Visitor
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5 Messages
Router upgrade
Recently, I upgraded my plan to get 1200Mbps speed but my Router (NetGear R6400) has only Gigabit ports and so the speed is limited to 940Mbps. I am considering an upgrade to a new router but am confused by the communications standards lingo 802.11b to 802.11ax. What standard do I search for or do I just look for a router with 2.5Gigabit ethernet port? and how does the Wi-Fi 5 and WiFi 6 fit into the selection. Is there a recommended router for ~$200 that would provide the higher speed I am paying for? Thanks in advance for some novice tech education and any specific product suggestions would be appreciated.
XfinityKassie
Official Employee
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1.7K Messages
2 years ago
@user_00f1a0 Good morning! Thank you for reaching out to our Community Forums Team for assistance with your modem. I'm happy to get you in the right direction for picking a new modem out. I'm including a link to see what modems are compatible with Xfinity services. Additionally, you would want to lean towards 802.11ax as this is the latest WiFi standard. Please let me know if you have any follow-up questions I may answer for you!
https://www.xfinity.com/support/devices/#unauth
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EG
Expert
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110.5K Messages
2 years ago
@user_00f1a0
Do you want another stand-alone router like the one that you have now or do you want a combination modem / router gateway device. The reason that I ask is because the link that you were given only shows compatible straight cable modems and compatible combo gateway devices. Any stand-alone router like what you currently have can be used with Comcast / Xfinity. What make and model number of cable modem are you currently using with that Netgear router ?
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user_914658
Visitor
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12 Messages
2 years ago
You should definitely consider leasing the xfinity modem. It has all the latest wifi standards and is easy to configure using the Xfi app. Buying separate equipment and managing it on your own takes a bit of doing and some technical expertise in order to optimize the connection and all of your home devices. If that's not something that interests you. the Xfinity modem is a good choice.
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EG
Expert
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110.5K Messages
2 years ago
@user_00f1a0
FWIW and IMNSHO, I couldn't disagree more !! Just look around the forums and you'll see that there are boatloads of issues with the CC supplied gateways !!
There is always an inherent disadvantage with these. Combo gateway devices are always a compromise in both quality and performance compared to separate units. Also, only the ISP can update the firmware so you are always a prisoner of that / them. And the firmware is typically crippled by the ISP's customizing of it and they typically eliminate valuable features.
One of the biggest issues with them is that it is far more difficult to diagnose connectivity issues when it comes to troubleshooting. You can't narrow things down by using the process of elimination by removing just the router from the path. And if either segment fails / malfunctions, you have a total failure. I think that CC made a big mistake when they changed their policy and decided to start supplying them instead of dedicated devices. The suits seem to think that this will save them money for support costs but I think that they are getting far more support calls/complaints than ever... We certainly are seeing far more complaints in forums now !
Another issue is that Comcast publicly accessible 'xfinitiwifi' link on their gateways. It supposedly uses separate bandwidth from your own. You can disable it from a link on the Comcast site / App, but people have been posting that it keeps turning itself back on every day.
It's not rocket science to use separate devices !
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Raezod
Visitor
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1 Message
2 years ago
I am on the 1200Mbps plan myself. I get around 1400 Mbps in reality. A couple months ago, I upgraded my router and switches so that I could get all the speed I was paying for.
I use the Xfinity provided XB8 modem (it's a free rental since I'm on the unlimited internet plan). While I do have it setup in Gateway mode, I do not use the router or Wi-Fi functions of the XB8 at all. I have the public / shared Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspot disabled.
For my router, I purchased a Firewalla Gold+. At the time of this writing, It's quite pricey, but worth it if you like having full management and monitoring capability over your network and want 4 2.5 Gbps ports to use for your network as well. There are certainly much cheaper options to go with for a firewall, but I liked the functionality and 4 2.5 Gbps ports that the Firewalla provided.
I use Port 4 (The only 2.5 Gbps port) of the Xfinity XB8 to connect to my Firewalla. The Firewalla is the only device that the XB8 sees as a connected device.
From my Firewalla, the other 3 ports go to an 8-port 2.5 Gbps switch which goes to multiple devices and a 5-port 2.5 Gbps switch which has multiple devices connected. Then it connects to a second 5-port 2.5 Gbps switch. The last port of the Firewalla goes to the router of my Orbi mesh Wi-Fi system (I have my Orbi router set to AP only mode).
I have over 70 devices on my home network (most of them are IoT devices connected via Wi-Fi).
Every wired device on my network can get 2.5 Gbps assuming it has a port that can support that speed (currently only 3 PCs on my network).
The cost to achieve 200 - 400 extra Mbps over standard Gigabit was quite steep. The Firewalla and 3 2.5 Gbps switches were quite pricey. Fortunately, I bought my Orbi system a couple years ago, so I didn't have to buy a new one. So, while the extra speed may not be worth it right this minute, the upgraded router and switches did make my home network future proof for quite some time. I am hoping Xfinity will throw us some free speed upgrades again soon!! I ran this speed test last night:
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