Comcast rolls out Motorola SBV5220 cable modem with battery backup

If you've made the break and use a VoIP service as your only landline, you may have noticed one of the main downsides of the option (especially if you live in a rural or isolated area): if the power goes out, so does your phone line. Hooking up a UPS can help, but can also be expensive and may not provide power for more than an hour or so. However, help is on the way, at least if you get your VoIP access as part of a bundled plan from Comcast. The company plans to offer Motorola's SBV5220 cable modem to at least some of its customers as part of its $39.95 Digital Voice service. The SBV5220 includes its own lithium-ion backup battery, which provides up to 8 hours of power. Of course, if you use a cordless phone and it isn't fully charged before the lights go off, this may not do you a whole lot of good, so be sure to keep those phones charged.

[RickDom @ May 24th 2006 11:01AM]

Of course, what good does that charged cordless phone do you when the base station/reciever for it doesn't have power?

[ginnal @ May 24th 2006 11:03AM]

Heres what I want.

A cable Modem with an integrated 4 port gigabit router with wireless N and battery backup and integrated vonage.


One little box doing what my four little boxes currently do.

Thanks!

[carlos Dreyfus @ May 24th 2006 11:06AM]

The phone line dosnt provide power to the cordless phone base station, this power comes from the electric outlet, so this batery back up is to drive plain old regular (old graham Bell type) phones.

[mom-pat @ Mar 28th 2009 11:04AM]

The battery backup in the modem is to provide power when there is a power outage. That supply lasts for about 8 hours before it wears out.

[Matt @ May 24th 2006 11:12AM]

Yeah, I actually have one of these in my new house. I never had a cable modem before (had Verizon DSL) so I didn't even realize it wasn't a standard thing. Definitely useful.

[pat @ May 24th 2006 11:15AM]

Time Warner is also using these modems for the RoadRunner with VOIP. Seems work good so far.

[Matt @ May 24th 2006 11:19AM]

My mistake. I don't have one of THESE, but I do have a Comcast modem with a battery backup in it. In other words, this isn't the first of it's kind. The one I have is manufactured by ARRIS. Not sure what makes this Moto better or more noteworthy. Maybe just because its a Moto?

[Josh @ May 24th 2006 11:22AM]

We got this for Time Warner after the original slim box died, Not sure it is standard as we just moved and the reinstall tech tried to replace it with a slim box. Thankfully he let me keep my battery backup. Not that it matters since I have a cell phone as well.

[Thomas @ May 24th 2006 11:27AM]

We at TimeWarner have been using these for a few months now. Our Division currently isnt using the BatteryBackup yet, not many home still have a corded phone, an not all of our system is on backup yet..

These seem to hold up better over time compared to the SA Webstar VOIP mods..

And We too are still waiting for a VOIP mod with Wireless..

[jay @ May 24th 2006 11:33AM]

Some of the better cordless phones have batteries for their bases too. But unless you're one of the few that do, you're out of luck even with this modem. Do we all have cellphones anyway? Make sure THEY are charged.

[Jim @ May 24th 2006 11:51AM]

I just got one of the Arris ones installed, which is very similar to the Moto one described. The tech said it would get about 8 hours of standby time, with about an hour to an hour and a half of actual talk time, and that we'd need an old school corded phone for it to work.

I haven't tested the battery yet (thankfully), but the overall voice quality of the Arris modem has been superb - with no noticeable effect on internet speed while the phone is in use.

If you're a good talker, you can probably get Comcast to add this service for little to no additional cost. I live in an area where RCN is available as an alternative option, and simply calling the 800-COMCAST line and telling them I wanted to switch to RCN got them to slash their prices pretty significantly. After all was said and done they added the Digital Voice package AND the HBO package for a grand total of $1 less per month than what I was paying for plain old cable + internet :)

[John Laur @ May 24th 2006 11:56AM]

I am kind of sick of seeing all of this integrated stuff. Yeah you have a cable modem with battery backup, but what good does that do when your switch/router/access point/cordless phone base need it too for your laptop and phone to continue to work during an outage?

You can buy small UPS's with enough juice to power home network infrastructure for 4-12 hours for under $100; what is the big deal?

[Matt @ May 24th 2006 12:20PM]

did I over sleep again! all cable voip companys(like charter, comcast, cox, and others) have a battery backup on their voip modems.

[Jason Bradley @ May 24th 2006 12:36PM]

Or, uh, Vonage users could just set their "network unavailable" number to their cell phone (which is also most likely glued to them) and be fine, too. :)

[Uranium @ Jan 25th 2007 5:36AM]

That is one of the big benefits of Vonage. Their routers sure aren't what keeps me a customer, lol.

[chris @ May 24th 2006 1:22PM]

charter already supplies a battery backup, what took comcast so long?

[j0603 @ May 24th 2006 1:31PM]

This is all well and good but what happens when the internet is out anyway because the electronics out in the network don't have power? Ever had a power outage, cranked up your generator and tried your cable modem?? It usually does not work bacause the repeaters in the network need power too!!

[Korey @ May 24th 2006 1:33PM]

Number 8 your on crack i have timewarner road runner i have the Arris Touchstone And its got batterybackup i just want one with built in router wired or wireless dont care i have to many devices that use High-Speed

[Jerry Kindall @ May 24th 2006 3:13PM]

With regard to the cordless phone base station, Panasonic has a UPS specifically for its phones. Since it backs up the DC power provided by the wall wart, it is much simpler and cheaper than a full AC UPS that has to have an inverter, and provides more runtime per unit of battery output. Saw one at Fry's this past weekend. A real UPS is more flexible, of course, but this is a clever idea.

[Mark Miller @ May 24th 2006 9:27PM]

Comcast has always included battery backup as well, as it is a requirement to be a "primary line" because of e911.

[Tim @ May 24th 2006 9:50PM]

It's a great idea, but I just hope there is an extra outlet on the modem so we could plug other devices in there, like a router, or a cordless phone base.

[Uranium @ Jan 25th 2007 5:37AM]

Get a UPS. You could probably get a small one from newegg that would power your cordless phone / router for a few hours for under $30

[Blakamin @ May 25th 2006 3:00AM]

I want one... It'd be handy to surf the net on my laptop when the power is out!

[yuppicide @ May 25th 2006 10:04AM]

I've had Comcast and they already had a cable modem with battery backup, so this isn't anything new. It wasn't a Motorola brand, some other brand. It can sport two batteries, but mine only came with one.

[alejandro @ Dec 7th 2006 11:57AM]

i have one for sale if anyone wants it. think, your power goes out but you'll still have internet!!! should be included for everyone with cable.....

mines also came with one battery, i gonna check it out to see how good it works.....

FYI this thing has a diagnostic webpage 192.168.100.1, user admin
password motorola FYI

[Philip Smith @ Nov 30th 2007 9:47AM]

>

This used to be the case in my area before Comcast began offering phone service, but since then, the cable has never gone off during a power outage, even when my entire section of the county went dark for 12 hours. I was watching digital cable TV during that time, too.

[John McMonagle @ Jun 8th 2009 6:41PM]

If any of you guys are looking for backup batteries, I've found good prices/deals here: www.batterytex.com. You get good deals on shipping generally as well.