Network drop out issues. Need advice, should I upgrade?

Hey guys I have a few wireless questions. First off I have Comcast, which is meh. Anyway So my internet speeds are somewhere around 50MB d/l and 10mb u/l. That’s what I get, and it's normally right around there. I've only tested on my cell phone recently and normally get around 40+d/l , 12mb u/l. Which I'm fine with as it's wifi, on my phone, ect.

But here is my issue. The network occasionally drops out, which frustrates the CRAP outta me when I'm playing games online. I play Diablo 3, and haven't played hardcore mode, simply for the fact that if I lag, and die, my character is dead, as in not coming back, as in permanent, as in start over. But the network also drops out on my phone, wife's phone, Blu-ray player, TV, etc. So it's across all devices.

I also watch the majority of my TV via Hulu+. So streaming is good when it's up, but when it goes down it’s a pain in the neck. I also stream from my desktop to my TV so having a reliable connection is what I want.
So I'm thinking this may be a router issue. I'm guessing the Comcast provided router is garbage. Would I be better off getting my own router? Having Comcast replace the current router? Honestly if I would get more benefit from my own router, I'd rather go that route.

I mainly use my laptop (Clevo X7200) for gaming, and it has either the Killer 1103, or Intel N6300 wifi card; I'd have to double check. Hard to remember as I swapped often a few years back and have been too busy with everything else.

I want to best take advantage of the speed of my internet connection via wifi (eventually may run a cable to the office downstairs). Also would it be a worthwhile investment to upgrade my wifi card in my laptop?
I don't really want to sink in too much money, and have been out of the game for a few years waiting to get a house before upgrading things. Now that I have a house I'll spend money if it's worth it, but don't want to buy some crazy awesome router that I have no ability to take advantage of. Especially since I have an endlist home improvement project list going

More than anything I want stability and no drop outs. I want a reliable network, that maximizes my speed.
So what are my options? If I should upgrade my wifi card, which model should I upgrade to? If I upgrade my Router, what are some good models?

Thanks for reading my rant!
Dan

 

That sounds like a router issue. What did Comcast provide you with?

 

The router I got is a Technicolor 8305C. And has Xfinity all over it.

-Sent from my Galaxy S4-

 

At least some of Technicolor devices allow for bridge mode - check if it's available in devices options. It might be called "switch mode". If it is you could buy your own router and change the Technicolor to switch mode.
That would mean it would work as a modem only and the rest - routing, DHCP, Wi-Fi etc would be handles by a router.

 

Your best option is to drop that pile of garbage and tell Comcast that you want a "modem" -- by now they may have forgotten what that means, but trust me, they still give them out. You just have to ask. Buy your own router, even a $75 one will save you so many headaches.

They are pushing their combo modem/routers onto everyone because the new routers have an open network called Xfiniti WiFi. Don't trust me? Do a network scan. Anyone with an Xfinity login can get internet through your cable connection. Granted it's "partitioned" and not supposed to be allocated from your bandwidth, but...

 

Agreed, a modem and your own router. With the 50/12mbps you only need an N router but go dual band. You want to get all devices you can off of 2.4 as even your microwave can cause fits.

Worry about AC connection and multi radio as you get these devices and start over burdening your connections.

 

If there's a setting in the Technicolor 8305C menu to disable wireless you can try that first and then connect your own wireless router to a port on the Technicolor 8305C

I did this on the junk single band Motorola wodem/router ATT gave me.I connected my Netgear R7000 and all works well on 2.4ghz and 5ghz.

The R7000 automatically changed addresses to 10.0.0.x numbers so as not to have conflicts with the 192.168.1.x addresses of the Motorola.

 

Thanks guys! I'll definitely look into getting my own router. I may try and go with disabling the wifi on the Technicolor 8305C first. I'm assuming that by doing this, it would essentially be the same as just using a modem? Would this likely eliminate the drops in network?

Also Is there any router I should pay attention to or give more thought to? Other than just an N router? I have an old router at home that I just grabbed off my brother in law, it's probably a few years old and I'll have to look into what it is and get details as I don't recall. I believe it's a netgear, but not sure what model.

@ ALLurGroceries, First thing I did was disable the XFinity wifi. Not going to have them using my network for their shenanigans.

Thanks again guys, this has been helpful and gives me a place to start.

 

No, disabling Wi-Fi is not the same as using it as just a modem. To do that you have to put it in bridge mode. Otherwise all the routing, DHCP, SPI firewall and so on would be still done by this device.

 

Ahh ok. I'll poke around in the settings this evening and see what I find. Thanks for the explanation.

-Sent from my Galaxy S4-

 

You are right.

When an R7000(maybe all Netgear Routers?)is plugged into a lan port on the supplied Modem/Router from in my case ATT it automatically becomes an Access Point.On the setup page it says "To avoid ip conflict your router's IP has been changed to 10.0.0.1" which means in AP mode.

This is not a bridge.

The distinction being a wireless access point connects users to a network by creating a wireless signal they can use. A bridge connects separate networks,your preexisting wireless home network to all of the devices connected to the bridge.

http://blog.dlink.com/the-difference-between-bridges-and-access-points/

 

Bridge mode on those technicolors is notoriously unreliable, for what it's worth.