I don't speak the technical language very fluently and therefore about the only thing I know is it either works or does not. Our ISP is offering to upgrade my speed from 20MBPS to 30MBPS. I have long been having trouble with buffering of streaming sources. The ISP folks are telling me this should solve the problem. But to do the upgrade I need a new modem compatible with their system they say. Costs is $200 they say. No I say to the ISP rep on the phone.

It struck me as way out of line for a modem. Am I wrong here? Of course the ISP provider says they will give it to me for $15 for a month and if it solves my buffering problems I can call back ask for a sales rep and they will work out a discount. If it does not solve my issues to send it back put the old modem back in and go back to my original speed. So it's on the way and if i can fumble through the install we will see if it works.

I'd tell them to replace the 20Mbps modem first.

I just buy myself - for Comcast I found out what they use and bought an equivalent.

$200 is fairly expensive for a residential modem. I finally had enough of Xfinity and bought my own modem and router about 2 years ago. My modem is an Arris 6183 that cost about $70. It is not gigabit capable but handles up to 600 mbps just fine. I don't have gigabit available currently, anyways. That is for modem-only, not a combo modem and router. Roiters are another $50-100 or so... maybe you have a combo and that's why its closer to $200.

The ISPs do however have certain modems that they prefer... at one point I had to hook up their modem to start a service and to register on their network and once it was done, I could replace it with mine.

Regardless, your speed going from 20 to 30 mbps shouldn't affect streaming video. You only need about 4-5 mbps to stream HD video. There is something else going on. Perhaps something is bottlenecking your speed, maybe there are multiple devices on the network,... ?

The ISP's website should list compatible modems that you can buy yourself. Most will be less than $200, I would bet.

I know this is of little help but...
I searched for internet modems on Amazon just now and sorted the results by price. About 6 were 200 or more out of 36 results so it is possible they are not trying to rip you off.

Just this year I ask about a speed bump on my service. I had 100Mb with fiber optic to the house. They bumped me to 200Mb and gave me a new Docsis 3.1 Modem (current standard) for free no questions ask. Monthly bill remains the same.

Just curious, what actual speed does speedtest return for your current service?

Who's your provider? Sometimes they will list compatible cable modems, if so you could look them up and compare prices.


I'm a somewhat skeptical that a new modem would solve your buffering issues. It depends a little on what you're streaming and what your current modem supports. You might be on the outer edge for ultra HD.

From: What is a good broadband speed for streaming?
For Netflix, the minimum speed required is about 3Mbps for standard streaming and 5Mbps for HD. If it’s Ultra HD you’re after, you typically need at least 15Mbps for YouTube, while it’s 25Mbps for Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, if you want to avoid buffering.


In my opinion if your modem is really old (like 10+ years), there's a good chance that it would need to be replaced for higher speeds. If you can figure out what version of DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) your current modem supports, that might help a little.

• DOCSIS 3.0 (2006/2007) supports 200 Mbps up / 1 Gbps down
  
• DOCSIS 3.1 (2013/2014) supports 1 Gbps up / 10 Gbps down
  

Those numbers are far above what you're currently getting.


If your modem doesn't support at least DOCSIS 3.0, I'd start looking to upgrade. If it does, I'd be tempted to press your provider a bit (as long as that modem is still supported by your provider) because the modem w/ 3.0 should certainly be able to support faster download speeds than you have.

quote:

Regardless, your speed going from 20 to 30 mbps shouldn't affect streaming video.

I brought this up to the rep on the phone as well. When they installed the service probably five years ago the tech then said we should be able to stream anything no problem at the current speed. It's just the wife and I here so no kids gaming no three or four tv's streaming at the same time. Just one tv and one lap top and the wife is on her phone. We stream AT&T Now, Pluto TV and Amazon Prime. They all have issues at times with Amazon seemingly to be the least problematic.

Me ,not being tech savvy it seems a chase you're tail game. Is buffering due to you're ISP choking you back at times or are the apps servers not sufficient for the traffic they get. The ISP will tell you they never choke back their service and the app providers will tell you everything is fine on their end and check with you're ISP.

I'm doubtful this new speed and modem is going to resolve my issue.

If you are looking for newer upgraded modems for different modems, always check Craigslist first! Since many modems are proprietary to the provider, when people change providers (which is very often) they sell their previous provider's modems and equipment for CHEAP since it's wont work with their new service. Generally it is < 1-2 years old and is in perfect working order.

It might fix it, but not because they bump you to 30mbps.
20mbps should be plenty for 2 streams if everything is working as it should. Hell, I stream on 4mbps.

