What Is the Best Modem for a Big House
How to cull the right cable modem
When it comes to choosing a cable modem for your home net service, you have 2 choices: Pay upwards each month to rent a beat-up, ancient model from your internet service provider, or purchase your own brand-new device for a fraction of the price over time. It'due south non a very difficult conclusion.
What's tougher, however, is picking the best cable modem. A couple years back, I bought a new cablevision modem (a Netgear CM700-100NAS, which is thoroughly decent, albeit somewhat expensive at the time), and I realized that modem manufacturers oftentimes highlight terrific features — 32 x 8! DOCSIS 3.1! Gigabit speeds! — without e'er actually explaining what these features hateful, or why they might be beneficial to your home setup.
- All-time Wi-Fi routers bachelor right now
- Know the differences: Modem vs. router
With that in heed, here's an updated guide that tin (hopefully) demystify modem specs. I can't tell you lot which modem is right for your home, since that depends on your cable provider, your internet service packet and your upkeep. But once yous empathize what all the arcane terminology means, you'll notice that there are probably a handful, rather than dozens, of choices worth considering.
Modem or modem/router?
Outset things first: How happy are y'all with your router? If y'all upgraded your router recently but bought your modem sometime around the signing of the Declaration of Independence, you probably merely demand a standalone cable modem. Mod routers are compatible with just about every modem on the market, so just brand sure your firmware is upgraded, and you'll be all set.
(If you're still using a router provided past your cable company, you should send information technology back and buy a new router immediately. As with modems, cable companies usually charge exorbitant rental fees for subpar routers, and it takes less than a year for a new router to pay for itself.)
| Internet service provider | Monthly cable modem rental fee |
| Comcast | $xiv |
| Spectrum | Included with service |
| Cox | $seven-$10 |
| Borderland | $10 |
| Suddenlink | $10 |
| Sparklight | $viii |
| Wow | $14 |
| Mediacom | $11.50 |
If your router is also looking a flake long in the digital tooth, though, a cablevision modem/router philharmonic — also called a gateway — is i possible way to go. These devices are exactly what they sound like: digital receivers that tin pick up a signal via a coaxial cable and and then transmit the wireless indicate across an entire house.
For modest homes and apartments, they can become the job done, although Tom's Guide doesn't usually recommend modem-router hybrids. If something goes wrong, your entire internet setup is shot, and it's easier — and cheaper — to upgrade modems and routers separately.
DOCSIS protocols
When you buy a modem, you lot'll see one acronym featured very prominently: DOCSIS. About modern modems utilise either the DOCSIS three.0 or 3.1 protocols, but neither manufacturers nor retailers ever really explicate what this ways or why the distinction is important.
DOCSIS stands for "Data Over Cablevision Service Interface Specification." It's the protocol that lets an ISP provide internet service through a coaxial cable. Information technology just means that your modem can provide broadband internet access.
DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.ane are simply version numbers. The verbal differences between them basically boil downward to speed and the number of simultaneous channels. The bottom line is that if your ISP offers net speeds of more than ane gigabit (ane,000 Mbps, or megabits per second), a DOCSIS 3.1 router is a ameliorate investment. But since the average broadband speed in the United States is somewhere in the neighborhood of only 66 Mbps, DOCSIS 3.0 volition be fine for the vast majority of users.
Of class, this could modify in the future, merely by then, DOCSIS 3.1 modems will probably be cheaper. A decent DOCSIS three.0 modem ranges from $l to $80; DOCSIS iii.1 modems tend to fall between $150 and $199, though prices are coming down to the lower stop of that range.
Upstream and downstream channels
When you look at a modem, you lot'll ofttimes come across a number somewhere in its description, which can be anything from 8 ten iv to 32 x 8. It's not at all clear what the average user is supposed to glean from this. The good news is that it's simply a description of how many downstream and upstream channels a modem has.
The number earlier the "x" represents how many downstream channels the modem has. Roughly speaking, that correlates with how much download information your Isp tin can provide at any given time. Just about every modem provides many more than downstream channels than upstream ones, because ISPs and end users alike are more concerned with downloading content than uploading it.
