Buying a Home Modem/Router for my Parents.

[Windows7ge]

In order to step up my parents home network infrastructure and to knock a few dollars off their monthly bill I want to implement a new modem/router.

However in the consumer space I don't have much experience with consumer gear so I don't know what has a good WebUI, feature support, etc.

So I'm asking for recommendations.

 

This is the ISP's Supported Router List. How important it is to stick to this list, I'm uncertain.

 

What the router needs:

Support for DOCSIS 3.0 or higher.

1Gbit LAN port (pretty standard today)

The WAN needs to be coax.

Support for analog phone connection as the existing unit has RJ-11 ports and my parents use it.

Port Forwarding (I think that's a standard but I should mention it regardless)

Ability to shrink the DHCP pool, reserve IP's

 

What it doesn't need:

4 switch ports. It will be plugged into a dedicated switch.

Wi-Fi, I plan on implementing a Unifi AP solution. (consumer gear, it'll probably come with it anyways)

 

All of you I think may be able to give helpful input:

@brwainer @beersykins @leadeater @mynameisjuan @Lurick

 

There's no real price range or limit that I'm going for. Just don't throw down a CISCO-1941 and a coax expansion adapter. I'm not spending that much.

[mynameisjuan]

When it comes to cable I highly suggest a modem and router. Cable combos seem to be very hit and miss. However, this is more expensive. Any cheap consumer modem will do. Netgear is your best bet in terms of modems. Then put that in bridge mode and just let it do modem things. Modems dont really fail at all as their software at this point is solid no matter the brand. It only has a layer 1 job. 

 

Modem/router combos bug out all the time because the router software tends to suck dick and is what ultimately causes it to spaz out and lockup or reboot. 

 

Now if you plan on going Unifi later on you might as well get a small edge router and use it as the controller because if you have more than one AP you will NEED a controller anyway. So two birds with one stone. 

 

While I am and engineer for an ISP I mostly work with DSL and fiber so I am not very familiar with cable modems, but I do work with them occasionally with resale accounts and they are very similar to DSL modems. 

 

I hope it helps, at least a little. 

[brwainer]

I recommend a separate modem and router, not any combo unit. For modems I always recommend Arris SurfBoard - basically go to Amazon or any other tech place and buy whatever model of "Arris SBxxxx" Spectrum lists for your internet tier (maybe buy one level up for some upgrade proof-ness). Stay away from the "Arris SBGxxxx" because those the combined router units.

 

For router, good choices are a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite, Unifi USG since you say you'll do Unifi wireless eventually anyway (the 3 port version is fine), or Mikrotik hEX (RB750Gr3)

 

EDIT: I've just noticed your requirement for a modem with a RJ-11 (POTS) terminal. None of these are available for consumer purchase. However when you inform Spectrum that you wish to use your own modem, they should provide you an MTA (Multimedia Terminal Adaptor, basically a modem with the ethernet and USB ports disabled) for free.

[Windows7ge]

1 hour ago, mynameisjuan said:

Now if you plan on going Unifi later on you might as well get a small edge router and use it as the controller because if you have more than one AP you will NEED a controller anyway. So two birds with one stone. 

I do plan on setting up more than 1. 2 actually. One issue we're having is even when we have about 2~3 bar of signal strength the Wi-Fi will just "NOPE! *disconnect & disappear*". However this is only experienced during specific times of day and when about 3+ clients are on the Wi-Fi so I think it's a transmitter issue not signal integrity issue. Regardless the signal starts getting scarce near the corners of the home so this will solve that.

 

1 hour ago, mynameisjuan said:

While I am and engineer for an ISP I mostly work with DSL and fiber so I am not very familiar with cable modems

I wish FTTH was an option but they live in a fairly rural area. A small town where the next closest towns are a number of miles either direction so chances are the closest they have is FTTN. The cabinet they connect to is just a giant coax splitter. I saw the guy opening it when the cable was originally laid. Coax actually only became an option about 5 or so years ago. Up until then, DSL T2/T3 was the best we had.

 

21 minutes ago, brwainer said:

I've just noticed your requirement for a modem with a RJ-11 (POTS) terminal. None of these are available for consumer purchase. However when you inform Spectrum that you wish to use your own modem, they should provide you an MTA (Multimedia Terminal Adaptor, basically a modem with the ethernet and USB ports disabled) for free.

This is one of the things that made me hesitate to just go out and try to figure this out on my own, because I've never seen a consumer purchasable modem/router with built-in analog phone. I'll have to bring this up either over the phone or at the store front they have in a nearby city. Pick it up. If for whatever reason they say they have to rent it out it seems they're not that expensive online. Activating it will be a learning experience unless it's PnP.

 

So far it's unanimous. Separate modem & router. I was thinking of how I was going to run the 2 AP's. I considered using the cloudkey but I knew I could just download the software and run it on a box or in a VM instead (save ~$100). If we can have a Unifi router pull double-duty then that simplifies things.

[mynameisjuan]

18 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

I do plan on setting up more than 1. 2 actually. One issue we're having is even when we have about 2~3 bar of signal strength the Wi-Fi will just "NOPE! *disconnect & disappear*". However this is only experienced during specific times of day and when about 3+ clients are on the Wi-Fi so I think it's a transmitter issue not signal integrity issue. Regardless the signal starts getting scarce near the corners of the home so this will solve that.

