Netgear CM500 Cable Modem Review and Setup

Recently my Cisco cable modem stopped working. To save money I always purchased my own cable modem as not to get charged for a monthly rental from my cable company. The lights on the front of the modem were not lighting up correctly. It was also making a strange high-pitched sound. I tried powering it up a few times but still had the same problem. I should have noticed the signs of it failing this past year. The cable modem would randomly disconnect from my service provider and I had to power it down so it could reconnect. This was happening more frequently. It had a good run. Lasted about 12 years. When your internet goes down you suddenly realize how you and so many devices depend on it. So I rushed over to the nearest Walmart and found a replacement. I ended up choosing the Netgear CM500 cable modem. Luckily, it was fully compatible with Spectrum, my service provider.

Netgear CM500 Specifications

The Netgear CM500 is not the fastest cable modem out there. Since my service provider is only capable of speeds under 680 Mbps this modem fit our needs. I was going to pair it with my Linksys wireless router which was still working fine.

Features

• 16×4 channel bonding
• DOCSIS 3.0
• 1 Gigabit Ethernet port
• Speeds up to 680 Mbps
• Works with any WIFI router
• Compatible with all major cable providers including Xfinity, Spectrum, and COX

Netgear CM500 Setup

Setting up the Netgear CM500 cable modem was relatively easy. It comes with a power supply and ethernet cable to connect to your wireless router. I removed my old cable modem by unscrewing the coaxial cable, unplugging the power supply, and unclipping the ethernet cable. Then I inserted the new modem in its place and reattached the cables and plugged in its new power supply.

Initializing The New Modem

Once everything was powered up. I opened up my laptop and launched the web browser. It automatically gave me a message and sent me to Spectrums’ login page to complete the setup. I logged in to my account and selected activate equipment. It then prompted me to activate my new cable modem by providing the MAC address on the bottom of my cable modem. A MAC address is a series of letters and numbers that uniquely identifies the device from others. I just typed in the information and hit the continue button. It took a few minutes for Spectrum to recognize the new modem. Once it was initialized, all the lights on the front of the modem lit up to indicate it was working properly. If you don’t have a wireless router or want to bypass it, just plug in the ethernet cable from the modem into your computer to complete the setup.

Checking Speeds

I also did a speed test using my laptop. I like to use speedtest.net. It is very accurate and easy to use. Just launch your web browser and head over to their address and click the Go button to start a speed test. Remember using a wireless connection does not give you accurate speed results. You should plug an ethernet cable from your router directly into your computer to get the most precise readings. Wireless connectivity is never as fast as a direct ethernet connection. Make sure the results are what you are paying for. My speeds looked fine and I was happy with the results.

Function

To make sure the cable modem was functioning properly the CM500 has a status login page. I opened my web browser and entered the following address 192.168.100.1 into the URL space. It prompted me for a login. I used the default login of username: “admin” and password: “password”. The page then displayed helpful information like connection status, event logs, bonded channels info, firmware version… You can also reset and reboot the modem from this screen. The connection status said good and all the other connection channels indicated all was working optimally.

Where to Buy

eBay

Netgear CM500 Cable Modem

Amazon

Netgear CM500 Cable Modem

Conclusion

The Netgear CM500 cable modem had me up and running fairly quickly. It was easy to set up and configure. The price point was not bad at around $60.00. We have been using the modem for a few months now and it works great. It has not dropped its connection at all. I have not needed to reboot or power it down since it was installed. Overall I have been very pleased. So if you start noticing your cable modem dropping its connection to your service provider frequently it might be time to purchase a new one.