Last Updated on December 1, 2023 by Daniel Osakwe
Having a cable modem installed in your residence or business is very convenient and economical. But it is important that you get the right modem for these reasons. This article talks about some of the critical factors to pay attention to when buying a cable modem. It also provides a detailed Motorola MG7700 cable modem review.
Table of Contents
Motorola MG7700 Cable Modem: Design
In grey with a black stand, the Motorola MG7700 measures 9.1 x 2.6 x 2.6 inches. This device has several indicator lights on the front that tell you if it is powered up if anyone is connected to your wireless network, and whether any traffic is flowing through it. Unlike a modem from your cable provider, the light indicators are easy to see and understand.
In addition to its power port, the MG7700 also has a coaxial port which allows you to connect your service provider’s cable to it. If you wish to directly connect your computers to the modem using an Ethernet cable, there are four local area network (LAN) ports.
A large black space appears between the power plug and the top LAN port without any LAN ports as if there are no LAN ports there. There should have been more LAN ports on the back since more devices, such as smart home hubs, require Ethernet.
You might want to remember that the nine-inch box is best placed vertically thanks to the modem’s stand. However, it looks quite untidy if you place it on the side.
Motorola MG7700 Cable Modem: Setup Process
As the Motorola MG7700 is a combination cable modem and router, you’ll need to connect it to your ISP’s coaxial cable in order to connect to the Internet. Often your provider will place coax cables in less-than-ideal places, such as in apartment buildings, limiting your placement options.
There was a strong Wi-Fi signal on both floors of our home on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
It is usually best if a coaxial cable is routed through an unobtrusive corner of the living room, not sprouting out of it in an unsightly fashion from the center. This is bad news for routers that are best located centrally, so the signal covers the whole house or apartment. It may be necessary to invest in a coax cable extension if you’re having trouble finding a spot away from metal, walls, and other barriers that interfere with the signal.
There is one last and very important point to remember: Motorola’s branding clearly indicates that it is designed for Comcast Xfinity, Cox, and Spectrum. Your modem won’t work if you don’t use one of those ISP carriers.
The website of your cable company is often a good place to find information about third-party equipment. To be sure, call before you buy. We were able to set it up on Spectrum without any problems.
Motorola MG7700 Cable Modem: Connectivity
With the Motorola MG7700, you get a 24×8 DOCSIS 3.0 modem and a wireless router in one. As long as you have 24 downstream channels (i.e., lanes to handle network traffic), it can theoretically reach a download speed of 1 Gbps. Uploads are limited to 246 Mbps with eight upstream channels. Compared to 16×4 modems, it’s faster but slower than 32×8 modems, which utilize relatively standard connectivity protocols.
Although the MG7700 is advertised to support 1 Gbps downloads, we were not able to actually achieve that speed with Spectrum’s 100 Mbps plan. As a matter of fact, Motorola advises that it is really recommended for service speeds of 650 Mbps or less. Due to the fact that relatively few people are using gigabit Internet today (unless you’re gaming, probably), the 24×8 should be more than sufficient for the vast majority of users.
This device delivered outstanding speeds, exceeding the speed limit of our Spectrum 100Mbps plan when hardwired over the LAN ports.
In terms of the router, it’s AC1900. With “AC”, the device can beam wireless signals over two different frequencies: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Compared to the 2.4GHz band, the 5GHz band has a longer range, but it is slower and less likely to interfere with other wireless devices. However, the shorter range of the 5GHz band comes at the cost of better speed. Fortunately, most devices now support dual-band Wi-Fi and you can select the band you want to connect to.
If you have things such as smart switches and smart bulbs all over the house, you might want to use the 2.4GHz band for those devices, while using the 5GHz band for devices with more bandwidth-hungry needs such as streaming sticks, gaming consoles, and TVs.
According to the router’s specifications, 1900 represents its maximum theoretical bandwidth. It is possible for this product to achieve 1,900 Mbps, but it will only be able to do this if your cable provider supports it, in addition to other factors such as wireless interference caused by congested bands and provider throttling.
Motorola MG7700: Network Performance
When we hard-wired the modem via the LAN ports, the modem delivered excellent speeds, reliably topping out our 100 Mbps Spectrum plan.
Our performance varied greatly after we switched to wireless. You’ll need to place the modem in a location where it can be reached by the greatest number of devices throughout your home, as mentioned before. As a consequence, if, like us, you had to put your router in an inconvenient location due to limitations of the coaxial cable, your wireless signal will not reach as far as you might like.
You won’t be disappointed with the performance of the MG7700 if you live in a large apartment or modestly-sized home.
Motorola MG7700 was tested in our 4,500 square-foot home using more than a dozen devices (tablets, games consoles, computers, smartphones, etc.). Both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands of the router provided a strong Wi-Fi signal throughout our house.
Within a radius of 2,000 square feet, everything from surfing the Web to watching a video was flawless. Signals were weak in the basement and in more distant parts of the house, but that’s to be expected.
There are routers available with tri-band technology, which is faster and more reliable than the dual-band technology found in the MG7700. Having an extra 5GHz band allows these routers to operate at faster speeds, provide more bandwidth, and connect more devices at once. There are also Wi-Fi extenders that can improve your signal and reach all the dead areas, but they can be tricky to set up.
You won’t be disappointed with the performance of the MG7700 if you live in a large apartment or modestly-sized home.
Motorola MG7700 Cable Modem: Software
Software in the MG7700 is also customizable. In addition to changing your router’s settings, you can navigate to a specified IP address (the instructions will tell you which one) in your Web browser. You can do things like changing the default network name, enabling password protection, changing the channels your router uses, and others.
Furthermore, you can set up either a firewall or parental controls on the Advanced page. Overall, the settings are easy to understand, simple to change, and well laid out.
| Pros | Cons |
| Setup is fairly straightforward | Larger houses may not be suitable |
| Management of security in a simple manner | Placing a combo unit in a restricted area is possible |
| Saves you from paying rental fees to cable providers | Compatible with Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum, and Cox |
| Download and upload speeds are fast | |
| Durable |
The Verdict
An excellent modem/router combo that is easy to use and fast. As we tested, the Motorola MG 7700 delivered 100Mbps speeds over dual-band Wi-Fi over four gigabit LAN ports and features simple user controls. With up to twelve devices, this is best suited for homes with 2,050 square feet. However, if you have a larger home or a lot of devices and have to use a lot of bandwidth, tri-band routers may be more suitable
