D-Link DCM-200 Cable Modem

Average customer rating: 3.5

Mine has worked well for a long time
Doesn't work when it gets hot
No headache modem
surprised by failure
Good for Short Term

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D-Link DCM-200 Cable Modem

Manufacturer: D-Link Systems, Inc.
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B000063XJB

Related Categories:

External Modems

Cable Modems

External Modems

Cable Modems

Up to $50

Up to $75

Networking

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Product Description

The DCM-200 provides customers with high-speed access to the Internet through the cable TV (CATV) network. It works on any cable system that complies with MCNS DOCSIS specifications and provides a high-bandwidth connection to the Internet. It can download Web pages almost instantly, transfers files at exceptionally fast speeds, and delivers real-time video and music with unsurpassed quality. The DCM-200 modem digitizes data and sends it over the cable at up to 10.2 Mbps and can receive transmissions at up to 42.88 Mbps. To give you an idea of just how fast this is, digitized television quality video and audio are transmitted together at about 3 Mbps. The DCM-200 includes both a USB cable interface and a standard RJ-45 port for a 10BaseT connection to a computer or computer network. When properly configured these connections allow simultaneous data transfers to an existing IP data network or the Internet via the cable company's network.

Customer Reviews:

Mine has worked well for a long time.......2007-01-16

I've had a DCM-200 since 2000 and it has worked fine for me for over 6 years. It is still working well, however my D-Link DI-604 which I had for the same amount of time started freezing up recently after a few hours of heavy bandwidth use. It worked for 6 years and was probably $20 or less after rebate, so I am not all that upset about it. I replaced it with another D-Link, WBR-1310, which was free after rebate. I discovered after some head banging that I had to lock the WAN port on the WBR-1310 to 10 Mbps. It would not talk to the DCM-200 with the WAN speed set to 10/100 auto (the default) or 100 Mbps.

I ended up here on this Amazon page because I am searching on information about how to make it a bit faster. Comcast claims that my downstream speed should be 6 Mbps but I never get over about 4.4 Mbps. I now believe it's the DCM-200. The effective throughput of a 10 Mbps Ethernet connection is usually under 5 Mbps, and I think the link between my cablemodem and my router is running at that limit. Perhaps it's time to replace my free/almost free 6 year old DCM-200 with a newer box... or I could torture myself and attempt to call Comcast tech support to see if they have anything interesting to tell me. I am also wondering if DOCSIS 1.0 has a bandwidth limit of 5 Mbps. The D-Link web site says that even though the DCM-200 is "DOCSIS 1.1 upgradable", that it can only be upgraded by the cable company. I can't imagine that working, if it is even possible. It may just be that the DCM-200 was never expected to work at these speeds since the cable companies were only allowing 1-2 Mbps back downstream in 2000 when I bought it.

Doesn't work when it gets hot.......2004-05-30

This modem needs extremely good ventilation to work properly. For it to work reliably, I actually had to attach a fan to it. If it gets hot at all it drops the connection and needs to be reset. It works fine when it is cool but I can't keep it cool enough for long enough periods of time.

No headache modem.......2004-04-14

Well, reading most of the reviews, i am pretty surprised that people are having so many problems with this thing. I've had it over a year now of which i used it for about 7 months without a hitch. i disconnected from Adelphia since SBC was giving me a cheaper DSL deal and now Time Warner is rotten enough not to give discount to consumers who own a modem. Anyways, it has been nice to me all along and with easy setup. i bought it for about 35 bucks with discounts and rebates so cannot complain. I'd agree that it needs a restart once in a while but I figure that's the ISP's problem since they don't keep connections live after some days and reset it or something.

surprised by failure.......2004-03-20

I had this modem for over 2 years and had only minor problems such as the need to reboot at least once a week to clear out errors from the buffer. Everything was working fine until last week when it suddenly stopped working. At first I thought it was service interruption so I spent several hours on the phone with my ISP only to figure out that my modem is a problem. The modem acted as if it could not get the signal. After reading some of the horror stories, here at Amazon, related to D-Link's customer service I decided just to throw it away and buy new Motorola Surfboard. Although I don't notice any speed difference with the surfboard, it takes much less time to boot up. Whereas with DCM 200 it took approx. 40 seconds to boot, with my new Motorola it takes no more than 10 seconds. I always thought that D-Link makes good, high quality products but this incident changed my mind. I won't buy another D-link.

Good for Short Term.......2004-01-20

When I first got this modem it worked great, installed easy and had me connected at lightning speeds. After 6-8 months it started messing up. Had to keep restarting it every few weeks until it would "sync" now after 8-10 months it will only stay in sync for a few hours and it is only by pure luck that I get it to work. In fact I am writing this review after spending all day(8+ hours) trying to get it working again. I lost the warranty information so I can't comment on that. But I do not recommend this modem as it doesn't last very long.

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