How to solve bad internet speeds on Comcast Xfinity / Charter Spectrum / WOW! / etc

 For the last three years I've been working with my city to possibly get a municipal fiber network installed so our residents have a choice between sub par overpriced DSL and sub par over priced cable internet.  We like many communities have no competition and the providers have driven costs up like mad.  We've gotten to a step where we got a survey of the residents and were shocked how bad it was   I've had a few indications I need to write up this article this week.  

I've had a few indications I need to write up this article this week.  First I've been working with my local government to attempt to bring municipal broadband to my community.  We have a full third of the community reporting speeds of 30mbps or less even though our cable company offering a lowest standard speed of 200mbps.  Secondly a friend of mine called me with internet speed issues where she was only getting 30mbps and that was affecting her three kids who are all in virtual classrooms and their ability to attend school.  In her case she not only had a very old 802.11b router she had been talked into a slow internet plan so the cable company could give her a cheap double play TV and internet package even though she only needed internet.  Finally knowing how many people assume cable equipment is good for years (and lets face it many of us have had cable boxes older than our children) aren't used to the fact that this equipment needs more frequent replacement than we knew.

With everything going on many people are finding out they don't have access to the speed of internet they thought they had.  In many cases they're simply overwhelming the system that was built decades ago to handle TV.  In many cases however the network outside of their homes was upgraded, but the homeowner never upgraded their modem or router assuming they were good with what they had.  Never knowing that every so often this equipment would need an upgrade.  Before you blame your cable company let me run you through some steps that will make the process easier to identify where your real bottleneck is.

1)  Check your bill / call your provider.  What we are looking for here is the speed of your internet package.  If your bill doesn't have a specific speed listed call them up and simply ask.  You like my friend might have a slow plan that was either given to you to keep costs low, or you might have a grandfathered plan and are paying way too much for slow internet.  Call and ask.  If you're getting under 50mbps ask what the standard speed is now for your provider.  Check their website and confirm what they are saying to you.

2)  Use your computer to go to speedtest.net.  Run the speed test (It's a big green button) and verify that the download and upload speeds match what you've been told.  I'd give a little room for slop or high traffic times.  If your paying for 100mpbs download and get 80 your equipment's probably fine.  Your provider needs to upgrade theirs.  Best to complain to them and encourage your neighbors to do the same.  If the test comes back with what you're paying for you don't have a problem with your equipment.  However if you are experiencing issues with multiple video streams in your house (We're all working / schooling remote) you might need to upgrade your plan to a faster speed.  However if you get really low numbers say 30mbps when you pay for 100mpbs or better read on.

3)  If you got a really low number in step 2 you have a problem in one of three places.  Your router, your cable modem, or the cable from the pole to your home is bad.  Lets start isolating out equipment.  First off take down the model number from the wifi router and cable modem and look them up on google.  We can save you some testing here by checking these facts.

a)  If your router comes up as 802.11 a,b,g, or n you should simply replace it now.  It might still be working, but they were never really made for multiple video streams at home.

If you've never had signal problems in your home this would be a great replacement device:

https://amzn.to/32LKuj3

However if you've always had some dead spots in your home it's time to upgrade to a mesh network.

https://amzn.to/2RF9li1

b)  If your cable modem has markings for DOCSIS, DOCSIS 1.1, or DOCSIS 2.0 it's time for a replacement.  If you rent your modem or are provided one free by your cable company request a replacement.  If you own your own it's time for a replacement.  Here is an excellent one.

https://amzn.to/2EfL2UT

In many cases if one device needs replacement both probably do.  In that case consider a combined device with wifi and modem in one box.  It reduces unsightly wires and saves you shelf space.

https://amzn.to/2RDcTRZ

4)  If you want to start testing out the root cause of your speed issue disconnect the wire between your cable modem and your router and unhook the power from your router.  Hook your computer directly up to the cable modem and then run the speedtest.net website again.  If you get the speeds you pay for then your router is in need of replacement.  However if you still have speed issues the problem could either be your cable modem, or the cable to your home.

5)  Call your cable provider and ask for tech support.  Let them know you want them to "Test the signal my cable modem is seeing."  They don't need to send a tech out to do this as the modem reports this information to them on request.  This is where things get a little confusing.  If the modem is seeing enough signal or the tech reports it's good you probably have an outdated modem that needs replacement.  If it wasn't getting enough signal you probably have a bad cable from the pole to your house or too many cable splitters.  Let the tech know you're having speed issues and that you're hooked directly to the cable modem without a router.  In most situations the tech will simply send out a new cable modem for you to install or schedule a service call. Let me be clear, anyone can swap a cable modem.  There are literally three wires that go to them (ethernet, coax, and power).  All you need to do is call service and read off the serial number off the device to get it running.  Most cable providers make this process easy.

Cutting the cord for $0 per month for TV.

As cable TV prices continue to skyrocket I'm having more people come to me asking how they can get their cable bill down.  Sometimes they are asking how they can cut the cord, others they just want to shave their bill and keep as much programming as possible.  I've been doing some research since my last post on this topic and I've set a goal for myself.  Design a system in which you spend absolutely nothing out of pocket per month but gives you access to as much programming as possible.

This will have up front costs.  You will need to buy equipment (if you don't already have it!) but nothing I'm suggesting is exceedingly expensive.  In fact I'm going to try to keep the total expense under six months of your typical on contract cable bill with three TV's and the associated equipment ($150 per month, so $900.  This is just TV, no internet).  I'll be designing a system using generic devices you may already have and equipment you already have.  As many of us have a old computer sitting around doing nothing as we've mostly all moved on to tablets and smart phones, or you have a desktop that has some spare processing power I will omit this cost from the total, however I will include a generic device for those who don't have a PC handy that can do the job.  I'll also design a setup assuming you have nothing available to you and need to buy everything, and prefer something that works out of the box.  I will also state that I won't include Netflix or Amazon Prime services in the total cost as many cable TV users have these services over the top already and they are in addition to their existing cable bill.

