Top 10 best Wireless Modems 2022 Passed Our Test

My story is a little different in that I may end up returning the product but I will give it a good rating. Let me explain in hopes that this review will help out other reviewers who have encountered similar problems.– Before I Purchased the EquipmentI read nearly every review that I could. I was well aware of some of the issues. But what won me over was how the NetGear customer service team really owned the issues and asked the customers to respond to them. This was far better than the experience I’ve had with Time Warner/Spectrum cable.–Before Buying My Cable ModemMy issue was that my internet was undependable. I’d see speeds go from 100 to 20 with my default cable modem rental. A friend suggested that I try another modem as that is often a cause of it. Keeping in mind that I am paying for an Ultimate 300 MB/s package and I can never get over 100, you see the frustration — especially when your job involves heavy downloading. So, after multiple calls to the cable service provider, I purchased the modem.–The Initial Speed Results…After spending all day with the cable company getting it connected, I was surprised to find it running even slower than before. Furthermore, I could no longer stream content like movies from YouTube or Nextflix. I reached out immediately to Netgear support to see if there was anything they could do before I returned the modem.–NetGear Support..It took 45 minutes on hold to reach support but I waited (be nice if there was a call back). Finally, I reached support. I was surprised by the quality. The Netflix support engineer walked me through the diagnostics and she taught me how to read noise and power. The logs showed low power (dbmvs were too low at -13 when they should have been around -10), high noise, and lots of packet dropping on one of the channels. Interestingly, I began to suspect that the problem was either my electrical power or something with the Cable company and an electrician.–Call to the Cable Company…I called the cable company and was surprised that none of them could see the same diagnostics. I spoke with Level 3 (the highest tier) of support. They were surprised when I read the values to them. They understood the values and were knowledgeable but none of the Level 3 people’s systems included the level of depth that my Netgear router included. Time Warner/Spectrum decided to send someone out to my house. I also was proactive by scheduling an electrician before the visit.–The Electrician.The electrician came out and looked at all my volts, rating the power as excellent (122 to 125), and told me that electricity from my house was definitely not the problem for as small as a unit such as the Netgear cable modem.–The Time Warner/Spectrum TechnicianThis is where it got interesting. He completely rewired everything from my house to the outside connection. Time and time again, his system would show everything was fine but we would test the speed and get less than 100. We tried things out with my old Time Warner/Spectrum Modem and the Netgear Modem. While the old Time Warner Modem showed nothing, my Netgear Modem detected the issues.Eventually, he put his system down and started looking at the diagnostic screen from the Netgear Modem. We both realized that the Netgear diagnostics were more accurate than what the Time Warner/Spectrum team had (and they owned their network)!!!!–And here is where it gets interesting..Finally, he called one of the backend Time Warner/Spectrum engineers while I was there. He read the values that my Netgear system was giving. The backend Engineer asked for a few moments and checked his system. He came back and said that indeed, the diagnostics showed a “node” failure within the area but that they cannot pinpoint it. To get the speeds that they are getting, the cable providers have been switching to clustered nodes which increases the speed but makes it much harder to pinpoint the exact source of the issue. It appears as though the “speed arms race” has offset the gains with speed with much higher instability as cable providers rush to up the speeds for keeping customers. In other words, the networks are not as stable as they were previously.So, they told me a week ago that they would get back to me when they discovered the problematic node. I haven’t heard anything back.I learned one other scary thing. A lot of these cable providers set the speed per a channel. So, if you get 24 channels, you can go up to ultimate 300 but to go to the newly coming ultimate 500, you have to have 32 channels even if the cable modem is capable of going a lot faster. So, it’s important to check your default speed per a channel with your provider because there is a race to get up to 1GB currently which will involve a lot of channels.This made my 24 channel modem obsolete… in that ultimate 500 is coming out which requires more channels than this modem as currently 24 channels will only support Ultimate 300.So what is the story here.. why only 4 stars..The good..———-* Well, the good was the diagnostics.. I had better diagnostics than the internal Level 3 Spectrum technicians.* The features are so awesome — you can see who is causing wireless contention and even change the wireless channel to be faster. This especially works out for me because I could even see nearby restaurants causing contention on my wireless channel.The Bad..———-* The bad was the handling of the internet provider problems, which I suspect has caused some of the reviews. For whatever reason, this modem just doesn’t handle problematic nodes like other modems. I can at least use my cheap time warner cable/Spectrum TPLink modem with slower access. I couldn’t do anything with the Netgear one. This is a problem because the networks aren’t as stable as they were in the past. Having excellent diagnostics is extremely helpful in today’s time but I would have liked to see more internal error handling on the cable modem side to at least allow a user to still use the internet.* Spending all this money and getting outdated. Limits of speed per a channel by the cable provider. Now, 24 channels is already outdated. Right now, we have completion coming from AT&T, Time Warner Spectrum, Verizon, and Google Fiber (soon). Customers have choices and this is driving fast rollouts for all the providers without the quality control. Goodness.. It would be a good idea for a cable modem to advertise features such as error handling and what not because it is the reality and a key differentiator.I will return it because 24 channels is now outdated for my provider. But I will get another one when more channels are available. And while it didn’t work, it sure did help to finally see where the problem was at. I just wish that I could have got it going but maybe I will. 4 out 5 stars — excellent features, bad error handling that wasn’t their fault completely but should have been handled better (on the level of the other modem).

