What does it do
Motorola Surfboard SBG6580 is a DOCSIS 3.0 / EuroDOCISIS 3.0 Cable Modem Wireless Router– an all-in-one device for robust wireless networking in homes that supports selectable dual band
Click for spec details
Highlights:
- DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem
- Wireless N Selectable dual band
- Four Gigabit ports
- Advanced security
Compared with other Motorola cable modem products that always get a very positive responses in the market, this wireless gateway modem is getting less encouraging responses from the customers. With a rating average of 3.5 out of 5 stars customer rating, this rating result is less satisfactory according to customers perspective. Even those users that gave 1 star rating nearly half of those who give 5 stars rating.
The design of the Surfboard SBG6580 model is almost the same as other Motorola DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem: SB6120 and SB6141 like a box with vertical form factor, black and look rigid less artistic than its predecessor SB5101.
As with the other all-in-one devices, the Motorola SBG6580 has been able to meet all your needs for a Wi-Fi network either at home or for a small office. No need to bother choosing a cable modem, wireless router and 4-port switch to build a wifi network, just one device for all your requirements, it is practical, economical and easy installation and maintenance.
Cable Modem Function
Motorola SBG6580 is based on DOCSIS 3.0 standard technology with cable provider infrastructure that also supports DOCSIS 3, the download speed can be up to 300Mbps and even 400Mbps with EuroDOCSIS-base to get channel bonding up to 8, while the downstream can be up to 100Mbps. This is ideal for streaming video or other multimedia services.
Firewall / Router Function
For the novice users in networking, you probably never thought that your Surfboard SBG6580 is equipped with standard protection against all threats from the Internet with a feature called NAT and SPI. NAT serves to disguise the IP address of your private network so it is not visible from the internet. Likewise SPI helps scanning incoming traffic from the Internet more thoroughly if it contains intruders.
The router includes the DoS (Denial of Services) and malware protection. The modem also supports the routing function including static route and dynamic routing (RIPv1, RIPv2). This is the second requirement for your network.
High Speeds
The Motorola SBG6580 cable modem wireless router is powered by the latest wireless 802.11n technology with dual band support.
Do not expect all of your wireless clients that operate in either 2.4GHz or 5GHz can be accommodated by this router simultaneously. Unfortunately it is a selectable dual band, not simultaneous. It means that the router will operate in single band in a time either in 2.4GHz or 5GHz band.
If you expect the router to accommodate all the devices for example your iPad, 5GHz-based XBOX adapter, your notebook with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi adapter and other smart-phones, you’ll be sorry. This Surfboard modem gateway can only work in single band either in 2.4GHz (for your smart-phones, notebook with 2.4GHz band Wi-Fi) or 5GHz (for iPad, XBOX adapter with 5GHz band) band. If you have uniform wireless adapters that support 5GHz band, that’ll be great for maximum data throughput.
The modem includes 4xGigabit Ethernet ports to let you connect up to computers with 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports. Brand new computers today are equipped with gigabit Ethernet ports you can connect to the routers using the Cat5e UTP cable for reliable wired connections.
To provide the IP address configuration automatically, the modem includes a DHCP server that will provide IP address leases to the clients on the network. This will help you reduce the network administration overhead.
Security
Wireless connection is prone to the eavesdropping by the users within the network coverage. Therefore you need to encrypt the connection by the industrial wireless security WPA/WPA2 (Wireless Protected Access). The Surfboard SBG6580 cable modem wireless router supports wide range of security including WEP-64/128, WPA-PSK, WPA, WPA2, TKIP, AES, 802.1x, 802.11i (pre-authentication). For secure client connection to the network, the device supports user-friendly Wi-Fi protected setup (WPS) to easily connect with WPS compatible device.
Connection Diagram
The connection / setting up networking diagram for mostly all-in-one devices (wireless cable / DSL modem router) such as Surfboard Sbg6580 are similar as shown in the following figure; you need to connect the coaxial cable to the coax port of the modem and some configuration steps to follow.
Should you need to connect your entertainment devices such as XBOX console, Blu-Ray, internet HDTV etc you may consider the multiport wireless bridging device such as Linksys WES610N.
Cons and Pros
Pro:
- docsis 3.0 / eurodocsis 3.0 ready
- dual band support with solid speed
- 4x gigabit Ethernet ports
- Customer ratings in Amazon (1-5 stars): 4.2 for wireless speed, 4.5 for indicator and appearence
Cons:
- Doesn’t support simultaneous dual band – you have only three options in basic wireless setup: Enabled 2.4GHz; Enabled 5 GHz; and Disabled.
