I've found through trial and error that I'm happiest when I buy, not rent, the modem from the cable company and connect it to a mesh router like Orbi. That way, I know the modem is compatible with the cable company and I can upgrade the modem and router separately as new technology becomes available.

Arris is considered the best in the business. There are many others out there, but most internet providers supply Arris (Motorola) equipment because it's dependable.

New ones will handle up to 300+mbps.

Sample

" However...if we're going to own this, might we want more capacity for 'the next great thing'?"

Nah. Most basic cable modems will handle 300 megs plus, far in excess of what normal use in a family home of multiple video/game simultaneous users would ever need. 3.0 Docsis is a standard that's more than 10 years old but it's perfectly adequate for 99+ percent of homes. If you have your telephone through the cable company, particular models of modems may be required. Check with them first if that matters.

I had a Surfboard modem (Arris, more in next post) that I replaced early this year with a Netgear modem. The Netgear is MUCH better, my throughput speed increased noticeably because the Arris wasn't working right. It was just a few years old too.

As to what router you need, it depends on the physical layout of your home. What's the distance from where the router is to the most distant point you need a good wifi connection? What kind of walls? How far to the TV?

I too like the Orbi web system. I have one satellite with it and have stronger and more consistent wifi signals througout my largish house than I ever got using repeaters.

I buy all such electronic stuff - the modem, routers, etc, from Amazon.

"Arris is considered the best in the business. There are many others out
there, but most internet providers supply Arris (Motorola)"

And the source of your information is what?

First, there's some confusion. Arris took over the Surfboard modem product line from Motorola some years ago. Motorola Surfboards became Arris (Motorola) Surfboards. Then, Arris' right to use the Motorola name for modems expired and another company, Zoom, started selling modems named Motorola (but not Surfboard). There are now both Surfboard by Arris and Motorola modems on the market, two different companies and product lines, indeed confusing.

Arris's product line is dated. I bought a NetGear CM500 about 6 months ago and it puts the Arris Surfboard it replaced to shame.

You need to call the cable company first and give them the device numbers on the bottom of your new modem before it can connect.

Elmer, I'm also using Netgear Orbi, along with an Arris modem and performance is flawless. I don't remember ever using another brand and have had superior performance since internet arrived at my door. My experience has been A+.

With Spectrum, modems are FREE, and since there is no competition in my community, I"m willing to bet 99% of homes have a Spectrum provided Arris modem.

I have a free Spectrum modem too, at a second house. Because it was free, I paid no attention to the brand but I'm happy to accept your saying it's an Arris.

You can be sure that any business that buys a product in large volumes, the tens and hundreds of thousands in this case, gets bids from more than one provider and everything else being equal, is heavily swayed in such decisions by price. I would come to no quality or performance conclusion about Arris simply because Spectrum provides them. It only means they were the lowest or one of the lower bidders. I have no investment in the one I use for Spectrum either financially or emotionally, if it starts to act erratically, I'll replace it.

My assessment of Arris is based on the performance of a 3 year old unit in my primary home that worked poorly that I was more than happy to replace and whose replacement (a well rated Netgear model) has significantly better performance.

No matter what, there's really no such thing as any tech company consistently being considered "one of the best in the business" across multiple product lines. Some are always better than others and lemons can be found from all of them.

PS - Orbi and other so-called "mesh" system have their place but are overkill in many situations. I recently bought a new router for the smaller second home I have which, at a price 70% cheaper than what I paid for one Orbi (and I have two, counting the satellite) is perfectly adequate. That was why I asked chisue to describe the physical layout she wants to cover.

Okay, I'm willing to change my errant statement from "best in the business" to most often recommended by tech reviewers, and most often provided by internet service providers.

E. Fudd --The modem/router is two feet from my computer and our main TV. The secondary TV is in the breakfast room, about 60 feet away. Drywall construction. We have no phone service through Comcast; use DS's T-Mobil family plan.

chisue, you can get other recommendations too, but here are my recent purchases:

For a router for my second house, a few months ago I got the Netgear AC 1200 Dual Band. There are several models of the same designation, I got R6230. It works well and the signal is more than adequate. If there are not more than a few walls between your router location and your breakfast table, it should be fine. If not, you can return it and say it didn't work.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0756QFLXP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

For a modem, I got this one, Netgear CM 500.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XH46MWW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Buy from a seller that allows easy returns and refunds.

Both items are highly rated by Amazon buyers. Each around $70. Or you can buy a 2 in 1 unit (modem and router together), something that doesn't appeal to me but as before, there are other choices too. Have your son help you with the setup if that's easiest. Neither is difficult. Good luck

"I'm willing to change my errant statement from "best in the business" to most often recommended by tech reviewers, and most often provided by internet service providers."

Michael, you seem to find different rating articles than I do - every model is different and many manufacturers have products rated higher than some Arris models. As one would expect.

As to "most often provided", your data is a population of 1 - it's what your ISP does. Unless you've done some kind of nationwide survey. You seem to like superlatives, that can be misleading when what's said is just an unsupported personal opinion. Unless you qualify it by saying it's based on your own experience, which is what I try to always do.

Thanks to all. I've now left this in my DS's hands to order. He plans to put this all together Tuesday afternoon. (In case you 'miss me' for awhile...lol.)