Question regarding "mbps" with ISP, routers, and modems.

[CastleRice]

I've just moved into a new apartment and I'm setting up a new network. I bought the 50 mbps package from Comcast after doing some research and figuring out that I wouldn't need more than 50 mbps to do online gaming, video streaming, etc. along with 2 other room mates. However, while I've been doing some router and modem shopping, I come across specs talking about speeds reaching 1300 mbps AC + 450 mbps N bands for a total of 1750 mbps? I see all this talk and specs about such high mbps numbers, yet I'm told I won't need to spend money on more than a 50 mbps connection. If I'm only getting 50 mbps from my ISP, then what's the point of buying these routers and modems that support numbers seriously higher than what I'm paying for, which, surprisingly, seems to be the usual for most residential users.

I'm looking at the ASUS RT-AC66U Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router and ARRIS / Motorola SurfBoard SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem

For a total of about $200, would this combo squeeze the most out of what I'm paying for with my internet package? Also, can someone explain how all the mbps stuff works?

Thanks a bunch! (Not a frequent poster in the forums, so my mistake if I made any errors in forum posting formality)

 

[xCarrotz]

The amount of Mbps that the router box states is what the router can handle not the download speed you will actually get. Your download speed will also depend on the distance from your router to the local IXP (internet exchange point) and also the distance from the IXP to the ISP.
Mbps (mega bit per second) is the rate at which downloads are measured, an example of this would be if your download speed was downloading a 100mb file in roughly 2-3 seconds you would have a 50mbps download speed. Dial-up is a lot slower at around 54kbps which is roughly 54kb per second (bytes not bits), ADSL is the most common with speeds ranging from around 100kbps all the way to 75-100mbps depending on if your are using fibre optic or not!

hope this helps!

 

[abailey]

Also there are other reasons for home networks besides connecting to the internet. If you have a home media server, copy files between computers at home or have a NAS device, security cameras, etc. then you may benefit from a router that can do more than 50Mb/s. If your only reason for having a home network is to get internet connection, then you do not need equipment that has speeds in access of what your internet line speed is.

 

[digitaldoc]

It is funny how far things have come. A few short years ago, "Only 50 mbps" would never had been said!

That speed should be more than adequate.