- no USB port for shared storage
If you already have a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem Surfboard SB6120 or 6121 for example, then keep it and just add a gigabit wireless router that is still popular, powerful and economical DIR-655 wireless router.
By Ki Grinsing
Ki, hope you’re there. Just bought a SBG6580, looks nice and all, managed to get in as admin (because the CD wouldn’t work) but am stumped on how to enable WEP. No matter what I try, it’s greyed out. I can turn all of the WPA stuff on and off, but not WEP. What am I doing wrong here?
RK
Rob, you cannot access the CD, so how can you access the device – wirelessly? have you tried connect the computer using the UTP network cable (included with your modem) and insert the CD. Or access from your browser http: // 192.168.0.1 ..the default ip address…and see how it work. Because i am wondering when you change the security, the connection to the computer lost.
Hi Ki,
I got in over wireless through the .0.1 IP address and the login screen. The CD wouldn’t auto-start but I googled around and found it needed Adobe Air. Found that, installed it, manually started the CD software and after 90 minutes (I had given up and was googling again) all of a sudden the wizard was up. Went through a few screens, got to the point where it starts “testing the connection”, and then it just sat. It said 5 minutes, took maybe 30 minutes, before declaring there was a “router issue”. But, I got connectivity, just no internet. Fine, I’ll call my ISP for that an we’ll be OK.
My problem is that I have a couple older HP wireless printers, and the only security they know about is WEP. Also, you can’t select the SSID through the unit, you need their old driver disk, major pain. So, I figured I’d rename the SSID, set WEP with the old access code, reboot everything and we’d be in business. My PC stil has the old profile for that SSID, the printers will find me again, it should work… But, no luck, WEP never becomes clickable.
Thanks RK
some ISPs provides static IP address to their customers, but mostly use dhcp – dynamic ip address. you can confirm with your isp about that.
think this way, create guest network for your print-server with wep that match to your current older hp wireless ps, and for the PCs use the primary network using WPA and new SSID. delete the profile in your PC and create new connection with new SSID you just created …and see how it works.
Ki
I am quite the novice when it comes to home computer equipment as is probably evidenced by the way I submit this comment (question). Currently a Comcast cable customer using their low-end cable internet service (Performance), renting modem (SB5100)from Comcast and a five or six-year old Linksys router (WRT54G v3.1) that I own. While my current range and speed is satisfactory for me (WEB browsing, occasion transfer of fairly small files and email), I am hoping to improve my connectivity and speed to satisfy a medical school student who will be here during the summer. This student is used to downloading major files for home study purposes, and after testing my WIFI capabilities here recently this student tells me my current WIFI speeds are way to slow to meet their needs for study they will be doing during the summer months. I’m considering purchasing an SB6120 modem and either a WNR3500L or WNDR3400 router. Another option is to go with a SBG6580 modem/router. I realize I may also have to upgrade my Comcast service from Performance to BLAST!, but since I have some time I thought I would try just the equipment change. Looking for comments/suggestions on my equipment choices and any other direction someone may be willing to offer. Thank you.
with your curent SB5000 cable modem and ‘Performance’ service and WRT54G router for ‘work’ is enough such as for web browsing and email. But for demanding high bandwidth applications such as video streaming and online gaming, large files downloading – that’s not enough.
With BLAST service, I believe that Comcast have DOCSIS 3.0 infrastructure which is much faster than DOCSIS 2.0. By upgrading to BLAST you need to have fast DOCSIS 3 cable modem such as SB6120 and high performance wireless router such as Linksys E-3000 dual-band router or WNDR37AV router for video and gaming. SB6120 includes gigabit Ethernet port, and both routers (E-3000 and WNDR37Av) also inlcude gigabit WAN port for maximum data throughput. WNR3500L is OK but WNDR3400 is not embedded with gigabit WAN port.
If you prefer a single device for your high performance home environment, Surfboard SBG6580 is your choice. You don’t need to purchase a wireless router because it includes wireless access built-in into the modem.
Ki
Ki,
I tried to set this up last night. I called cox to have them provision this unit. After i did that i tried to set up a wireless connection (I had it hardwired to just get it working when i was on the phone with cox)and it asked for the Passcode thats located on the bottom. Well i entered it and after about 5-10 minutes of “accessing the router” it comes back with the passcode was incorrect. I tried this multiple times with no luck.
Now BEFORE i called cox, I just hooked up the router and ran the wifi setup and the passcode worked fine. After that i changed the security to WEP (I think i did at least) and then the screen froze. So i hit the reset button and called cox to get it provisioned.
Any help? right now it will only work hardwired and the last time i used it i was only able to get to one website before there was no internet access.
