XFinity Gigabit Equipment?

GFOviedo

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So, I’m going back to XFinity from att. I’ve been given a good deal for 1000 Mbps down and 45 Mbps upload. However, I’ve found that my XFinity modem doesn’t support the DOCSIS 3.1. So I’m in between the Arris SB8200 and the Netgear CM1100. Anyone have any experience with these modems?
 

Todd Anderson

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Xfinity user, but I don't have any experience with those modems.

I'm curious about the gigabit service. I'm guessing you haven't used it yet?
 

GFOviedo

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I ordered the service for next month, but I may just install it myself this weekend. I’m thinking of adding or making my own VPN to protect my whole house. Recently, we’ve been getting a lot of scam letters acting they are from the IRS. Letters appear legit, but they made the mistake of leaving a phone number that only takes payments and nothing else. Plus, I know I don’t own anything. Our company almost got hacked a few weeks ago. They are upgrading all the network equipment here.

I am going to buy the Arris modem since I used to own one before and it ran great. I will update when I’ve got everything hooked up.
 

Todd Anderson

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Interested to read your impressions... and why not just buy your own modem?? Saves you on monthly rental fees!

I’ve used my own dual band modem with Comcast for years. They always put on the hard sell for their own, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t make sense!
 

GFOviedo

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I’ve got my own modem and router. My current modem Netgear CM500 doesn’t support DOCSIS 3.1 for gigabit speeds. Costco has the Netgeat Nighthawk CM1100 for $149.99. I’m going to have BestBuy price match it. That’s the cheapest I’ve found for a gigabit modem.
 

GFOviedo

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So, after conducting extensive research and selling a few of my woodworking tools to afford one of the gigabit modems, I have decided to go with the Motorola SB8600 for two reasons: 1) It has 4 gigabit ports for future speed increases to where you can combine two or more ports to achieve up to 3.8 gigabits, which is probably not going to be available any time soon. 2) It is the only DOCSIS 3.1 gigabit router that has a 2 year warranty. All the others routers only have 1 year warranty.
I am still trying to decide how I am going to set up all of my equipment. I am not sure if I should build a large TV stand and hang it on the wall, build a rack, or just buy a network rack and hang it on the wall with all of my network and A/V equipment in it. My wife is getting a little concern (tired and upset) about having all of my network and A/V equipment in our room lol. However, I have got two other projects going--installing vinyl flooring throughout the house and remodeling the guest bathroom. So, I've put aside my networking and A/V project. Plus, I am going to school, and the assignments are kicking my behind.
Next weekend, is a 3 day weekend from work. So, I am hoping to complete some of these projects.
 

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Sounds like you bought a beast. Congrats! Looking forward to reading about how it works out
 

GFOviedo

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Sounds like you bought a beast. Congrats! Looking forward to reading about how it works out
I went to Best Buy and got the Motorola MB8600 after taxes it was almost $174.00. I’ll be using my old router Linksys EA7300, which has MU-MIMO even though its an old router.

I’m going to build a large tv console stand to put all of my devices. The wife didn’t like the idea of having a rack on the wall.

So, I’m looking for ideas if anyone has any! Or if someone built a large TV console post some pics please.
 

GFOviedo

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So, I was attempting to install my new modem (MB8600) and router (Linksys EA7300) only to find out that the person who installed my DirecTV satellite cut the lines and installed them to the DirecTV satellite dish. So, an Xfinity tech will be coming by on Monday morning to fix the lines and install the modem / router for free.
My current internet provided AT&T Uverse has been failing me for the last 4 months since I have been getting intermittent WiFi connections. This is the third router/modem from AT&T that I've within the last 2 years. So, it is time to make the switch. I am hoping to have most of my networking set up running on Monday. I will post some pics.
 

GFOviedo

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So, the XFinity Tech came by while I was at work to install the modem and run the new line. He left everything to work, but did not check the internet speeds. I'm supposed to be getting 1000 Mbps or close to that. Hell, I would be happy with getting 800 Mbps, but for some reason or another after conducting many tests, I can only get 650 Mbps. So, the tech guy is coming back tomorrow and see what's going on.

Even though, I am not getting gigabit speeds or close to them, I can definitely notice a speed increasing difference via WiFi and Ethernet. I will post pics of the whole set up once, I've got everything running properly.
 

GFOviedo

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So after spending a few days and several hours of trouble shooting, I cannot get anything faster then 650 Mbps directly from the modem to my PC. So, I’m going to have to try a different modem and see what happens.
 

GFOviedo

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So, two XFinity tech guys showed up to help me out with the internet speeds. One of them brought a pretty nice tool that measures download and upload speeds. This tool confirmed multiple times that I am getting gigabit speeds the highest was 981 Mbps. It appears that the Realtek NIC in my desktop cannot support gigabit speeds even though it is rated for gigabit speeds.

I had to get an Inter NIC for my UnRaid server to be able to run gigabit speeds. So, I guess I’ll habe to do the same for my PC. That or get a new Intel MOBO and faster processor.

Now, to start building the server rack.
 

GFOviedo

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Oh yeah, I’m keeping the Netgear CM1200 modem. It feels to be better built and the XFinity tech guys recommended it more than the Motorola MB8600.
 

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I love a good project! And it sounds like you've got one going!
 

GFOviedo

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So, I’ve been working like crazy hours and I’ve been unable to work on upgrading my network. However, I got lucky today. I found a rich lady selling a NETGEAR Nighthawk RAX80 a few weeks old for $100.00. I was at work, but my wife was nice and got it for me.

I just installed it with the NETGEAR CM1200 and its very noticeable on how much faster it is. The range is excellent. It covers my whole house all the way down to across the street.

My WiFi speeds.
 

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GFOviedo

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WiFi speed at about 100 feet from the router.
 

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GFOviedo

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So, I am still in the process of upgrading my home network. I am still puzzle as to why my Win 7 PC cannot get any download speeds faster than 300 Mbps. XFinity Techs came by and tested the line, and it indeed showed download speeds of 940 to 960 Mbps on their testing equipment.
I ended up buying two NIC cards. The first one an Intel CT gigabit card has been tested, and got the same results as the onboard NIC card. I started doing a little more research and XFinity recommends to have Win10 for their gigabit speeds customers. So, I am currently downloading Win 10 to upgrade this PC.
Otherwise, the internet speeds are pretty fast. All of my devices connected via Ethernet or WiFi as pretty fast, and I do not have any issues streaming anything in multiple devices.
 
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