Surf bored NO WAY (Surfboard SB3100)

Member Name: Donf18

Product:	Surfboard SB3100
Date:	21/03/06 (611 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast and sleak

Disadvantages: none

The Motorola Surfboard is much more exciting than it's name sounds. You are connected to the Internet at lightning speeds. Always ON no Dial Up and no logging on and off.

My time on the internet has only been spoilt by the speed at which I can read some of the amazing reviews here on Dooyoo. Dial up means slow unfortunately. Pages would take ages to load and after rating take even longer to get back to the New reviews Section. So when my ISP offered me broadband for 99p more a month with free instalation, guess who was jumping up and down.

On 8/9/2005 my favouritist guy in the world came a did the broadband instalation in less than an hour. After he had finished his mission it was my turn to get to grips with the less fun part, getting the whole lot to actually work.


INSTALATION

The long slim black unit has 4 connections on its rear.

DO NOT CONNECT 3 or 4 TO YOUR COMPUTER UNTIL ADVISED BY THE SOFTWARE INSTALATION ASSISTANT

1. For the small connector which supplies the units power. This fits into the small hole at the very bottom of the unit.

2. The next connection should already be made this being the actual connection to your ISP.

3. This is the point where you have to make a decision, since this connection is to a network interface card ( NIC ) connected to your computer ( cable supplied ). If you are unsure whether you have a NIC installed check your hardware settings and you should see it in the list if it is available. If you have a funny shaped telephone type connection on the back of your PC then this is it. It should be all on its own. Use this connection if you do not want to use or do not have a spare USB port. Connecting via this method is generally regarded as being more stable than using the USB port.

4. Use this connection if you do not have a NIC card or prefer to use the USB connection method. Simply plug one end of the cable ( supplied ) into the Surfboard and the other to a spare USB port on your computer. It isn't possible to muddle them up they are both completely different shapes.


The unit comes with a software CD which guides you through the instalation process. This is easy and nothing to get alarmed about. It does most of the work and tells you when its your turn to participate. The while process was much more fun than I had originally anticipated.

Once you have installed this Black Beauty you will be flying through the New Reviews. On the front of the unit there is a series of coloured lights forming a nice little column.

1. The first of these is the power indicator and is green when on

2. This one is the Recieve signal light

3. This is the transmit signal light

4. This light indicates online status and is green when connected

5. This light flashes Red/Amber to indicate PC activity

6. The final light in the column is the standby light

There is a standby button on the top of the unit but in normal circumstances this should rarely be required, but will be green should you put the modem into standby mode.

I cannot speak for any other operating system but if you are using Window XP and do have a problem connecting try this method first it has worked for me several times after I have guffed things up playing about with settings. Leave the PC on and remove the power connection to the modem. leave removed for 30 seconds and then replace. Windows will detect this and reset the modem and all connections.

The unit as I have indicated is Black in colour and perhaps about 5 -6 inches high and a mere 1 inch wide. It has a depth slightly less than it's hieght and is quite atrtractive in its look. Not stunning but nice. It's performance on the otherhand is stunning with web pages being almost instantaneously displayed. This speed will also of course be dependent on the speed and capabilities of your PC and that of your ISP. Regradless of the PC though a very significant jump in connection speeds will be noticed.

All in all I am very impressed with the performance of this unit. I was of course expecting a big jump in performance but I got far more than I expected. I did do an internet speed check and according to the information returned my connection had increased by 13 1/2 times. If I could recognise the engineer again I'd buy him a nice little drink for sure.

I cannot tell you the price of this unit since it came with the Broadband connection, but this is becoming more standard and should you decide to go to broadband you will most probably have your modem for free to, and if you are lucky you'll get one of these.

Summary: A great modem, which looks neat too

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