Characteristics to look for when buying a Cable Modem/Router?

[beingbobbyorr]

So I'm going to buy a Cable Modem (more likely a Modem-Router) instead of renting one from the cable company.

What are the parameters/characteristics I should be looking for as I compare & contrast different models? Here's my tentative list:


(a) Bandwidth, upload (Mbps)
(b) Number of USB ports*
(c) IPV6 ready? . . . . whatever the hell that is
(d) Power, Active (W)
(e) Power, Standby (mW? uW?)
(f) Number of Devices** that can be connected Wirelessly (Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11n)
(g) Number of Devices** that can be connected Wired (Ethernet cables)
(h) Which Wireless security protocols it supports? i.e., WEP, WPA, WPA2


Which of these parameters should I change slightly?
Which ones should I delete?
What new ones should I add?



* What functions/tasks do USB ports serve on Modems/Modem-Routers?

** Devices (aka "clients"?) = desktop computers, laptops, tablets, set-top boxes (Roku), etc.,

 

[laviniuc]

the problem here, is that not all manufacturers are true to their numbers, most will list the max speed which is pretty much the max supported by the protocol and which is never correct in real life.

a) is usually 1gigabit per second, - you'll never see this on wireless and almost never between wan (external) and lan (internal ports) - where the router has to nat/ips packets. only place where you do see this, is between lan ports on the internal switch - but most makers will say this is the max speed of the router. which while being "true" is also irrelevant because this is not what you need.

b) is usb ports, you'd need them for printer sharing, usb connected harddrives shared between the lan, etc, - if you need either of these, pick as many ports as you need +1 for future proofing

c) the ipv4 address space is quickly running out of numbers so ipv6 is the new norm, most routers support ipv6 by now so you'll find it hard to find one without it. http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/ipv6_ipv4_difference.html what the article doesn't tell you, is that you're at the mercy of the isp provider, it's irrelevant for you to have an ipv6 capable if the isp is stuck on ipv4 and most are. for future proofing it's best to pick as ipv6 capable router.

d) and e) power draw is again irrelevant, you're looking at max power draw around the same as a light bulb.

f) and g) is the same story like a. all lie and give you the protocol max which is about 64 thousands i think for wired, and 256 for wireless. of course as soon as you throw 10 wifi devices at it the speed is unbearably slow in most cases.

h) the norm is now wpa2. it's supported by any recent router.

** yes, clients is anything connected to the router.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/router/view

what you want to compare is throughoutput (nat speed between external lan and internal lan) and max numbers of devices. unlike specs, these guys test real world performance.

 

[laviniuc]

the one rented from the cable company has the advantage of being tried and tested on their conditions. if they have same sort of try&buy options go with that.

also, even if you buy the best router out there, you're still limited by what the isp grants you on your contract (for example, if you get a 20mbps internet access you'll never benefit from a gigabit capable router)

 

[beingbobbyorr]

The cable company (Time Warner) does have a list of "approved" modems/modem-routers:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/support/internet/topics/buy-your-modem.html

but precious little info on what distinguishes one from another . . . . hence this thread.

Here's what I was (naively) hoping they'd show:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/79625164@N06/20097387504/in/dateposted-public/

 

[laviniuc]

if you're patient enough you can check the specs on each of the ones on the list...
http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/cat-16_Archer-CR700.html#overview

this one looks good but depends on the speeds on the net plan you get from tw