Relating to selecting a cable modem in your residence web service, you could have two decisions: Pay up every month to lease a beat-up, historical mannequin out of your web service supplier, or purchase your personal brand-new gadget for a fraction of the associated fee over time. It isn’t a really troublesome determination.
What’s harder, nonetheless, is choosing the finest cable modem. A pair years again, I purchased a brand new cable modem (a Netgear CM700-100NAS, which is completely first rate, albeit considerably costly on the time), and I noticed that modem producers typically spotlight terrific options — 32 x eight! DOCSIS three.1! Gigabit speeds! — with out ever really explaining what these options imply, or why they may be helpful to your house setup.
With that in thoughts, this is an up to date information that may (hopefully) demystify modem specs. I am unable to inform you which modem is correct in your residence, since that will depend on your cable supplier, your web service bundle and your funds. However when you perceive what all of the arcane terminology means, you may discover that there are most likely a handful, reasonably than dozens, of decisions value contemplating.
Modem or modem/router?
First issues first: How completely happy are you together with your router? Should you upgraded your router lately however purchased your modem someday across the signing of the Declaration of Independence, you most likely simply want a standalone cable modem. Trendy routers are appropriate with nearly each modem in the marketplace, so simply ensure that your firmware is upgraded, and you will be all set.
(Should you’re nonetheless utilizing a router offered by your cable firm, it’s best to ship it again and purchase a brand new router instantly. As with modems, cable firms normally cost exorbitant rental charges for subpar routers, and it takes lower than a yr for a brand new router to pay for itself.)
| Web service supplier | Month-to-month cable modem rental charge |
| Comcast | $14 |
| Spectrum | Included with service |
| Cox | $7-$10 |
| Frontier | $10 |
| Suddenlink | $10 |
| Sparklight | $eight |
| Wow | $14 |
| Mediacom | $11.50 |
In case your router can also be trying a bit lengthy within the digital tooth, although, a cable modem/router combo — additionally referred to as a gateway — is one potential approach to go. These units are precisely what they sound like: digital receivers that may choose up a sign through a coaxial cable after which transmit the wi-fi sign throughout a whole home.
For small properties and flats, they will get the job accomplished, though Tom’s Information would not normally advocate modem-router hybrids. If one thing goes fallacious, your total web setup is shot, and it is simpler — and cheaper — to improve modems and routers individually.
DOCSIS protocols
Once you purchase a modem, you may see one acronym featured very prominently: DOCSIS. Most fashionable modems use both the DOCSIS three.zero or three.1 protocols, however neither producers nor retailers ever actually clarify what this implies or why the excellence is essential.
DOCSIS stands for “Information Over Cable Service Interface Specification.” It is the protocol that lets an ISP present web service via a coaxial cable. It simply signifies that your modem can present broadband web entry.
DOCSIS three.zero and three.1 are simply model numbers. The precise variations between them principally boil down to hurry and the variety of simultaneous channels. The underside line is that in case your ISP provides web speeds of greater than 1 gigabit (1,000 Mbps, or megabits per second), a DOCSIS three.1 router is a greater funding. However for the reason that common broadband pace in the US is someplace within the neighborhood of solely 66 Mbps, DOCSIS three.zero shall be positive for the overwhelming majority of customers.
In fact, this might change sooner or later, however by then, DOCSIS three.1 modems will most likely be cheaper. A good DOCSIS three.zero modem ranges from $50 to $80; DOCSIS three.1 modems are likely to fall between $150 and $199, although costs are coming all the way down to the decrease finish of that vary.
Upstream and downstream channels
Once you have a look at a modem, you may typically see a quantity someplace in its description, which may be something from eight x four to 32 x eight. It is in no way clear what the typical person is meant to glean from this. The excellent news is that it is merely an outline of what number of downstream and upstream channels a modem has.
The quantity earlier than the “x” represents what number of downstream channels the modem has. Roughly talking, that correlates with how a lot obtain information your ISP can present at any given time. Nearly each modem offers many extra downstream channels than upstream ones, as a result of ISPs and finish customers alike are extra involved with downloading content material than importing it.
Do not sweat this half an excessive amount of, except you need absolutely the top-tier packages your cable firm can present. Simply do not forget that all different issues being equal, greater numbers are higher. Any new modem you purchase ought to have a minimum of 16 downstream channels; something much less might be both previous or underpowered.
