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Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware

jeffreymartens.com

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Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware

#81

Post by manyxcxi »

throwaway6556 wrote: post #23
manyxcxi wrote: post #15

The best thing anyone can do is swap out the junky cable modem + WiFi router combos they rent to you. They're horrible under standard usage, bad when lots of clients are connected, bad wifi range, low memory, require frequent reboots, etc. For about $70 (about 5mos of rental charges) you can get a Surfboard barebones Docsis 3 modem that will vastly outperform whatever junk they rent out. After that you could get a TP…

TP-Link is Chinese crap, please stop recommending it. Thanks. Ubiquiti is fine, and Debian-based, to boot.

TP-Link actually really isn't that crappy for the price point. Which was the gist of my entire statement. For sub-$100 you can get Routers that will keep up with (in most metrics) $200+ routers. Yes, these are generally pretty cheap and they may crap out sooner than some other brands but if you compare them to the same routers in the same price class I would be shocked if they were not considered at the top of their class.

That all being said, my entire home network is Ubiquiti. So we don't disagree on which is better of the two brands.

Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware

#82

Post by devonkim »

recursive wrote: post #32
manyxcxi wrote: post #15

The best thing anyone can do is swap out the junky cable modem + WiFi router combos they rent to you. They're horrible under standard usage, bad when lots of clients are connected, bad wifi range, low memory, require frequent reboots, etc. For about $70 (about 5mos of rental charges) you can get a Surfboard barebones Docsis 3 modem that will vastly outperform whatever junk they rent out. After that you could get a TP…

This is a thing I would kind of want to do, but I've never bothered to figure out how. Like how will I know if it's a compatible modem, or better than what's there? How do you configure it? So those are my reasons.

Before going out and buying a modem, I would strongly recommend making sure through support that the modem you're planning on getting is ALSO compatible with the very specific data plans for now and for the foreseeable future. One of the interesting things I found was that the Comcast device compatibility site listed a modem I bought as compatible, but you can still wind up unable to get the speeds you're paying for because the specific profile that was listed for my account was not flagged for that modem even though the modem is actually capable of it (300/35 plan, which is a bit unusual). So I wound up returning my 24-channel DOCSIS 3.0 modem and buying a more expensive one on DOCSIS 3.1. The other option was to actually downgrade my plan to maybe 150 Mbps.

Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware

#83

Post by scarface74 »

manyxcxi wrote: post #15

The best thing anyone can do is swap out the junky cable modem + WiFi router combos they rent to you. They're horrible under standard usage, bad when lots of clients are connected, bad wifi range, low memory, require frequent reboots, etc. For about $70 (about 5mos of rental charges) you can get a Surfboard barebones Docsis 3 modem that will vastly outperform whatever junk they rent out. After that you could get a TP…

I hate that I've become an AT&T fanboy, but I have their Gigabit fiber service and use their router. The modem/router they gave me -- and don't charge an extra fee for it -- is in the worse possible place in my two story house. It's in a guest bedroom closet downstairs attached to the smart panel.

When I'm right under it, I can get 400Mbps u/d from my iPhone and my laptops. In the worse location in the house I get 120/120. My house is wired for gig-e throughout but I with that kind of wireless speed, I didn't bother about getting the more expensive Roku boxes with 10/100 Ethernet connections.

Of course I usually get 900+ u/d wired.

Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware

#84

Post by tertius »

rhino369 wrote: post #44
r1ch wrote: post #9

"Pretty poor coverage" sounds like the author was relying on Wi-Fi for connectivity. I wouldn't trust an ISP-provided combo modem/router to do anything more than the bare minimum when it comes to wireless, most likely a single chain 2.4 GHz network (and 5 GHz if you're lucky). Replacing it with Google Wifi which is a Wave2 802.11ac 5 GHz device with Beamforming will make a world of difference. Intentionally supplying…

In many apartment buildings the 2.4 Ghz spectrum is just too crowded. Just using a cheap 5Ghz 11n without breamforming would likely solve the problem. I've got at least 40 bss's on 2.4 and I'm the only one on 5Ghz. It's crazy. I'd say Comcast should use 5Ghz but then that spectrum will get crowded too.

