combo cable modem + router/NAT

Get a regular Motorola SB5100 for your modem and then sort out what you need for a router (wireless/wired, SPI/NAT, VPN, etc). I would get one with a builtin

4-port switch even if you go wireless (most have it). I would recommend Netgear and Linksys for brands and if you don't need wireless, you can get a Netgear 614 for like $20 after rebates (just watch the ads in the Sunday paper for CompUSA, CircuitCity, BestBuy, OfficeDepot, etc.) for a netgear (or Linksys) sale.

Hopefully your switch can handle 10/100 also to connect to the router.

Here's a free RP614 from Fry's (after rebates) :

Am I missing something - what's funny about it ?

price back to the

I've bought many a rebate that took the price to $0 - I don't find a problem with that.

Two days left - the rebate didn't start today, it just happens to be near the end of the 1 week rebate period (8/27-9/2) and it's apparently a Fry's/Netgear rebate. What's the big deal - you never grabbed a product with a day or two left on the rebate ?

Are you saying this isn't a good deal or what ? If I needed a wired router (I already have an RP614) or one of the other products on the rebate, I'd jump on it.

The rebate lists these products (so there are other choices):

Offer # Product Limit Mail-in Rebate

21028 [ ] WG511 (UPC#606449011241) 3 $20.00 21028 [ ] WG311 (UPC#606449028423) 3 $20.00 21028 [ ] WG511T (UPC#606449030051) 3 $20.00 21028 [ ] WG311T(UPC#606449034523) 3 $20.00 21028 [ ] PS121 (UPC#606449034684) 3 $20.00 21029 [ ] MR814 (UPC#606449024524) 3 $30.00 21029 [ ] WGT624 (UPC#606449029994) 3 $30.00 21029 [ ] MP101 (UPC#606449030563) 3 $30.00 21029 [ ] WGR101 (UPC#606449036497) 3 $30.00 21030 [ ] RP614 (UPC#606449023022) 3 $40.00 21030 [ ] WGR614 (UPC#606449027600) 3 $40.00 21031 [ ] WGT634U (UPC#606449034875) 3 $50.00 21032 [ ] WGB111 (UPC#606449035254) 3 $60.00

Most rebates I've seen run from a week to a month (a few may go longer, but not usually).

No. These are normal RP614s that you would buy anywhere and mine is pretty much problem free. You are sounding awful paranoid.

1) The rebate may be coming from both Fry's and Netgear (part from each). 2) They get to borrow money from you at no interest rate and sell out remaining stock on a product that may be phasing out.

If I offer you a CD for $10 and a $10 rebate and the CD is World Book encyclopedia that is going to expire in 3 months (or rather get updated in 3 months with the next year's version), would you think it's worth loaning them $10 for 8 weeks while you wait for your rebate (PS: you have a kid in high school) ?

See 2) above.

can envisage

Not so - they are warrantee'd just like all their equipment.

few hardware

I don't have any either and I save the money that you don't.

This is absolutely unhumourous except for your attitude - now that's funny! You must be one of those conspiracy nuts.

If the Gigabit Ethernet switch is not Fiber and is twisted pair, then the Ethernet switch should be a 10/100/1,000Mb/s Ethernet switch.

Gig-E over twisted pair is merely four twisted pairs of 250Mb/s circuits combined to provide

1,000Mb/s.

Dave

| > There are a few (e.g. Linksys and Netgear) | > that have hub (multiple ports) and wireless | > functionality, but I dont really need that. | >

| > Since I am going to use a GigE switch for my | > home LAN, I just need the router/modem | > function. | >

| > Can someone give me pointers to brands/models | > I should be looking at? | | Get a regular Motorola SB5100 for your modem and then | sort out what you need for a router (wireless/wired, | SPI/NAT, VPN, etc). I would get one with a builtin | 4-port switch even if you go wireless (most have it). | I would recommend Netgear and Linksys for brands | and if you don't need wireless, you can get a Netgear | 614 for like $20 after rebates (just watch the ads | in the Sunday paper for CompUSA, CircuitCity, BestBuy, | OfficeDepot, etc.) for a netgear (or Linksys) sale. | | Hopefully your switch can handle 10/100 also to connect | to the router.

This is too funny, the rebate will expire in two days !

$40.00 Rebate! Regularly $40.00 (rebate expires on 2004-09-02) Request Must Be Postmarked By 10/02/04

Dave

| > There are a few (e.g. Linksys and Netgear) | > that have hub (multiple ports) and wireless | > functionality, but I dont really need that. | >

| > Since I am going to use a GigE switch for my | > home LAN, I just need the router/modem | > function. | >

| > Can someone give me pointers to brands/models | > I should be looking at? | | Here's a free RP614 from Fry's (after rebates) : | |

The EXTREMELY short period.

First you have to ask why would you sell a product only to rebate the full price back to the customer. Then to see only ~50hrs left on the rebate offer...

You don't find humour in that ? I do.

Dave

| >

Gee a whole week for a rebate. Wow that is a long time, a whole 1/52 of a year !

Can you say "quality control production run" problem ?

Why would a manufacturer sell a product only to return the price ? Just processing the rebate costs the manufacturer money. What's their gain ? The only reason I can envisage is that the company had a poor quality control run in the manufacturing process and is dumping the "failed QC production run" product on the market.

No, I never take "advantage" of these offers. That's probably why I have so few hardware failures.

I still find this all too funny. I'm sorry if you don't se the humour in it.

