First off I'm illiterate when it comes to this topic. I don't understand the difference between the 3, if I did I could probably figure this out. I have an old Xfinity XB2 gateway that I purchased many years ago when I went with Xfinity, it needs replaced. I have a home network that supports a half dozen streaming TV's, robovacs, and about a dozen other devices in my house. I have phone, internet, and cable and need something that will replace all 3. I really don't want to rent a gateway from Xfinity, I'd rather purchase my own. Problem is I don't know what to buy. Thanks

You're getting 1 device to do all those functions.

A Gateway or Modem is what connects the Cable Company (Xfinity) to your network.
A Router takes the single connection & routes traffic to/from devices within your network.
A Switch connects all the (wired) devices together & manages traffic within the network
A (wifi) Access Point (AP) does the same job as the Switch, but for wireless devices.

In most consumer-grade devices, you will have a "Router" = Gateway+Router+Switch+AP. It will usually have 1 Gateway or Wide Area Network (WAN) 'ethernet' (RJ45 / CAT5/6, etc) port to connect to the internet and then usually a 4 (ethernet) port Switch + Wifi AP. Internet provider specific (cable, fiber, etc) will trade the WAN ethernet port for the connection to that specific service - in your case, Xfinity cable. That's usually called a Modem/router in common slang.

Buy instead of renting, you'll pay for the device many times over by renting.
Xfinity bring-your-own-device

Modem = converts one kind of media to another, e.g. co-ax cable <-> ethernet, or audio tones over a telephonic circuit to a serial RS-232C connection (remember dial-up Internet?) The latter example was commonplace when the former was introduced and the name stuck around.

Router = a device that performs IP (Internet Protocol) routing, Some routers would provide routing of other network protocols, but most of these have been deprecated. IP is the technology that allows a guy in Miami to view Olympic results from France like magic. There is a ton of information on this on the web.

Gateway = either a marketing term for an AIO device (see below) or an obsolete name for a router. In the olden days of the Arpanet, the gateway was the device in your office through which you connected, the term router was reserved for devices internal to the network. As the two devices performed the same function from a technical perspective, the gateway name was dropped by network professionals.

The name lives on in market-speak as something your ISP (Internet Service Provider) installed to connect your home to what evolved as the modern Internet. In practice, most of these are AIO (All In One) that perform the functions of routing, switching, WiFi, and sometimes a modem. Most often these are called routers in this day and age.

I am convinced that mass market providers use uncertain terminology to intentionally confuse their intended customers.

As for what to buy, a search for "Xfinity Gateway" on Amazon turns up a bunch of options. Look for DOCSIS 3.1 (protocol used on the co-ax side), and other features you might want. Models from Netgear, and Arris appear to be adequate. It is also possible to buy separate components to do each function, but this is probably overkill for a typical (non-geek) home user, and will thoroughly confuse tech support should you ever need it.

Maybe with one exception, there is this thing called PoE (Power over Ethernet) a technology that is intended to power devices (like a camera) through their network connection obviating the need for a power cord or battery. I have not seen AIO devices that have PoE ports and a discrete PoE switch may be called for.

Another possible complication is if Xfinity provides you with a "land line." In practice, these days this is an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter) that converts Analog telephone signaling to VoIP that can be carried by an IP network. Most third party AIO devices do not provide such. You can purchase a separate ATA device, or spring for a SIP phone and subscribe to a VoIP provider.

The Xfinity box is a cable modem, router, and wireless access point all in one box.

The modem part takes the signals from the Xfinity’s cable and converts it to signals your network understands and vice versa.

The router is the post office. It assigns addresses to your devices, sorts incoming and outgoing data to and from those devices and the internet.

A wireless access point allows you to connect your devices to your network wirelessly.

As a novice, you need a cable modem and router with a built in wireless access point, aka a WiFi router. Xfinity is upgrading their network to provide higher upload speeds and not all DOCSIS 3.1 modems are compatible. You need to pick one off their approved list for what they call NextGen service.

e benefit of "renting" is any damage* is borne by them.

All firmware upgrades to the system are automatic.

If there are any changes to the network/delivery of signal that requires a newer device, they exchange it at no cost.

Compared to you buying a unit and getting a lightning strike/surge, it simply dies (as electronics are know to do), you have to manage updates to the device (and know how or pay from someone else/spendy). If the a network change requires a new device, you will be buying another device.

All of the second possibilities are yours on day one.

Hint: I was in the IT Bidnizz for nearly 30 years (and still do some support gratis), and I stopped buying my own equipment when it become common for me to obtain admin password(s) and the ability to manage the rented equipment myself.

Consider it about $10 a month insurance policy on cost and hassle.
But you might be able to have them supply you with a new unit for nothing since you have been with them for many years.
Second is if Xfinity offers fiber in your area, you upgrade to that. (You may be surprised that it is actually lower than your current offering).

It's well worth an ask.


*not Hulk smashing it on the floor

Apparently they did away with the list. If you put your address and download speed in in this link: Xfinity approved modems, you’ll get a list of modems approved for the services currently offered in your area. You don’t have to sign in, just enter your address and speed.

Sigmonkey is right, renting theirs may be the way to go. My first hand experience is if you have issues with their service, they will blame your equipment.

Xfinity has significant deals for internet. As Sigmonkey says--you may increase your modem speed, upgrade your modem for a better price. Then , Xfinity will offer you a cell phone deal--free line for 1 year. Xfinity uses Verizon towers--not a bad deal for upgrading your internet.

