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Switching ISP's. Need some help picking hardware.

minimalist
By minimalist
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Yeah I'm wondering if having them separately is better though.  Also hoping I can get some suggestions from people who know about what's out there.

It is generally better to have them separate, for a number of reasons including:

 

Most modem/router combos i have seen are not that great.

Splitting the devices makes them easier to replace in the event of a failure.

and more.

 

That being said pretty much any of the Motorola Surfboard line of modems are good.

Then just pick a Asus router in your budget and you'll be set.

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So to save money on the monthly fees over the next few years I'm just going to buy my own equipment.  The sales rep told me I'd need a coax modem with DOCSIS 3.0.  My PC will be wired but I will also have AC WiFi on the mobo so I'd like a 802.11ac router to take advantage of that whenever necessary.  Here's the noob stuff.  Do I need a modem and a 802.11ac router?  Is there something affordable that has both?  Should I just hold off on 802.11ac since it's pretty new?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

And I'll be switching from CenturyLink to Cox.  CenturyLink makes me want to punch babies.

 

Edit** I should also mention that Gigabit internet is coming here from at least one provider and hopefully Google Fiber as well in the next year.  

Case: NZXT H500i. Motherboard: Asus Prime Z390-A. CPU: i7 9700k OC @ 5.0GHz. GPU: EVGA 2080 FTW3 CPU Cooler: NZXT X62. Memory: G. Skill Ripjaws 32Gb 3200mhz. Storage: 1TB Samsung 840 EVO SSD /  120GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD  /  WD Caviar Black 3TB / WD Caviar Green 4TB. . PSU: Corsair AX760. Monitor: 2x Acer XB270HU. Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB. Mouse: Corsair Glaive. 

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With my ISP, the modem acts as a wireless router as well

 

Yeah I'm wondering if having them separately is better though.  Also hoping I can get some suggestions from people who know about what's out there.

Case: NZXT H500i. Motherboard: Asus Prime Z390-A. CPU: i7 9700k OC @ 5.0GHz. GPU: EVGA 2080 FTW3 CPU Cooler: NZXT X62. Memory: G. Skill Ripjaws 32Gb 3200mhz. Storage: 1TB Samsung 840 EVO SSD /  120GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD  /  WD Caviar Black 3TB / WD Caviar Green 4TB. . PSU: Corsair AX760. Monitor: 2x Acer XB270HU. Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB. Mouse: Corsair Glaive. 

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Yeah I'm wondering if having them separately is better though.  Also hoping I can get some suggestions from people who know about what's out there.

It is generally better to have them separate, for a number of reasons including:

 

Most modem/router combos i have seen are not that great.

Splitting the devices makes them easier to replace in the event of a failure.

and more.

 

That being said pretty much any of the Motorola Surfboard line of modems are good.

Then just pick a Asus router in your budget and you'll be set.

CPU: i7 3770k @ 4.8Ghz Motherboard: Sabertooth Z77 RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance GPU: GTX 780 Case: Corsair 540 Air Storage: 2x Intel 520 SSD Raid 0 PSU: Corsair AX850 Display(s): 1x 27" Samsung Monitor 3x 24" Asus Monitors Cooling: Swifttech H220 Keyboard: Logitech 710+ Mouse: Logitech G500 Headphones: Sennheiser HD 558 --- Internet: http://linustechtips.com/main/uploads/gallery/album_1107/gallery_12431_1107_23677.png My Setup:  http://linustechtips.com/main/gallery/image/7922-1-rkcf7io/ -- NAS: 3x WD Red 3TB Drives (RAIDZ-1), 5x 750gb Seagate ES HDD(RAIDZ-1), 120gb SSD for caching, OS: FreeNAS --  Server 1: Xeon E3 1275v2, 32GB of RAM, OS: ESXi 5.5 -- Server 2: Xeon E3 1220v2, 32GB of RAM, OS: ESXi 5.5

 

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It is generally better to have them separate, for a number of reasons including:

 

Most modem/router combos i have seen are not that great.

Splitting the devices makes them easier to replace in the event of a failure.

and more.

 

That being said pretty much any of the Motorola Surfboard line of modems are good.

Then just pick a Asus router in your budget and you'll be set.

 

So an 802.11ac Asus router and a Motorola Surfboard modem.  Will those modems work with Gigabit internet?

 

Edit** Nevermind, I keep thinking that Gigabit is 1,000 mbps.  lol  

Case: NZXT H500i. Motherboard: Asus Prime Z390-A. CPU: i7 9700k OC @ 5.0GHz. GPU: EVGA 2080 FTW3 CPU Cooler: NZXT X62. Memory: G. Skill Ripjaws 32Gb 3200mhz. Storage: 1TB Samsung 840 EVO SSD /  120GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD  /  WD Caviar Black 3TB / WD Caviar Green 4TB. . PSU: Corsair AX760. Monitor: 2x Acer XB270HU. Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB. Mouse: Corsair Glaive. 

