Cable Modems Do I need a new cable modem?

> I've owned a Toshiba 1100U cable modem for years. But for the past 4
> or 5 months I've noticed that my connection into Comcast drops off for
> about 15 seconds and then pops back on. When that happens the obvious
> happens ..... can't get email from my corporate email server, can't
> load a web page and disconnect from any online game like backgammon.
> Moments later I'm back on. Comcast ran a bunch of tests today and said
> everything looks good from their end. They said there was a report out
> about older Toshiba cable modems having some issues ever since Comcast
> increased their bandwidth. Has anyone heard of this issue and can you
> recomment a cable modem? It hooks into my linksys wireless router. By
> the way I eliminated linksys from the problem by putting the cable
> modem connection directly into my pc. Same thing keeps happening.
> About 10 times an hour I disconnect for 15 to 30 seconds. Very
> annoying. Thanks for your help and suggestions.

>
>The 1100U is one of Toshiba's first tries at a DOCSIS modem. It's only
>DOCSIS 1.0 certified, and I don't believe there's anymore support
>available even to corporate customers. The 1100/1100U occasionally would
>have issues if either the upstream or downstream channel was changed, as
>if the modem just couldn't forget the old channel assignment. Couple
>this with the possibility that the folks writing the new config files
>for Comcast may not have had any support, and it's believable that the
>modem is having problems with the speed upgrade.
>
>However, since your problems began "4 or 5 months" ago, it's more likely
>that there is (also?) a line problem.
>
>The problem is that you own the modem, which in this case cannot
>automatically be considered good or bad, so the techs won't be able to
>take the easy way out, and swap modems in an attempt to isolate the
>problem. The tests done by customer support when you were on the phone
>may have only been red light/green light type tests, and only valid for
>that moment in time. Access to some historic logs -- or at least logs
>from when you were/are having a problem -- would be needed to point one
>way or the other.
>
>In other words, this is a classic case of when renting the modem beats
>buying the modem.
>
>If you've already recouped what you spent on the modem, and don't mind
>spending some (all) of the money you saved in rental fees, you could go
>out and get a new modem. If the same problems still exist, then it'll be
>clearer that it there are still problems beyond what could be caused by
>the config file or the shortcomings of the 1100U. (And I do think that
>this is what you'll find.)

> Everything seems to run slightly faster and more reliable but as I
> said one hour isn't enough time to tell. But I clearly see some
> improvements. Something tells me th

>Thanks for the help out here. I went out and bought a new Motorola
>SurfBoard 5100 cable modem. Comcast got it registered on their network
>and although I've only used it about 1 hour so far zero issues.
>Everything seems to run slightly faster and more reliable but as I
>said one hour isn't enough time to tell. But I clearly see some
>improvements. Something tells me the old Toshiba was simply out of
>date. Thanks again for your help. For those interested in the outcome
>I'll post again in a few days or so.
>
>Don