Nowadays, almost every household has an Internet connection. We’ll compare Netgear cm600 vs cm700 in this article below.
Even the most remote tribes in Papua New Guinea have access to Netflix, Amazon, and other entertainment and business platforms out there.
For your internet connection to be strong, you need to have a powerful modem and router.
Sometimes, these two contraptions are combined into one.
They are often sold separately, so it’s a matter of what sort of brand you decide to go for.
In this article, we’re going to pitch against each other a special line of Netgear Internet modems – specifically models Netgear cm600 vs cm700.
We will discuss their similarities and differences, so you can have a clearer idea of what features you can look for in case you’re considering buying one of these two.
Read on to learn more!
Netgear CM600 vs CM700
Netgear CM600 vs CM700
General Points
When it comes to connecting your computer to a home network, or any other network for that matter, you can do it in two different ways:
- With a cable, and
- Without a cable.
The two Netgear models we’re looking at to do belong to the first category.
Of course, if you want to set up a Wi-Fi connection in your home, you can do that too – but you need to buy a separate router.
Anyway, here are some of the most important features of these two models in short:
- Excellent compatibility – You can use these two modems together to set up a cable television service, for example, thanks to the great compatibility features of both of these models.
Some of the services you can use via this modem include Time Warner Cable, Cox, Cablevision, and several others.
- 4K streaming – In case you want to get this model specifically so you can stream your favorite TV shows, films, and other media in 4K, these two modems can be an excellent choice
This is possible thanks to the excellent speed of up to 400Mbps, so if you have an Internet connection plan that’s somewhere in the vicinity of these plans, you can rest assured that this modem will be able to support it fairly easily.
- Easy setup – Setting this modem up is a piece of cake.
All you need to do is plug in the coax cable into the modem itself, then connect the Ethernet cable to your TV set and follow the setup directions.
Alternatively, you can also call your cable provider to complete the activation over the phone.
Last but not least, if you decide to add a Wi-Fi router, you will be able to do so easily by adding another Ethernet cable to connect your modem and the Wi-Fi router.
Comparison Chart
| Netgear cm600 | Netgear cm700 | |
| Connectivity | DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem technology | DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem technology |
| 4K HD streaming | Yes | Yes |
| Speed | Up to 400Mbps | Up to 800Mpbs |
| Ease of set up | Up to 5 minutes (3-step setup) | Up to 5 Minutes (3-step setup) |
| Compatibility | Compatible with most operators (except Verizon, AT&T, CenturyLink, and a couple of others) | Compatible with most operators (except Verizon, AT&T, CenturyLink, and a couple of others) |
Netgear CM600 vs CM700
1. Netgear Cm600
Pros:
- Decent speeds of up to 400Mbps
- Ability to pair it up with a Wi-Fi router
- Simple setup (you need only 5 minutes to do it)
- 4K HD streaming
- Great for gaming
- DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem technology
Cons:
- Not compatible with Verizon, AT&T, and CenturyLink
2. Netgear Cm700
Pros:
- Allows speeds of up to 800Mbps (depending on the Internet plan you go for)
- DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem technology
- Compatible with most Internet providers
- Can be paired up with a router easily
- Easy, 5-minute setup
- Excellent choice for gaming and 4K HD streaming
Cons:
- Not compatible with several operators including Verizon, AT&T, DISH, and some others
Netgear CM600 vs CM700 The Breakdown
Compatibility
1. Cm600
In terms of compatibility, the cm600 gives you plenty of options to choose from.
For example, you can use this model to connect it to such services as Comcast Xfinity, Charter, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, and a couple of others.
On the other hand, a downside to this model would be that it does not support services such as Century Link, AT&T, and Verizon.
So, if you want to use any of those services, when it comes to the choice between Netgear cm600 vs cm700, you might be better off purchasing the cm700 model, which supports a couple more.
As far as the Internet speeds available, as long as the Internet plan you have doesn’t exceed 400Mbps, you can rest assured that this modem will be able to support it comfortably.
2. Cm700
As we said in the paragraph above, the folks at Netgear made sure to improve their cm600 model when it comes to connectivity.
The result is the cm700, a modem compatible with COX, Spectrum, and a couple of others, in addition to all the providers we already listed above.
Unfortunately, this model still doesn’t support AT&T, Verizon, and DSL providers.
Therefore, as far as compatibility is concerned, you will have more options to work with if you choose cm700 than cm600.
