I need a cable modem by Thursday when my 16 mb/s cable internet service is turned on.  Any suggestions?  I want something good quality, something that will last me a few years at least.  Budget is $50-$100.

 

Edit: OK, I decided to lease a modem from the ISP for the first month, so I have more time to shop around for this.

I've had good luck using the Motorola SURFBoard brands. I've used the Motorola 5120 series for my parents, my sister, and my own setups. The 5120 is their old product line as it only handles Docsis 2.0, while the new product lineup handles Docsis 3.0.  The feature of Docsis 3.0 is channel bonding, which allows for upto 100 mbit down. I think their current product line is the 6121 or 6120. Your cable provider might even be the cheapest source of them too if they sell them. NewEgg/Amazon has the 6120 listed for around $80-$90.

 

When you do get your own cable modem, you will likely need to call up the cable company internet tech support line to tell them the MAC Address of the device so they can authorize it. It's likely it wont work otherwise. Of course that all depends on the cable provider.

 

I'm getting 25 mbit down and 2mbit up with my 5120.

check with your provider on what modems work in your area.  I have Comcast, I use to use the Motorola SB5100 and just upgraded to the Motorola 6120.  I had a bit of a problem when I upgraded tho.  The first night that I tried the upgrade I called Comcast to initiate the new modem.  It did not work and the tech on the phone said I could not use that modem unless I upgraded my service to their top of the line service.  I told him him it was on their approved list to work with the service I had.  He had no answer other than the new modem was much more powerful for the line of service I had.  I was getting ready to send it back to amazon.

 

The next day I decided to try again, but this time I undid my internet settings and removed the static ip I had configured for my main pc.  turned everything off. plugged in the new modem and turned it on. after all the lights stopped blinking, I turned on my pc.  after my pc booted up, a screen popped up allowing me to initialize the new modem without calling in to Comcast.  I have the 12down and 2up plan but I'm getting around 21down and 4up.

I recently replaced a dying D-Link modem with a Cisco/Linksys CM100. It's been very solid on my 20mbit/5mbit connection.