If you have a standard cable modem and you want WiFi, you'll have to purchase a separate wireless router. Your choice will come down to standard cable modems and cable modem/router combos.Ī standard cable modem will give you access to the internet, but won't provide your home with any WiFi signal. Since the older one-way cable modems aren't really being sold anymore, they won't have to factor into your decision making. These run over HFC cables which are considerably faster and offer download and upload capacity.įrom a consumer viewpoint, there are also two types of cable modems, both of them being hybrid fiber/coax models. The newer type of cable modem is a hybrid fiber/coax modem. Luckily this slow, one-way approach has been mostly phased out by now, and there is very little chance you'll even see this kind of cable modem for sale anymore. They only offer download speeds up to 2 Mbps and actually have no upload capacity. You have older, one-way cable modems that run over standard coaxial cable networks. In the middle of the performance range are the TP-Link and Motorola's higher-end unit, but the Netgear CM600 may be the best of the bunch (for most users, anyhow), simply because it provides excellent real-world speeds at notably reasonable price.įrom a technical standpoint, there are two types of cable modems. Plus, Netgear's voice-enabled modems are generally limited to the Comcast Xfinity phone+cable bundled packages. On the other end of the spectrum, the Arris SurfBoard and Netgear's CM1000 and CM1150V provide next-level DOCSIS 3.1 functionality in addition to exceptional DOCSIS 3.0 backward compatibility, though they are considerably pricey. The Motorola MB7621 is only a bit more expensive, though, and can provide upgraded performance, especially for networks with a lot of users. With that out of the way, if you're on a budget and don't plan on streaming multiple 4K videos at the same time while someone else is playing games, the Netgear CM500 base model may be your best bet. If you're into future-proofing your setup, though it is something to consider. Finally, if you don't plan on upgrading to gigabit-class service in the forseeable future - and most people in the USA don't even live in regions that offer it, nor will most of the rest of us ever need that kind of bandwidth - then you probably don't need to shell out big bucks to be an early adopter of DOCSIS 3.1. It's been this way over the entirety of the chipset's lifespan (nearly two years), so there's no reason to believe that Intel will be rolling out a fix anytime soon. The second is a 32x8 channel DOCSIS 3.0 modem, as these are run by what's called the Intel Pump 6 chipset, which has exhibited a fatal flaw that causes troublesome latency spikes and disconnects. They are generally much more problematic than separate devices because they can't be provided with the same firmware updates that many routers require over their lifespan, and they don't even really save you any money. We also eliminated the Netgear CM500, because it's no longer very much less expensive than many of the faster options.įirst of all, if you're in the market for a cable modem, there are two things you should generally avoid buying. Otherwise, we moved the Motorola MB7621 to the top spot due to its impressively low price and its two-year warranty, which surpasses that of others with similar prices and performance. We did replace the Motorola MB8600 with the Motorola MB8611, which is newer and only a hair more expensive, while also being significantly more advanced. There hasn't been a whole ton of advancements in modem technology recently, but there has been some.
You can almost always find a list of approved modems on your ISP's website.
For what it's worth, the majority of up-to-date modems will be compatible with many modern ISPs, but some have specific requirements that a few otherwise-good modems don't quite meet. First of all, make sure to check with your specific ISP to ensure that the modem you choose is compatible.
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