Add and obtain speeds
A few of the most essential issues you possibly can find out about a modem are its add and obtain speeds — and but, in some way, these at all times will get shoved about midway down the web page on a retailer’s or producer’s web site. You will see descriptors like “as much as 600 Mbps” utterly devoid of context.
First off, no matter you see marketed is at all times a obtain pace, by no means an add pace. So if a modem advertises a pace of 1 gigabit, which means it could possibly pull as much as 1,000 Mbps out of your ISP. Add speeds are typically a lot slower — someplace within the neighborhood of one-quarter the obtain pace. (Keep in mind the dialogue earlier about downstream versus upstream channels.)
All of the excessive speeds could seem tempting, however bear in mind: You’ll be able to’t draw extra information than you pay for out of your ISP. In case your modem is able to pulling 1.four gigabits however you subscribe to a plan that caps your pace at 25 Mbps, you are going to get 25 Mbps. Shopping for a particularly quick modem is extra about future-proofing your setup than pushing it to its limits, except you are keen to spend an amazing sum of money on a month-to-month plan.
Additionally, do not forget that “Mbps” means “megabits per second,” not “megabytes per second.” (Eight bits make a byte.) Should you subscribe to a 50-Mbps plan, your most obtain pace shall be someplace within the neighborhood of seven megabytes per second. That is quick, however you are not going to get a 50-gigabyte sport or an unlimited cache of photographs in mere minutes.
ISP compatibility
The very last thing you may should test is whether or not your modem is appropriate together with your ISP. Most modems are appropriate with any cable firm, however some aren’t. Large firms like Comcast and Cox assist absolutely anything, however smaller networks might not. There is no hard-and-fast cause for this; it is simply the best way it’s. Cable firms run huge networks, they usually need to be 100 % sure that a product is appropriate earlier than they authorize it to be used. The corporate should even be keen to push out firmware updates frequently, which is less complicated for some modems than for others.
There are three strategies of checking whether or not a modem is appropriate together with your ISP, though solely certainly one of them is foolproof. The primary, and easiest, is to simply google “[ISP] appropriate modems.” See what your search turns up. There’s most likely an official listing someplace on the ISP’s personal web site — Comcast and Cox each listing appropriate modems, for instance — though the listing is probably not up-to-the-minute present.
ISP modem compatibility pages
The second technique is to test the Accredited Modems web site, which exists for this very goal. A few of the pages have not been up to date shortly, but it surely’s a very good place to start out.
Lastly, you possibly can at all times simply name your ISP. You’ll have to take a seat on maintain for some time, but it surely’s the one approach to get a 100-percent definitive reply on whether or not a modem you need to purchase is supported. (In case your ISP can not offer you a definitive reply, ask to talk to a supervisor or a specialist, or take into account getting a brand new ISP; this shouldn’t be a hellaciously troublesome query.)
When you get your new modem residence, you may most likely should name up your ISP and supply the gadget’s MAC handle. That is normally printed on the underside of the modem, but when not, you possibly can entry the modem’s IP handle after plugging it in through Ethernet. (Google “(model title) modem IP handle” in your telephone, or on one other community, if the directions do not embrace it.) Some ISPs supply an automatic course of to do that via an web browser, but it surely varies relying on the supplier and mannequin.
What about safety?
In contrast to routers, which have settings you possibly can modify to make them safer, there’s not quite a lot of safety concerns to remember when searching for a router. That stated, the occasional safety challenge does pop up. For instance, a software program vulnerability in modems that use Broadcom’s systems-on-a-chip might enable a hacker to grab management of the modem and serve up malicious web sites. Broadcom says it is issued a repair, so you possibly can at all times test together with your ISP to ensure that your modem is safe. (You are dependent in your ISP to challenge these firmware updates, they usually do not at all times come out in a well timed style.) Investing in one of many finest antivirus applications additionally provides some, although not whole, safety.
Backside line
That is actually all it’s good to know to purchase a modem: design, DOCSIS, channels, pace and compatibility. With these specs in thoughts, all it’s good to do is choose a funds and a model, and you’ll discover a minimum of a couple of fashions that match your specs.
