Wifi router vs modem/Router

I just realized that I can not upgrade the firmware in my own modem/router combination on Spectrum cable internet. Spectrum has to push the firmware updates for the modem. Spectrum is at version 1.1.15 while Netgear is up to version 1.1.69. It seems like it might have been a good idea to have bought the Wifi router separate from the modem so that I could apply my own firmware changes to the router separate from what Spectrum supplies for the modem. I am assuming that if they had been separate boxes that I could manage the router on my own schedule.

Yes, you would be able to manage your router on you own. I donā€™t know anything about Spectrum, but you might be able to provide your own modem too. Cut out a monthly equipment fee.

You can definitely get your own router and modem. When they were TWC their recommendation for a modem was the Surfboard SB6141. Thatā€™s what I still have and itā€™s still one of the best out there.

I believe Spectrum isnā€™t charging you for use of their modem/router since they became ā€˜Spectrumā€™. You could set up your own router behind their modem, then you or they can reconfigure their modem to disable the router/wifi (reconfigure it to bridge mode)- thatā€™s what I did with my Spectrum service.

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They donā€™t charge for the modem if you have Package. $10 a month if you just have the internet.

Twelve years ago, I remember when the cable company company took out all my boxes and installed a wifi modem router, alot of my connection problems went away. So when I cut the cable, I bought a wifi modem router combo. After Tablo 2.2.18, when I started getting occasional of audio/video lapses for a few seconds and I started seeing comments about router patches, I decided to see if my router was up todate but found that only my ISP could update the firmware. 12 years ago I I did not even think about firmware. Now I find myself wishing that I had bought seperate router and modem boxes for updatability. Live and learn. This is like the day that I found out I had to have terminator caps at the end of the coax cable in my first nerwork. I thought I could just plug a cable into the back of my network cards. I am a user not a techie but it seems that the combined unit was not a good decision.

I have a Netgear C6220 (AC1200) wifi modem router. I will research ā€œbridge modeā€ but it would seem like I should be able to shut off my wifi radios and plug a wifi router into the back of my unit. Is it more involved than that? What am I missing? I donā€™t see bridge mode as one of my wireless setup options in the Netgear genie app.

If you have two routers in series youā€™ll end up with issues as both will being trying to be the router. Youā€™ll likely have two firewalls and a double NAT. The way to resolve that is to turn off the router functions on one of the routers. You either do one of these two things to make it work.

  1. Put the modem/router in bridge mode. That disables everything but the modem part of it.
  2. Put the new WiFi router in AP mode (Access Point). That tells it there is a router upstream and basically disables everything but the WiFi.

If you donā€™t see the bridge mode option do a Google search on the model number and ā€œbridge modeā€. If it is possible that should come up with the steps.

Found it, Page 11 and 72. they call it router mode. You set it to No to turn off the router functions.

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Thank you very much. Signed in and looked it over.

Because of update limitations by the internet provider when using a combined box, I think it would be a good idea to have my modem and router/wifi separate.
Good idea or bad idea? Can any one recommend a resonably priced router/wifi that will work well with the Rokus? It seems this is the backbone of the network. Iā€™d like to do it right this time.

What you might be looking for is a router behind a router configuration.

As an example if have a Pace 5031 router. Behind (connected to) that router is a netgear 4300 router. This specific router automatically at power up detected it was connected to a router and configured itself. The DHCP server and ISP logon stays on the ISP router. You disable the WiFI on the ISP router. All wired and WiFi connect into the 4300.

The only issue some may have is that all extended functionality stays on the ISP router. Thus the 4300 is the bridge versus the ISP router.

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I reverted to Tablo 2.2.16 and my viewing problems with blank preview screens and the recording playback pauses seem to have gone away.

I am still going to work on having a seperate modem and router to allow me to upgrade the router myself. Firmware can only be pushed to the modem by the ISP and they lag far behind the current firmware versions available. They only update the firmware is it has an advantage for the ISP. I will wait until I can do it right. I had considered that the 2 new problems that I had might have been between Tablo 2.2.18 and my router so I wanted the router to be uptodate. Rather than rushing into something, I will wait and do it right this time.

I can decide what Spectrum recommended modem to buy but I have no idea about the best Wifi router to buy without out going over board in the price. I have a 1200 ft apartment and Roku Ultra streaming devices. My Tablo and living room Roku are both connected via eithernet. I also have 2 Ipads, an Amazon Fire tablet and an HP printer on Wifi. Some people seem to have issues getting printers to connect to the Netgear router above. Any other suggestions?