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So an 802.11ac Asus router and a Motorola Surfboard modem.  Will those modems work with Gigabit internet?

DOCSIS 3.0 is not capable of gigabit internet, so no.

 

As far as i know the top speed of it is ~320mbps.

CPU: i7 3770k @ 4.8Ghz Motherboard: Sabertooth Z77 RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance GPU: GTX 780 Case: Corsair 540 Air Storage: 2x Intel 520 SSD Raid 0 PSU: Corsair AX850 Display(s): 1x 27" Samsung Monitor 3x 24" Asus Monitors Cooling: Swifttech H220 Keyboard: Logitech 710+ Mouse: Logitech G500 Headphones: Sennheiser HD 558 --- Internet: http://linustechtips.com/main/uploads/gallery/album_1107/gallery_12431_1107_23677.png My Setup:  http://linustechtips.com/main/gallery/image/7922-1-rkcf7io/ -- NAS: 3x WD Red 3TB Drives (RAIDZ-1), 5x 750gb Seagate ES HDD(RAIDZ-1), 120gb SSD for caching, OS: FreeNAS --  Server 1: Xeon E3 1275v2, 32GB of RAM, OS: ESXi 5.5 -- Server 2: Xeon E3 1220v2, 32GB of RAM, OS: ESXi 5.5

 

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DOCSIS 3.0 is not capable of gigabit internet, so no.

 

As far as i know the top speed of it is ~320mbps.

 

Oh shit.  So I would need a new modem if I switched to Gigabit?

Case: NZXT H500i. Motherboard: Asus Prime Z390-A. CPU: i7 9700k OC @ 5.0GHz. GPU: EVGA 2080 FTW3 CPU Cooler: NZXT X62. Memory: G. Skill Ripjaws 32Gb 3200mhz. Storage: 1TB Samsung 840 EVO SSD /  120GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD  /  WD Caviar Black 3TB / WD Caviar Green 4TB. . PSU: Corsair AX760. Monitor: 2x Acer XB270HU. Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB. Mouse: Corsair Glaive. 

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Oh shit.  So I would need a new modem if I switched to Gigabit?

If you're in one of the COX areas that are scheduled to get gigabit internet they would pull fiber optics into your house and your cable modem would be irrelevant. You would likely just connect your router into their endpoint in the house and be done with it.

 

The old cable infrastructure is not capable of distributing gigabit internet.

CPU: i7 3770k @ 4.8Ghz Motherboard: Sabertooth Z77 RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance GPU: GTX 780 Case: Corsair 540 Air Storage: 2x Intel 520 SSD Raid 0 PSU: Corsair AX850 Display(s): 1x 27" Samsung Monitor 3x 24" Asus Monitors Cooling: Swifttech H220 Keyboard: Logitech 710+ Mouse: Logitech G500 Headphones: Sennheiser HD 558 --- Internet: http://linustechtips.com/main/uploads/gallery/album_1107/gallery_12431_1107_23677.png My Setup:  http://linustechtips.com/main/gallery/image/7922-1-rkcf7io/ -- NAS: 3x WD Red 3TB Drives (RAIDZ-1), 5x 750gb Seagate ES HDD(RAIDZ-1), 120gb SSD for caching, OS: FreeNAS --  Server 1: Xeon E3 1275v2, 32GB of RAM, OS: ESXi 5.5 -- Server 2: Xeon E3 1220v2, 32GB of RAM, OS: ESXi 5.5

 

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If you're in one of the COX areas that are scheduled to get gigabit internet they would pull fiber optics into your house and your cable modem would be irrelevant. You would likely just connect your router into their endpoint in the house and be done with it.

 

Oh okay.  That makes sense.  I forgot about that.  When I had Verizon Fios they did that.  Thanks so much for your help!

Case: NZXT H500i. Motherboard: Asus Prime Z390-A. CPU: i7 9700k OC @ 5.0GHz. GPU: EVGA 2080 FTW3 CPU Cooler: NZXT X62. Memory: G. Skill Ripjaws 32Gb 3200mhz. Storage: 1TB Samsung 840 EVO SSD /  120GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD  /  WD Caviar Black 3TB / WD Caviar Green 4TB. . PSU: Corsair AX760. Monitor: 2x Acer XB270HU. Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB. Mouse: Corsair Glaive. 

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Yeah I'm wondering if having them separately is better though.  Also hoping I can get some suggestions from people who know about what's out there.

Yes having them separate would be better. I have the modem (very few devices connected to it) and then I have a wireless router which has most of my devices connected to it and I like it much better this way. Plus sometimes your ISP needs to put the modem somewhere in your house where you may not get the best signal or whatever, so what you can do is get a powerline kit and have your router sit somewhere maybe more central in your house, and that powerline will eliminate a long Ethernet cord going from your basement for example to the 3rd floor :P

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