Cable Modem suggestions for 300mbit service

[Demonic Donut]

I'm switching companies to Comcast/Xfinity from CenturyLink so I can get better speeds and prices. I'd like to just purchase my own modem instead of paying for a rental and am looking for suggestions.

 

I only need a modem as I have a Unifi gigabit switch and access points already. The max speed I can get in my neighborhood is only 300mbit so I don't need the latest and greatest. I'd just like a decent modem in the (hopefully) $100-$150 US range. Less is better, I'm looking for bang for the buck. Something with good hardware that isn't overkill.

 

I'm just starting to look into different modems, and this is a new thing for me. It seems like 16x4 channel is the minimum I'd want and could go with something cheap like a Motorola MB7420 or an Asus CM-16. Some articles I'm reading are saying that higher is better (32x8) even though they are rated well above the speeds I can get.

 

So I'm turning to you, oh great networking gurus. What is a realistic modem to aim for?

[Skiiwee29]

You should look at their approved modem list to ensure you will get proper support. Otherwise, they may tell you you're SOL if you call for help/troubleshoot since its customer owned and not supported. 

 

https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/list-of-approved-cable-modems

 

That out of the way, 16x4 is the minimum you should do, but also depends on how they have there CMTS configured. Do they support OFDM? How many downstream channels do they offer? 16, 24, 32? The more the better and you should get the maximum they support as they could have multiple wideband channels to support multiple different groups. (I configure CMTS's for a living so very knowledgeable in this area) OFDM is available upstream as well, but have yet to see it in use, only on the downstream side. 

 

Personally I have a Spectrum modem, a TG1602A which by default is only a 16x modem, but Spectrum has a custom firmware they use on it to allow 24x4. 

[badlou101]

I would recommend this and a Protectli Vault (its way overkill but works well)

[Donut417]

6 hours ago, Demonic Donut said:

What is a realistic modem to aim for?

Go Docsis 3.1. Yes it supports speeds way faster but at some point in the future Comcast might start removing modems from its support list and you could be forced to upgrade at that point. Also in some areas Comcast has 5 or more upstream channels because their upstream is getting too congested. 

 

I just upgraded to the CM1000 recently and its been pretty ok. It should support up to 940 Mbps so I have plenty of room for expansion. I would also like to mention Comcast has a habit of upgrading service tiers nearly yearly or at least every two or so years. Meaning that 300 Mbps could become 400 at any point. The 300 Mbps service used to be 200 Mbps as of last year.