Modem Channel Bonding Question 16 x 4 versus 8 x 4 Benefits vs Cost

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Hi All!
We've decided to ditch the rental modem/router from the cable company (Wide Open West) and buy a separate modem and router. I've studied all I can find, but am still wondering if it is worth the extra expense to us to get a 16 x 4 modem versus an 8 x 4 channel. There are many of both on the ISP approved modem list.

Our current internet speed is 30 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbs upstream. The ISP said that they are phasing out the 30/5 in favor of 100 Mbs down and I think they said 5 up. We don't imagine we'd ever got to the next tier which is 1 Gbps downstream.

In use, the modem may have to handle one person streaming on a 720p television while the other is on the internet doing intensity-of-low use things (like reading Mac-Forums!). Or, we may both be streaming, if we ever get another television. Upstream, the most intensive item is my off-site backup service, and it's pretty quick about doing its job and stopping.

I've read so many articles saying that having a 16 x 4 is beneficial, even if you have slower internet like ours. Other articles say it is not beneficial. I apologize, but the articles that mac-Forums' search showed came back as invalid links when I clicked them, so I couldn't read those.

Is there any benefit if I buy a 16 x4 modem or would a 8 x 4 be sufficient, even if we move to 100 Mbps?

Also, is there a particular brand that works well with Mac, or are they all equal?
While I'm thinking of it, do you have any WiFi router brand & feature tips to share? (I haven't gotten too deep into router studying yet. Still stalled on modem choice.)

Thanks For Your Advice! I appreciate it greatly!

Paul
 

chscag

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My own experience regarding modem-routers is that when we opted for faster download\upload speeds, our ISP technician came out and removed the current modem-router we had and installed a newer one. I asked him why that was necessary and he explained that the faster speeds required a different unit that could handle the newer faster connection.

My advice would be to buy a modem-router that you can use in the future if you should ever decide to go with a faster internet connection.
 

krs


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When I still had cable internet, the cable modem provided was a TC4300E.
There were 8 downstream channels active and 3 of the upstream channels active, the service we had as 50/10
Doing speed tests we sould consistently get a bit better than 50/10 during non-peak hours, but in the early evening the speeds would just drop, sometimes so bad that speed test would not even run.
But that had nothing to do with the modem.
As I understand it, the TC4300E is supposed to support up to ateast 125Mb/s down, but I have no idea if it requires 16 channels for that.
I never looked at the technical aspect of a cable modem.

As far as Mac compatibility is concerned, I think they are all equal - none work better or worse with a Mac.

However, I would not recommend the TC4300 because it uses a Puma chip set with a bug that causes additional latency occasionally.
Probably not an issue for your present use, but if you ever get into on-line gaming, this becomes a problem.

For routers I went with a brand name that includes the AC band.
What to get depends a bit on the area you want to cover - I bought a D-Link AC 1200 basically because it was on sale and included AC 1200 speeds.
Worked fine for me and gave me the coverage I needed.
 
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Thanks Chscag & Krs. I appreciate your information.

It looks then, based on what you both mentioned, that 8 x 4 will be OK for us since the fastest we will ever subscribe to is 100 Mbps and 8 x 4 has a theoretical maximum of 343 Mbps (according to a Linksys article). Did I understand correctly?

Thanks Again,
Paul
 
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Your modem will rarely be a bottleneck based on the "speed of the pipes" within the modem. It's usually a bottleneck when it's running older protocols and can't perform with the newer standards that may come out. As long as it's upgradeable, or at least, runs the latest protocols your ISP is using for your internet plan/speed, you should be fine. Super fast modems are like "HD TV Antennas" in my mind.
 
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Thanks XJ-linux for the explanation.

Based on your explanation, it sounds like an 8 x 4 will be fine for us at 30 Mbps and possibly 100 Mbps in the future.
I'll be sure to see if it is on the ISP approved list.

The ISP tech support said if the modem is on their list under the column for the speed we will use, they can update the firmware to ensure it runs the protocols they use. (it sure was a challenge getting to a tech who knew what I was asking!) I'll shop in their 100 Mbps column, since we may eventually get that speed when they phase out the 30 Mbps tier. Their next tier is 1 Gbps, and we will never buy that speed because it's really expensive. Actually our 30 keeps up, even in the evening. (As long as it isn't raining)

Thanks Again Everyone for helping and educating! i sure appreciate everyone's advice.
Paul
 

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