NETGEAR N600 (8x4) WiFi DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem Router (C3700) Certified for Xfinity from Comcast, Spectrum, Cox, Spectrum & more

I was with CenturyLink DSL for over 10 years. 7MB down, 1.1 up. Very slow by todays standards, but still good enough to stream HD and do about anything online as real time gaming isn't something that we do at all.Comcast was running a $40 per month special for the first year for Comcast blast, which is up to 50mb down. Since this was less than half of what I was paying CLink (when you add in the home phone nobody ever uses) I figured I'd save a few hundred dollars in the first year and enjoy 7 TIMES the speed for a while.I did some research and the N600 came up as a good DOCSIS3.0 modem with wifi included. I like that it does both. Some people don't. I do.During install, the Comcast installer had a little trouble having the guy in the center find this modem to push the Comcast specific image to the device as it's so "new" to them, even though it says it's a supported Modem on their own site. Eventually it worked.I plugged in my laptop directly, hit Speedtest.net and was getting 54mb down, 12mb up. Wow. Anytime you get more speed than advertised is great.So then I set up the wireless. I was getting about 30MB over 2.4, which the installer said was about typical for that. And he left.Over the next few days, I found many dead spots for 2.4 in my house. This modem doesn't have any external antenna, which certainly can't help. I have it in my living room on my main floor. The main floor is great, but the upstairs and the basement are sketchy or non-existant. Just not much in the way of antenna.So, for fun, I set up the 5Ghz band. I'd never used anything in the 5G band and the only devices I have that see it are my ipads. I scanned the area and there was only 1 other person with the 5G band in my house, and that was a weak signal, compared to MANY 2.4 band signals. So I hopped on my 5ghz band with my ipad and hit Speedtest. 45mb, 48mb, 50mb down. I couldn't believe it.In the rooms in the basement where I didn't get any 2.4, I was still getting well over 40MB down on the 5ghz band. I was sold. I bought some USB dual bands and changed everything over, laptops and desktops, to 5ghz. The speed if phenomenal.In a room in the basement where my desktop down there couldn't get 2.4, I had run a LONG Cat6 cable. That desktop was getting 54mb down. I installed the USB dualband and jumped on 5ghz. I unplugged the Cat6 obviously. I was also getting 54MB down on the 5ghz. It was just as fast as being plugged in in a room where the 2.4 just wouldn't penetrate.If you doing 1-level living, then this should work great for you on the 2.4 band. It's incredibly fast. But if you have lots of interference from other wifi networks on 2.4, changing over to 5ghz with this router is even better. Faster through the air and farther reaching.

The 5ghz network on an as advertised 25mbps connection is getting 25mbps and above, It's like being hard-lined in. I've seen 28+ depending on time of day while the 2.4ghz network gets around 20mb on speed tests. Since most of our townhome neighbors operate on the 2.4 spectrum there's less band competition and potential interference to keep your speeds up. We live in a smaller home so I can't speak to the range, but if you're in an apartment it'll do just fine.It Certainly does well for streaming. I haven't had a chance to dig into the advanced system management to configure the guest network and so on....So far I am very pleased with the ease of set up, security, speed, size of this unit (much smaller than the rental unit). Also the lights are a lot dimmer than the bright white one's on Comcast's rental unit, which helps since the router/modem is in a common area and can be distracting in lower light.Install guide, I was able to get internet in roughly 30 minutes.1. Unplug the old unit before opening new unit.2. Take a picture of MAC and Serial on the bottom of the NEW unit. Connect the CABLE and POWER. The tech will be resetting the modem.3. Call your ISP, (Comcast, Charter, or whichever Regime controls your geographic area's internet) I haven't had much luck with online activations.4. Say you want to activate a modem you purchased.5. Provide tech with:Model brand and name "Netgear N600"MAC (from your photo or the bottom of the unit)Serial (if needed)6. Wait for reset signals and lights to be all solid.7. Plug Ethernet/cat5 cable into computer when tech says to browse to a website and the UP, DOWN, and GLOBE/Connected lights are solid.8. Run a speed test to make sure you're getting what you pay for.9. If you'd like to change the WiFi network name, in a browser type in the IP address on the bottom of the of the modem and INCLUDE the HTTP:// portion with the numbers10. A week or a few days later run a speed test or two again to verify your ISP hasn't sent any modem configuration resets on your new unit. They have been known to "accidentally" get throttled to a lower speed by a new modem config sent down by the ISP.11. Happy Browsing!