Dave

| > First you have to ask why would you sell a product only to rebate the full price back to the | > customer. Then to see only ~50hrs left on the rebate offer... | >

| > | >

| >

| >

1. While e-mail spam no longer cares about valid address lists, a rebate gathers postal addresses and phone numbers. Those lists can be sold. ("Do Not Call List"? Doesn't matter. The terms of the rebate usually include opting-in to allow calls from companies the lists are sold to.)
2. There will be people who make a buying decision based on the rebate, but then either forget to send in for it, or don't follow directions.
3. Excessive inventory. Whether it's the end of the product's life, and they want to clear the inventory before liquidating it for even less, or simply a problem that production is greater than demand, but shutting down production costs too much, there are times that an inventory just needs to be cleared.

Personally, I do not make buying decisions based on rebates. If it's not a good deal before the rebate, I'm not buying. Sure, if there is a rebate, I'll apply for it, but that's gravy. I've seen too many cases in which collecting a rebate became a volley of letters back and forth, and the consumer usually looses.

I also have a problem with "store" rebates more than "manufacturer" rebates. The manufacturer can lower the wholesale price, but can't guarantee that the savings will be passed on to the consumer. A rebate can get product moving faster than a wholesale price reduction. But a store rebate -- what's the point? If the store wants me to save money, they can just take the price off when I walk up to the register. The so-called "instant rebate", which is really nothing more than a price reduction at the register. When a store requires a mail in rebate, they're hoping that either I'll forget, or they're trying to build up a mailing/phone list for other purposes.

As for these "free after rebate" offers, the longer-term they are, the more suspicious they are. (Remember CyberRebate.com?) A very short-term manufacturer's rebate probably is just a way to get excess inventory moving. While I still won't make a purchase decision based on the rebate, in those cases I hold out more hope that in the end I may actually be able to collect the rebate without work beyond the initial mailing required.

Just in case any marketers are reading, but not reading closely, rebates do not affect my buying decisions. "Store" rebates that aren't instantly given at the register create a negative impression of the store. Maybe I'm not holding the majority viewpoint, but don't kid yourself into thinking that I'm the only one who thinks this way.

FALSE prophecies from the archives, "$Bill" on Tue, 31 Aug 2004 19:15:51 -0700 spoke:

I bought Encarta 1999 in 2000, paid $19, got a $25 rebate from MS.

So, you have 2 days to buy one. When did the rebate start? Many I've seen are only on for a few days or a week.

That proves it. You must be out to get him! Hopefully he doesn't live in Montana. ;-)

There may also be consumer protection laws, that may affect running certain sales. Rebates may be a way around them.

I got a $3000 rebate from Ford, when I b ought a new car a couple of years ago. Since I didn't have to mail a form in and wait for a cheque, it was an "in store" rebate. ;-)

In article , David H. Lipman wrote: :Gee a whole week for a rebate. Wow that is a long time, a whole 1/52 :of a year ! : :Can you say "quality control production run" problem ? : :Why would a manufacturer sell a product only to return the price ? :Just processing the rebate costs the manufacturer money. What's their :gain ? The only reason I can envisage is that the company had a poor :quality control run in the manufacturing process and is dumping the :"failed QC production run" product on the market. : :No, I never take "advantage" of these offers. That's probably why I :have so few hardware failures. : :I still find this all too funny. I'm sorry if you don't se the humour :in it.

Then I guess you'd be in hysterics over the rebates on my Motorola SB5100 cable modem:

Price of modem: $79.99

Cash rebate from Motorola: $20.00 Cash rebate from Circuit City: $60.00 (new service w/Comcast req'd) Merchandise card from Circuit City: $50.00 (new service w/Comcast req'd) ------- Total rebates: $130.00

The cash rebates are in the bank. The merchandise card in is my wallet awaiting my next trip to Circuit City.

The SB5100 shows no signs of failing.

That's what I'm talking about - $50 cash and a free modem !

Dave will try to tell you it's a factory reconditioned second and they won't honor your merchandise card. :)

You're missing the point I think. Suppose you were about to sign up for Comcast and I told you you could get a free modem and $50 credit if you drove over to Circuit City and signed up there for the same deal.

Would you sign up with Comcast or would you go over to CC and sign up there ? Either way, you're going to sign up, so that part of the deal isn't pertinent - what's pertinent is what you can get back by going to CC.

Another skeptic. ;)

w/Comcast req'd)

w/Comcast req'd)

This is misleading. Only $20 is coming from Motorola, and none of it is really coming from Circuit City. The bulk of the money is coming from Comcast. And the cost of the Comcast service required for some reason wasn't included in presenting this deal here.

Essentially what is happening is Comcast is buying the modem, but if the modem fails, it'll be between the end user and Motorola. Comcast won't just come out and swap modems as they do when the end user rents a modem that Comcast buys. That's part of the cost of this deal, too.

And this deal is only available to people who aren't already Comcast HSI customers. This is an effective way of getting people to try Comcast HSI. It's not a way to get people to buy cablemodems. It's a way to get new cable Internet customers!

Now here's the other questions: How much money does one have to part with to purchase this deal? Would this modem and cable Internet service be worth it if something went wrong, and the rebates never came? What if the Internet service is unacceptably bad? After paying for the service, you're certainly not going to be ahead $50. If the service sucks, how much did you spend?

I'll admit that even when you add in all the costs to the consumer, it's not a bad deal -- assuming they have a need for broadband Internet service, and aren't going to have to pay to be released from a contract they already might have. But this isn't a quick way for someone to make $50. More is required to get that "free" $50 than a 37-cent stamp, and an envelope. If the consumer had no need for broadband Internet service, despite the rosy picture painted initially, it's a crappy deal.

If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. People who tend to forget that law of nature are a big part of the target market for rebates.