I have a nice hotspot, but there are problems. First, is I have it in the car where it tends to stay charged (and won’t work at all without the battery), but that makes the battery overcharge and start to expand. Also I don’t really want to use wifi where I’m broadcasting my whereabouts or others might want to use my connection – even if I connect it via USB (which requires a special driver to switch it from the faked install CD image), it then won’t charge and there are hiccups as I have to enter port forwards. Then, if I forget to turn it off, sometimes my devices stay linked to the mifi instead of my home network so I burn through data.Another problem (which I will test shortly) is there is limited 4G coverage in my rural area, with still a lot of 3G/EVDO and the tablets with built-in LTE are LTE only and have zero 3G coverage. So I would need to get an actual smart phone and share (or tether), but then it just becomes another access point.This device, once properly connected, will autoconnect and work like you were connected via a standard Ethernet port to the Verizon network. It even works (yea!) on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 with an OTG adapter. Note it doesn’t seem to work with Amazon Fire tablets, but I can use a mobile access point if I need it – I use one to firewall and VPN anyway.UPDATE – it works with my travel router using openWrt (GL.iNet GL-MT300A Mini Travel Router), though I had to use some advanced settings so it would use “eth1”. It also seems to have a much better antenna or at least signal reception than the wifi hotspot – known dropout areas were fewer, and it does do 3G/EVDO well, though seems to take a bit longer to switch (and the LED goes red, and the my.usb screen sometimes says it is disconnected, but it isn’t). This is without an extension cable to put the modem in a better place or an external antenna! Another aside is the LEDs are on all the time but can be shut off, but the wifi had an oled display so I had to keep pressing a button to see status as it would turn off after 2 minutes – the maximum on time.UPDATE2 – It has a really good antenna. I tried another area where there are dead zones or it usually is in 3g, and it stayed in 4G through most of it and the 3G areas had a much better signal. I think I have double or triple the coverage area if not more over the wifi hotspot.UPDATE3 – When I use a powered hub, it will stay connected to the wireless network even if I detach the tablet, so I don’t need to wait the about 15 seconds it takes to acquire the network. I can just plug it into the tablet or whatever else and have instant connections.Other positives: 1. It seems to be well built. 2. I can add an antenna if I need it via a port (and I’m usually on the edge of service), or I can use a longer USB cable to move the modem near a window.Another good thing is it only uses 100-200 mA when connected, so it doesn’t drain the battery. I did try a USB3.1 hub that can power and pass through a small charging current to the tablet, but then it wouldn’t see the MiFi (which it did after I disconnected the power).Also, it won’t appear as an ethernet port until it connects or is ready to (on the my.usb page). Nor will it appear as an ethernet port without a SIM (mine was activated already and just worked, and the MyVerizon page showed this instead of the old hotspot.

