Which modem router should i buy

The Google router system also has network assist technology to ensure a strong signal from point to point. The biggest advantage to a mesh system like this is that if you need more coverage, you can always get more points to extend it further.

The network can be as large as you really need it to be. Serious gamers need a router that is made for more than just browsing. The XR is a horizontal router, so it will not stand up even if you want it to, so keep that in mind if it is a factor for you.

The design is sleek, modern black with four high performance antennas that can help you direct the Wi-Fi signal specifically where you want it to go. You will also get four 1-Gigabit Ethernet ports, giving you lag-free, wired connectivity where you need it the most throughout the network. The XR also comes with some advanced security features.

This includes a secure gaming VPN server, which can be good to help keep you anonymous. It has been optimized to give you the lowest ping possible for any online game that you might be playing, including Call of Duty, Overwatch, Fortnite, and many others. The XR is there to help you even down to the last millisecond by using geo-filtering to connect to the closest servers.

This will give you a great edge over anyone that you might be playing online. Taking a look at the speeds of the XR, you will see that it is fast, delivering fast speeds up to 2. It also comes with a QoS feature will let you bypass network congestion and reduce any potential for interruptions by other devices on your network. This is a dual-band router, so you will get to work with both the 2. This router has faster speeds, greater capacity, and reduced network congestion than many of the other routers that you will find on the market.

In fact, it has received one of the highest customer satisfaction awards that you can get. It is a Wi-Fi 6 router as well. Starting with its design, the AX20 router is a horizontal router. It has four high gain antennas that come out the back. The antennas can be positioned to point in the direction that needs the fastest signal possible.

Unfortunately, the router also is large in size and will need to be kept in a well ventilated area so that it does not wind up overheating. Another design feature that you will get with this router is that it comes with 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports. That means that you will be able connect whatever devices that need a stable connection, like a gaming console or HDTV. Moving on to the performance of this router, you will find that you will get next generation speeds.

In fact, it can reach speeds up to 1. That means that you will be able to stream, game, download, and even do video conferencing without lags or buffering.

The router also provides 4K streaming to further ensure that you will not have any unfortunate lags to deal with while streaming. Additionally, with the AX20 you will be able to connect more devices than with previous generations. The router does use Wi-Fi 6 technology to communicate more data to more devices simultaneously. Another great choice for a router for Comcast is the Linksys MR This router uses the latest wireless technology out on the market, which is Wi-Fi 6, so it really will give you the best speeds possible.

Looking at its design, the MR is square, but it is large in both height and width, so you can expect it to take up quite a bit of room wherever you have it placed. Even though it is large, the vents for the router are located at the top, bringing in cool air and keeping your router from overheating. It would still be good to keep it in a ventilated location. The MR comes with four 1-Gigabit Ethernet ports.

These ports are ideal for HDTVs, gaming consoles, and home computers. There is also a USB port that will allow you to share either a printer or use a storage device that can be accessed throughout the network.

Taking a look its performance, the MR is a Wi-Fi 6 standard router, which is the latest standard out on the market. Using the Wi-Fi 6, the MR can reach speeds up to 1. The router supports over 20 connected devices at a time. This means that most, if not all, of your home devices can be online simultaneously without any kind of slowdown or lag. It will work with the Linksys Mesh system as well, so you can expand the range of the router to meet your networks needs if it comes to that.

One of our favourite routers that we have found for Comcast is the Gryphon AC The Gryphon has a white casing and is an upright tower design, which means it will stay cooler and have better longevity. The antennas are all hidden internally, so while you cannot move them around, they are high-gain and still have a great range to work with. This means that if you have any IoT devices, it will actively prevent breeches from them as well, which is nice since they are often forgot about with malware.

The router is also easy to setup so you will not need to worry about a learning curve. You should be very happy with the performance of the Gryphon AC It is is a tri-band router. The router can also act like a mesh system and can extend as far as you need it to if you add on more points. With just one Gryphon router, you can get up to 3, square feet in coverage, but you can always take advantage of the mesh capabilities for more.

