Do you recommend a wifi router for iMac's

[Gena]

Hi Brian,

I am in need of a new wifi router. I use my iMac and apple phones and was not sure what wifi router I should look at to purchase.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you 🙂

[Brian]

Well, that depends on a few things. First, how fast is your internet connection? How big is the area you are looking for Wifi? Do you have problems with connectivity in parts of your home? Where is the current Wifi Access Point located?

[Gena]

Comcast reads ---    Your Plan Speed  200 Mbps   Speed to your computer   64.9 Mbps   My house is approx - 1500sq one level ... The modem and wifi that I have now is in a spare bedroom that never has the door opened. Just purchased a row machine that we set up in our garage that will need wifi. My other machines are out there too but they do not need wifi.

I have poor connection towards the back of my house with the wifi. I am not sure how the garage is for wifi I have not used it out there. Before changing out wifi's a couple of years ago, I started with Apple Airport Express. Then my daughter gave me the Apple AirPort Extreme - which I don't think it works well at all, I can't even get my "Ring" front door bell to connect to it.  I really want to buy something that will reach all areas of my home/garage. Only thing connected connects right now is my iMac and Cell phone.

 

 

 

 

 

[Brian]

4 hours ago, Gena said:

The modem and wifi that I have now is in a spare bedroom that never has the door opened.

That's a major problem right there. Closed Doors, heating ducts in walls, stainless steel appliances all cut WiFi Signal. Especially the 5GHz Band. The 2.4GHz goes further than 5GHz, but is not as fast. That's why your computer is 64.9 Mbps Down, which isn't very fast at all in 2021. In fact, I had my WiFi Access Point next to my TV in my Living Room, which was the most centralized portion of my house. I got connectivity all over the house, but once my Wife started working from home permanently, she complained that the WiFi was a bit "Sluggish" when working up in her office on our 2nd level as compared to working in the Dining Room on the main floor. Well, it turns out my fancy Stainless Steel Fridge was really blocking the signal and the main trunk for the heating system (metal heating/cooling duct) also was getting in the way. So I moved the Access Point a total of 5 feet and placed it into the Dining Room on our Buffet cabinet, and her download speed jumped from 60 down to around 160-170 down. Big difference.

So for your case, getting that Wifi Router out of your bedroom and in a more centralized location will be a huge benefit to you. As far as your Garage, Concrete Blocks are not great for WiFi signal either but I do have a recommendation for your situation: Ubiquiti - AmpliFi Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi System - White.

What a Mesh WiFi System does, is you have the main WiFi Router, but then two satellite nodes that help boost the signal across your house. You don't have to worry about connecting from one to the other, the main controller cube will automatically move your device to the closest / strongest access point. So your whole house is "Covered in WiFi." So areas like your Garage and back Bedrooms will get a better signal. Your Ring Doorbell will finally have a stable connection. You don't even have to use all of the Satellite Access Points, you might just need one. Oh, it's one SSID Name and your devices can move around at will without dropping connection. That's the benefit to a "Mesh System."

The reason I asked about download speed, is most routers these days have no issues connecting to a Cable Modem that is 300Mbps or less, it's when you get to the 600 Mbps or Gigabit (Which in reality is 940 Mbps Down and 40 Mbps Up...but it's cooler and more Marketable to say "Gig Speed." But I digress...) do you need a Router that supports 1GB or 2GB Internet. If you have no plans on going up that high, you are fine. If you do, we will need to figure out a different system. Honestly? I have Gig Internet. Yes, it is faster, but truth be told, I got it for my Wife and the Upload Speeds than anything, since she hooks up to her office via a VPN. I would still be perfectly happy having 300 Mbps down and 12 Mbps Up. Of course, I don't have multiple Teenagers streaming 4K video to their devices along with stuff I want to do. I'm going on assumption you are also in the same boat, you don't want to spend the $$$ on a faster Internet Connection and your usage doesn't warrant spending that much money. But I will say, 300Mbps down is a nice thing to have, conversationally speaking.  

[Gena]

Since asking for help with my wifi issues I totally forgot to ask if you could recommend a good Modem? I have had the same Modem from Comcast for maybe 13 years. My brother asked me if I ever thought about using my own modem. I have no idea if it is good to buy my own modem or just call Comcast and see if I can get an updated Modem. What do you recommend? I use my computer for work sometimes at night and it seems to be okay, I truly don't see no issues with it other then wishing I would hook up another monitor. lol  I only work from home when needed to catch up on things, but I want to make sure that I am protected well and have the ability to connect to my work computer with no issues.

