Getting new internet soon, will my router give me desired performance?

[Apoplexy]

Getting comcast 105/20 installed on Monday. I have a Netgear N600 model WRND3400 that I bought 3 years ago. It's dual band 300/300 2.4/5 GHz. I'm pretty sure this router is DOCSIS 3.0 compatible, but I'm not entirely sure how to figure out if it is.
I also need to purchase a modem. Any recommendations on a good modem for my connection? Thanks for any help.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Getting comcast 105/20 installed on Monday. I have a Netgear N600 model WRND3400 that I bought 3 years ago. It's dual band 300/300 2.4/5 GHz. I'm pretty sure this router is DOCSIS 3.0 compatible, but I'm not entirely sure how to figure out if it is.
I also need to purchase a modem. Any recommendations on a good modem for my connection? Thanks for any help.

I don't know what "105/20" is. My provider is Charter. Does this mean "105 downstream and 20 upstream?"

I think we were getting between 24 and 30 Mbps in our subscription. Two years ago, we received a postcard that our bandwidth was doubling to near 60 and we should exchange our old Motorola Surfboard for a new one. I put it off for two years. I didn't want to deprive the fam-damn-ily of the internet needlessly, and I had memories of the day or two during the last hardware changeover -- my router -- before I was able to reestablish the handshaking with the ISP and get things working again. So I put it off.

I don't know how many users you have on your home LAN. That router is a 10/100, so it would be adequate for the speed I'm getting with the new Surfboard SB6141, which is DOCSIS 3.0. But I converted the entire household LAN to gigabit or 10/100/1000 several years ago.

My own router -- CISCO E2000 -- has 10/100 WAN and gigabit four-port LAN, in addition to dual-band 2.4/5.0. I may not be an expert at anything here, but it would seem to me that the speed of your wireless -- or what you say -- won't have anything to do with it.

The router you're using has 10/100 WAN, so if your Comcast bandwidth is similar to my Charter, it would be sufficient. If the question I posed about "105/20" has the answer I guessed, you'll be only slightly limited by the router. I'd have to look and see if there are routers providing more than 10/100 WAN.

UPDATE: YEah -- there are several gigabit-WAN routers available -- all over $100+.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

DOCSIS 3.0 has to do with Cable Modem specifications. The router you are referring to is not a modem. The thing that matters is if the router is capable of routing standard sized packets between the WAN and LAN at the speeds you want. It will not be able to get that last bit of speed because the WAN port is only 100Mb. So no matter what, the router will not be able to pass any more than 100Mb (more like 96 or so). It's up to you if that last 10 theoretical Mbps matters enough to you to buy a new router or not 🙂 There's a chance you could by a new router only to find your area isn't giving you 105 at any reasonable time of the day anyways 😀

As to the modem, always get a Cable modem pre-approved for your Telco: http://mydeviceinfo.comcast.net/

The standard Motorola Surfboard 6121 is my constant recommendation. It's 100% Environment Tested by nearly every Cable internet vendor and thus has the most support. It's usually the modem they give you if you rent it. It's not terribly expensive and they do their job well. I'm actually using a SB6121 now. The 4 Down / 2 Up channel bonding is more than enough for the 105Mbps service. However, if you plan to go to their 150 service, you should get the SB6141 as it is necessary with Comcast due to the 8 channel bonding taking place.

Above that, there's little else worth getting, as higher speed offerings will more than likely be Fiber To The Home systems (like Xfinity 505), which requires the use of their modem.