Cable internet and wifi questions

[TheWalrus]

Halp. Multipart question follows. I currently have dsl through centurylink. It blows. Im looking at moving to cable, but they want to charge me for wifi use. I was under the impression wifi was turned on and off thru the router by me on my end. Am I wrong?

Part two. Wife moved her computer to the front of the house. To get internet to her computer, do I need a second router? Or can I set up some sort of wireless card that would be easier?

Last one. Buy my own router, or the one provided? Seems like the last couple company provided ones have sucked ass.

Thanks for any help you networking gurus can provide.

[Samwise]

Halp. Multipart question follows. I currently have dsl through centurylink. It blows. Im looking at moving to cable, but they want to charge me for wifi use. I was under the impression wifi was turned on and off thru the router by me on my end. Am I wrong?

Cable companies are scam artists.  You can provide your own wifi just by plugging the cable modem into a wireless router.  You can get one of those at Best Buy for like twenty bucks these days.   Or you can have your PC or laptop create an ad hoc wireless network, no dedicated router needed.  This is the equivalent of your power company trying to charge you for toast by selling you a special toaster; they depend on people not knowing that there are stores that just fucking sell toasters.

Part two. Wife moved her computer to the front of the house. To get internet to her computer, do I need a second router? Or can I set up some sort of wireless card that would be easier?

If you have a wireless network, yes, wireless card is the easy way.  Then her computer gets Internet the same way a laptop does, by connecting to the wifi.  You can also run ethernet cable from the router to her computer, depending on how far it is and how much you like playing with cables.  You should not need multiple routers; the purpose of a router is to route data from one place to another, which means you can just plug (or wifi) multiple things into it and the data will get where it needs to go.

Last one. Buy my own router, or the one provided? Seems like the last couple company provided ones have sucked ass.

I would imagine you need a cable modem to turn their signal into Internets (I've never had cable Internet but I assume they don't just wire you up an ethernet port that you can just plug shit into), so that part is probably not optional.  Once you have Internets, yes, get your own router, they aren't expensive, and the cable company will probably be selling you something shitty at a 1000% markup.

[TheWalrus]

Awesome, thanks!

[Rendakor]

Buy your own cable modem too. These days most (Comcast) cable companies provide you with a Wifi Router/Modem combo and charge you $X/month for the privilege; you'll save money by just buying this upfront because they are not that expensive. At worst this will result in an extra phone call to tech support for them to activate your modem, although if you buy it before you have the tech come do the install you can probably have him just install to your modem and router. They'll run a coax to your modem, then an ethernet from your modem to your router, than ethernets from your router to your PC(s), Console(s), etc.

[Trippy]

Note that if you are getting something that includes phone service over cable like what Comcast offers with their Triple Play package and you want to use your own cable modem you are going to need a model that has telephony service -- aka an "embedded Multimedia Terminal Adapter" (eMTA). These are more expensive than a generic DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem.

[TheWalrus]

Nope. Leaving the landline behind. Thanks for the advices people. To Newegg!

[WayAbvPar]

Note that if you are getting something that includes phone service over cable like what Comcast offers with their Triple Play package and you want to use your own cable modem you are going to need a model that has telephony service -- aka an "embedded Multimedia Terminal Adapter" (eMTA). These are more expensive than a generic DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem.

Yeah, those are spendy as hell (like $200-$300 last I checked). I hate renting a modem, and never did it before, but that was a bit daunting when I was setting things up. Eventually they will come down to a more reasonable price and I will grab one then. I hope.

[Sky]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007IMPMW4

Faster than any crap a cable company will give you, I've had one for a couple years now. It's already paid for itself since I don't pay the $6 or w/e 'modem rental'. And use your own wifi. And don't let the cable tech anywhere near it.

[Phildo]

Counterpoint: if you don't at least use their modem (always buy your own router) then if you have an issue their tech support can say it's because you're using unsupported third party hardware.

[Rendakor]

Counter-counterpoint: you're more likely to find good tech support here or Google than from your cable company.

