networking

With all of the drama happening with Comcast starting to use home routers as public access points for their customers I thought it would be helpful to put a post together about how to use your own modem and router with your Comcast connection. I have had my own hardware doing this for awhile and not only does it give you better security from things Comcast wants to do, but gives you much better control and speeds.

The first thing you need is a modem. Some of these come with routers/wifi access points built in, but I prefer to use a stand alone modem so I can upgrade my gear piece by piece when I need to. My current modem is a Motorola Surfboard SB6141. Its a DOCSIS 3.0 modem which can handle up to 343Mbps down and 131Mbps. Until we get fiber into the home this should suffice. When you get this you will have to give Comcast a call to have them activate it on your network. It’s about a 10 minute phone call and they should do it no problem. If you currently have a device that you are renting from Comcast you can get that ready to go back to them. They will activate the modem and from there we are done with them.

Next you will need your router. I use an Apple Airport Extreme. I love these for how simple they are. You don’t get all the customization that you might from a Linksys or D-Link, but I just want something simple that I don’t have to maintain. All you do is use an ethernet cable from the Motorola to the WAN port on the Airport Extreme and then hop on your phone or computer to use Airport Utility to configure the router how you like. Setting that up is an entirely other post that may come soon.

Thats the whole of it. It really is pretty simple to get out from under Comcast’s thumb and use your own gear. Please leave any questions or comments below and I will answer what I can.