I purchased this because I am tired of Cable provider removing tools and features from my control as well as charging me rent for their device. It’s a bit spendy and it will take a couple years to pay for itself but I am tired of having “advanced” controls taken from me and placed on Cable Providers own website which you have to log in to in order to manage a device that sits next to you on a desk. I’m sure in someone’s mind that is “convenience” but not to me. I like to manage my own internal network and don’t think my ISP should put something in the way of that.The bad – The Reason I took a star off is I had an issue with 1 feature. I don’t like having 2 separate SSID’s for the 2.4GHZ and 5GHZ bands, Modern WIFI networks you should be able to use the same SSID for both bands and a feature called “Band Steering” should push your devices to the correct Network either based on the capabilities of the device or the signal strength of the network. The issue I had was, with it set up this way and this feature enabled, some of my devices simply kept dropping from the network and subsequently cutting the internet out (This was a gaming device so it made it quite frustrating). My guess is they were on the edge of signal strength for the 5GHZ and kept slipping into 2.4GHZ but when it did this it was dropping from the internet. So I had to use 2 separate SSID’s for the 2.4 and 5GHZ networks and that can make things a bit of a pain for other reasons I won’t get into here.As for range. meh. I should probably be happier with it but it didn’t out perform my previous rented hardware from the ISP in this area. It provides about the same coverage. I have a 2700 sq ft home, the router is on the top floor. It does well everywhere but a few spots downstairs – The aforementioned gaming device did see a slight signal drop compared to the previous device.The specs on this device are “future proof” So you won’t be upset if you buy this and your ISP brings faster speeds to your neighborhood… it can handle any speed that ISP’s will provide you for the foreseeable future. It also has great internal network speeds, I have a Plex Server set up and it handles very well on WIFI. Though I typically have it connected to a wired connection, it is no longer necessary. So that’s cool.Hopefully this review helps.