Connectivity
1. Cm600
The cable that will send data back and forth to your router, or computer, if you don’t have a router, gives you 1 Gigabit of speed, which is more than enough to comfortably support 4K streaming, as well as several other features.
As far as the cable modem is concerned, this model works using the DOCSIS 3.0 technology.
Compared to the DOCSIS 2.0 technology, this means you can count on download speeds that are up to eight times faster!
2. Cm700
The Ethernet cable that this model works with is the standard Ethernet cable you would use for the cm600 model.
This stock Ethernet cable gives you 1 Gigabit of speed, which is great for fast downloads and 4K streaming.
On the other hand, the cm700 has been improved slightly when it comes to the cable modem. Rather than the 3.0 DOCSIS technology used by the cm600, this model uses 3.1 technology, which gives you even more speed and stability.
Thus, the cm700 would also win in this category, as the 3.1DOCSIS technology is slightly better than the 3.0DOCSIS, while the Ethernet speeds remain pretty much the same.
4K Content Streaming
1. Cm600
If you want to watch streams in 4K quality on your computer, getting this cm600 model can be a great way to do it.
Thanks to the excellent connectivity properties it has, this modem will enable you to download the content and data you want to your computer with great speed.
This also goes for online gaming and streaming, as the faster the modem, the better your gaming experience will be.
So, not only can you download high-quality content quickly thanks to this modem, but you can also stream 4K footage in real-time without worrying about any breaks in signal or glitches.
2. Cm700
Since the cm700 model represents an upgrade in comparison to cm600, it’s logical that it, too, will have the capability to enable you 4K streaming.
Thanks to the excellent speeds that this modem can support, you can rest assured that you will be able to stream the content you want in 4K ultra-high definition.
Of course, if you add a router and add multiple other computers to your home network, the speed will be somewhat lower than if you only used a single computer.
So, other than in situations where multiple computers are streaming 4K content, you can be sure that this modem will give you a smooth and lag-free streaming experience.
Ease of Setup
1. Cm600
In terms of user-friendliness, the model cm600 scores highly thanks to its simple, 5-minute setup.
The first thing you need to do is, as with any modem, to connect the coax cable to it. Since there is only one port on the modem, you can get this part wrong, even if you don’t have any experience setting up modems.
Second, you should plug the power cable into the nearest electrical outlet.
Third, you can choose to configure your modem either by connecting the Ethernet cable to your computer and following the on-screen setup process or – by giving your Internet provider a call so that they can activate it for you.
Last but not least, if you want to use a router, you need to connect one Ethernet cable to both the modem and the router.
2. Cm700
Even though the design of the cm700 is slightly different than its older cousin, the setup process is pretty much the same.
You can activate the modem by either calling your provider or doing it yourself by following the on-screen process.
So, when it comes to setting up these two models, the level of difficulty is pretty much the same for both of these models, so there is no clear winner in this department, so to speak.
Speed
1. Cm600
As long as your requirements when it comes to the speed of the Internet don’t exceed 400 Mbps, you can rest assured that the Netgear cm600 model will be more than enough to run everything as smoothly as a greased lightning.
The thing is, while this speed may not look all that impressive when compared to 1G or 2G speeds, this is still more than enough to let you easily stream 4K HD content, as well as all sorts of other demanding Internet applications and services.
If you need a modem that can let you game without having problems with high ping, this cm600 model can be an excellent solution for these purposes.
2. Cm700
While the speed that the cm600 model modem can provide you is decent enough, if we look at the Netgear cm600 vs cm600 comparison, we can see that the cm700 model is the clear winner when it comes to speed alone.
Thanks to its improved connectivity technology, this modem allows you to set up Internet plans of up to 800Mbps, which is more than enough to support 4K high-definition streaming, as well as excellent downloading and uploading speeds.
Of course, the 800Mbps we mentioned represents an upper limit reserved for the Xfinity plan.
With the other plans, for comparison’s sake, you can get 500Mbps for COX, as well as 400Mbps for Spectrum.
Conclusion
All in all, if we take into consideration the fact that the difference in price in these two models is between 5 and 10 dollars, we can declare that the modem model cm700 is a clear winner here.
Of course, its older cousin, cm600 is not bad either, but if you can add those couple of extra bucks to your purchasing budget, going for the cm700 modem would probably be a better overall solution.
We hope this article where we pitched the modems Netgear cm600 vs cm700 against each other helped you decide which one you want to go for.