Since I do work from at night once in a while and we do stream a lot I really do want the best that I can get in a modem and wifi. I also need to make sure that everything is dummy friendly when it comes to setting up everything. lol

 

[Brian]

17 minutes ago, Gena said:

I have no idea if it is good to buy my own modem or just call Comcast and see if I can get an updated Modem. What do you recommend?

You mean not pay Comcast the $15+ Ransom (*Ahem* I meant Rental Fee) each month? Of course I recommend owning your own modem! All you have to do is buy one, call Comcast to get it "Permissioned" (Which is a fancy way of saying "Activated.") and then returning the Comcast Modem. There are a few different models, one for just Comcast Internet, and they other kind that is meant for the "Triple Play" (Phone-Internet-Cable TV). So what type of Comcast do you subscribe to now?

If you really want the best and fastest connection, nothing beats a hard-wired Ethernet Connection and ditching WiFi. But the majority of people aren't fancy like me and run Ethernet Cable throughout their house. In terms of connection, if you can stretch your budget to 300Mbps Down, that will help things a lot with streaming multiple screens at once.

Also, I'm surprised Comcast hasn't bugged you to update your modem. As technology improves, the requirements of the Modems increase as well. If you do go this route, JUST BE SURE TO RETURN THE MODEM TO A XFINITY STORE AND GET A RECEIPT STATING THAT YOU RETURNED IT!!! You'd be surprised on how much a PITA Comcast / XFinity can be, especially if they think you still have the equipment. Lots of horror stories. In fact, I'd take a video or at least a picture of you returning your modem at the Xfinity Store.
 

Quote

Brian's Wife in 2015: "...we do not need a Professional Grade Ethernet Setup mounted on a Back-board."

Brian: "Yes we do. Wait and see, this is an investment into the house..."

(COVID hits and the world goes insane. Wife now works from home permanently.)

Brian: See!! I told you!!!

The Ubiquiti Router Mesh System is VERY easy to setup. In fact, you do it using your Smart Phone and Ubiquiti App. I have a friend who always gets stressed out with setting up technology and he bought one. He said it was a piece of cake. He then bought one for his parents and set it up.

[Gena]

lol that's awesome! I bet she is real happy now!

From 2019 to current has been the worse time of my life. I lost my father to cancer the end of 2019 and ever since I have not been able to get my life back to normal! Very depressed/sad and can't seem to stop crying!  I have to be very happy that my husband does everything he can to help out with the crazyness of everything that has effected us both. Sometimes I don't know how he puts up with me. lol He is a builder/contractor so he can build me a mansion if needed but can't turn on a computer to save his life lol That's okay tho lol We are both in our mid 50's, have 2 grown children, 5 grand children and are very much home body's since life got crazy. With the wifi, I think getting the one you suggested will be great for what we do here at home. If we stream anything from netflix then we are usually sitting watching together. As for the modem, We ONLY have internet through Comcast. I called a year or two ago because I knew that my modem was very old but the guy at Comcast said that what I use it for it fits me perfect. So I guess that's why he didn't offer any other box, but did frustrate me when I knew he didn't listen to me about turning the old box in. lol I will be happy to make it clear with my video on or a snap shot who I give the old modem too when returning it. lol I hate to put out the 15 dollars a month when it doesn't work well anyway. I am going to order the wifi box but would like to get a modem at the same time. Does it matter what type of modem I purchase. I will call comcast once I have the new modem here at my house. I can't wait to stop paying them monthly for the modem box lol

 

[Brian]

Buy this: Motorola - 32 x 8 DOCSIS 3.1 Cable Modem

Buy this: Ubiquiti - AmpliFi Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi System - White

Both items are from Best Buy and are in stock, so you could have them shipped to you. What I would do, is get the new modem working FIRST, with your existing router. THEN setup the new Ubiquiti Mesh Router System. Take one thing at a time.

[Brian]

You only have probably 100Mbps down I'm guessing? Or somewhere around there? That's probably why the Comcast Rep didn't recommend replacing it. At $15-$16 a month, plus tax, it adds up over time. That $140 Cable Modem that I recommended will go up to 1 Gig Internet, so if you ever wanted to bump up your speed to say, 300Mbps, it will handle it with room to spare. Just think, in about 9-10 months, that Cable Modem will have paid for itself.