The router also has good traffic control as well as 4x4 MU-MIMO technology, making it easier for more than one user to stream simultaneously on different devices. It does have antenna Beamforming as well to help your signal extend as far as it can. When shopping for a router, you will come across the decision whether to you want to buy a modem and router as two separate units, or if you would rather have a combo unit, where the two devices are contained in one unit.

There are advantages to either choice. The amount of devices that you have connected to your router should be a factor to take into consideration when shopping for a router for Xfinity. Some routers can only accommodate a couple of devices at a time and others can handle 30 or even 50 connected at once. You should secure your router with a password with the latest available encryption standard, which is probably WPA2 or WPA3, depending on the age of your router.

Read here for more on router security best practices. If you need more LAN ports than the router has, you can expand the number available by adding an Ethernet switch, which is sort of like a power strip that adds open Ethernet ports.

Quality of Service QoS Also called media prioritization or traffic control. For example, you can change the settings to work best for streaming videos, making Skype calls, playing games, or streaming music. App-Based Management Accompanying almost every new router are apps meant to simplify the task of setting up and making adjustments to your WiFi network.

The apps make it easier than before to monitor which devices are connected to your network and adjust which devices get priority. These apps can also alert you when an update is available for your router.

We respect your privacy. All email addresses you provide will be used just for sending this story. Sign In. Become a Member. Remember Me. Any new modem you buy should have at least 16 downstream channels; anything less is probably either old or underpowered.

Some of the most important things you can learn about a modem are its upload and download speeds — and yet, somehow, these always gets shoved about halfway down the page on a retailer's or manufacturer's website. You'll see descriptors like "up to Mbps" completely devoid of context. First off, whatever you see advertised is always a download speed, never an upload speed. So if a modem advertises a speed of 1 gigabit, that means it can pull up to 1, Mbps from your ISP.

Upload speeds tend to be much slower — somewhere in the neighborhood of one-quarter the download speed. Remember the discussion earlier about downstream versus upstream channels. All the high speeds may seem tempting, but remember: You can't draw more data than you pay for from your ISP. If your modem is capable of pulling 1. Buying an extremely fast modem is more about future-proofing your setup than pushing it to its limits, unless you're willing to spend a tremendous amount of money on a monthly plan.

Also, remember that "Mbps" means "megabits per second," not "megabytes per second. If you subscribe to a Mbps plan, your maximum download speed will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 megabytes per second. That's fast, but you're not going to get a gigabyte game or an enormous cache of photos in mere minutes.

The last thing you'll have to check is whether your modem is compatible with your ISP. Most modems are compatible with any cable company, but some aren't. Big companies like Comcast and Cox support just about anything, but smaller networks may not. There's no hard-and-fast reason for this; it's just the way it is.

Cable companies run enormous networks, and they want to be percent certain that a product is compatible before they authorize it for use. While the letters in Wi-Fi performance show off the technology your router uses, the numbers are there to be big and make you think one router is better than another.

They represent theoretically how much data your router could transfer per second if it were using its max number of channels. A router with AC and below has only single-band technology one 2. Choosing a router and modem combo is super easy once you know what to look for. Support the speeds you need, follow the good reviews, and select a style you like. To learn more about our research and methodologies, read our How We Rank page.

There are many models of modems and routers combined in one device. Be sure to get one that can support the speed of your internet plan.

You need both a modem and a router for home Wi-Fi. The modem is essential to get your internet signal from your internet service provider, and the router sends the internet signal as Wi-Fi throughout your home. To learn more about the differences, read our article on modems vs. We recommend buying your own modem and router if saving money is your priority.

But when you combine both devices in one, but it can be hard to keep up on the latest technology. If you want the fastest tech, you should buy a separate modem and router. The technology is different, but it serves the same purpose. SVG Icons. Best overall. View on Amazon Read full review. By Rachel Oaks Share Jul 7, Should you get a cable modem and router combo?

Top cable modem and routers. Future-proofed for longevity Backward compatible to work with old technology.