Cable WiFi Modem

[Jerry Bruette]

I'm looking for advice /opinions on cable wifi modems. Anyone have an opinion on what's best, newest, fastest, etc.


Centurylink is my ISP and I'm stuck in granny gear with no upgrades in sight.

I'd like to dump them and go with Time Warner and buy my own wifi modem but know nothing about them.

TIA

[Myk Rian]

Ask Time Warner when you order the service.

[Larry Browning]

Well a lot depends on your usage. How many devices will be connected to it at any given moment in time? And how much data will you be passing through it? In my house I have probably have 15-20 different devices connected at the same time. I know that sounds like a lot, but I have 3 desktop computers, a laptop, a chromebook, my wife and I each have cell phones and tablets. I have an AV receiver, 3 TVs, 2 Rokus, a bluray player and more all connected either wired or wireless to a single router. Everything connects flawlessly and has very good connectivity and range. I can stream HD video from both rokus at the same time. Etc...etc, I could go on, but I think you get the picture. I have an Asus Dark Knight RT-N66U that handles it all. I have had it for about 2-3 years and it is working just as well as it did the day it was new. I have updated the firmware a couple of times, just to keep it current. I am very happy with it.
Your needs may not be as demanding as mine, but you cannot go wrong with this baby. You can pick one up at Amazon for less than $120.
I would stay away from the $30 barebones units, even if you only have a couple of things to hook to it, spend a little more to get a whole lot more. Also, the units that the ISP companies provide are generally cheap junk.

[Brian Elfert]

The Asus Dark Knight RT-N66U is a WIFI router and the OP is looking for a cable modem.

You should be able to search for a list of Time Warner approved cable modems that you can buy. If you want telephone service too you'll most likely need to rent from Time Warner.

[George Bokros]

Time Warner just upgraded me to HD TV, 50 mbps data, and phone (pkg deal, not using phone because of security system) and the Arris modem they supplied is also a router with wireless (one 2.6ghz and one 5.0 ghz) and four CAT 5 connections available. Seems to be working fine. I have one desktop PC, a laptop, iPhone and the TV all on the network.

[Jerry Bruette]

The Asus Dark Knight RT-N66U is a WIFI router and the OP is looking for a cable modem.

You should be able to search for a list of Time Warner approved cable modems that you can buy. If you want telephone service too you'll most likely need to rent from Time Warner.


I have their list of approved modems but have no idea if I'm looking at a good or bad one when I close my eyes and pick one out.

[Scott Hackler]

When purchasing look for name brands. Scientific Atlanta, Motorola ect. Just make sure it is a DOCSIS 3.0 modem. The big question is to ask what their rental fee is on a modem/wifi combo. Around here it almost makes more sense to rent one for the $9 a month because it 100% guaranteed if it needs replacement for getting fried or if the technology goes beyond the modem you have. Figure $50-100 for a modem and $75-150 for a wireless router. Consider the life span of modern electronics and renting doesn't sound too bad. Or take a chance and you might end up with a paper weight in a year or two.

[Dan Hintz]

Around here it almost makes more sense to rent one for the $9 a month because it 100% guaranteed if it needs replacement for getting fried or if the technology goes beyond the modem you have. Figure $50-100 for a modem and $75-150 for a wireless router. Consider the life span of modern electronics and renting doesn't sound too bad. Or take a chance and you might end up with a paper weight in a year or two.

i think Verizon wanted $9/month to rent our router, or $100 to own. I went with the own option. I'm at a break even point in 11 months, after that it's gravy. Besides, if it breaks down within the first 3 months I'm getting a new one under warranty. If it breaks in months 4-10, it's a reduced depreciation risk (and at a max of $70, it's a good risk).

[Jerome Stanek]

Here I have Time Warner and they supply mine free. I ave had them for many years though

[Jerry Bruette]

i think Verizon wanted $9/month to rent our router, or $100 to own. I went with the own option. I'm at a break even point in 11 months, after that it's gravy. Besides, if it breaks down within the first 3 months I'm getting a new one under warranty. If it breaks in months 4-10, it's a reduced depreciation risk (and at a max of $70, it's a good risk).

Pretty much the way I'm looking at the switch. I've probably bought 5 or more modems from Centurylink with the rent I've paid.

[Rich Enders]

On the switch to Time Warner: Something I read in the last month put them at the bottom of the cable companies based on a user survey. I had one experience about one year ago with them and it was pitiful.