Hi Luke,
you have the same experience as Rob, he updated the Adobe air to get the configuration work. Make sure you download Adobe air before running the configuration. See if it can start the WEP configuration. Make sure your wireless clients TCP/IP property is configured to “obtain the ip address automatically”.
Hello Ki,
I got my 6580 up and am very happy with one exception. My 3gs iphone and “Radio Thermostat” can’t connect at 5ghz.
I was surprised to find that the 6580 can’t downshift to 2.4ghz without manually turning off the 5ghz. Is there a way around this?
I presently have a second router (netgear WNR1000) plugged in to one of the 6580 outputs. This second router is set to 2.4ghz and works but this
seems like a sloppy solution.
Mike S.
Hi Mike, 6580 is a selectable dual-band modem-router. It is not a simultaneous dual-band modem-router. This is the downside of this device, cannot operate both bands at the same time.
Ki,
You seem to know how to fix my issue. The problem I’m having is that my internet connection is spotty. There will be periods of time when my connection is perfect, exactly as fast as it should be, and everything’s a breeze. Then suddenly I’ll try to load a new tab and it hangs up and returns the “server not found” error. Once this error pops up, if I try to navigate on any other tab I get the same error. This will last for anywhere from 1-30 minutes. Then it will randomly decide that it’s done giving me the middle finger and work wonderfully again.
I was on the phone with my ISP for nearly an hour TRYING to figure this out. From their side, everything was golden – all the time. I thought it might be a random cruddy modem so I exchanged it for a new one and am still experiencing the same inconsistent issues. What could possibly cause such erratic and unexplainable interruptions, especially if my ISP can’t recognize it when it occurs?
Turn off IP Flood Detection in the router firewall settings. That will fix the problem.
So if my son has IPOd this motem will not work with it..?
the iPod Wifi is powered by 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only). The modem can work with iPod only iif you select the wifi to 2.4GHz band.
@Rob IF you haven’t figured it out by now, you need to go and turn Wireless-N off. However, I personally recommend using the WPA2-PSK if your devices support it, because WEP isn’t that secure to a determined person and was retired as secure back in the late 90′s. I have one of these modems, but I have fallen back to an old modem (Linksys WCG200) because my SURFboard won’t talk to the Cable ISP.
To replace my Lynksys WCG200, I bought the sbg6580 knowing that my ISP works using docsis 2. According to the tech specs it is backwards compatible. But despite several attempts, after having unchecked the IP Flood Detection, it has not worked. Is there some other configuration adjustment required to make it work? Can the cable ISP change or adjust to it?
if you have completed the setting properly, you should see the online led (a globe pict) green. it means that the modem connects to th einternet and no problem with the internet connection. The problem should be between your modem and your LAN. Check your tcp/tp property of the computer.
Hi was wondering how I could open my Nat on the surf board sbg6580
Any help would be nice thanks
opening the NAT? I am not with you, I think NAT is enabled by default to let you share the internet.
This device does NOT support Static Routes…
Does anyone know which range extenders work with the Motorola SBG6580? Any experience with specific brands?
Thanks
have a look at this article amped sr300 smart repeater, not personnaly have experience with sbg6580 with this amped.
I switched to the SBG6580 recently and was able to get all my devices connected except for my Xbox 360 using a wireless access point that only supports WEP and my PSP. I can’t seem to get the WEP option to turn on no matter what setting I change in the router. Is there a fix for this? Is there a way to setup a guest account and use some other option to limit access such as a MAC address filter? Any help would be greatly appreciated since my modem is about to grow wings and take flight out the window! Thanks
Motorola, problem, not working
i use the Apple airport Extreme and it seems to be working fine so far
Recently upgraded to Motorola SBG6580 after getting message from Comcast that we were “missing out” on all of the benefits. Have the new desk top and Kindle Fire successfully connected wirelessly to the SBG6580, but the lap top won’t connect to the internet wirelessly. It “sees” the modem and allows local access, but no internet. When the laptop is connected via ethernet cable to the modem router it connects to the internet without a problem. The laptop is an HP Pavilion dv6700, about 4 years old, running Vista. I’m interested in suggestions to cure this laptop problem. Thanks.
@Carl:
When your laptop connects to the router using wired connection and successfully having internet connection, what is the IP configuration when you run the “ipconfig /all” command from the dos prompt? Compare with wireless connection when it failed to access the internet by running the same command. Review the gateway IP adddress and make a ping test. If the result of the ping test return with 0% packet lost, there should be no problem with internet connection. Unless there is something wrong – unresolve problem with the router.
Purchased the Motorola SB6580 but i cannot connect to the internet with my iPod. My iPod works at other wifi locations, but not at home. (password is correctly entered as well)
Currently there are these devices connected to it:
Laptop (2)
xbox (1)
Any suggestions?
