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How much power do cable modems use?

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Nerva

Occasional Visitor
I need to get a cable modem and was perusing the selection on Newegg, and saw that the TP-LINK TC-7610 is fairly cheap and gets very good reviews, but then I noticed one person commented that it is rather warm to the touch -- I wasn't so much concerned by the temperature, but rather the fact it could be a symptom of how much power it consumes (or it could just be very poor at dissipating a below-average amount of power). So I looked up the specs, and it doesn't call out how many watts it uses, but it does say the power supply is 12V and 1A -- that puts the upper limit at 12 watts, but of course, that doesn't mean it ever uses anywhere near that much.

Then I was glancing through a thread here on cable modems, and someone recommended the SB6183, except for the fact it gets unusually hot. A quick search indicates it uses 8.5 watts.

Anyways, it got me thinking, "so how much power do cable modems typically consume, anyway? I mean, they're ALWAYS ON, so even if it is ten watts instead of one watt, that really adds up over the life of the modem." Are there some that use significantly more than others?
 
If your concerned about it raising your electric bill don't its not really noticeable.
 
Well, my previous cable modem lasted me 10 years, so it just seems obvious to compare power consumption when buying my next one.
 
SB6183 is around 7 watts according to my UPS in my typical usage...

It's warm, but not hot...
 
I need to get a cable modem and was perusing the selection on Newegg

Before you pull the trigger on any cable modem purchase, check to ensure that it is supported by the Cable Provider...
 

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