Will a faster cable modem make a difference?

[Lisse]

We have a small wired (Ethernet) LAN. It has a two Macs, a AppleTV and a NAS device. There's an unmanaged Netgear switch to connect it all and an ASUS router. The router connects to the Internet via a 1Gb/s Motorola DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem. I pay for 1GB/s and generally when I run Speedtest I get 940MB/s down and 40MB/s up.

Recently Comcast sent me a note saying that they increased the speed to 1.2GB/s and that newer hardware would allow me to take advantage of the faster speeds. They recommend a newer 2.5Gb/s Motorola (or Netgear or ARRIS) DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem.

So, my questions:
1. If I purchase a faster cable modem (to get the ~10% faster speeds) will I need to get a faster router and faster switch to get faster speeds?
2. Will my 2020 iMac (the last Intel one from 2 years ago) get faster speeds?
3. And basically if everything works (or even if I replace all the network hardware with newer devices) will a 10% bump even be noticeable?

Thanks in advance for any of your thoughts.

 

[BrianBaughn]

You didn't state your current router model, switch model and cabling type. How can someone answer?

 

[glenthompson]

It is unlikely that you will notice any difference. Too many other factors come into play such as the rate that data is sent from the source and other congestion on the cable. As Brian mentioned, your other equipment may be a bottleneck too.

 

[orionquest]

Are you unhappy with how your setup is currently working? Are you even fully using the bandwidth you have?

This could be a marketing attempt by Comcast to pad their bottom line by having you purchase a new modem with only a minor service increase.
Though an updated cable modem might be better future proofing if comcast network will perform better/compatible long term with this type of modem even if the initial increase is minor.

The rest of your network who knows as @BrianBaughn mentioned.

 

[mcnallym]

Your iMac has 1Gbe Ethernet Connection so not going faster then that if on wired.

Unless your Asus Router has a 2.5Gbe WAN port then not going to make any difference if the Modem has a 2.5Gbe port.
Wired wise then the Router and Switch unless are multi-gig and your devices multi-gig then not going to get a faster then 1Gb connection.

Other Mac and Apple TV are they multi-gig capable. What about the NAS?

It is unlikely that going to notice any difference even if you replace everything.

Basically I would wait replacing the modem until looking at replacing other parts that can do more then 1Gb ie iMac, second Mac, Apple TV and NAS and network devices.

 

[Lisse]

First, thank you all for the useful responses. I should have included model numbers, but even as I write that I realize that everything on the network is at least a couple of years old and is surely only capable of 1Gbe speeds.

The existing cable modem is a Motorola DOCSIS 3.1 but with max speed of 1GBe. The ASUS is an AX6600 Triband router. The Netgear is a ProSafe 16 port 1Gb switch. And the Netgear NAS is at least 5 or 6 years old and it's only capable of 1GBe. (When I look at the front of the switch the lights indicate that every active device is operating nominally at 1GBe.)

So, upgrading all the devices to work at 2.5GBe or more will be a sizeable expense and given that there are rarely any lags right now I see no reason to pursue it, for the time being.

Again, to all of you who've offered your expertise and opinions, I am truly grateful.

 

[Juicy Box]

One thing that I have not seen anyone ask yet is what you use your internet for. This is probably the most important question in determining if a faster internet speed would provide a benefit to you.

That being said, unless you are having issues with your current equipment and speed, I doubt you would even notice any increase in speed, even a crazy fast 10Gbps internet tier. At a certain point, there are diminishing returns as your internet speed (and cost) increases.

Getting back to the first question I asked, "what do you do with your internet?", many people overpay their ISPs for internet tiers that they will hardly ever or never be able to fully utilize.

I personally know people that are paying extra for 1Gbps internet that only gets used for basic web browsing and streaming Netflix. I got some to switch to a lower plan, saving money and they can't tell the difference.

Spending a lot of money to upgrade equipment that is working perfectly fine is probably not worth it, unless you have a specific use case that could justify the cost to upgrade.

1. If I purchase a faster cable modem (to get the ~10% faster speeds) will I need to get a faster router and faster switch to get faster speeds?

It is actually about a 20% speed increase in download speed.

will I need to get a faster router and faster switch to get faster speeds?

The ASUS is an AX6600 Triband router.

I do not think that is the model number of the Asus Router.

Maybe it would be easier to look at the WAN Ethernet port on your router, sometimes it is marked at the highest link speed, is it 2.5Gbps or higher? Like this one (one in the blue):

2. Will my 2020 iMac (the last Intel one from 2 years ago) get faster speeds?

If you are talking about a wired connection, it depends on your equipment, but also if you have the 10Gb Ethernet port upgrade that was an option for the 2020 iMacs.

Even if you do not have the faster Ethernet on the iMac, there is a chance that could possibly seen increased speeds on your iMac if you were saturating your 1Gbps internet connection before.

But, again, unless you are currently having problems with your current equipment, I do not think you will see much, if any, difference if you upgrade.

3. And basically if everything works (or even if I replace all the network hardware with newer devices) will a 10% bump even be noticeable?

Is would be more of a 20% bump, but unless you were saturating your current internet connection, I doubt you would see any difference.

 

[Juicy Box]

This could be a marketing attempt by Comcast to pad their bottom line by having you purchase a new modem with only a minor service increase.

Yup. I get the same message as the OP. ISPs are good at convincing people to overpay for internet tiers that they do not need, and they really push the Gigabit speeds when it is overkill for most families.

I am currently paying Comcast for 1.2Gbps, but it is limited by my 1Gbps modem. I get the emails and snailmails suggesting to upgrade to their xFi Gateway equipment for faster speeds at no extra cost.

There is extra cost though, one being the rental and the other being that the xFI equipment can be used as a hotspot for other Comcast customers.

The thing is, the 1Gbps speed that my modem is maxed at is overkill for my family's use. I could easily drop it down to 200Mbps without even noticing a difference, if it wasn't for the upload speed. The super slow 5Mbps upload speed that comes with Comcast's 200Mbps tier is horrible by today standards.

I pay for the expensive 1Gbps+ service to get the 40Mbps upload.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"Recently Comcast sent me a note saying that they increased the speed to 1.2GB/s and that newer hardware would allow me to take advantage of the faster speeds."

IF they offer you this service upgrade for free, take it.

THEN start checking around to see how it affects your speeds and how hardware might be upgraded (if it needs to be). Those are bridges you cross when you get to them.

If you own your own hardware, it might be worth upgrading. That's up to you.
I've actually had good performance from the Comcast residential gateway (combined modem/router).

I find it interesting that you posted the 940MB/s from Speedtest.
I just ran Speedtest about 30 minutes ago, before I read your post, and got 942MB/s. Also on Comcast with 1GB/s service.

Remember that one almost never gets "the full advertised speed".
That's theoretical -- too many things "in the way" between "them" and "where you are" to "get the max". "Just above 940" is the best and most consistent speed I've seen since the service began.

Finally, as glenthomson mentions in reply 3 above, for nearly all the things you do, the "speed increase" may be completely "UN-noticeable" in day-to-day operation.

 

[Weaselboy]

OP I would be really surprised if you could even tell the difference, short of running speed tests.

Spectrum cable recently upgraded me from 300/10 to 500/20 and other than running speed tests, I cannot tell the difference.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Looks like you'd be buying, at the least, a modem, router and switch for a ~10% increase in "maximum" download speed.

There's a likelihood the speeds will be increased by Xfinity again. You can do the math again then.

You may have to replace one or more of the networking pieces due to failure at some point. At least now you have the specifications you need for the new gear.