Don't sweat this part besides much, unless you desire the absolute top-tier packages your cablevision company can provide. Just remember that all other things being equal, higher numbers are better. Whatever new modem you buy should accept at to the lowest degree 16 downstream channels; annihilation less is probably either old or underpowered.
Upload and download speeds
Some of the nigh important things you can learn about a modem are its upload and download speeds — and even so, somehow, these ever gets shoved almost halfway down the folio on a retailer's or manufacturer's website. You'll come across descriptors similar "up to 600 Mbps" completely devoid of context.
Showtime off, whatever you see advertised is e'er a download speed, never an upload speed. Then if a modem advertises a speed of 1 gigabit, that ways information technology tin pull up to i,000 Mbps from your Internet access provider. Upload speeds tend to be much slower — somewhere in the neighborhood of one-quarter the download speed. (Remember the discussion earlier nearly downstream versus upstream channels.)
All the high speeds may seem tempting, but remember: You tin't draw more data than you pay for from your Internet service provider. If your modem is capable of pulling ane.iv gigabits simply you subscribe to a program that caps your speed at 25 Mbps, y'all're going to get 25 Mbps. Ownership an extremely fast modem is more about futurity-proofing your setup than pushing it to its limits, unless you're willing to spend a tremendous amount of money on a monthly plan.
Also, think that "Mbps" means "megabits per 2nd," not "megabytes per 2d." (Eight bits brand a byte.) If you subscribe to a fifty-Mbps plan, your maximum download speed volition be somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 megabytes per second. That's fast, simply you're non going to get a 50-gigabyte game or an enormous cache of photos in mere minutes.
Isp compatibility
The last thing yous'll have to cheque is whether your modem is compatible with your ISP. Nigh modems are compatible with whatever cablevision company, but some aren't. Big companies like Comcast and Cox support merely most anything, but smaller networks may not. At that place's no hard-and-fast reason for this; it's just the fashion it is. Cable companies run enormous networks, and they want to be 100 percent certain that a product is compatible earlier they authorize information technology for utilize. The visitor must also be willing to push out firmware updates on a regular basis, which is easier for some modems than for others.
There are three methods of checking whether a modem is uniform with your Isp, although only one of them is foolproof. The get-go, and simplest, is to just google "[Internet access provider] compatible modems." Run across what your search turns up. In that location's probably an official listing somewhere on the ISP's ain website — Comcast and Cox both list compatible modems, for instance — although the list may not be upwards-to-the-minute electric current.
Internet access provider modem compatibility pages
The 2d method is to cheque the Approved Modems website, which exists for this very purpose. Some of the pages haven't been updated in a while, but information technology's a good identify to outset.
Finally, you tin can e'er just call your ISP. You may accept to sit on concur for a while, only it'south the only way to get a 100-pct definitive respond on whether a modem you want to buy is supported. (If your ISP cannot give you lot a definitive reply, ask to speak to a director or a specialist, or consider getting a new Internet service provider; this should not be a hellaciously difficult question.)
Once y'all go your new modem home, y'all'll probably accept to call up your ISP and provide the device'due south MAC accost. This is usually printed on the bottom of the modem, only if not, yous can access the modem'due south IP address later on plugging information technology in via Ethernet. (Google "(brand proper noun) modem IP address" on your phone, or on another network, if the instructions don't include information technology.) Some ISPs offer an automated process to practise this through an internet browser, simply it varies depending on the provider and model.
What about security?
Unlike routers, which have settings yous can accommodate to make them more secure, there'south not a lot of security considerations to go along in listen when shopping for a router. That said, the occasional security issue does pop up. For example, a software vulnerability in modems that use Broadcom's systems-on-a-scrap could allow a hacker to seize control of the modem and serve up malicious websites. Broadcom says it's issued a fix, and so y'all can ever cheque with your ISP to make certain that your modem is secure. (You're dependent on your Internet access provider to effect these firmware updates, and they don't e'er come out in a timely manner.) Investing in one of the best antivirus programs likewise offers some, though not total, protection.
Bottom line
That's really all y'all demand to know to buy a modem: blueprint, DOCSIS, channels, speed and compatibility. With those specs in mind, all you demand to practice is option a upkeep and a brand, and you'll be able to find at to the lowest degree a few models that lucifer your specifications.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/how-to-buy-cable-modem,review-5607.html
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