The main difference between the Motorola MB8611 and MB8600 is the Internet speeds they can handle. The MB8611 can support Internet plans up to 2500 Mbps, and the MB8600 supports plans up to 2000 Mbps.
So, if you have a cable Internet plan faster than 2000 Mbps or want to future-proof your home network the best, MB8611 is the best choice. But, if you have a 2000 Mbps plan or slower, the MB8600 is the better option.
Motorola MB8600
Overall Winner
- Performance – Loser
- Compatibility – Winner
- Design – Tie
- Setup – Tie
- Value for Money – Winner
Motorola MB8611
Better Performer
- Performance – Winner
- Compatibility – Loser
- Design – Tie
- Setup – Tie
- Value for Money – Loser
I’m Jon, a home networking enthusiast. I currently use the MB8611 for my home Internet, and I made this guide to help you decide which of these two Motorola modems is best for your home.
So, let’s dive in to learn the main difference, pros, and cons of each option.
Key Takeaways
- While both the MB8611 and MB8600 are future-proof, the MB8611 is the most.
- The MB8611 is faster (up to 2500 Mbps) and more expensive, but the MB8600 is still plenty quick (up to 2000 Mbps with port bonding).
- The MB8600 and MB8611 look physically similar, are easy to set up and work with several major ISPs.
Motorola MB8611 & MB8600 Compared
Here is a brief comparison of the key specifications of the MB8611 and MB8600.
| Specs | MB8611 | MB8600 |
| Recommended for | Plans up to 2500 Mbps | Plans up to 2000 Mbps |
| Tops Speeds | 2500 Mbps (2.5 Gbps) | 2000 Mbps (2 Gbps) |
| Compatible ISPs | Comcast Xfinity, Charter Spectrum, Cox, Grande, Suddenlink, WOW | Armstrong, Atlantic Broadband, Comcast Xfinity, Charter Spectrum, Cox, Mediacom, Midco, Suddenlink, WOW, Sparklight |
| Not supported ISPs | Astound Broadband (RCN, Grande, or Wave), Optimum | Astound Broadband (RCN, Grande, or Wave), Optimum |
| Ports | 1 × 2.5 Gbps LAN & 1 × Coax | 1 open and 3 masked 1G Ethernet LAN & 1 × Coax |
| Future-proof | Most future-proof | Future-proof |
| Ethernet aggregation | No, single 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port | Yes, by using two 1 Gbps Ethernet ports |
| DOCSIS | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| Dimensions | 7.25 × 2.25 × 7.88 inches | 7.25 × 2.25 × 7.88 inches |
| Weight | 18.4 ounces | 18.4 ounces |
| Price | $$$ | $$ |
| Loser | Winner |
First Thoughts
The Motorola MB8611 and MB8600 are both good modems for most home internet plans. And while they look nearly identical and will both future-proof your home very well, they have some key differences.
Mainly, the MB8611 is more expensive, faster (up to 2.5 Gbps with a single Ethernet port), and will future-proof your home network the best. It is best for people that already have access to cable Internet plans over 2.0 Gbps or want to be prepared when their ISP starts offering it.
On the other hand, the MB8600 is slower, reaching 1 Gbps using a single Ethernet port or 2 Gbps if you use port bonding (combining two data streams into one), and it is less expensive. It’s best for people who want to future-proof their home network while saving some cash.
Motorola MB8611 Review
The Motorola MB8611 is one of the most future-proof and fastest cable modems available today. It can support Internet plans up to 2500 Mbps (2.5 Gbps). A great choice if you want to buy a modem now and never worry about upgrading it for years.
I use the MB8611 for my home Internet, and I can confidently say that it is high-performing, reliable, easy to set up, and available for a fair price.
But, it could be overkill for some consumers, especially if you have a slower Internet plan (less than 1000 Mbps). And it isn’t compatible with all ISPs, including RCN and Optimum.
But it would be a good option if you expect speed increases from your ISP in the next few years. That said, if your ISP will start offering fiber Internet soon, don’t get this modem– choose a cheaper option like the MB8600 instead.
