You have some good tips and meanwhile I agree with you on some of the things. I do want to point out a couple of issues (and I know you said this for people who use wireless for gaming).
(1) Wired connection is always better than a wireless connection mainly because of the isolation it provides from the outside interference and lack of hindrances that are always in the way of an RF signal. Your ping is never stable on wireless because there are too many things going around you in the environment which is why gamers tend to avoid wireless.
(2) Speed test doesn't show the whole picture of your connection. Try pingtest.net and see how much jitter you have in connection. A-B line rating is what you should strive for to play without lagging out the whole lobby.
(3) Comcast's rental modems have built in routers, which are pretty crappy and for those of you who don't know. Comcast has a second band transmitting out of your rental/lease modem/router called "Xfinitywifi" which can be used by any Xfinity customer. You can't disable it and it will always be transmitting using your bandwidth and you won't know who is connected to your router via Xfinity wifi. Currently you can call them and ask them to disable it but the processing on the router is very slow and causes NAT issues with PSN/Xbox Live. I really suggest buying your own standalone modem and hooking up to a nice customized router.
(4) DOCSIS 3.0 doesn't automatically give you a speed boost. Speed depends on your package and your cable company's supported protocols (modulation standard, bonding channels... etc). On a 25Mbps/download package, Docsis 2.0 is as good as a Docsis 3.0 (given 38Mbps is max for DOCSIS 2.0 in ideal conditions). It also depends on how many channels your ISP supports to provide high bandwidth. Anything over 35Mbps requires a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem.
These days Motorolla SB6121 is pretty cheap and provides adequate performance for most users. Get the one which is modem only.
(5) Routers make a huge difference and you can use QOS to help you with gaming if you have multiple devices hooked up. Given enough bandwidth, a few users streaming videos on the network won't affect the gamer and a good router can prioritize packets in that regard but with low bandwidth you might want to shut off devices to get consistent ping times. A dual band, specifically 5Ghz, only helps in environment with a lot of interference. 2.4Ghz is used by most devices these days so its mostly interfered with, 5Ghz is relatively less congested and is an upgrade on performance but 5Ghz range is crap. So overall 2.4Ghz for range and 5Ghz for performance.. you have to experiment with it to find the right setting. Again, for gaming I highly suggest going with wired. Even a "powerline adapter" is better than wireless, given you have good electrical wiring inside the house. And powerline adapters are cheap.
(6) Look into powerline adapters, it provides better/stable pings over wireless and can be hooked up using any power plug near your console. Speeds wise Wifi can be better but ping stability is better on wired/powerline, which is the "red bar-ing" issue people have when playing online.
(7) There are many good routers out in the market that provide good gaming performance. I prefer the ones with DD-WRT firmware such as Asus, because they offer so many customization options.. Most consoles don't support anything more than "n" standard so getting an AC router purely for console gaming won't provide any benefit.
English
-
Bumb for later. Useful info! :)
-
-
Everything you said here is in good order and definitely preferable to OPs post. I do take issue with one thing, however. The modem's provided by Comcast aren't "pretty crappy." While it is true they aren't top of the line (150-350 dollars for something like an Netgear Nighthawk or the like) they are built by many of the same manufacturers you list as "good" Arris is owned by Motorola, they also provide modems made by CISCO (world leading networking manufacturer) and Technicolor. The only brand I would recommend staying away from is SMC, due to it's shoddy performance. Comcast even offers Gateways with AC and dual band capabilities (No other ISP I know of does this) As for the Xfinity Wifi they give you the option to opt-out of the program and shut off the Xfinity Wifi. The bandwidth for that service is on a separate set of bonded channels and is severely limited (can't go faster than 6Mbps and also limits the amount of connections to it) In all honesty if people follow your recommendation of going hard-wired..like they should, I see no reason for someone to purchase their own modem/router combo, unless of course they want to save money (10 bux a month for the lease) over a long period.
-
He showed intelligence in the bnet forums! ...ITS A WITCH, BURN HIM! Just kidding. Your post was insightful, as was op's. I wanna look into all this now.
-
Powerline adapters are definitely worth it. My modem had to go in my second bedroom for whatever reason and I refuse to game on WiFi. Bought a Powerline adapter and I pull faster speeds than on wifi
-
Ugh...glad I read this before I decided to go with Comcast's bullshit. Unfortunately, its the only thing I can get in my area... Def gonna go with my first instinct and buy my own shit
-
Comcast has great internet but really shitty support.
-
Actually xfinitywifi can be disabled and the router built in is better than any cheap router.
-
That's the silliest thing that I have ever heard. Comcast has zero incentive to put any money into their modems. Even a less expensive model router will be better than what Comcast provides.
-
They are built by the same top brand companies.. Motorola/cisco/technicolor. Plus try getting a dual band AC Gateway from any other ISP. Also.. it costs roughly 80 dollars to send a technician to a customer's home to inquire to service issues.. The incentive is to keep your service up and running well so they don't have to service it. It's more expensive for you to like it. Just some food for thought.
-
Cheap ones burn up and can't even go through as many walls or reach outside as good as the one from Comcast. I'm able to have many devices hooked up without it getting slower too.
-
Perfectly said man^ If I had known I was gonna get this many clicks I would have written it better. Anyways nice info man.
-
This right here...