Thank you
I think sbg6580 is selectable dual band either 2.4 or 5ghz bands. Your ipod works in single 2.4ghz band. if you select sbg6580 to work in 5ghz band,your ipod cannot connect becasue ipod works in 2.4ghz band. Probably this is the case.
i just bought a laptop used, clean, and am trying to hookup to my motorola sbg5680 but i seem to have misplaced the install disk. Is there another way to connect them? thank you
You meant the install disk of NIC adapter or the Wifi adapter? Check your laptop by running the “ping 127.0.0.1″ from the DOS prompt to make sure that tcp/ip configuration is correct. typically new installation of a laptop can recognize the NIC adapter. unless you need to download the driver from another computer. You can visit the vendor website and search for the appropriate driver for the laptop adapters.
How to I enable to use WEP? I don’t understand all the other settings and always used WEP which I found to be the easiest. When I try to enable it reverts back to disable mode? Any help would be appreciated.
if you enable the primary network, provide the SSID name and disable all the WPA/WPA2 & PSK settings, can you enable WEP?I have owned this for a few months and am happy with it…But i want to run a wired LAN can only get 100Mbps with wire i thought this had a 4 port ethernet with Gigabite ethernet support…Shouldnt i be getting 1000Mbps?
@Eric: Make sure that your computer that connects to the router supports gigabit NIC adapter. The router supports 10/100/1000mbps ethernet ports, the data thoughput follows the lowest speed between the router and the client.
i have a USB 2.0 to gigabit ethernet network adapter plugged into my laptop…Do i have the wrong thing
run dos command “ipconfig /all” and see if the type of the adapter is Fast ethernet or Gigabit? Or you may see the system information windows within the accessory menu. (start => all p rograms => accessory => system tools => system information>
Cant find what your looking for but the box says Gigabit
I installed the SBG6580 with no problems and it works find excep for 1 issue. I have a 16-port switch on one of the Ethernet ports that connects to all my wired PCs, printers, etc. and I use the SBG650 wirelss for my laptops. I cannot get the laptops to connect to my desktop computers (I share files) even through they are all given IP address in the same subnet by the DCHP router of the SB6580. In the past I had a separate Wireless AP connected to my switch and everything communicated fine. Is this a limitation of the SB6580 Modem..i.e. Wireless network can’t talk to the wired network or is there a setting that would fix this. Btw, I made sure AP isolate is disabled and it didn’t make a difference. For now I turned off the wireless part of the SB6580 and went back to using an Wireless AP connected to my switch…would be nice to get rid of this if I could get eveything to talk.
looks odd, what if you test a desktop connect directly to the modem without a swicth, can the wireless laptop talk to the wired desktop?
other thing, many people find it usefull to disable the “ip flood detection”. you may click on the firewall tab, and then locate the IP FLOOD DETECTION checkbox and uncheck it.
To enable WEP on your SB6580…
Once you’re logged in to your modem/router, disable the 802.11 n-mode feature under Basic in the Wireless tab. Then disable all the security settings in the first section on the Primary page like WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, etc…
I have the Motorola Surfboard SB6580, when I set up a user name and password, it will let me change the user password, but not the password. What can I do to get the password off of motorola??
Quote: “when I set up a user name and password, it will let me change the user password, but not the password. ”
which “user and password” is this, the factory default or what?
Warning: WEP cannot be activated if you are running it in Wireless-N mode… it has to be downgraded to G in order to use simple WEP. Also, it’s annoying that it does not run dual-band. Suggestion: go on Ebay & pick up a Linksys WAP54G. Configure your 6580 to run in 5GHZ N mode only, then connect the Linksys to it in access point mode, running in Wireless G with WEP. That way your high-band N devices can be used alongside the WEP-G devices. Not the most elegant solution, but it works.
Is there someway to test the sbg6580 – Cox tells me that my slower speeds and drop outs are due to the modem but have not even checked out their side of the system. What can go wrong with this device that can be checked, either online or offline. Unit is about 1.5 years old.
I can’t connect my laptop or my iphone to my SBG6580 and the “security key” in the back doesn’t log me in. Can anybody help me? On the laptop when i connect it with an ethernet cable it just says “can’t connect, the network may no longer be in range”
My company laptop drops its VPN connection intermittently, whether connected to the SGB6580 via Ethernet or wirelessly. No other devices (smartphones and streaming boxes) appear to be affected. Ideas?
I recently purchased a laptop but do not know my password for the SGB6580. How do I find this or be enabled to enter a new one?
@Juice, if you forgot the sb6580 password, you may reset it to factory default. default user name: admin and password is motorola and the default ip address is 192.168.0.1