Complete newb at networking needs help

Hey guys, my parents recently switched to a new ISP and thus we got a different modem and router too. We had FiOS before and just used the gateway they gave us. However, this new company gave us a modem and router. For the first few days it was working fine but seemingly overnight the connection just completely went to crap. My nexus 5 can't connect at all and neither can our direct TV box. So overall I'm wondering what could be the problem here and is it worth investing in a new router and modem? The ones we currently have are

Arris CM820 modem
Linksys E1200 router

These were provided by the ISP. Also I'm a little confused about this a/n/ac etc. Does which one of these you use depend on your ISP or your router? Like if you have an ac router does it matter what ISP you have to be able to use an ac connection?

After researching for a laptop, I'm generally familiar with computer specs and whatnot, but this wireless stuff is completely new to me, so thanks for anyone that helps

 

Wireless doesn't depend on ISP in any way, only on router's capabilities or lack thereof.
Did you reboot both devices?

 

Yeah managed to get it working again. So now I'm just wondering if its worth it to upgrade modem and router? And doesn't internet speed depend on ISP?

 

Internet speed does indeed depend on an ISP but that doesn't have anything to do with LAN speed. If you are connected via an Ethernet wire it would show speed of 100mbps or 1gbps (1000mbps). That would be LAN speed though - you could download at this speed from another computer on your network or from a NAS. Same thing goes for Wi-Fi - although Wi-Fi is showing speeds that are far from reality (300mbps does give you about 100mbps of real throughput).

Neither modem or router you've been given are anywhere near being top notch hardware. I suspect your Internet connection is on the slow side. If it is there may as well do it, however if you have a reasonably fast Internet connection (30mbps or more) you might want to consider upgrading.

That said first try to figure out which device is problematic - once something stops working reboot the router first and see if it helps. If it doesn't reboot the modem - that way you'll figure out if you really need to replace both and if not, which would it be.

 

So I found out my internet speed is 25 mbps and we are paying 5 bucks a month to rent the modem and router. Think it would be worth it get our own? The signal right now drops to 1-2 bars when I'm upstairs on my phone and the router is downstairs, so it's pretty crap...

 

It's always worth it to get your own. The modem and router you bought pays on its own as time moves.

Make sure you know what type your ISP uses to deliver internet to your house in order to find out which type of internet modem you need to buy: ADSL, ADSL2, ADSL2+, U-Verse (VDSL2+), Cable, Fiber Optic (FiOS).

 

Wireless comes in several flavors (protocols). The a/b/g/n/ac designate the different types.

802.11b is the older standard that ran at 11Mbps and is not really used any more.

802.11g is a faster 54Mbps system that is probably the most widely used, however it is being replaced by 802.11n which is significantly faster (up to 300Mbps).

802.11ac is the newest and fastest system, but it's still relatively new and not very widespread.

All of the above are used to connect wirelessly to your router, gateway or hot spot. For best performance you'll want to have a router or gateway that uses the same protocol as your wireless devices. In other words, if you have wireless ac in your computer, but only wireless g in your gateway, the fastest speed you will see is wireless g.

The newer, faster systems are backwards compatible, so a wireless ac router will still work with n/g/a or b devices, however some settings for older protocols can affect performance.

The above only affects the speed between devices on the local network. Your speed to the Internet depends on your ISP. Now if your local connection is significantly faster or slower than your ISP connection to the net, there is a relationship that will affect your overall speed. But in general, they are separate things.

Also note that wireless communication has a lot of system overhead, and the advertised speeds are nowhere near actual throughput. A 100Mbps wired connection will usually be faster then a 300Mbps wireless connection (under ideal conditions they will be roughly equal). Since most wired connections are now gigabit, wired will usually be faster than wireless.

Purchasing a new router is easy, as it's usually just a straight swap with your ISP's router.

The modem, however, can be tricky. You'll need to find a modem that is compatible with your ISP, and then get your ISP to authorize the modem for use on their network (if they even allow that).

 

Who's your new ISP to begin with?

 

It's RCN. Haven't gotten around to researching potential replacement modems/routers yet

 

Alright so I'm pretty sure its the routers fault. I'm probably gonna buy a new router and the TP link archer c7 v2 seems pretty good based on the recommendations, and my laptop will have an ac adapter so it should benefit off the ac connection. Though I'm curious as to if keeping an apparently mediocre modem will bottleneck the archer c7 if I get it (is there such a thing?). Anyone got any thoughts?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Anyone? I'm thinking of ordering the archer within the next 2-3 days

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Take a look at the DSL Reports forum, for RCN. Lots of good info there, and you should ask there if the Archer is supported.

RCN forum | DSLReports, ISP Information

Also, download inSSIDer so you know exactly what your current wireless environment looks like. I think version 3.1.0.100 is still free. I don't make any decision about my wireless connection, blind. :wink:

MetaGeek Software Archives | MetaGeek

http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5936-inssider.html

 

Someone earlier said routers should be easy to replace and that its only the modem that I would have to worry about compatibility?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

That is indeed the case. Router can be replaced with another router with ease. No worries here.

 

OK so so you think the archer c7 v2 would be a good choice?

 

Yes it should be OK. Make sure you update the firmware to the latest one once you buy it- it's a relatively new router (an 802.11ac is a new technology) so at this point these may be important updates.

 

Okay thanks, I just have one more question. In computers when you run games for example if you have a really good GPU but bad CPU or vice versa, your performance will be bottlenecked by the worst component. That won't happen will it? Since the archer is really new tech with ac my modem which is nothing special won't restrict it in anyway will it?

 

Not really although your Internet connection will never be faster than what you ISP has the offer so performance will be capped in a way.

 

Well I changed my mind and got the netgear r7000 cause it was on sale from tiger direct for 160. Hopefully it will be worth it

 

It definitely will be.