Is the device you’ve picked out a modem router combo, or just a modem. If your device does not have WiFi built-into it, you’ll need to go without or purchase a separate wireless router to provide your home with WiFi. In many cases, it can be better to purchase a separate WiFi router to use alongside your modem. This can make troubleshooting common network problems a bit easier, as well as allow you to upgrade your WiFi in the future for much lower cost.

Dual-Band wireless is a technology that splits your wireless into 2 separate WiFi networks. These networks are broadcast at slightly different frequencies which give you more flexibility with your network. One frequency is usually broadcast at 2.4GHz, which is better for signal strength, range and going through walls. You’d want to use this network for accessing from across your home, or from your mobile devices. The other network that’s typically broadcast is done at a frequency of 5GHz. This network doesn’t penetrate through walls as well, but offers much faster speeds. We recommend this for stationary devices that are somewhat close to your router such as a TV, media streaming device, printers, desktop computers, etc.

This is more of a luxury feature in our opinion. The battery backup serves as a protection for your phone line only, during loss of power for up to 16hrs (with equipped 16hr battery). Keep in mind that this just keeps your phone on, not the internet, and only works if your landline phone itself has power still. These are fine, but we would actually recommend taking the plunge and investing in a larger surge protector/battery backup combo that will cover more than just your landline phone service, and for more than 16 hrs.

This is the maximum speed your modem can support with a wired connection via ethernet cable. Generally the advertised speeds for this specification will be about 10-20% higher than what you’ll experience on a normal day using the device in your home. Because of this, we recommend going with a model that supports speeds at least slightly above whatever your internet plan provides.

This one’s a no-brainer. You definitely want to pick out something that you’ll be able to set up yourself. Many cable internet providers don’t like to offer technical support for customer-owned modems and routers, so having one that you can DIY is really important. Luckily, if you ordered from ModemGuides.com we offer free technical support with each order, so if you do get stuck, or go into your activation totally out of your element, just contact us and we’ll help you out!

Beamforming is a wireless technology that boosts your wireless signal out to your devices, adding more signal strength to your WiFi networks and allowing you to connect from a further distance.

Your max WiFi download speeds may be totally different from your max wired download speeds, and that’s okay! We often see a modem that supports speeds of nearly 1000 Mbps but its wireless speeds only go up to N450 (400Mbps). Just be aware that just because a modem says that it’s speeds are Gigabit, does not mean that the WiFi will also be Gigabit.

Most cable providers are currently allowing DOCSIS 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1 models to be activated on their network, however some providers limit the number of DOCSIS 2.0 devices due to network infrastructure upgrades that have made them obsolete in recent years.

There are a few devices that are still made that support landline phones, however most of them don’t support speeds higher than 400 Mbps. If you’re stuck between the rock and hard place of needing a landline phone, but wanting higher speed internet as well, ask your provider about activating 2 separate modems on your account and having the phone portion of your service on one device, and the cable/internet/WiFi on another. You may need to speak with a higher tier of technical support to get it done, but it’s something that we’ve been helping our clients accomplish for several years.