Yeah something is bugging out on the current wireless. I see it on all but enthusiast or enterprise equipment. Hell even our mikrotiks we deploy do it randomly. No explanation why. Ubiquiti will fix it no problem. 

 

18 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

I wish FTTH was an option but they live in a fairly rural area. A small town where the next closest towns are a number of miles either direction so chances are the closest they have is FTTN. The cabinet they connect to is just a giant coax splitter. I saw the guy opening it when the cable was originally laid. Coax actually only became an option about 5 or so years ago. Up until then, DSL T2/T3 was the best we had.

That sucks. Give it time, we are still pumping out fiber to our DSL customers but man its taking quite a bit of man power to get it all ran. I hope in 5 years copper and cable are no more. Its such a shit platform for customers. 

 

1 hour ago, brwainer said:

For router, good choices are a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite, Unifi USG since you say you'll do Unifi wireless eventually anyway (the 3 port version is fine), or Mikrotik hEX (RB750Gr3)

Ubiquiti - yes

Mikrotik - no

 

Mikrotik is our main consumer deployment with hAP ac 2's and CSR's in businesses. But two reason why I dont recommend them:

1 - Unless you are willing to spend literal weeks learning the interface, security, rules, queues, firewall...etc... its not worth it. Even for the amount of features and power you get from them. I have been using them for 2 years and am still learning more each day.

2 - Ubiquiti APs and Mikrotiks do not play nicely, more so due to the lack of controller on the mikrotik side. If you go Ubiquiti, you gooooo Ubiquiti throughout. 

[brwainer]

3 hours ago, mynameisjuan said:

Now if you plan on going Unifi later on you might as well get a small edge router and use it as the controller because if you have more than one AP you will NEED a controller anyway. So two birds with one stone. 

I’ve never heard of being able to run the Unifi controller on a router, be it an EdgeRouter or anything else. I know EdgeRouter is really a spinoff of VyOS and thus you might be able to manually load the JAR for unifi onto it, but is that an officially supported option?

 

EDIT: did some research and couldn’t find any instances of the Unifi controller running on an EdgeRouter, and many posts from people saying it can’t be done (mainly for reasons of limited RAM, and the CPU being MIPS based). I also know from experience that the USG won’t run the controller either.

[leadeater]

1 hour ago, brwainer said:

I’ve never heard of being able to run the Unifi controller on a router, be it an EdgeRouter or anything else. I know EdgeRouter is really a spinoff of VyOS and thus you might be able to manually load the JAR for unifi onto it, but is that an officially supported option?

 

EDIT: did some research and couldn’t find any instances of the Unifi controller running on an EdgeRouter, and many posts from people saying it can’t be done (mainly for reasons of limited RAM, and the CPU being MIPS based). I also know from experience that the USG won’t run the controller either.

Doesn't run on EdgeRouter, Unifi is a totally separate product line on a different software base.

 

For ease of use and integration with other Ubnt products that might be used in the home stick to Unifi products, they can all be managed from the control software. Just get a Cloud Key.

 

Did an install at a friends place and used Cloud Key, Unifi PoE switch and 3 UAP-AC Pros. Nice setup and never had any issues with it, easily manageable remotely. Technically it was a friends parents place. We're planning on add a USG later, not that later hasn't already passed though but later later .

 

@Windows7ge

Basically all the advice already given above, separate cable only modem going to something that isn't junk.

[Windows7ge]

@brwainer @mynameisjuan @leadeater

Alright. So, taking your thoughts into consideration and combining it when what sounds like a reasonable budget I'm at this point on equipment decisions:

Router - USG-US (open to debate)

AP Manager - UC-CK

AP's - UAP-AC-LITE-US (open to debate)

 

For the modem I have come to two possible options that cost about the same:

ARRIS SURFboard SB6190

NETGEAR CM600

Any experience with them? Preferences?

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, Windows7ge said:

@brwainer @mynameisjuan @leadeater

Alright. So, taking your thoughts into consideration and combining it when what sounds like a reasonable budget I'm at this point on equipment decisions:

Router - USG-US (open to debate)

AP Manager - UC-CK

AP's - UAP-AC-LITE-US (open to debate)

 

For the modem I have come to two possible options that cost about the same:

ARRIS SURFboard SB6190

NETGEAR CM600

Any experience with them? Preferences?

The SB6190 has a design flaw and should be avoided like the plague. Actually any modem with the Puma 6 chip should be avoided. The issue has been going on for years with a promises for a fix that never really happen. Its so bad that Arris is getting sued over it. So if you need a 32 channel downstream modem your going to need Docsis 3.1 if you want one worth a shit. 

 

I have heard the CM600 is good and have seen it suggested. 

[Windows7ge]

30 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

So if you need a 32 channel downstream modem your going to need Docsis 3.1 if you want one worth a shit. 

I'm looking to hook them up with something that's not trash but doesn't break the bank. DOCSIS3.0 or higher is required for the plan they pay for so if there's a consumer level mid-high range 3.0 unit (like the Netgear) then that's what I'll order if it's mutually agreed that it's a decent unit.

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, Windows7ge said:

I'm looking to hook them up with something that's not trash but doesn't break the bank. DOCSIS3.0 or higher is required for the plan they pay for so if there's a consumer level mid-high range 3.0 unit (like the Netgear) then that's what I'll order if it's mutually agreed that it's a decent unit.

Yeah the CM600 or the SB6183 are the ones I see suggested all the time. Either one would work. The CM600 is about $90 on Amazon right now. Then you just need a decent router.