"Never have seen anything like this before in my life." 14 people have purchased 50 DOCSIS 2.0 cable modems for $209.99." on eBay. Item number 171075125728. "Are they nuts or what?"
No. That's a great deal. Note those are "lots" of 50. That means they paid just ~$4.20 for each modem. Yeah, DOCSIS 3.0 is the latest standard, but there are many cable users who don't need or cannot afford the plans with the speeds DOCSIS 3.0 can provide. Or perhaps their ISP does not yet offer it.
Back in October of 2012 I received a postcard from my ISP saying that the ISP was dropping support for DOCSIS 2.0 Modems and provided a link for a Approved Modem List and there were no DOCSIS 2.0 modems on that list, I don't know what would have happened if I gave my ISP a MAC address that belonged to a DOCSIS 2.0 modem
But. "Why would someone needs so many of those?." Maybe someone owns a mid size business or something like that.
My ISP uses DOCSIS 3.1 for there Higher up services. http://mobilesyrup.com/2015/10/05/r...-4k-set-top-box-and-commitment-to-4k-content/
Because they can resell them for $10 and double their investment. I don't see where a business factors in - most businesses use a commercial grade gateway device. And besides, you only need 1 modem. @Carver - I bet your ISP's network still supports DOCSIS 2.0 modems. I know mine (Cox) does. But Cox no longer sells or leases out 2.0 modems, and any new modem put on line is supposed to be 3.0. But they have yet to force customers to get rid of their old 2.0, unless the customer wants faster service.