It doesn't really matter if 5Ghz gets crowded. Walls quickly get rid of that problem. 2.4Ghz crowding is much worse.

I can see about 10 other 5Ghz networks around me, but they only marginally interfere with mine compared to 2.4Ghz.

Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware

#85

Post by devonkim »

The great, vast majority of Comcast users are ignorant and get fleeced constantly (I firmly do believe the great majority are old people with their primary bandwidth "hogs" being an SD-broadcast Netflix TV show, 3 iOS apps / year, and a bank website login), so this practice of under-delivery visible to the consumer will probably never really stop (they're cash cows) until we get the FCC involved across the board showing it's a corporate policy to not deliver an advertised service. Unfortunately, they probably get around this too by putting so many disclaimers and exceptions in ads based around wi-fi inconsistencies and system loads that it makes any lawsuit about service levels impossible to prosecute successfully.

Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware

#86

Post by [deleted] »

colemannugent wrote: post #19

On the subject of class actions: it's most likely impossible. In their terms of service they will undoubtedly state that you agree to go to arbitration rather than court, and they have you explicitly waive your right to a class action. Also the terms of service makes it very clear that the speeds they quote on their ads are essentially entirely theoretical.

[deleted]

Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware

#87

Post by peeters »

colemannugent wrote: post #19

On the subject of class actions: it's most likely impossible. In their terms of service they will undoubtedly state that you agree to go to arbitration rather than court, and they have you explicitly waive your right to a class action. Also the terms of service makes it very clear that the speeds they quote on their ads are essentially entirely theoretical.

> they have you explicitly waive your right to a class action

Almost certainly not going to be upheld by a court if there is evidence of fraud.

> Also the terms of service makes it very clear that the speeds they quote on their ads are essentially entirely theoretical.

Completely irrelevant if you can prove that they purposefully implemented a scheme to throttle your speeds.

Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware

#88

Post by r00fus »

username223 wrote: post #27

I wonder how much of that has to do with their providing "xfinity" wifi to anyone nearby who wants to share your cable line? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xfinity#Xfinity_WiFi

I have a limited setback on my house and I swear when I replaced their combo router I stopped having people (late at night eating burgers and listening to loud music while browsing) randomly parked in front of my house (presumably they got signal on the street).

I'll never go back to that configuration again so it's not like I can retest.

Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware

#89

Post by cjcampbell »

r1ch wrote: post #9

"Pretty poor coverage" sounds like the author was relying on Wi-Fi for connectivity. I wouldn't trust an ISP-provided combo modem/router to do anything more than the bare minimum when it comes to wireless, most likely a single chain 2.4 GHz network (and 5 GHz if you're lucky). Replacing it with Google Wifi which is a Wave2 802.11ac 5 GHz device with Beamforming will make a world of difference. Intentionally supplying…

I just gave a DOCSIS 3.0 modem to a friend who was paying $7 per month on a DOCSIS 2 modem that couldn't provide the subscribed speed. Comcast had already charged her for a couple of truck rolls to troubleshoot the speeds, so it boggles my mind why the rented modem had not been replaced.

Even more interesting is that Comcast does have infrastructure in place to notify customers of these issues, though I have only seen them use it to convert customers who bought equipment back to renting. When I bumped my modem into the D3.1 threshold last year, the company made a number of calls to let me know that I could improve my experience by going back on a rental plan.

Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware

#90

Post by driverdan »

thedevil wrote: post #49

Comcast ripped me off much more than that. My HOA signed a (incredible bad) deal with Comcast to provide basic channels (the ones nobody wants) for $35/unit* * for 3 years. Then, Comcast's rep allegedly* forged the contract to last 8 years instead of 3. The stupid manager lost the emails, Comcast insisted on the (allegedly* forged) 8-year contract and so the HOA paid it until the manager found the original signed con…

Another reason to never live somewhere with an HOA.
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