Greetings Woodro,
Most modems should work with your Telco's DSLAM. The ones that will not work are the Nortel (CAP protocol; incompatible) and the D-Link is to be avoided (very unreliable modems, but the routers are OK).
I also know that there are various versions of the Speedstream 5000 series modems, some are very basic, but they are upgradeable. Fact is; modems (without incorporated routers) do so little that as long as it is reliable, you should be OK.
Best of luck.
BDahl