Wireless Modem

[Jerry Thompson]

We have left cable TV. The modem we had with ATT worked fine with Roku. We now have Xfinity and Roku cannot find it. We will be going back to ATT for Internet only. I will not go into the reasons we are leaving Comcast in less than two weeks.
We want to buy a Wireless Modem that will reach Roku. The Wi-Fi will have to penetrate three walls. What would a good one be? We only use our Desk Top and my wife DL books on her tablet.
Is the new Roku more sensitive? I know nothing about all the numbers thrown around about Gigs, etc.
Any thoughts or recommendations?

[Brian Henderson]

Is it that Roku couldn't connect to it or the signal strength was poor? If it's signal strength, which it might be having to go through all of those walls, you might just get a wireless extender that will extend the range and signal strength of your signal. They're not expensive at all, Amazon has a bunch of them.

[Jerry Thompson]

It is the signal strength. The other two modems we had worked fine. I will be done with this one soon when I cancel Comcast. Any recommendations on a new one? I am going to buy one rather that pay &10/mo. rental

[Larry Frank]

One thing about renting versus buying is support. If you rent it from them, it is up to them to set it up and make it work. I have ATT Uverse and they set it up for me and fix any issues with it. That may be worth it.

I do not use Comcast cable because in my location the reliability of the cable is not good. The internet connection speed is much faster with Comcast but the ATT Uverse is good enough.

[Chris Parks]

Put the modem or a standalone wireless point in the roof cavity and it will not have to got through walls, I did that and it worked well. I put the modem up their but it can be a problem if connecting a new device as sometimes you have to physically push an activation button on the modem.

[Jerome Stanek]

Have you tried moving the modem. Sometimes just moving it a couple of feet will make a big difference. In my shop if I place the router on a shelf that is close to where the cable comes in I can hardly get a signal to my laptop 30 feet away but if I just put in on a small box below the shelf I get a really strong signal and that is only moving it about a 18 inches.

[Jerry Thompson]

Thanks for all of the help. I am going to go with ATT again this coming week. If I keep Comcast's services for just the internet I still have to pay their $131.00 set up fee. Comcast's online person could not have cared less about hearing what I wanted she only tried to sell more of everything to "Make it all better." I can get out of Comcast without paying anything as I have a 30 day trial.

[Myk Rian]

I will not go into the reasons we are leaving Comcast in less than two weeks.
I can think of lots of reasons. :)
Run a network cable up to the attic, or whatever you have, and connect a router to it. Set it up as an access point.
I have a Belkin range extender. Worked great for Wifi in the garage. Since I changed a couple things, I can't get connected to it. ???

[Jim Becker]

Please note that the router and more importantly, the "modem" that connects to your service has to be compatible with your service. The technology that Comcast uses is completely different from what ATT uses which is completely different from what Verizon FiOS uses, etc.

As to wireless signals, they are completely at the mercy of the environment they are living in and the "newer" the wireless technology, the more limited the range tends to be because the higher frequencies are more affected by walls and other building aspects. Where your access point lives in your home does make a difference. And for many of us, we need more than one access point to have reliable wireless services throughout our entire home. (I have to have two for full coverage)

Assuming that the equipment you were using with your XFinity service was compatible with that service's technology, the only explainable reason that you could not use your Roku service is misconfiguration of something.

[Jerry Thompson]

I am switching to ATT Uverse tomorrow. I will ask the tech what I can use and what to use to extend its area if needed.
Thanks.

[Kent Adams]

Please note that the router and more importantly, the "modem" that connects to your service has to be compatible with your service. The technology that Comcast uses is completely different from what ATT uses which is completely different from what Verizon FiOS uses, etc.

As to wireless signals, they are completely at the mercy of the environment they are living in and the "newer" the wireless technology, the more limited the range tends to be because the higher frequencies are more affected by walls and other building aspects. Where your access point lives in your home does make a difference. And for many of us, we need more than one access point to have reliable wireless services throughout our entire home. (I have to have two for full coverage)

Assuming that the equipment you were using with your XFinity service was compatible with that service's technology, the only explainable reason that you could not use your Roku service is misconfiguration of something.

Many routers today operate in both the 2.4ghz and 5.0ghz range. Buyers should check to make sure they are purchasing a router that will switch automatically depending on the device.

[roger wiegand]

I turn off the wireless capability on whatever router the phone/cable company supplies and use a wireless access point of my own choosing. I do this both for security (so the WAP is on my side of a hardware firewall) and because I want the phoneco modem to live in the data closet in the basement while the WAP should be up where the people are. All heavy data users like the servers and TVs get a wired connection in any event. The current one is a Netgear R6300, which is an early 802.11ac router, now probably pretty long in the tooth. That said, it's easy to administer and works well in a fairly big house, even reaching the barn 100 yards away.