Here is one twist you might not be aware of. if you rent a gateway from xfinity they will throttle it. Meaning that they can turn down your speed once you have used a certain amount of data.

if anyone in the family does a lot of gaming this is bad.

If you use your own modem with xfinity to get around their ability to throttle you can get hit with an excess data charged. The max charge is $100 a month.

if you stream your tv an only use roku or something similar this could be an issue and actually make renting easier and cheaper.

if you rent their modem, you just buy the unlimited data plan and there is no excess fee.

Architect is close, if I am remembering things correctly.

Modem is short for modulator-demodulator. It takes a digital signal, modulates it to analog audio (the modem screech), then demodulates it back to digital on the other end. Unless the true honest to goodness definition of modem has changed, I'm guessing we haven't used modems in decades. I would expect any signal we get from any of our ISPs are digital, not analog.

A gateway was a protocol converter - e.g., RS-2xx, ISDN, etc. to TCP/IP. There may or may not be a media change (coax to twisted pair).

Router and switch are as described.

Finally, there are media converters - e.g., fiber to twisted pair. The protocol is the same (TCP/IP), it's just going from optical TCP to electrical TCP.

Somehow, marketing got involved and muddied up all of these definitions.

[/THREADDRIFT] [/CRANKYOLDMAN]

I've been fairly lucky with Comcast. The handful of times I had problems, they were not quick to blamy my customer-owned equioment. But it is an easy go-to for them.

I stopped renting the Xfinity modem/router. The initial one I got was brand new and it worked fine for a while (I had the 1 gig plan). Then it stoped working, no problem, they will replace it for free. Had to go to the nearest store where they gave me a used one. It worked for a while then went bad and they gave me another used one (the guy at the counter said that he gets a lot of returns on them). Heaven forbid if you need tech support and have to speak to someone in India (that is if you figure out how to get past the automated help) telling you to unplug and plug in the modem.

I bought a Netgear modem and AX5400 router. It was expensive (If I recall around $700) but I’m close to breaking even with what rental cost is and the cost of not having to hassle with Xfinity is worth even more.

Their app works well but you do need a bit of technical knowledge to get it set up. I am fed up with Xfinity (regular outages) so I am waiting for Ezfiber to ge installed in my neighborhood so I can get 2gigs for less than what I pay Xfinity for 800mbps. AT&T does not offer fiber where I am so Xfinity has the monopoly for now.

Thank you everyone, huge help. When I signed in to my Xfinity account, and look for compatible devices, it only shows 2 choices, other than their gateway, that I can purchase and neither had built in wifi. This is what has me confused, how is it compatible if it doesn't have wifi. If I don't sign in and just enter my address it shows about 8 choices and all have wifi.

quote:

Originally posted by 08 Cayenne:
Thank you everyone, huge help. When I signed in to my Xfinity account, and look for compatible devices, it only shows 2 choices, other than their gateway, that I can purchase and neither had built in wifi. This is what has me confused, how is it compatible if it doesn't have wifi. If I don't sign in and just enter my address it shows about 8 choices and all have wifi.

Lack of WiFI is easily cured with a stand-alone WiFi access point. Offerings from EnGenius and Ubiquiti have been well-regarded in this forum, but the consumer-grade models from NetGear, TP-Link, etc. are probably sufficient. You will probably et better range and performance from a stand-alone AP that with one built into an AIO box.

Compatibility means compatible with signals and protocols Xfinity is using.

The ones that don’t have built in WiFi don’t have routers either, so you can not just use a wireless access point. You can either use a WiFi/router in one box like most people.

Or embrace your inner nerd and learn how to roll your own router/firewall with opnsense/pfsense/wdrt and a separate wireless access point. I have at least 20 hours and $500 in my opnsense router, another $280 in a managed POE++ multi-gigabit switch, and $150 in a wireless access point.

careful with the gateway,

I have an old unit that they (Xfinity) say is slow,

sent me a new gateway that took all of 5 minutes to hook up,

however, it did not have the range of the old one, and it took 2 hrs of chats and phone loops to get customer service to understand and re connect my old one,

next day the phones would not pick up wifi,
another hour, and that was fixed, and got my rate reduced ,

I could have ordered a booster and paid extra for that,
but since my old gateway works fine, no need,



and yes, xfinity has a great deal on a phone, however since my phone is thru verizon business, they were close but not close enough for me to switch,

Sigmonkey is correct. I would just rent it from them. They handle any and all repair and support work.

Rent the network modem, as stated all the benefits of replacement and upgrades are in their hands.

Run a router behind the modem, a Netgear or comparable MESH router especially if you have larger area to cover or flat spots in coverage due to some obstruction.

https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/mesh/

That's where I put my money, even though the ATT router has decent coverage I run a MESH behind it.

I own an up to date modem where I'd not compromise on anything.

I rent my equipment.

Just reiterating my poor experience with renting. Yes, they replace equipment when it goes bad but you will get used equipment and have to deal with their customer support. I got sick of it after getting modem/routers that would not work or could not get the speed I was paying for.

My Netgear modem and router was expensive but their customer support is top notch and I have had no need to try out their warranty. I have used other equipment of theirs in the past (network switch) and when it went bad they overnighted a replacement.

I hate Xfinity, their customer service has to be the worst I have ever seen. Ezekiel fiber is coming to my area and I cannot wait to move away from Xfinity.

If you're out in the country I'd move to star link anyhow.