Can you use your own modem? I thought you had to use theirs?
WhereGrapesMayRule@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Get your own gateway. Don’t rent theirs.
Ulrich@feddit.org 7 months ago
Fiery@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
In Europe that used to be the case, but that changed not that long ago. Now providers are legally obligated to allow you to get your own modem
magic_smoke@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 months ago
No you can use your own modem with xfinity.
adespoton@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
You need to use their modem quite often, but you don’t need to use their router. They’re usually “all in one” modem/router things these days, but they’re legally required to provide you with a modem in bridge mode if you ask — at that point, an Ethernet cable attached to their modem is effectively attached to the Internet, and you can put your own hardware inside (firewall, Wifi router, etc.).
WhereGrapesMayRule@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I use my own modem and my own router with XFinity.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
I don’t think that’s true. Their techs may claim that, but you van buy compatible modems online and find a helpful phone support person to get the details you need. Read up a bit on it first because they’re not going to walk you through it.
Ulrich@feddit.org 7 months ago
I have always had my own router. What is bridge mode? Can I do that?
adespoton@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
Bridge mode disables the router in the modem; if you have an admin account on the modem you should be able to enable it yourself; otherwise you need to get your ISP to enable it. It will turn off all the firewall and WiFi features on the modem.
CaptPretentious@lemmy.world 7 months ago
You can use your own. But at every single point they’re going to tell you that your brand new top of the line modem, is out of date and is probably the problem of any issue that you’re having. They try so hard to gaslight customers in believing that you need to use their white labeled equipment. They want you to use their stuff and pay the fees so they can resell the Wi-Fi, and they have full control over your device.
goatinspace@feddit.org 7 months ago
Use your own modem and open source lon range router
AngryRobot@lemmy.world 7 months ago
open source long range router
Do you have a recommendation?
goatinspace@feddit.org 7 months ago
Asus Rog GT-AX6000 with Merlin OS looks interesting. Can check list of devices for OpenWRT also.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
I have successfully avoided cable up to this point, but I did use my own modem back when I used DSL. It wasn’t advertised anywhere, but I just took the details from their modem and called support for the last bit I needed and used my own. It worked just as poorly as theirs did…
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 7 months ago
You can buy cable modems cheap, too. No reason to use their crap at all.
JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 7 months ago
“cheap” is a relative term.
Nobody should be buying a DOCSIS 3.0 modem these days. They are obsolete and for some reason still being sold.
A decent DOCSIS 3.1 modem is at least $200. A Next Gen like S34 is at least $220.
And then you have to get your own wifi.
It pays for itself pretty quick (by not paying rental fees), but that doesn’t necessarily make it cheap.
I absolutely prefer using my own equipment, and do…but it’s also worth mentioning that in many markets, Xfinity removed data caps if you have a rented modem.
ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 7 months ago
If a DOCSIS 3.0 modem still can’t be saturated by the tier of internet someone is paying for, what advantage would 3.1 have?
kieron115@startrek.website 7 months ago
If your provider has implemented it (Comcast is the only one i know of in north america) then Active Queue Management is a huge quality of life improvement that you won’t notice you were missing unless you already had a router that implements queue management. cablelabs.com/…/how-docsis-3-1-reduces-latency-wi…
JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 7 months ago
Not buying another modem when the ISP quietly upgrades the CMTS and makes more speed available in your neighborhood.
unphazed@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Yeah I recently switched from cable to fiber (finally available), and prior I was using an old as fuck modem/router that capped at 500Mbps. My internet at fastest was 380. I rarely transfer files over the network, so figured why bother? (I did have Gen1 Google Mesh though to cover dead spots). I had a bit of a shopping splurge when I got fiber. Nothing crazy, just an upgraded mesh and a switch (Why the fuck does Frontier provide an ONT with 8 ethernet ports but only one is active?)
CaptainPedantic@lemmy.world 7 months ago
At least in my case, my DOC IS 3.0 modem was having connectivity issues. My neighbor in another apartment had similar issues: dropped connections, slower than expected speeds, etc. Switching to DOCSIS 3.0 modems solved the problem. I guess Comcast upgraded their hardware and it wasn’t compatible with my modem anymore
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I used docsis 3.0 and it worked just fine. So why not?
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
Because docsis 3.0 standard is nearly 20 years old at this point and 3.1 is significantly faster. Docsis 3.1 is only 15, but 4 (which is still 8 years old) probably isn’t supported by your ISP yet. But the speed difference is quite noticeable. 3.0 will theoretically do 1gbps down, and 100-200 up, but 3.1 could do 10 down and 1gbps up. In the age of symmetrical fiber internet those upload speeds are dire. 3.1 realistically gets you a symmetrical gig connection.
Vinstaal0@feddit.nl 7 months ago
It looks like DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.1 are for coax which should be avoid anyway . VodafoneZiggo is already starting with DOCSIS 4.0.
jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
In my neighborhood you get a choice between coax or nothing.
SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Can confirm, I live out in the countryside with only coax available, and a measly 1Gbit down 150Mbit up and 9 - 11ms ping. No caps.
Wait, that’s awesome and steady and reliable. Expensive sure but with heavy multiperson usage and no noticeable issues, I am wondering WTF you’re on about unless it’s some weird edge case?
Croquette@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
I still use coax because I buy internet from a reseller third party and this is what they have. I have 400/50 for 35$, which is a lot cheaper yhan the competitors. No reason for me to change.
Squizzy@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Rental? How much is rental?
timewarp@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I wouldn’t trust them to not randomly enable WiFi, but you can also use their modem but disable any built in WiFi on it & still use your own router. ISPs continue to try to bundle their modem & router, which gives them complete access to your home network. Some lucky people have found fiber providers that let them use their own SFP.