Are there any Cable Modem/Wireless Router combo devices that support DOCSIS 3.0 and N-band wireless?

February 21, 2011 2:50 PM

Are there any Cable Modem/Wireless Router combo devices that support DOCSIS 3.0 and N-band wireless?

I've done some research and it looks like upgrading to a DOCSIS 3.0 modem and upgrading to a N-band router should improve performance for my home LAN/WLAN and my Comcast internet connection. I have my eye on a Netgear N600 (WNDR3700) and a Motorola SB6120 modem. But I thought I'd see if anyone has made a single device that combines these two. Oh, and gigabit ethernet LAN ports would be nice too.

posted by manuelw to technology (4 answers total)

In my experience, I prefer keeping the devices separate. Get a good router and a good modem. The all-in-ones seem to skimp on something and you have a single point of failure.
posted by birdherder at 2:53 PM on February 21, 2011

Also, here you can check if Comcast has DOCSIS 3.0 rolled out in your area.

Seconding the keeping-them-separate school. Routers seem to have a bad habit of going south. Modems seem to be pretty bulletproof.

Doesn't Comcast provide the modem* anyway? Lots of times the modem firmware is customized for the ISP. It can be a headache to configure a modem from scratch, and the ISP will not help you. You may already be aware of this, and it may not be much of a headache for an experienced user.

My Google-fu brings few interesting results on modem router combos. Some are DOCSIS 2.0. Others are DSL. Netgear offers N300/600 combos for DSL, not cable.

Eureka!
Here's a reputable looking DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem n-band wireless combo.

And here is an old and inconclusive forum thread.

*cable modems are not true modems, but they quack like a modem, walk like a modem, and fly like a modem.
posted by Xoebe at 3:21 PM on February 21, 2011

cable modems are not true modems

*sigh* Yes, they are. They take digital data, modulate it into an analog signal for transmission along the cable lines, and also demodulate the analog signal coming down the cable line into digital data.

Cable modems do not deal with audio signals, but nothing in the definition of "modem" says this must be the case. DSL TAs are also modems.

Your Ethernet controller is a modem, by the way, and there's a modem in your cellular phone that allows it to communicate digitally over the very analog airwaves.
posted by kindall at 7:10 PM on February 21, 2011

Thanks for the response Xoebe. Yes Comcast supplied me a DOCSIS 2.0 modem but I want to see if a 3.0 modem will improve buffering delay problems I'm having with HD video on Youtube, Vimeo, etc. 3.0 is available in my area. That Motorola you found is in the line of cable modems I'm considering. However after reading reviews and looking at the user manual, the firewall component looks very basic. I think I would rather play with the gee-whiz features of the Netgear, like QoS.

I was hoping that someone like Netgear or Buffalo made a kickass wireless router and then slapped a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem inside. My guess is there's no market for this because ISPs provide a cable modem to customers. (Actually they ream you for rental fees, don't get me started on that.)

So it's back to the original plan of separate devices. Thanks again.
posted by manuelw at 10:03 AM on February 26, 2011