[Sky]

Yeah, losing cable company tech support is not really a thing. Can't lose what you never had. I've been tempted to go cablecard and ditch my DVR because it's a piece of shit, too.

[Samwise]

The tech support problem will come in if there's a connection failure on their end but you dead-end their script before "check the connection on our end" because "ensure customer has a supported modem" is earlier on the checklist and they refuse to go any further if there's a chance the problem is on your end.

[Trippy]

Yeah, losing cable company tech support is not really a thing. Can't lose what you never had. I've been tempted to go cablecard and ditch my DVR because it's a piece of shit, too.

There's a good chance you'll need to call support to properly pair the card so good luck with that

[01101010]

Yeah, losing cable company tech support is not really a thing. Can't lose what you never had. I've been tempted to go cablecard and ditch my DVR because it's a piece of shit, too.

There's a good chance you'll need to call support to properly pair the card so good luck with that

^^ this.

I have had my own cable modems for years now and every time I have ever switched cable providers due to moving they always shit their pants when I tell them I have my own modem. After they get their act together, they get the MAC and activate it, but not before telling me this and that and how it is a substandard modem and their modem is the tits. The only problem I ever had was with an old docsis2.0 modem I had that I tried to activate. They told me it would not work and I needed to upgrade to 3.0. After a trip to BestBuy, I called them back and ran with it.

[Sky]

The tech support problem will come in if there's a connection failure on their end but you dead-end their script before "check the connection on our end" because "ensure customer has a supported modem" is earlier on the checklist and they refuse to go any further if there's a chance the problem is on your end.

Honestly, I've had a bit more success with the remote support, I mostly use chat because phone is awful. But resetting their end hasn't ever been a problem.

I also had no issue registering my own modem, they just beeped and booped and it was working fine.

Time Warner, even. I'm uncomfortable saying these nice things about them.

[HaemishM]

A lot of it will depend on which shitty cable company you have, but everything everyone above has said is true. Yes, they will try to charge you for a modem. No, it isn't necessary but can save you some headache later when their side of the equation shits itself. Trust me, it will. Because cable companies suck all kinds of monkey ass. And yes, them charging you extra to provide wifi is utter horse shit. A $15-$20 wifi router of almost any type can work just fine with whatever cable modem they give you, even if that modem has wifi on it. I used 2 different refurbed wifi routers for years with a Comcast-issued cable modem. Just plug your router into their modem and then your computers into your router (or into the wifi wirelessly) and shit should work fine. There should never be a situation where the cable company has to diagnose a problem with your router - because either their packets get to their cable modem or they don't.

[Hoax]

For a user that seems as lost as Walrus (no offense dude) I have to recommend against buying your own hardware. He may not even have to buy his own router (unfortunately really) anymore. I know Comcast is rolling out those 2in1 setups to every install out here in Cali these days.

Its superior and will save you money but it does require some basic user knowledge and a willingness to look things up, work around things and manipulate the cable company support into accidentally helping you if anything goes wrong.

[HaemishM]

I will say I'm now using Comcast's 2in1 cable modem with wifi and it works just fine. I've no idea if they are charging me for the wifi or not.

[Trippy]

For a user that seems as lost as Walrus (no offense dude) I have to recommend against buying your own hardware. He may not even have to buy his own router (unfortunately really) anymore. I know Comcast is rolling out those 2in1 setups to every install out here in Cali these days.

Yes for those that have the Triple Play package with phone service included your cable modem will include a built-in WiFi router. Supposedly their regular cable modems are being upgraded as well to include a WiFi router. A big reason for that is Comcast is heavily pimping their "public"* Xfinity WiFi service that you may be unknowingly allowing through your Comcast hardware. By default this feature is turned on and they don't let you turn it off through your router's Web admin page -- you have to do it on your Comcast account page.

* You have to have a Comcast account to access it so it's not truly open to the public

[Hoax]

Even without phone you are going to get a 2in1 these days. They want to migrate everyone to it for the stupid public Xfinity shit.