Archer A7/AX21 2.4G speed for iPhone 11 from 300M Verizon Fios5* review for successfully resolved my low 2.4G speed problem, excellent support from TP Link and fast 5G speed that exceeds Verizon Fios max speed of 300Mbps.The purpose of this review is to compare the 2.4G and 5G speeds of the TP Link Archer A7(AC1700) WiFi 5 router and AX21(AX1800) WiFi 6 router using an iPhone 11 which supports WiFi 6. The highest speed I can test is 300Mbps limited by my Verizon Internet plan. Measurement results using show that using the WiFi 5 router, the 2.4G speed is 60M/80M (UL/DL) and the 5G speed is 307M/330M, whereas using the WiFi 6 router, the 2.4G speed is 110M/120M and the 5G speed is about same.Newer routers’ real life 5G speed is very high and normally is not a problem, but real life 2.4G speed could be slow. It is not entirely sure which part of the wireless link is limiting the 2.4G speed. Below examines the speed limit of the WiFi standards involved, the router and iPhone 11. The routers are TP Link’s Archer A7(AC1700) and AX21(AX1800). Measured speeds at 2.4G and 5G will also be given.Router (TP Link) Specs and Supported WiFi Standards1) Archer A7(AC1700) has has 3 antennas is a WiFi 5 router2.4G : 450Mbps5G: 1300M bpsSupported Standards: AX21(AX1800) : 802.11ac(Wi-Fi 5), 802.11b, 802.11ax(Wi-Fi 6), 802.11n(Wi-Fi 4), 802.11g802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax are also called Wi-Fi 4, WiFi 5 and WiFi 6 respectively.2) AX21(AX1800) has 4 antennas is a WiFi 6 router2.4G: 574M bps5G: 1200M bps.Supported Standards: AX7 (AC1700) 802.11b, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11acA7 (AX1800) is a low cost ($60) popular (listed as “Amazon Choice”) WiFi 5 router which supports 802.11 ac whereas AX 21 is a low cost ($90) WiFi 6 router which supports 802.11 ax. WiFi 6 (max speed 9.6G) not only has higher speed than WiFi 5 (max speed 3.5G) but also can support more devices using orthogonal frequency division multiple access. The main differences are given in picture 1. (Picture 1 from : https://www.mwrf.com/technologies/systems/article/21849959/whats-the-difference-between-wifi-5-and-wifi-6)Comparing the specs of these two routers, one has a higher 2.4G speed while the other has a higher 5G speed. But in real life, according to my measurements, at 2.4G, the WiFi 6 router has almost twice the speed than the WiFi 5 router. I don’t have a high enough wireless speed plan to test the 5G speed. In my house both routers have the same speed of 310M, limited by the max speed allowed by Verizon Fios 300M.Speeds specified by the WiFi standards are speeds the router manufacturers trying to meet and they are not the limit, but speeds advertised by the router are the speeds that customers want the router to be able to reach. They become upset if they are unable to get the speeds advertised by the router.Routers often do not specified under what link conditions these seemingly advertised high speeds could be realized. For example what is the required bandwidth, the number of antennas (the so called MIMO) and how pure the signal has to be (the signal to noise ratio). Is the bandwidth 20, 40, 80 or 160M? Is the signal to noise ratio has to be greater than 10dB?In real life, link speed depends on how far from the router (the signal strength) and radio interference which falls in band (the signal to noise ratio). The former can be solved by doing the speed test right next to the router, where the transmit signal from the router is at maximum. But for the latter, unless one has a so called Faraday Cage, there is no way to block in-band interference especially at 2.4G, which are used by microwave ovens, Bluetooth and many household devices. Interference is hard to quantify without using a spectrum analyzer and could become an excuse if one calls the router support line complaining low speed.Another limit is the device itself, and in this case iPhone 11. It’s specs are given below.Wi-Fi specifications for iPhone 11802.11 standard, name, frequency Maximum PHY data rate Maximum channel bandwidth Maximum MCS index Maximum spatial streamsax@5 GHz 1200 Mbps 80 MHz 11 (HE) 2/MIMOac@5 GHz 866 Mbps 80 MHz 9 (VHT) 2/MIMOa/n@5 GHz 300 Mbps 40 MHz 7 (HT) 2/MIMOax@2.4 GHz 195 Mbps 20 MHz 9 (HE) 2/MIMOb/g/n@2.4 GHz 144 Mbps 20 MHz 7 (HT) 2/MIMO(From: https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/iphone-wi-fi-specification-details-dep268652e6c/web)https://mcsindex.com gives more details about how the speed on each band is affected by modulation scheme, number of antennas, bandwidth and WiFi standards used, not only for iPhones but for routers as well.From the iPhone 11 specs, only “n” and “ax” support 2.4GHz if we ignore the older standards “b” and “g”. At 2.4G, The maximum speeds for “n” is 144M whereas for “ax” is 195M. The max bandwidth for both is 20MHz which needs to be set in the router. Setting the bandwidth to 40MHz could lower the speed as the noise power will be doubled.However, at 5GHz the speed for ac (WiFi 5) is 866M with 80M max bandwidth whereas for ax (WiFi 6) is 1200M also with 80M max bandwidth. These bandwidths should also be specified in the router. Setting the bandwidth too high or too low could lower the speed.From the iPhone 11 max speeds, it is clear that the wireless link’s speed is not limited by both the A7 and AX21 routers and the standards, but by the iPhone 11 at 2.4G and by Verizon Fios at 5G.I have Verizon Fios 300M download and upload. Initially, I used an A7, thinking that at 2.4GHz, the router speed is 450M which is higher than iPhone’s 144M(“n”) and 195M(“ax), surely shouldn’t be a problem. But speed test showed that I got only 60M download and 80M upload from the best channel and 20M bandwidth (I tested all the channels and bandwidth combinations).60M is too slow for me because I have several devices (such as security cameras) using 2.4G. So I called TP Link support line to see what I had done wrong. Most customer supports didn’t know what the problem was the and finally I was connected to a high level support. She said that in real life, I had to multiply the speed by 30-50% and guided me through the various specs of the wireless link. I don’t know where the 30-50% comes from, perhaps it was her empirical experience. If I use the average of 40% and assume that applies to the lower speed of the router and the iPhone, which is 144MHz. 40%x144M is 57M. This was about what I got at 2.4G using the A7 router.But she also said something about WiFi 6 router and got me thinking perhaps a WiFi 6 router could improve the speed. (I must say that I got excellent support from TP Link, I had gotten calls twice from the specialist unsolicited and many followup emails. All trying to help me solve the low speed problem.)I then change the A7(AC1700) to an AX21(AX1800), which does support WiFi 6 “ax”.The main advantage of using AX21 is that it raised the iPhone 11 max speed at 2.4G from 144M to 195M, a gain of 51M. And as a result, in real life, the 2.4G link speed seemed to have increased by about the same amount. Speed test showed that at 2.4G, I now got ~90-110M(download, previously 60M when using A7) and 100-120M(upload) with the channel and bandwidth set on auto. Though the download speed is still less than 195M, the link speed has increased by changing to a router that supports ax and has 4 antennas. Have no idea if a more expensive router will further increase the 2.4G speed.However, at 5GHz, both routers give 307M download and 330M upload, limited by Verizon Fios max speed of 300M.When doing speed test, I shut off all 2.4G emitters. I live in a rural area and I suspect there is little interference.A7 has 3 antennas whereas AX21 has four. Is the speed improvement at 2.4G due to the additional antenna or the support of WiFi 6 or both?

