm grandfathered into a package that currently doesn't exist). No idea how or why that would matter but it seems to be the reason why my old Surfboard was having problems. So a deal hit and I dropped cash for this modem in hopes I could solve this problem fairly cheaply and so far its working. I haven't noticed any lag, no strange behavior like dropping to 1mb/s speeds, its been consistent and constant fast speeds, even above the stated speeds I should receive. The unit is well ventilated so the concern of heating up is not an issue. It's barely warm to the touch. I think as others have stated, if you put this in a confined space, for example an entertainment center with a glass door, then it'll heat up more than likely because there's no internal fan. But if you provide adequate air circulation then it'll function perfectly from my point of view. Also I wasn't able to successfully hook up the unit and remotely update to Time Warner that I am switching modems (Mac address) so I had to call them. The tech was able to get me going and took about 10 mins. All in all its so far a great intermediate modem.

This is the most economical cable modem for an xfinity customer , it works perfectly. thanks NETGEAR

Great product and easy to hook up

This thing is absolutely horrible. It has no reach. Gotta be right up on it dang near to get connected. I have it running with an even more horrible Tenda router. I even bought a WiFi booster and still no reach. And it’s tiny as heck. Over half the size lesser than my rental modem. I think I wanna keep paying the fees and return this. Update: March 20, 2023: I am changing my review from 1 star to 4 stars. If you need a modem, that you plan on using a router with, this could work. My COX internet service started going in and out. Tried troubleshooting the matter. Cox says they need to charge a technician out to my house. $75 to have someone come fix the very internet I am paying for. So I told them let me think about. ( that’s like paying for a medium steak, getting well done, and they charge you to have a chef come out and remake the very steak you paid for but aren’t getting) so I just Pulled this bad boy out of hiding, blew the dust off and reactivated it. Had a separate Cox rep swap the modem out. She did not try to charge me a tech. She was very nice and fast. And now I’m interneted up again lol. The difference now is, instead of that sorry, sorry excuse of a router by tenda, I’m using the very GREAT Rockspace Mesh 3 box set extender system. And I couldn’t be happier. The thing about this modem is it’s only one output. You could plug your cpu directly, or use a mesh. The mesh is the best bet. In the past, I had to get a larger data plan, (over $100/mo) bc the internet sucked. Cox upsold my plan. But check your equipment before letting ppl charge you. Now, I have a more basic plan, so I’m paying less, and still able to use all my devices just the same. And the netgear has stepped in place of the very heavy duty Panoramic Gateway equipment they give you. And so far, it is working exceptionally . So I actually would recommend this modem, paired with Rockspace Mesh system. And you got yourself some connectivity to knock your socks off. Very impressed. Btw: it was a little difficult to pair, bc I used it prior, so I had to reset both the netgear and Rockspace with their reset buttons to have the names revert back to the original SSID. Then it was simple from there.

This modem worked fine for a couple months. Occasional disconnects, but not frequent. Then just over a week ago it started disconnecting frequently (like several times an hour) and for several minutes at a time, even for up to 10 minutes at a time. Called their tech support (over ONE HOUR on hold just waiting for someone) and they said the problem is with my ISP (Cox). So I call them and they send out a tech. In the meantime I have to wait about a week for my ISP tech to come out, in the meantime the signal dropping gets worse and worse (like for 15-30 minutes at a time, sometimes over an hour, and happening super frequently, like basically the internet signal only lasting for 5-15 minutes at a time). Thankfully when Cox came out they didn't charge me, but they found NO problems on the line, verified it with their equipment at each point. They added a power dropper anyway to make sure. The modem got worse for the next couple days, to the point where it basically won't connect at all, and instead just keeps restarting itself looking for a signal (that it can't process). So I call Netgear tech support back for a replacement, this time TWO HOURS on hold. Finally they walk me through the same stupid steps (reset the modem, etc.), and then they say the fact that it can't connect to the internet means it's a problem with my ISP, saying they weren't configured for my modem (even though they obviously were because it worked fine for two months with no changes). Ridiculous answer - they have NO IDEA how to troubleshoot their modems, just find ways to blame it on the ISP. After getting irate for a LONG time and they finally agreed to authorize a return (RMA). Turns out if you PAY to ship it back to them, they'll eventually send you a new one (with slow shipping). Worst warranty service ever, especially since their tech support is so terrible, and you have to wait on hold for hours just to even get anyone on tech support. I will NEVER buy anything from netgear again. You shouldn't either.

People are saying this doesn’t work with Xfinity anymore. As of August 2025, that’s not true. You just have to download both the Xfinity and NETGEAR apps on your phone and make sure you go through the full setup for both. This modem does indeed want you to go through the phone apps for setup, as does Xfinity, so I suppose if you’re an older customer and not as comfortable with apps, you could run into trouble. But it’s pretty straightforward, you just may have to jump back and forth between the two apps once or twice. My modem does get a little warm, but certainly hasn’t overheated yet. We’ll see if that changes as it gets older, but, considering this modem is well priced, I’m quite satisfied so far.

A bit disappointing that it didn't come with a full manual (you have to download it), but otherwise it's a fine modem; easy to connect and set up. No notable performance improvements over the modem that Spectrum supplied me, but this one allows me to actually communicate with the modem, view incoming signal status, or change settings, which was why I ordered it. With the Spectrum modem you're pretty much blind: you can't view the status on your computer, and there are no meaningful status lights on the front of the modem. If you're having connection issues, it's nice to be able to tell your cable provider what your signal status is when you call for tech support.

When working great. If you lose connection for any reason it becomes, unplug - plug, unplug-plug over and over hoping it will ketch.