Needing two modems for best connectivity

[chumley12]

Trying to resolve issue. I have to use two modems in order to get Wi-Fi service in my house. The Comcast SMCE3GnV telephony modem/router I have in one corner of the house cannot give me a good signal in the other corner of my house so I have hooked up an out Actiontec MR424-WR modem to get a good Wi-Fi signal in the other corner of a single story house. How can I simply this arrangement? It works, but.... I have been told by a home entertainment guy that I should my own modem and router and not pay Comcast $8/mo for their inferior product. I need something for phone/internet and HD tv. I am not a techy but would like to try to save some money as I am retired and the Comcast bill is a killer.

 

[boosted1g]

Are you using the term modem when you mean router, or using a modem/router combo as only a router (meaning no coax hooked up to it).

Unless you have two seperate accounts with comcast you can not use two different modems

 

[chumley12]

The unit I have is a Comcast "Wireless Gateway Device" which is a router/modem. I asked the support tech on the phone if I could hook up a separate router to it and she said yes. And as I said I AM using another router/modem (a left over from when I had Verizon) at the other end of the house to get a decent WiFi signal, but we have to keep changing the WiFi source depending in where in the house we are.

 

[boosted1g]

Ok from the sounds of it you are using the second modem/router as a router only.

Do you have the second router hooked up via ethernet to the first router/modem?

If we can get the second router configured as an access point then you can set the ssid to be the same and your devices will auto-switch to the best signal source.

Now, depending on the layout of your home and the wireless signal, if you are in a spot half way between the two wifi routers then you might end up having constant dissconnect/connects as the computer will keep switching from one source to another as the signal level fluctuates.

 

[chumley12]

Ok from the sounds of it you are using the second modem/router as a router only.

Do you have the second router hooked up via ethernet to the first router/modem?

If we can get the second router configured as an access point then you can set the ssid to be the same and your devices will auto-switch to the best signal source.

Now, depending on the layout of your home and the wireless signal, if you are in a spot half way between the two wifi routers then you might end up having constant dissconnect/connects as the computer will keep switching from one source to another as the signal level fluctuates.

Yes. I ran a cat 5 cable under the house and piggybacked it into the main router/modem so I guess I am just using the second one as a router. It is about 75 feet between the two (on one level). The second one is in the familyroom with the tv and where we use our tablets. We don't use them inbetween so there may not be much danger of switching back and forth. It it happens, I guess I can go back the was it was or is now.

I don't really know what making the ssid's the same, but I guess I can figure it out.

Thank you very much. You may have saved me some money.

 

[boosted1g]

Having your own modem over comcast's modem is a decent idea. I paid $55.00 for mine which is cheaper then paying $84 a year in rental fees, but i already had a dedicated router, you would have to buy a both a modem and a router.

If you have wireless internet working form both devices then you must have it configured as an access point correctly. The SSID is the name of the wireless network when you connect and enter your password. You can set both your primary modem/router and your other one to have the same wireless network name and that way your devices will auto-switch to the best signal. You will want to set them to separate wireless channels (think cb radio channels) to prevent interference; you want at least 5 channels sparation, the common channels are 1, 6, 11.