ARRIS SURFboard SB8200 Cable Modem

BUYER BEWARE: This product being a DOCSIS 3.1 Modem seemed to be safe and solid when I purchased last year on Amazon.com. Little did I know that problems would gradually start to increase with the Arris Surfboard SB8200, and seems to be an unfortunate pattern I have found with Arris Brand Cable Modems and Gateways. Customer Support is lacking and avoids addressing the issue while frequently diverting from the main problem they are asked to assist with. Arris brand products I have experienced continue to demonstrate noticeable defects and appear to be made with poor quality parts. I have purchased the Arris SB8200, SGB8300, SB6190 and SB6183 Cable Modems and Gateways and this is particularly if you have Cox Communications for an ISP, it is wise to reconsider this brand if you want a reliable internet connection and service. I strongly suggest you steer clear from this brand! The SBG8300, SB6183 and SB6190 all exhibited problems from the start, but this Surfboard SB8200 was particularly deceiving, since on the surface it seems that it would be a top performing product being DOCSIS 3.1 and not made with the Puma 6 Chipset some of us had the misfortune of experiencing defects with. I have now found this SB8200 device to be useless after 6 months and hours and hours troubleshooting with Arris customer support via chat, phone and email. You will be out of options when this product starts to fail, which for me is outside the return time frame with Amazon and Arris will refuse to take any type of accountability or responsibility for this failing product. The numbers of issues faced with this defective product has been extremely frustrating and caution a prospective buyer of this DOCSIS 3.1 modem to reconsider. Do yourself a favor, choose another brand Modem or Gateway. Anything with this brand made within the last 5 years I have noticed lacks basic performance and will begin to exhibit these issues and defects no later than 6 months into operation. I suspected it was my Internet Service Provider or Router that was the problem at first when I began to have increased and unexpected as well as unexplained internet outages. Knowing Cox had a history of preferring Arris brand equipment, I never suspected I would encounter problems with their products. After I could not ignore the unexplained connection drops and unusual amount of internet outages I finally uncovered this cable modem was the culprit, however was too late to recover the investment. It wasn't until a Cox technician noticed the unusually slow and odd way this modem rebooted after a connection drop and told me he had nothing but problems with this brand of equipment he never encountered with the others. I began to look into the problems with this product, and started to see a noticeable pattern of dissatisfaction from customers like myself. I have replaced this cable modem now with the Motorola MB8600 and had success with the modem and absolutely no issues since purchasing it. The MB8600 worked right out of the box, which I cannot speak for it down the road, but already seems more promising that any of the Arris brand products I have unfortunately purchased in the past. I thought I would provide a review on this product as I am able to speak now to the longevity of this Arris Cable Modem model SB8200 and a few other Arris products that failed prior to this one. This investment I made was a big mistake so hopefully this can help you make an informed decision which I strongly caution you all with purchasing this product.