As far as modems, Spectrum should support the NETGEAR CM-600 cable modem, at least it does in my area and a single Google WiFi router might work in your case if you donā€™t need advanced router capabilities. I use that combination with Tablo with very few issues.

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The TP-link Archer C7 has been good for me. Mine is v2. I think itā€™s up to v4. I have switched to the DD-WRT firmware for features/control but the factory firmware was easy to use.

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Thank you. I had been leaning toward the Cm-600 but no idea about the router.

Are you having any issues with Tablo firmware 2.2.18. Specifically blank preview screens and brief pauses in viewing? That is one of the main reasons for looking at changing. To be in control of my router firmware.

Iā€™m not having any major issues on 2.2.18 but Iā€™m probably not a good use case for you because I use the Tablo strictly for recording and then all recordings are pushed out to Plex and deleted from the Tablo and our viewing all happens in Plex.

I prefer having control of my router firmware as well but for my situation I intentionally chose to move to Google WiFi for security reasons. They basically control the firmware, there is no easy way to flash another firmware or anything like that. But the trade off for me is less attack vectors in part because of the design of the router, which includes no web admin page to be hacked and thus far Google has been pretty good about pushing out security updates in a timely fashion for the seemingly endless security vulnerabilities happening the last year. Quite honestly, I figured Google would be much more interested in pushing out updates timely then any cable company is going to for a combo unit. At this point, Iā€™ve adopted the ā€œas long as my vulnerabilities are less then the next guy the next guy is an easier targetā€ because thatā€™s about the best you are going to get these days.

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Okay - I have been mostly watching OTA but with the Olympics, I started watch more on Netflix, the Roku channel and other streaming services, because so many broadcast shows are taking a few weeks off. I am starting to see some of the momentary pausing on Netflix & the Roku Channel that I thought was unique to the new Tablo 2.2.18 update. I am not technial but for this problem, I have to think Roku or router.

But I am still not having the blank fast forward preview panels after reverting to 2.2.16. Iā€™ll give the old firmware a little time to see what shows up.

Ok - I put my modem/router in bridge mode and added a dedicated wifi router, Netgear AC1750, per suggestions from the forum and updated the firmware on the router. I reinstalled Tablo 2.2.18. The fast forward previews are flying by on my Rokus. I will wait a couple of days before passing judgement but it looks good and hopefully my fast forward issues with 2.2.18 are resolved with the new modem.

Maybe 2.2.18 was too much for my slower router or the firmware was too out of date or maybe some thing was wrong with the router. I hope this works. I did not want to open a ticket with Tablo if my system was not up to-date. Now I can update my modem firmware when I want to do the update it and not have to wait on Spectrum to push the update.

I also bought a Netgear CM600 modem to finish replacing the modem/router combo. I will install it when I have time to get it activated with Spectrum. I found out that Bestbuy will price match for the Google Express website because it is administered by Frys and they can verify the price through Frys. Hopefully Spectrum will do a better job of pushing firmware updates through for the CM600 modem since it is one of their suggested modems. I would have bought a cheaper CM400 or CM500 but they were not on the list.

Thanks for the suggestions and the help. I should have taken the time to make better choices at the beginning but I was I was over whemed and in a hurry to cut the cable. Future changes will be a harddrive with itā€™s own power supply and to talk the apartment complex into letting me have a larger antenna.

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I havenā€™t had any real updates to my CM600 from Spectrum but Iā€™m OK with that. Itā€™s working well right now, if it ainā€™t brokeā€¦

/Z[quote=ā€œNilex, post:16, topic:14238, full:trueā€]
I havenā€™t had any real updates to my CM600 from Spectrum but Iā€™m OK with that. Itā€™s working well right now, if it ainā€™t brokeā€¦
[/quote]

I agree. My point is your chances of support are better when you follow Spectrumā€™s recommendations.

In my case, it was broke. I went back to 2.2.16 for some relief. Thanks to some advice on the forum, I updated my network, reinstalled 2.2.18 and had a problem free night of tv. I like the update to 2.2.18 and I want to make my best use of it. Iā€™ll see what happens from here. I am a slow learner. There had to be a reason why Tablo support seemed to be recommending checking the firmware on the router.

I also did not know eithernet cables had changed to Cat5e and Cat6
Now my mind is spinning from all the things that I donā€™t know about routers and I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. Netgear CM600 modem with the AC1750 Router seemed to be a good choice.