This is the most ridiculous modem. I have 15 cradlepoint modems and they all work right out of the box. Decided to try this modem because it claims to use less power. Instantly regret it. No power cord included. Followed the one sentence wiring instruction with no success. After testing the system it appears the device is not reading the “initial power” wire. Why is such a simple device so difficult to power up?? Never again.

I’ll cut to the chase. Plug it in then call your ISP provider to activate and provision the Arris G34. The PIN number on the bottom of the modem is not the password for the modem. You’ll find the password for the modem on a small square piece of paper in the box it came in. Once everything is up and running, you’ll hopefully be amazed. My Wi-Fi speed went from 400mbps all the way up to 700mbps where it should have been but my old modem couldn’t handle the speed. The Arris G34 has Wi-Fi 6 and docsis 3.1 which are the latest Wi-Fi standards. One thing you’ll have to get used to is the one and only light on the front of the modem. It changes color according to connection status. Blue means you’re online. Contrary to other reviews here on Amazon, my particular Arris G34 does not randomly disconnect. So far it’s been solid. The range seems to be pretty strong unless you have multiple devices connected. I typically have two iPhones, one iPad and an Apple Watch connected at the same time. If I go in the bedroom, the speed will typically drop about 50mbps which is par for the course in my apartment. So do I recommend it? Absolutely. The Arris G34 Router/Modem Combo is one of the best I’ve had. It’s a great modem/router combo for an affordable price.

I just didn’t want to pay rental fee to COMCAST when I can buy my own and it would pay off in about a year. And after that I would save at least $15 per month. I don’t know why I didn’t think about this earlier.So I just installed my Motorola MG7700 Modem WiFi Router Combo today. The whole process to install it didn’t take more than 20 mins. Just follow the instructions in the box (I used the option to use the XFINITY app which I already had already on my phone). I didn’t even need to call COMCAST to complete the setup. I know that this MG7700 is not top of the line but quite sufficient for our family. The output is between 130-500 MB download speed throughout our house, which is plenty for us. I don’t care that the speed went down roughly 100MB with this new MG7700 modem/router. Just something to keep in mind. If you need higher speeds then get a better (more expensive) model. Overall, very happy with this purchase.

Easy to setup with the NetGear Orbi app from the play store, Just follow the set up. Use the default SSID and passphrase until you’re completely done Then change your SSID and passphrase to what you want.Note: I had to reinstall the NetGear Orbi app because the diagram map showed red for not connected to the internet and router when I was connected. The satellite showed green. Called tech support and the tech suggested that I remove the app and reinstall After I reinstalled the app everything showed green. The web page interface shows a lot more options and a better view of your attached devices. Don’t forget to change web page password.The web page allowed me to assign IP addresses to my devices. When I did noy have the TV assigned an IP address, I would sometimes get a not connected when going into HULU (pretty much everyday) I just had to cancel the error message and try again., After I assigned the TV an IP address, I never had that problem again. Note: If you have a TV with Wi-Fi 6, do not use the ethernet cable connected to your satellite. It’s a slower connection, Use the Wi-Fi for your connection,I don’t like the Armor because it wants you to install Bitdefender on all your devices. I like the Asus Aiprotection because it does not require any software to be install on your devices, I’m still sticking with Netgear Orbi, but I won’t be subscribing for the Armor. I’m happy with my with my whole experience with the Netgear Orbi. I believe Netgear Orbi is one of the best routers out there.A bit expensive, but you get what you pay for and you are getting a quality router that will last you a long time. Especially since it can handle 100 devices,

This cable modem gives me excellent speed on many devices at once. It was easy to set up and get running. Only problem is that it is less compatible with older WiFi devices. I had difficulty connecting my printer, and I have yet to connect an old (2016) laptop. Tech support consists of a “Community Forum”. I hate that companies feel they can get away with this, but apparently they can!

Easy to install and get running it is in a 2000 sq ft house witha 2 car garage and provides complete coverage with very strong signal.