Any Router + Cable combo experiences?

I've been thinking about replacing my El Cheapo Asus Wireless N router with something more substantial. One of the options I ran accross is this item from CISCO:

Cisco Model DPC3825 and EPC3825 8x4 DOCSIS 3.0 Wireless Residential Gateway - Support - Cable Modems - Consumer - Cisco

It's a combo DOCSIS 3.0 compliant cable modem, 2 antenna MIMO 802.11N wireless access point, and a router with gigabit wired ports. That's pretty much all you can want in each category (well not dual band) with a solid manufacturer name attached. Retails for about $150 - comparable to high end wireless routers.

Has anyone had experience with either this unit in particular, or any router + cable modem combos in general? I've also heard them referred to as wireless cable gateways.

Some obvious drawbacks that jump out at me is that it may not play nice with ISP compared to the ISP issued modem. Also firmware updates for cable modems are usually pushed out by ISP, so if it's not on their list, you're not getting any updates. Cost is a bit high too.

Positives are solid specs, solid brand, fewer wires.

 

I don't think it's such a good idea.
First of all you are right you may have trouble running it in the first place- it depends on how ISP's network is set up. When I had cable connection a guy from my ISP that installed it called and activated my modem using its serial number (and I don't mean MAC address or anything).
Second thing- cable modems rarely cause problems so replacing what you have is not gonna improve anything in the modem department.

What seems to be your goal is to upgrade your router- so leave the cable modem out of it- let your ISP manage and upgrade it when the need arises and go for a good wireless router.
On that note- $150 for cable modem and gigabit Ethernet wireless n router is rather cheap- Netgear WNDR3700 costs the same without the cable modem.

There's probably a good reason for that inside the box. You cannot say that it has good specs without knowing what CPU it has, how much RAM it has and if it's stable or not. It would be better to invest in a good router which specs are known firmware updates are available from manufacturer and from 3rd parties (that's what I always recommend). That's what you get buying Netgear WNDR3700 (the best home router currently available).
In case you run into any problems you just update firmware to a new one or migrate to DD-WRT with no problems- that wouldn't be the case with a cable gateway.

You have one cable more but also a lot more flexibility and better hardware inside the box where you need (new modem won't improve anything, new router may do so)