Is a new cable modem helpful?

[eljefino]

Currently running a Netgear CMD31T on Spectrum (formerly TWC Roadrunner.) Paying for 100 Mbps down, get a consistent 22-25.

I am assuming this to be "neighborhood congestion."

Have a Motorola MB7420 on the way. Question is, since this is a 16x4, able to "tune" 16 D/L channels simultaneously, does this improve my odds of getting good speed? Old modem is a 4x4. An adjunct question is, where's the (typical) bottleneck, is it their fiber-to-RF gizmo or further up/down the line?

Or if I get better speed, would it be more a function of having a more modern chipset?

Both are DOCSIS 3.0 but the Netgear is apparently a turkey, capable of 150 Mbps while most others are 300+. The Motorola claims 600-something. Naturally, I'll still have my cap at 100, but I'd like to have a good shot of hitting that. Netgear is showing green lights indicating all four D/L channels are locked.

I'll report back either way, but am interested in the how's and why's, and my odds of getting any improvement.

 

[Hall]

That modem is on Spectrum's approved/compatible list (for 100 Mbps plans). Did you buy it or they supply it to you ?

When you run a speed test, you NEED to do it with a relatively modern device and it has to be connected via Ethernet. If you're using WiFi, you're "testing" your WiFi network card in your device as much as anything. Also, run the test at 4am or something when there won't be possible congestion.

As for the replacement modem, no, you can't tune it. You can't do anything to modems anymore, even ones you buy. They will push "their" firmware to it under the guise of making it "compatible" with their network and they'll remove most, if not all, of the menus that users could access.

 

[AandPDan]

What router do you have.?

 

[henni]

We use Arris S33 modems. Even at lower provider speeds, system stability has improved as is evident in Zoom meetings.

 

[alarmguy]

Why not call Spectrum and have them fix the issue?
Your assumptions of neighborhood congestion may not be correct but that would be up to Spectrum to address and let you know.
There is either something wrong in your home or with your setup, buying new equipment far above spec is not going to increase your speed unless there is something wrong with your equipment. Which brings me back to your paying $750 to $1000 dollars a year for a data connection that is much lower then advertised, so why not call the company first.

BTW - we just canceled Spectrum after many years of reliable but OVERPRICED service, Im sure you saw my thread on TMobile Home Internet service, faster then Spectrum and best part is, less money and they give you all the equipment at no cost.
With competition like TMobile around the "corner" for much of the country you can bet companies like Spectrum will be much more receptive to correcting problems.

 

[Donald]

I have a Unifi security gateway and it can do a speed test from itself into the internet. Something all routers should have.

What is the max speed a 3.0 modem can do vs a 3.1?

 

[Hall]

I have a Unifi security gateway and it can do a speed test from itself into the internet. Something all routers should have.

Upcoming versions of ASUS router firmware have OOKLA's Speedtest app built-in. I thought it was a gimmick at first but once you said it can do the test "from itself to the internet", I realized the benefit or point. It's NOT dependent on the WiFi network so it's much more ideal.

What is the max speed a 3.0 modem can do vs a 3.1?

DOCSIS 3.0 can do 1 Gbps so it's definitely not the roadblock. Those speeds do depend on the cable co's configuration (channel bonding though). At the end of the day, Spectrum says his/her modem is valid for their 100 Mbps service. They will swap customer's modems out when they make a speed bump and some customers have older modems that aren't capable of the higher speed. It can become a big undertaking too.

 

[eljefino]

Speedtests are through ethernet with a decent enough HP desktop, intel i5, running ubuntu.

Router is a TP-Link TL-WR740N which I know is only 100 Mbit/s. Running DD-WRT.

Not calling Time Warner because... well... they're hopeless, and any customer interaction seems to show them that I'm very interested in paying more.

What I'm hoping for, is that somewhere on these 16 frequencies, there may be some under-used ones that will flow more data. That my older modem is on some "legacy" frequencies that are packed. Though, also, I expect the cable company to manage this and reassign my modem to emptier channels much like a cell company seamlessly does. So this comes down to, like I said, "where's the bottleneck?"

Incidentally, a NAS file server on my local network going through that router gives me the full 100Mbps.

 

[Rand]

yes upgrade.
it might still be congestion slowing you but with 16 channel it can be more stable..
that modem is an extremely old 4x4 3.0

no need to get a 3.1 modem for 100mbits.

FWIW my arris sb6183 16x4 did fine on 400mbits plan.. but I upgraded to 3.1 modem since it was free.

my 400mbits plan varies from about 450mbit to 50mbit usually somewhere in low 300's

 

[Quattro Pete]

Speedtests are through ethernet with a decent enough HP desktop, intel i5, running ubuntu.

Router is a TP-Link TL-WR740N which I know is only 100 Mbit/s. Running DD-WRT.

For the purpose of speed test, are you able to bypass the router and just plug your computer directly into the modem?

This would eliminate any slowdown caused by the router potentially doing some NAT duty along the way.

 

[eljefino]

^ I'd like to but will have to do it when everyone else is offline. Got a wife WFH and two kids in school at home. We'll see, though, gimme time.

And before anyone asks, my speed tests have been when they aren't up to much.

