Should I upgrade to a DOCSIS3 cable modem?

[SickBeast]

I'm currently running a Motorola Surfboard 5101 and I get 22mb/sec down through my connection.

I can get a Motorola DOCSIS3 modem for $58 and I'm wondering if it will be worth it for me. From what I've heard, it will give me a higher peak transfer speed and will help during times when my ISP is congested.

If you guys have any input regarding the benefits of a DOCSIS3 cable modem I would appreciate it.

Basically I'm wondering if it's a worthy upgrade for $58.

 

[hawk82]

Who is your cable provider and do they currently support DOCSIS 3.0? If not, you probably won't have any performance increases.

 

[SickBeast]

I'm on 3web which supposedly supports DOCSIS 3.0.

Will I notice a significant speed boost?

 

[wirednuts]

i was under the impression docsis3.0 was mainly for ~20+mb connections. so if you only have a 20mb plan or slower, then 2.0 is fine.

 

[SickBeast]

My plan is 24mb/sec, but I seem to top out at around 22mb/sec according to speedtest. Sometimes it manages to burst up to 30mb/sec but it doesn't sustain it for more than a few seconds.

 

[Brovane]

If your Cable Provider supports DOCSIS 3 the DOCSIS 3 network side would be less congested than DOCSIS 2 side, since most people have DOCSIS 2 modems.

 

[SickBeast]

If your Cable Provider supports DOCSIS 3 the DOCSIS 3 network side would be less congested than DOCSIS 2 side, since most people have DOCSIS 2 modems.

Awesome. I'm going to buy the modem then. Thanks very much for the info.

 

[Anteaus]

Upgrading to a newer modem can only help you. Worst case you won't see any speed change. Best case you'll see a large one. Any any case, even if they aren't using DOCSIS 3 right now, at least your ready to go the instant they roll it out.

The interesting part is that many providers won't announce when they upgrade to a higher DOCSIS and most people won't think to ask. It benefits the provider because people with older modems are speed capped and aren't so much a burden. I only noticed that our provider went to DOCSIS 2 when I was at the neighbors and they were getting 2-3 times our DL rates even though we were paying for the fastest plan. A new modem instantly made a huge difference.

 

[mp3ster]

I actually just did this myself. On comcast though. One thing to keep in mind is the WAN throughput of your router, my good old wrt54g wont even come close to keeping up.

 

[SickBeast]

I just got a WRT310N; I'm not sure how fast it is though.

I think I'm just gonna get the modem. $58 isn't a bad price.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

If your service provider supports it, definitely. My connection went from ~10mbps to around 50

 

[Railgun]

This doesn't really make much sense. It's not going to relieve congestion. You don't necessarily connect to any seperate gear on the head end. DOCSIS 3 is backward compatible so you can easily have ver 2 or even 1 clients on the same gear.

Secondly, 2.0 has a max downstream throughput of about 50Mpbs. Depending on your providers setup, and what plan you have, it may not make a difference, though I don't know that I've seen any provider under 40Mpbs or even 30 not use DOCSIS 3. Ver 3 as at least 200Mpbs. Most, if not all using ver 3 will give you multiple streams, most likely four, which is where the main difference is as each stream has a throughput of up to 50Mpbs. I for example have 50 down, but have four streams in which it's sent.

To the OP, your provider should tell you whether you need a new modem or not. Arbitrarily getting one is a crap shoot. What is the service plan you are paying for now? If it's supposed to be higher than your ~20Mpbs, then contact your provider first to confirm.

Also, keep in mind that your limits are not necessarily obtainable 100% of the time. If your provider is Comcast, then your experience is probably the same as mine in that it's not the best. As I'm now in the UK and using Virgin, I get 50 almost all the time, unless it's in a peak period when it slows to an anemic 1Mb or even fractions of a Mb.