[SOLVED] DOCSIS 3.0 Or 3.1?

[BDay33]

Long story short, I just moved to an apartment, and I'm setting up Xfinity internet. I signed up for the 300Mbps connection, and purchased my own modem Netgear Nighthawk C7000.

Shortly after the install, I ran a speedtest and was only getting 160Mbps. Upload was fine at 25Mbps. Anyways, I called Comcast, and they suggested I run by my local Xfinity store and rent a modem and see if that made a difference, and it did. I also tried my personal modem that I bought, and it now is giving me the speed I'm paying for. Getting now 360Mbps/25Mbps. Not sure what the issue was the previous day.

With that being said, I know DOCSIS 3.0 is some-what archaic. Would it benefit me to swap the DOCSIS 3.0 modem out and go with a 3.1?

 

[delaro]

DOCSIS version[14]	Production date	Maximum downstream capacity	Maximum upstream capacity	Features
1.0	1997	40 Mbit/s	10 Mbit/s	Initial release
1.1	2001	40 Mbit/s	10 Mbit/s	Added VOIP capabilities, standardized the DOCSIS 1.0 QoS mechanisms
2.0	2002	40 Mbit/s	30 Mbit/s	Enhanced upstream data rates
3.0	2006	1.2 Gbit/s	200 Mbit/s	Significantly increased downstream/upstream data rates, introduced support for IPv6, introduced channel bonding
3.1	2013	10 Gbit/s	1–2 Gbit/s	Significantly increased downstream/upstream data rates, restructured channel specifications
4.0	2017	10 Gbit/s	10 Gbit/s	Introduces support for fully symmetrical speeds

On a plan less than 1Gbit/s you wouldn't see any real difference with the exception of what new features a newer modem might give you.

Firmware is a majority factor in what speeds you get, Comcast equipment they can flash but anything else you're on your own with the if or when the manufacturer decides to update.

A Nighthawk C7000 should support up to 960Mbps according to Netgear.

Netgear R7000 Slow Internet Speed - Netgear Fix

Basically you will need to play around with flashing firmware until you find one that works. 😕

 

[BDay33]

DOCSIS version[14]	Production date	Maximum downstream capacity	Maximum upstream capacity	Features
1.0	1997	40 Mbit/s	10 Mbit/s	Initial release
1.1	2001	40 Mbit/s	10 Mbit/s	Added VOIP capabilities, standardized the DOCSIS 1.0 QoS mechanisms
2.0	2002	40 Mbit/s	30 Mbit/s	Enhanced upstream data rates
3.0	2006	1.2 Gbit/s	200 Mbit/s	Significantly increased downstream/upstream data rates, introduced support for IPv6, introduced channel bonding
3.1	2013	10 Gbit/s	1–2 Gbit/s	Significantly increased downstream/upstream data rates, restructured channel specifications
4.0	2017	10 Gbit/s	10 Gbit/s	Introduces support for fully symmetrical speeds

On a plan less than 1Gbit/s you wouldn't see any real difference with the exception of what new features a newer modem might give you.

Firmware is a majority factor in what speeds you get, Comcast equipment they can flash but anything else you're on your own with the if or when the manufacturer decides to update.

A Nighthawk C7000 should support up to 960Mbps according to Netgear.

Netgear R7000 Slow Internet Speed - Netgear Fix

Basically you will need to play around with flashing firmware until you find one that works. 😕

It's possible that we may upgrade to the 1Gbit/s in the future. So, here's what I'm thinking right now.

I can go swap out the DOCSIS 3.0 modem/router combo that I have now, for the 3.1 version (modem only). Pretty much an even swap, or may save me a few bucks.

I have an existing router, the one linked here. With this router being several years old, would it bring about any issues with the 300Mbps plan that I have currently?

 

[delaro]

It's a 5G router that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[bill001g]

Buying docsis 3.1 when you ISP does not support it is a waste of money. It will just drop back to docsis 3.0

There are also multiple variations of docsis 3.0 modems. Yours has 24 channels so supports the faster speeds.

You should have no issues at all getting 350 I know many many people that have docsis 3.0 and get that speed.

You need to carefully check you ISP modem compatibility list. It can actually be different for different parts to the same city because not all parts get upgraded at the same time. Then again most time they will not even activate a user owned device if it is not on the list.

Try to set your modem/router to run only as a modem. You will of course only get 1 pc to run when you test but you should be able to see if it is the router causing the bottle neck.

The nasty secret router manufactures do not tell you is the CPU in the router is not fast enough to run high speed internet connections. Even the very fastest consumer router can be bottle necked at 250-300. They use a trick to allow NAT traffic to bypass the main cpu and use other hardware accelerators. Many times if you activate even very simple features, like traffic monitoring traffic must again pass the cpu and you get a bottleneck. I would rest the router part of your device and only set the admin and wifi passwords, Leave all other options default.

 

[BDay33]

All,

Thank you for the replies so far. I noticed that Best Buy had a DOCSIS 3.1 modem for about $30 cheaper than what I paid for the DOCSIS 3.0 modem/router. Since I already have a router that I could use, I went and swapped the 3.0 modem/router for the 3.1 modem.

My equipment:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgear-32-x-8-docsis-3-1-cable-modem-black/5712202.p?skuId=5712202
https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RTAC66U/

I'm used to everything being hard-wired, so my knowledge on wireless home networking is very minimal.

When checking my speed while hard-wired, I'm using the Xfinity speed test, and typically getting anywhere from 340-360 down, and 22-25 up. Then, I'll go to speedtest.net seconds later, and I'll have a wide range. Anywhere from 160-340 down, the upload usually stays consistent in the 22-25 range. I understand that different servers can provide different results. However, I'll test one server and get 160 down, then test the same server again within seconds after the first test, and get 350 down.

Also, I'm streaming through my Roku wirelessly. If I try to stream a 4K Youtube video, there's constant buffering. I'm in an apartment, so there's not a lot of walls or distance for the signal to travel through. I've also tried using the 2.4 and 5.0 modes on my router, same result with both.

I've also tried running speed tests while streaming on my Roku. On my hard-wired connection, my speed will be cut in half to around 160 down. Wireless speeds are anywhere from 30-80 down while streaming.

Is this normal? The connection just seems really unstable to me.

 

[kanewolf]

If you have a Roku with an ethernet port, temporarily connect it via wired network. See if that takes care of your buffering. You want 5Ghz for 4K streaming definitely.