Cable internet question

[jd2cylman]

So I’m going back to my cable provider just for internet. It really was good when I had it previously. But I have questions. Do I have to use their WiFi modem (or whatever the box thingy correct name is)? Or is there a better high quality commercial box that I can buy so I don’t have to pay a box fee every month? I’m streaming all my TV now, and the son games like there’s no tomorrow… I know I need to also ask the provider, but I thought I’d ask the collective their thoughts on putting WiFi throughout the (small) house. I’m assuming I have to use their box until the contract ends, but after that I could use my own hardware?

 

[jd2cylman]

Forgot to mention, I’ve been using Verizon’s home internet service, the white cube thing. Works sorta ok, but has to be near a north facing window. All my north facing windows are covered by trees. Maybe I’m not being logical, but when the leaves are on the trees, during rain, the signal seems slower.

 

[Buckeye]

You can use your own cable modem and/or wifi router at any time. (I assume this is still true.) You will need to call their customer service to get your hardware registered and activated. Paying $5-$10/month or more to rent the hardware sucks. You can buy a good modem (Netgear, etc) for $100 or so.

I recently moved to an area with sketchy cable service. We have Verizon 5G (the white cube), and it is OK for basic internet needs and TV streaming. No wires is nice.

 

[GuyNoir]

Be sure to check with your provider about any restrictions on the router. My provider (Xfinity) won't guarantee the speed I'm paying for unless I'm using one of their approved routers.

 

[vcp]

The cable company will specify a minimum DOCSIS standard modem. Get that standard of modem or better (they are backwards compatible) and you should be fine.

 

[bobby_hamill]

Another suggestion is to check with the online rep to see if there are any promotions being
offered for your location. That move saved me $30 a year off of my bill. Most of the
promotions are good for 1 year but sometimes you can get them for 2 years

 

[cerving]

Vendor-provided routers often have a minimum of security features, and there have been a lot of hacks over the years for them. I recommend getting a good whole-house router system, such as an Orbi. Yes, they are not cheap. And no, your router will not get hacked. Any decent router nowadays will be able to keep up with whatever speed your ISP is providing you with... as often as not, it's the device that's limiting the speed.

 

[cls]

There are 4 separate pieces to make it work

Cable modem: from DOCSIS on the cable side to Ethernet and IP on your network side.

Router: WAN side (Internet) connection, only passes traffic to and from your internal network.

Firewall: usually basic firewall in the router, sometimes separate device.

after the router is an Ethernet switch. That's where you plug in Cat5 to the computer, printer, etc.

WiFi: connected to the Ethernet switch. Provides the radio connection for your WiFi devices, like phones, tablets, etc.

All these functions can be combined in one box. That's usually what you get from the cable company. None of the functions are exceptional high quality but they are good enough.

If you want to nerd out on the parts:

I dunno what's the best DOCSIS 3 modem

I prefer Asus routers because they don't cone with CCP spyware pre installed. Netgear cough cough.

Firewall, run your own pfsense on Net BSD. Super Uber nerdy.

Ethernet switches, WiFi access points: Ubiquity used to be a top brand, they had some stumbles. But there's not much else at the prosumer soho level.

 

[Voyhager3]

When we had Verizon, we could more or less buy whatever router we wanted.

 

[jgarbus]

Another option is what I have most of my customers do is to still rent the modem from the cable company and have them put it in bridge mode.

So the reason behind this is if you own the equipment they always try and make it your issue when things go south.

With the modem in bridge mode you have an ethernet hand off to whatever hardware you want to operate and the public IP sits on your device so you know what's going in and out of your network.

For a while I was a big fan of Mikrotik devices and ran them at multiple locations for the last 10 years.

Last year my home was due for an upgrade and I went with TP Link to see how it performs. I'm using the buisness Omada hardware and while it does not allow the extreme granularity that I was used to, it's been running non stop for over 300 days with no reboot.

Now my setup is a bit overkill since I also have redundant ISPs ( Spectrim and T Mobile) but working from home running high demand software across VPN drives the need

 

[Azamiryou]

We have our own gear to get our Xfinity (Comcast) connection. We got a separate modem and router (the router is also providing WiFi for the whole house). We made sure to choose the modem from their approved list — others should work fine, but their tech support will always blame the modem if it's not on the list.

Another tip, they almost always have special promotional rates that are good for one year. Get one of them, then set a reminder on your phone to review your options a week or two before it expires and the rate jumps to the much higher regular rate. At that time, find a suitable new promotional plan and switch.