It could be your modem/router choking, could be a device on your network, could be the client (doubtful, since you said it happens on multiple devices.

Go to speedtest.net (or get app of same name). run it multiple times on each device & see if it is giving you similar numbers for ping, DL & UL. Try wired & wireless and report what you find.

I'll play the odds & bet that when you are getting buffering, a reboot of the modem/router fixes is for a while. WE'd need to know models & other info to go further.

Going from 20 to 30 MBPS?

Is this a cable modem or DSL modem? Serious question, because everyone is answering your question assuming it's cable, but in my experience most people running that slow and being asked by the provider to upgrade modems are on DSL. So, is it phone line or coax cable coming in to your house? Who's your ISP?

No disrespect meant, just asking.

Do you have an alternative carrier?

Do you have good cellular service, bump your data to unlimited, and see what they charge to get a hotspot for the house, ATT charges, Verizon includes the hot spot on your phone, so you could use a phone as a hot spot for Internet access.

quote:

Originally posted by Xer0:
If you are looking for newer upgraded modems for different modems, always check Craigslist first! Since many modems are proprietary to the provider, when people change providers (which is very often) they sell their previous provider's modems and equipment for CHEAP since it's wont work with their new service. Generally it is < 1-2 years old and is in perfect working order.

Ahem, or in the classifieds of this forum.

$200 for a cable modem is too expensive. $200 for a DSL modem might be OK, depending on the model. A lot of DSL modems are bundled together with the router. Not sure why, but that seems to be the way things go.

I would also never pay a monthly fee to the ISP to rent equipment. Just front the money to buy your own equipment, buying it for less than MSRP through whatever sale you might find or even buying used, and just pocket the monthly savings. Over a period of 8 years I might be expected to purchase two new modems to get the latest and greatest features and speeds. 96 monthly payments of $15 or even $6 a month over those 96 months will buy LOTS of modems.

quote:

Originally posted by stoic-one:
Is this a cable modem or DSL modem? Serious question, because everyone is answering your question assuming it's cable, but in my experience most people running that slow and being asked by the provider to upgrade modems are on DSL. So, is it phone line or coax cable coming in to your house? Who's your ISP?

Good point. My post above made the assumption that he was using a cable modem.

I'm guessing this is DSL? It's a phone line coming into the house going to the modem/router. The location of the modem router is in a back bedroom of the house but only a single wall separates the main tv from the modem. At one point I thought maybe the modem being located in the back bedroom was the problem. I purchased a wifi booster/extender from my ISP provider and installed that but the same buffering problem exists. It's hard to put your'e finger on the problem which could be by design.

Is speed the problem, the modem/router, ISP choking me back or the Apps servers? My guess is either the ISP is choking back at times in which case it will never change or the App providers servers are insufficient to handle the traffic at times which also most likely never change regardless what I do on my end.

Have you run a speed test to get a baseline? So you know what you currently have and can gauge any performance change with any upgrades.

https://www.speedtest.net

There's a difference between raw potential speed and the speed of the websites your loading. Some websites might be slow to begin with.

Plus if you have an ethernet connection at the modem \ router you can compare that speed to any wireless \ wifi speeds. I'd check what you actually, currently have for internet speed first.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
Have you run a speed test to get a baseline? So you know what you currently have and can gauge any performance change with any upgrades.

https://www.speedtest.net

There's a difference between raw potential speed and the speed of the websites your loading. Some websites might be slow to begin with.

Plus if you have an ethernet connection at the modem \ router you can compare that speed to any wireless \ wifi speeds. I'd check what you actually, currently have for internet speed first.

Here's the results.
Ping ms 23
Download mbps 17.82
Upload mbps 1.51

What all that translates to I'll need a interpreter
Oh this is wifi

I bought this cable modem for $39 and this wireless router for $84 almost 4 years ago and they are still going strong. I have spectrum and they were charging me $10 monthly for renting their modem/router combo which gave me endless problems. The break-even on paying their rental vs buying my own was 1 year. This setup is faster and works much more reliably than what I was renting.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
Have you run a speed test to get a baseline?
So you know what you currently have and can gauge any performance change with any upgrades.

Here's the results.
Ping ms 23
Download mbps 17.82
Upload mbps 1.51

What all that translates to I'll need a interpreter
Oh this is Wi-Fi

NEVER ever do testing of this nature via WiFi.
You need to test WiFi independently as a test from the client to the AP.
Test should start at the modem/router with Ethernet Cable.


^^^ those speeds and not great by todays standard but it depends on what you paid for vs what if any physical limitations (distance is the usual inhibitor but can vary if cable aka Comcast, etc by time of day with other user saturation).