[Judson Green]

Ive one from there approved list its a Motorola coupled to a netgear router. If I had to do again I'd get one with the modem and router all in one box. check out reviews at places like newegg.

[George Bokros]

Here I have Time Warner and they supply mine free. I ave had them for many years though

You are lucky Jerry. Time Warner charges me $5.99 / month for the modem / router combo.

[Jerome Stanek]

On the switch to Time Warner: Something I read in the last month put them at the bottom of the cable companies based on a user survey. I had one experience about one year ago with them and it was pitiful.

I have the choice of Time Warner or Dial Up not even DSL and cell is spotty also

[Curt Harms]

On the switch to Time Warner: Something I read in the last month put them at the bottom of the cable companies based on a user survey. I had one experience about one year ago with them and it was pitiful.

Comcast wants to buy/merge with Time Warner. That should improve the customer service :rolleyes:.

[Jim Matthews]

Just make sure it is a DOCSIS 3.0 modem.

+1 on this.
Check every year to see if there's an upgrade available.

I piggybacked a Netgear WiFi router (which I own) to my cable router, supplied free of charge from my ISP.

[Curt Harms]

Something I find handy - if you're doing separate 'modem' and router, get a router with at least one USB port. I have a USB flash drive plugged into mine and have a handy backup and means to share files between devices. I also tried plugging a powered USB hub into the router's USB port. I could have multiple flash drives/printers/other USB stuff plugged in and accessible to any device on the network.

[Phil Thien]

Comcast wants to buy/merge with Time Warner. That should improve the customer service :rolleyes:.

I support customers on every type of circuit imaginable. And I have clients all over the country. And because many of them are converged (I'm piping voice and data over the same circuit), my demands on their circuits are perhaps more stringent.

So I actually monitor the these circuits for throughput and jitter (jitter is the measure of irregularity of the circuit).

My measurements vary from the simple to the extreme (where custom software running between servers is employed).

And the TW cable-based circuits, for about the last six months, have been fairly problematic.

When it comes to low-priced circuits, we're having better luck w/ AT&T in markets served by both TW and AT&T.

Comcast has been rock-solid. I know they have a terrible reputation but their network is pretty solid.

All that said, I've seen a small uptick in quality for TW during business hours, starting approx. one month ago. It often falls apart for me at night, but I'm typically (not always) more concerned about 6am-6pm.

But for most people, they want to stream movies, etc., during the evening and at least in the Milwaukee area (I don't have TW customers outside of Milwaukee), that can be difficult.

[John Huds0n]

I have been a TWC for several years now and I am very happy with their service. I live in an area where I can also get AT&T DSL or Uverse, so if I am not happy, I can always switch - and I have done so in the past

I am currently paying $80 month for 200 mbps down and 20 mbps up. TWC has increased their speeds a couple of times lately and have not increased their prices.

To take advantage of the higher speeds, I had to buy a Surfboard SB6183 which was released in August - I had to wait several months for it to come out because it was the only modem on the TWC approved list to handle the speeds. (it looks like now there is one other modem - the NetGear C6300 at $225 *ouch*) I like having a separate modem and router - so for my router I am using an older ASUS RT-N66U

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MA5U1FW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you want to test the quality of your current connection (jitter) go to PingTest.net
http://www.pingtest.net/


Here is a link to the TWC "approved modem list"
https://www.timewarnercable.com/content/dam/residential/pdfs/enjoy/better-twc/bettertwc_approvedmodems.pdf

Telephone - get an OOMA or use a free Google Voice number and an OBI200
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BUV7C9A/ref=s9_al_bw_g229_i1

[Curt Harms]

<snip>
Comcast has been rock-solid. I know they have a terrible reputation but their network is pretty solid.

All that said, I've seen a small uptick in quality for TW during business hours, starting approx. one month ago. It often falls apart for me at night, but I'm typically (not always) more concerned about 6am-6pm.

But for most people, they want to stream movies, etc., during the evening and at least in the Milwaukee area (I don't have TW customers outside of Milwaukee), that can be difficult.

Sounds about like Verizon FiOS. We've had excellent luck with the FiOS network but then we're not heavy users. If you look on broadband reports, people in certain areas are having major capacity problems in the evenings. SWMBO has had 'issues' with Comcast in the past - outages and more often billing. Her experience was like many. Started out with a small community based cable system. Great service, both technically and business-wise. That small community system got gobbled by a regional system and things declined somewhat but were still not too bad. The regional system got gobbled by Comcast and things became nearly unbearable. She'd have to be pretty hard up to sign up with Comcast.