5.0 out of 5 stars S33 Modem is great. Xfinity install... BIG pain

R. · October 6, 2023

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } The ARRIS S33 modem was a great upgrade. My prior modem was another ARRIS product and it worked really well. I've had several ARRIS products and all have functioned without issue. The only reason I upgraded was because my old modem was running DOCSIS 3.0 and I wanted to move to DOCSIS 3.1 to get the most out of the 1.2Gps service that I'm paying for. This new S33 modem improved my speeds across all devices by well over 100Mbps. On my M1 iMac I'm now getting 950 Mbps on average. The ARRIS S33 modem is a five star product.I'll summarize the rest of the story so you don't have to read it if you don't want to. You CAN use this modem with your Xfinity service. But you're going to have to work to get it done. The saga below is provided so if you decide to activate this with Xfinity, you'll have an idea of what you'll go through.Now for the ugly: installing this modem with Xfinity service... This is a simple modem. It's designed to be pretty much plug-n-play. Connect coax, plug in power, plug in ethernet cable then activate through Xfinity's app. All the connections on the modem are simple. I went to Xfinity's app to activate and the activation function wouldn't work. It said I had to contact an Xfinity agent directly. So I started the chat with an Xfinity agent. I spent over an hour chatting with the agent as they tried to figure it out. First they said the modem isn't compatible with Xfinity's service. I pointed out it's the recommended modem on Xfinity's website. Then they said they couldn't find the modem in their system so couldn't register it on my account. More haggling. They escalated the issue. Escalation agent had the same problems. After more than an hour they told me I'd have to take the modem to a service center because "the service centers have special tools to scan the modem into the system directly." He assured me no appointment was necessary with my case number. Off to the Xfinity service center I go. I get there and it's a 45 minute wait. The guy says their case number doesn't mean anything to them and I'd still have to wait in line. The guy calls my name and I walk up to the counter. As soon as I lay the modem box on the counter the guy says, "Oh, no. Another one of these." He proceeds to tell me he'll do everything he can to help but they've not been able to do anything with these modems in the service center. He says the service centers don't have any special tools and have to do the same things the online agents do. And he comments that he wishes the online agents wouldn't tell customers what the service centers can do, they're always wrong and just dump problems on the service center. Sure enough, the modem isn't listed in his system either. Nice guy and admits this situation has been causing a terrible customer experience with several customers. He escalates the case to some tech group offsite. He gives me a new case number and says they will have to try to manually configure the modem for my account and I should get a call within an hour. I walked out ticked off and skeptical that I'd get a call or that they'd fix it. 50 minutes later I get a call. A nice guy from the Xfinity tech group tells me he's got it configured and it should install fine. Just have to activate it through the app. I reinstall the modem and go to the Xfinity app to activate. Same error in the app as before and it makes me contact an agent. So I start the chat and explain the situation. The chat agent says to give him a few minutes to review and attempt the activation. He comes back on about 5 minutes later and says it's activated. Sure enough. The modem light is blue and I once again have data flowing. It took somewhere about 4 hours, two chat sessions, a trip to the local service center and referral to some higher Xfinity tech group; but it finally got installed.

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Judge by size.. This baby knows how to work it...

M. · May 27, 2025

I did so much research on this little machine... How could it be this good.. It's tiny... But it 100% satisfies the internet at our house. Ease of set up.... Basically, just download the app. Plug it in.. and a way you go to the World Wide Web... I have it hooked up to a monster of a router.. It feeds it like a hippo in the zoo....

5.0 out of 5 stars The Arris S33 is cute but powerful.

D.F. · October 18, 2022

After taking the last two weeks to learn more about internet and wifi protocols, the theme that is consistent with all of this is there are lots of variables to consider on what modem to use. There are also many variables that impact a true internet speed.First, your internet speed has both down and up channels to your ISP. You might be getting 200mps but if your up is very low (5mps) then it's going to impact how responsive is your download. Also, if you want the best and most consistent signal then get the best coax and ethernet cables. Personally, I use Blue Jeans Cable. They are made in the USA and they make their own stuff. It's the best that I know of. Don't buy cheap cables. For example, you can easily find ethernet cables that have "extra" shielding, but the reality is too much shielding negatively impacts the signal. It's a marketing trick.Bad cables will definitely impact your speed - and get the right Cat level for your ethernet... especially if you are running it a long distance like 100' or more.I used the Arris SB8200 for about a week and a half. I returned it because the unit requires both ports to be aggregated to attain faster speeds. The S33 has a 2.5gb port alongside the 1gb port. So for those of you who are getting about 1gb now and want the option to increase your speeds later, this unit will work. With the SB8200 I was getting about 700mps down. After I installed the S33 it's now 900-1,000mps down with zero changes to my Comcast internet plan. The SB8200 had about 7-8ms latency. It's now at 4ms.It can be helpful to know that generally speaking, the more expensive modems have better hardware, more ram, more flash memory. The S33 has 1gb of ram, 256mb of flash memory.Without distracting the conversation, if you want a very good wifi home setup, get a high quality modem like the S33, and a separate high-quality tri-band router with minimum internet 6.Sure, there are more expensive options like the Nighthawk but the add'l cost isn't worth it. If your internet plan is close to 1gb download, then I recommend you have a modem like this S33 where you can easily jump up to 2.5gb as an option. And as I said, my download increased simply by swapping out the SB8200 for the S33 because of the 2.5gb port.From my understanding, having a modem with the ability to through-put 2+gb or more will not cap the internet speed like a 1gb modem will do (as my case showed). My only concern when I got this S33 was having only one indicator light. After the first day of use, I was content with having only one indicator light. The reason is I've had modems with lights for connection, down, up, etc. But when something goes wrong and the lights are fully lit up, I didn't have a clue what was going on. So the reality is most people look at the lights on their modem every now and then. So when the S33 blue light came on, it indicated it was connected but again, I tested to verify this was true. Unlike the other tech hardware in my office, I want less lights on the things that are meant to work in the background.Get the best cables. Get a high quality modem and high quality router. Be sure you plug them into a brand-name high quality surge protector like Tripp Lite.