 

[Rand]

I'd also buy a new router.. that one is severely old.
if you like tplink they have some decent ones for around 100$

if you have costco the c4000 triband is 109$

https://www.costco.com/tp-link-archer-c4000-tri-band-wi-fi-router.product.100418449.html

if no costco
amazon has the ax1800 for 99$

Amazon.com: TP-Link WiFi 6 Router AX1800 Smart WiFi Router (Archer AX21) – Dual Band Gigabit Router, Works with Alexa - A Certified for Humans Device: Computers & Accessories

Buy TP-Link WiFi 6 Router AX1800 Smart WiFi Router (Archer AX21) – Dual Band Gigabit Router, Works with Alexa - A Certified for Humans Device: Routers - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

if those arent in the budget
amazon has this ac1750 older model that is still an immense upgrade for 57$

Amazon.com

 

[eljefino]

That router's old but stable AF, had some duds in my past so I don't like poking the bear.

A Belkin N750DB is in service upstairs as a secondary AP. Might "promote" it temporarily in the interest of science. (Master router is in the basement and doesn't get good wifi everywhere.) House has ethernet to most of the important rooms/ computers.

 

[mk378]

Use a live image when you do the direct to modem test because you will get malicious hits from the Internet. But definitely do that test. The 740 has (depending on version) a 400 to 550 MHz single core MIPS CPU, and with third party firmware not optimized for speed it's going to have trouble getting to 100 Mb. Also the maximum usable thoughput of a 100 Mb "Fast Ethernet" connection is about 94 Mb due to packet overhead.

I would not recommend the Archer A7 as it doesn't have a lot more CPU. The 880 MHz dual core chip MT7621A pretty much rules the $60 price class with models like the Netgear R6350.

 

[Hall]

Not calling Time Warner because... well... they're hopeless

Whether we like it or not, Spectrum doesn't (and can't) guarantee real-world internet speeds. They can see what speed your modem is provisioned for and if it's 100/10 (technically they provision them around 120%), they've done their job. In most areas, Spectrum hosts speed test servers that you reach without going over the "outside" internet - you stay on their network the entire trip. That eliminates blaming Level 3, RCN, and so on.

If you own your modem, they will blame it. Every time. They'll insist on sending a technician out to blame your modem and charge a service call too. If it's their modem, they won't blame it nor will they be as eager to send someone out...

FWIW my arris sb6183 16x4 did fine on 400mbits plan..

I own the same modem and upgraded to 400 Mbps for ~6 months last summer. It did just fine. I saw speed tests up to 450 Mbps plenty of times. The 400 plan is the highest Spectrum says this modem will do though (on their network).

 

[Hall]

That router's old but stable AF

I've had to replace routers over the years simply due to speed limits that they were the fault of.

 

[Rand]

I own the same modem and upgraded to 400 Mbps for ~6 months last summer. It did just fine. I saw speed tests up to 450 Mbps plenty of times. The 400 plan is the highest Spectrum says this modem will do though (on their network).

They just jacked mine 5$ the same time that it became illegal to charge to rent their modem.
so as a consequence of not being able to charge for their equipment they just jacked up everyone's rates.

I do have their "free" docsis 3.1 e31t2v1 modem.

3.1 is a totally different type of channel scheme no more 16-32 channels bonded etc.
but its not needed below gigabit speeds.

Went from 44.99 60mbit when it was time warner to 59.99 at spectrum to 79.99 100mbit to 84.99 100mbit
next month its 94.99 "standard rate"

I asked for retentions dept and was told we dont have retentions anymore...

IF at&t didnt have a data cap I'd be switching.

I do have the "free upgrade" to ultra 400/20 from 100/10
The only thing they would do is drop me to regular for 79.99 vs 84.99 for ultra.. what a bunch of scumbags.

My disabled mother-in-law pays 240$ for cable, phone and internet with 2 dvr boxes.. but she can barely use a smartphone to call someone so trying to teach her anyone elses cable box is a losing proposition.

back on topic

That router is severely limited by its processor and 100mbits ethernet... its just obsolete.
in real life 100mbits ethernet is usually between 80-90
and spectrum provisions at 110-120% of advertised capacity.
Hall has a very good point about 3rd party firmware on a router with a slow single core processor

You could also consider a home mesh system such as the tplink ax3000 3pc system is currently around $220
but there are plenty of great choices.

Im not a big fan of tplink but their gear is pretty inexpensive and I've had better luck with it than some others.

 

[mk378]

If there's 3.1 on your line it might benefit to have a 3.1 modem, because the more gigabit subscribers they have they need to move toward 3.1 and cut down the spectrum allocated to "legacy" 3.0 signals. This is pure speculation though.

 

[Cujet]

I'm on Comcast gigabit and I had to switch to a Motorola MB8600 modem. I don't recall the previous two modem brands, but I do know that I paid for 70 (or thereabouts) and got 20, changed the modem due to constant drop outs and got 100 on the same program, then upgraded to gigabit.

Until gigabit, my internet was NOT good enough for 4K streaming and mama's computer gaming. Now, I'm having very few problems, actually, no problems.

 

[Warstud]

What type of Ethernet Cable do you have ?