Which modem do you have and what speeds are they promising? The SB6183 is cheapo ($70) and supports 686 Mpbs down already.
I see a modem that promises 1 Gpbs down (SB6190)
How fast can steam push game installs for you guys? Does it really push faster than 700 Mbps?
I upgrade mine every 4-5 years or so in order to keep up with the standards & speeds.
Currently I’m using an Arris SB8200. It has 2 x 1GB ethernet ports and zero integrated additional stuff since I didn’t want VOIP, WiFi, or other junk to be bundled (because they will likely change at a different rate from the integrated modem technology).
The next likely jump will be to 2gbps service, but I don’t know how fast it’s likely to be deployed since most of us probably won’t need that kind of speed for a long while. Some vendors already offer it in limited areas, but of course the price is outrageous.
I’m currently on a 700mbps plan from Comcast. Speedtests do show that speed, but maximum throughput varies depending on the source. I have seen Steam and other services reach 600mbps or so. Others (I’m looking at you Nintendor Switch) are much slower depending.
It’s more speed than we need for some general surfing and similar things, but it’s sure nice when you’re downloading a huge game, streaming 4K video, or serving 20 students WiFi in your home tutoring business :-)
Diego
Thanks for the replies everyone. I asked around and we occasionally see a hick up in streaming movies (I haven’t seen this personally, but I’m hearing reports). I’m sort of clueless about the speeds and details and such, but here are the details I have been able to gather:
My current plan has a speed of 275 Mbps.
My current modem is an Arris SB6141 Cable Modem. The details for this modem say it supports up to 284 Mbps. The DOCSIS version is 3.0 and it supports channels 8 down x 4 up.
Here are some of the new choices for modems. (All these are rated for speeds up to 1 Gpbs (although the speed on our plan is not that high). They have DOCISIS channels of 32 down x 8 up and use DOCSIS 3.1.)
Questions:
I don’t get the plan speed vs. the rated speed. It looks like my current modem supports my current speed (although it’s at the current modem’s top range). Will buying a new modem improve my speeds even if I don’t change my current plan?
If I do decide to get one, can I just go through that list and get the cheapest one? I like @dgallina strategy in that I don’t want any fancy stuff. (Just the fax, thank you, ma’am).
Thanks guys!
Very helpful! I didn’t know all that about the mesh stuff, but I called it right that the sales folks probably didn’t either and were just trying to push the latest cool thing. I appreciate you spelling it all out for me diego!
Yes, Arris SB6183 is supported in my area!
The one’s I put above were at the top of a (long) Xfinity-generated list, so I had to use the search to find this one. I LIKE that it’s inexpensive. I have no desire to change my plan, as the cost is already pretty high right now and I’m not seeing the hick ups.
This one says a rated speed of 373 Mbpas. Also, DOCSIS version 3.0 and 16 down X 4 up. Other than speed, I don’t know what any of that means. Is it worth to pay 2x the cost (~150, which is what most of the other modems cost) for a higher DOCSIS version and more down/ups?
I was looking at Comcast’s site and there was an offer to upgrade from 175 to 275 Mbps for the same price ($80) so I signed up for it. They also said my old Motorola SB6141 was incompatible with the plan. Doing some research, I’m not sure it is, but there is better stuff available so I bought the Netgear CM600.
Anyway, as I was researching, I found a post on DSL Reports of people discussing the Comcast email and what to get. There is some interesting talk there.
I believe my plan is 100 down since that’s what I get on speed tests. I went from 6141 to 6183 too. It’s widely used and cheap. It also got rid of hiccups and occasional dropouts I got.
I don’t know the technical reasons but when I logged into 192.168.1.100 the modems ip I would see a lot of uncorrectable errors. They went away after I upgraded. Either there was an incompat issue or whenever. Anyway it’s cheap and it is ok to have a backup modem in case one craps out.
If they are listing the 6183 and the plan is well within the margins I don’t see why not get it.
This is what a speed test shows (I know you’re not supposed to get as high as the rated speed):
It all seems like such a big guessing game! The rated speed is 275, but I could be going faster. How much faster? Faster than 74.2? I don’t know.
That’s what I’ll probably do, too. I like what you’re saying about a backup. That’s exactly right! I’ll post back here when I get it online with new speed test numbers. Thanks for pointing this out.
Thanks for sharing Lee! I’ll have to check that thread out.
You’re on Comcast in Seattle as well? I am and I did their speed test when I was still on the 175 plan. I got a 183 download.
Edit: New modem on Xfinity 275 Mbps package. Using an iMac on WiFi which is 6’ from the router.
Is that over wifi? Because you are getting way less than what you’re paying for.
Good point. It is wifi, because I did that from my MacBook Pro in the backroom. I’ll try it from the wired PC and see what I get. I did wonder why it was so low!
Dang, now I got download speed envy. :)
I’m just kidding! This is good because I can try on my old style modem from a wired computer and see if I can get better performance and see what my performance could be like, if I upgrade the modem.
Dang, my wired connection isn’t much faster than my wireless. I’m bummed. What can I do to get speeds like Lee? My cable modem is plugged into my router, then the PC is plugged into one of the router ports. It all seems pretty straight forward.
First thing I would try is taking your router out of it. Connect the modem directly to your computer and see what you get. Also you might want to call Comcast, they can run a line test and might send someone out to troubleshoot.
How old is the router? It’s not stuck with 10/100 ethernet ports, is it? You’d want gigabit ethernet to tak advantage of your full internet.
Uh, oh!
Perhaps. It’s probably about 10 years old. I really don’t know. I have two of them. A netgear and an apple router with a bunch of hard drive space. I use the Apple router to back up all Macs in the house because couldn’t find a way to do that one the SAN drive. I don’t think Apple even makes them anymore. I guess all my gear is getting old and crotchety. :(
You need a new router, that will make a huge difference. I wouldn’t rely on that Time Capsule either, with the regular drive writes form Time Machine over the years, its probably on its last legs. Just buy a router that supports external drives, and then you can connect an external drive for Time Machine.
I think the tricky part is that Apple uses a proprietary protocol for its backup tool. I guess I have to get new gigabit gear for the whole house. Right now it’s something like this:
Modem - > NetGear Router -> HUB -> Apple Router
Humm.
Not sure how to draw it here, but under the Netgear router, I have the coaxial cable thing (to get a wire to the living room Mac and the Roku) and a PC. And then further down the line, under the Apple router, I have a few xboxes and another PC.
Oh, and I just added my little HUB in the back bedroom. My internet shit is all cobbled together and messy, but it works to get CAT5 or coaxial strung throughout the house. I guess I have to evaluate each piece and see if it’s gigabit? One little non-gigabit piece will slow down the whole thing?
