I’m not sure where else best to post this, so please direct me if there is somewhere more appropriate.
I’m looking at getting cable again and still have a DOCSIS 3.0 modem. It looks like the biggest limiting factor is the speed but there are other mentions of “improved latecy and power comsumption.” If I’m not get a speed that exceeds 1Gbps, is the latency that much better for $160? I game a little online but hadnt noticed an issue in the past.
For that matter, is an AC wireless router is fine? The AX or Wifi 6 looked neat, but I’m just not sure the benfits are worth the cost. Any input is appreciated.
DOCSIS 3.0 is a 2006 spec that provides less than a tenth of the bandwidth of DOCSIS 4.0. With the way channels are redistributed, you may not even get more than 100mbps/10mbps if you plug in your DOCSIS 3.0 modem, no matter what your subscription may be, depending on how your ISP deals with old hardware.
The cable frequency spectrum is shared with everyone else, and your ISP isn’t slowing everyone down to make your hardware work, so you’re pushed into thin channels with limited bandwidth that others can use to pull 10gbps down and 6gbps up while your modem will struggle to get any decent speeds.
In theory your ISP could be tolerant to old modems and redistribute their channels such that you’re getting the full speed, but that does mean your entire area gets a lower combined total network speed when people do buy newer hardware. Older modems waste network bandwidth so in congested areas the other side may allocate fewer channels to them.
The latency did improve significantly between 3.0 and 4.0 (ten years of development will do that) but it probably won’t be your biggest problem.
As for the WiFi, I’m still on 802.11ac and I don’t really care that it can only do 520mbps down on my devices. There are some latency advantages to newer WiFi as well but they’re pretty inconsequential if you don’t replace your old modem.
As with so many things, you can give it a go and see if it works. If your performance is not sufficient (or your ISP doesn’t even let your modem connect) you may need to invest in a newer modem.
The only reason I went to a WiFi 6 Mesh setup is coverage and consistency. Speed was never an issue in over a decade, except for with (later…)Chromecasts and/or FireTV sticks.