God I hate Comcast. But I still don't let most people run their own hardware its just not worth the hassle even for the monthly cost savings if they are going to be completely lost when something goes wrong.

[Samwise]

I'm still on DSL (even though I could get higher speeds with cable for the same price) solely as a stubborn stand against Comcast.  Fuck 'em in their ear.  Once Google Fiber gets to SF I'm gonna be all over that.

[Polysorbate80]

On the subject of cable internet, a giant gangrenous Fuck You to Time Warner for charging 6x the residential price for the same level of "business class" service. And Lord only knows what kind of clusterfuckery their installer will get up to; I've never met one of their techs yet that could take simple instructions.

And a bigger sloppy worm-infested Fuck Off and Die to the local phone company for driving out the only other DSL provider in town so they can gouge just as hard.

[Rasix]

I'm going to avoid this 2in1 bullshit for as long as I can.  I already have a very nice router.  Why do I want Comcast all up in my wifi?  It's not like they aren't already snooping on my downloads (HELLO CEASE AND DESIST LETTER).

They've called me at least 2 times and sent several emails.  I suppose I should give in before all they have left is the shitty version 1 of their "wireless gateway" instead of the dual band version 2.

[TheWalrus]

For a user that seems as lost as Walrus (no offense dude) I have to recommend against buying your own hardware. He may not even have to buy his own router (unfortunately really) anymore. I know Comcast is rolling out those 2in1 setups to every install out here in Cali these days.

Its superior and will save you money but it does require some basic user knowledge and a willingness to look things up, work around things and manipulate the cable company support into accidentally helping you if anything goes wrong.

I get what you`re saying. I am clueless when it comes to cable. Threw me for a loop when they wanted to charge for wifi, as it seemed like a blatant ripoff to me. Far as I knew, all that was handled client side. Nutbar. Somebody oughta sue the shit out of em for charging for a service they don't technically provide.

[Hoax]

Well first off the cable companies are all evil monopoly shitfucks so you are 100% getting blatantly ripped off.

That said I'm not sure what the wifi charge actually means. If they are going to provide you the type of hardware I think they are, which is a 2in1 modem+router combo then I think that probably is just your hardware rental fee? But they call it wifi since unlike the old days they are giving you the hardware you will use to produce a wifi signal?

Without seeing it in writing its hard to guess at how exactly they are fucking you but just know they are fucking you because they are a cable company and that's what they do. But this might not be a remarkable screw job, just the normal screw job with a confusing name for the charge.

They have always charged a bullshit hardware rental fee if you don't buy your own modem.

[HaemishM]

Without seeing it in writing its hard to guess at how exactly they are fucking you but just know they are fucking you because they are a cable company and that's what they do.

Truth that cannot be stated enough times. Cable company fuckery indeed.

[jgsugden]

Just a note: Comcast recently replaced my modem and replaced it with a unit that included a wireless router.  All in the name of faster service - and I do think the new setup, once I worked out everything, is a bit faster.

However, the new unit's range was horrible, and it blocked my wireless router when I tried to go back to using it.  I'm low on the tech savvy side, and it took me 4 hours talking to Comcast to get my wireless router working.

[MrHat]

Probably the right thread for this.

I hate that the non PC devices (android phones, iPads, iPhones) on my home wifi network can't run browser extensions to block ads.

I've been researching alternatives and short of installing custom firmware on my router and running blacklist scripts, what are options people here have used?

Seems the easiest is to just use ipad at speedmeup dot net as an autoproxy on each device, but that makes me uncomfortable that someone other than comcast gets to read all my traffic.

[Trippy]

Proxy through a PC.

[Rendakor]

Adblock Plus for Android is a thing.

[shiznitz]

While it has not been raised, if you have an odd shaped house or your router is in one corner, I recommend these affordable wifi extenders.  They are easy to set up and affordable for the benefit they bring. 

http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-N300-Wi-Fi-Range-Extender/dp/B004YAYM06/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1414438374&sr=1-4&keywords=wifi+extender

[MrHat]

Adblock Plus for Android is a thing.

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