Why? Fiber Internet is capable of faster speeds than cable Internet and does not require a modem. So, you would be wasting your money on this expensive modem if you upgrade to a Fiber plan in the next few years.
Read our entire review of the Motorola MB8611 for additional information.
Motorola MB8600 Review
The Motorola MB8600 is another fast and future-proof modem, just not as much as the MB8611. For example, it supports 2000 Mbps and is a DOCSIS 3.1 unit. But since the MB8600 has two 1G ethernet ports, you can only reach 2000 Mbps using port bonding (also known as Ethernet aggregation). [1]
Ethernet aggregation lets you combine two Ethernet ports into a single data stream, which means you’ll need a router that supports this and two Internet plans from your ISP.
Getting two IP addresses from your ISP means you’ll have to pay for two Internet plans. Additionally, a router that supports Ethernet aggregation is costly as well. So, using Ethernet aggregation is not an economical option.
Just like the MB8611, setup is easy, the reliability is great, and it has the same good build quality. The MB8600 is slightly less expensive than the MB8611, so it’s a good option if you want to save some money.
For slower Internet plans, this model would also be overkill. I would only recommend getting this one if the speed from your ISP is near or above 1000 Mbps or you plan to upgrade to a faster plan soon.
It is also compatible with most Internet providers. The only known providers it has issues with are Astound (RCN, Grande, and Wave) and Optimum.
All in all, the MB8600 is a great option if you have a 1000 Mbps Internet plan, want to future-proof your network, and want to save a little bit of money over the MB8611.
Read our full review of the Motorola MB8600 for more details.
Performance – Winner MB8611
Since the MB8611 has a single 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port, it is the clear performance winner.
On the other hand, the MB8600 has two 1.0 Gbps Ethernet ports, which you can combine into a single 2.0 Gbps data stream with port bonding. This is more complex than using a single port and obviously still slower than 2.5 Gbps.
Granted, most ISPs don’t even offer plans fastest than around 1,000 Mbps in most areas. For example, the fastest plan available where I live is just 1,200 Mbps, which I have.
Personally, I opted to use the MB8611 instead of the MB8600 for my 1,200 Mbps. That way, I could just plug in a single Ethernet connection and be good to go.
If I chose the MB8600 instead, I would have to use port bonding to access the full speed of my Internet plan (since each Ethernet port is limited to 1000 Mbps).
Or I could just use a single 1000 Mbps port on the MB8600, but then I wouldn’t be able to access the remaining 200 Mbps of the 1200 Mbps plan I pay for.
Both the MB8600 and MB8611 use DOCSIS 3.1, which is the newest standard for cable transmission of Internet Protocol (IP) data services.
It is faster than DOCSIS 3.0, more secure, has lower latency, and uses less power. These days, most ISPs use DOCSIS 3.1, but a few are still on DOCSIS 3.0.
In that case, these two modems will still work with DOCSIS 3.0 since they’re backward compatible (but that would be overkill).
To learn more about DOCSIS 3.1 and 3.0, read our guide here.
Compatibility – Winner MB8600
Both the Motorola modems are compatible with several ISPs. However, the MB8600 is compatible with more providers.
The MB8611 isn’t “approved” with as many ISPs. That said, it may work with most of the same ISPs as the MB8600.
“Approved” means either the ISP, Motorola, or a third party tested and verified the modem worked on the network. It could just not be tested or documented yet.
Both Motorola modems don’t support these ISPs:
- Astound Broadband (including RCN, Grande, and Wave)
- Optimum
MB8600 Supported ISPs
The Motorola MB8600 supports the following ISPs:
- Armstrong
- Atlantic Broadband
- Comcast Xfinity
- Charter Spectrum
- Cox
- Mediacom
- Midco
- Suddenlink
- WOW
- Sparklight
The MB8600 may work with other ISPs. This is not an extensive list. To be sure, call your ISP and ask them if it works.
MB8611 Supported ISPs
Here are all the approved ISPs for the MB8611:
- Comcast Xfinity
- Charter Spectrum
- Cox
- Grande
- Suddenlink
- WOW
Again, if you’re ISP isn’t listed here, that doesn’t mean the MB8611 isn’t compatible with it. That’s why it is best to check with your ISP to confirm compatibility is best.
If these modems don’t work with your ISP, you can find one on our approved modems page.
Design – Draw/Winner
From a design perspective, the MB8611 and MB8600 look very similar. In fact, it is hard to tell them apart from the front.
They have the same sleek design– it is slim (2.25 inches wide, 7.25 inches deep, and 7.88 tall) and doesn’t take up much shelf or desk space at all.
In my opinion, it looks modern and won’t be an eyesore no matter what type of decor you have in your home.
Both models have the same easy reference LEDs to indicate power, downstream, upstream, Internet, and LAN connection.
Setup – Draw/Winner
The setup for the Motorola MB8611 and MB8600 is the same– fast and straightforward. Both come with easy-to-understand instructions and takes just a few minutes to get going.
Personally, setting up my MB8611 took me under five minutes to get up and running. And the MB8600 took about the same time in our tests.
Here are the basic steps to set up the MB8611 and MB8600:
- Connect the power cord and coax cable to the modem.
- Turn on the modem and wait for the second line from the bottom to turn green.
- Connect the Ethernet cord to your modem and the other end to your router. (Or connect the Ethernet cord directly from your modem to a computer.)
- Activate your modem by calling your ISP and giving them the modem’s MAC address (on the bottom label of the modem). Some ISPs have a self-activation page where you can input the MAC address yourself.
You can access your Motorola modem with the IP address 192.168.100.1. You can view status, logs, and other information on the modem page. [2]
Here is the setup guide for the MB8611 and the MB8600 if you want to review them before purchase.
For more help setting up your cable modem, read our general guide.
Value – Winner MB8600
In my opinion, the Motorola MB8600 has the best value over the MB8611. And I say this as an owner of the MB8611.
Why? Most Internet plans from ISPs top out at 1,000 Mbps, which means the MB8611 would be overkill.
Even with Internet plans over 1,000 Mbps, you can use the MB8600’s port bonding feature to access speeds up to 2,000 Mbps (if/when your ISP offers it).
That said, for the majority of home networks, the MB8600 provides enough bandwidth to easily handle the ISP’s speeds.
Plus, it will future-proof your network reasonably well (although slightly less so than the MB8611.)
Still, if you want to spend the extra cash to future-proof your home as much as possible, the MB8611 is the best choice. The key difference is that the MB8611 can handle up to 2,500 Mbps with a single Ethernet connection.
FAQs
Here are some common questions about the Motorola MB8600 and MB8611.
What’s the difference between the Motorola MB8611 and MB8600?
The main difference between the Motorola MB8611 and MB8600 is the speeds they support. The MB8600 supports up to 2,000 Mbps plans (with port bonding), and the MB8611 supports up to 2,500 Mbps with a single Ethernet connection.
Is the MB8600 and MB8611 compatible with Xfinity?
Yes, the Motorola MB8600 and MB8611 are both compatible with cable Internet plans from Comcast Xfinity.
Is the MB8600 and MB8611 a router or a modem?
The MB8600 and MB8611 are both modems. Modems connect to your ISP’s connection (coax) and convert the datastream to your router. Your router (a separate device) creates your Wi-Fi network and manages all the traffic.
Final Thoughts
The Motorola MB8600 and MB8611 are both fast and future-proof (DOCSIS 3.1) modems. The MB8600 is less expensive and works with Internet plans up to 1,000 Mbps or 2,000 Mbps (if you use port bonding). The MB8611 supports Internet plans up to 2,500 Mbps with a single Ethernet connection.
If you have a plan at or lower than 2,000 Mbps, the MB8600 is the better choice. On the other hand, the MB8611 is a better option if you have a plan faster than 2,500 Mbps or you want to spend the extra cash now so you can go longer without updating your modem.