Now to do this you will need internet access.  As such I will start off with...

Internet:

For this solution you don't need an extremely fast internet service.  You just need something over 50mbps to be reliable for two tv's.  Now every area is different as to what ISPs you have available.  Here are my suggestions:

Community fiber or AT&T Fiber (in that order):  

If you have this available to you use it.  Skip all other options.  Some of these systems provide you everything you need including wifi.  Others just give you a connection that you need to hook up to your own router.  You'll need to pay for a plan that offers at least 100/100 mbps and you'll love the results.  Here's a good wifi router if you need it.

Cable Internet:

Now most of us will be using cable internet.  No matter if you have Comcast Xfinity, Charter Spectrum, WOW!, or some other provider here's my suggestions.

• Do not pay the "Existing Customer" pricing from any cable company.  Comcast and WOW are better at allowing existing customers negotiate lower rates after their contract ends.  Spectrum rarely allows existing customers negotiate their rate down because most of their customer base is stuck with them as their only ISP.  However you can usually skirt these "Existing Customer" prices with a little trick.  If you have some other adult living in your home (Spouse, parent, sibling, adult child) you can cancel your service and have the other adult sign up.  You'll need to pay the connection fee most likely, but they have no way to reject this other person as a new customer.  After two years switch back.  This is a hassle, but with a monthly cost jump of between $25-$36 you will make up for it in the two year contract.


• Bring your own modem and wifi router.  Specifically a combined device.  While some ISPs offer a free modem, and a few offer free wifi as part of the contract it's better for you to own your device outright.  Cable companies are offering you these devices for free because they're using these modems to expand their wifi footprint for mobile customers.  Some of the electricity you pay for is benefiting your ISP and they're burying this in the contract fine print.  Better bring your own device and not only deny them this but avoid paying as much as $15 per month for wifi and $10 per month for the cable modem. 
  
  I used to tell people not to buy a combined device.  While cable modems didn't change much over time the wifi standard was changing every two or three years.  You were better off buying separate devices.  Now everything has stabilized.  Buy a unified device to make setup easier.  Here's a good device.


• DO NOT LET THEM TALK YOU INTO A PACKAGE DEAL!  YOU WANT INTERNET ONLY!  NO PHONE, NO TV, AND NO SECURITY (dear god don't get security services from your isp!) 
• You want the base service you can get for $50ish per month.  Usually this would be 100-200mbps service depending on your area.  
• Ask if your ISP caps your monthly usage.  Most cable ISPs don't however there are a few.  A monthly cap could cause issues for you with excessive streaming.  Try to get an ISP that doesn't have a monthly cap if you can.

DSL internet (sometimes called Uverse):

If you can't get the above you will most likely be limited to your phone company's offering.  Be aware these are usually speed limited.  Some areas have speeds as low as 25mbps which will work for one stream, but you will see issues.  Others have speeds as high as 75mbps.  If you have a low speed be sure to call your phone company and complain and get your neighbors to do the same.  Also look into getting a community fiber network set up.  If your phone company and cable company won't support you then you are better doing this yourself.

AT&T provides their own modem and wifi for free with your service.  I can't recommend getting your own device as they're modem is proprietary.  If your phone company is not AT&T ask if they're providing their modem and / or wifi for free.  If not here is a good device.


With this your internet is secured.  You monthly cost currently will be between $35 - $60.  From here on out there will be no other monthly costs.

Television Service

From here on out I'm going to split this up between a simple solution and a more complex solution.  Both provide DVR services for recording TV.  The more complex solution provides you additional functionality allowing you to centrally store your personal movie, music, and photo collections and stream them anywhere.

Both solutions use over the air TV as well as Pluto TV.  We're all mostly familiar with antenna TV.  However those of us who've been on cable TV for 20 years might not know how good antenna TV has gotten.  Where we used to get just ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CW, and PBS you now can get as many as 70 stations with an antenna.  Each station broadcasts multiple channels so instead of just "Channel 2" you now get "2-1, 2-2, 2-3, and 2-4" all showing different shows.  You just need an antenna.  Not even a new antenna.  Any old TV Antenna including the old 70's rabbit ears in your basement or the hideous thing on your roof you considered taking down can be used.  An outdoor antenna is better, and a directional antenna is best.  Here's a great antenna that can be used either indoors or outdoors.



Now for additional stations you just need to set up an account on Pluto.tv.  Pluto.tv is a service from Viacom that streams many popular TV and internet TV channels for free including some very well known channels (Fox Sports, MSNBC, Nickelodeon, etc).  By creating an account you unlock extra channels.  This is all free and it's ad supported just like your standard antenna TV.

Now it's not perfect.  I've seen some hiccups on a slow connection.  However this lets you keep your favorite channels for free vs a $150 cable bill.  As such I'm willing to make some allowances.  Also Pluto.tv will be separate from the DVR from your antenna TV.  As long as you don't mind exiting your TV app and going to your Pluto.tv app you shouldn't notice anything.  For $150 a month I think this is a fair trade.  Pluto.tv doesn't offer a DVR per say, however you do have some "On Demand" programming in their service.

Simple Solution With DVR

The simple solution requires you to buy Amazon Fire sticks for each TV, and a Amazon Recast device to act as a DVR.  While the recast comes with a antenna many times it's a cheap indoor antenna.  You're welcome to try it however you will get much better performance out of the one above.

So get one of these for each TV in your house.

Then get one of these for your entire house.

That's it.  Install these per their instructions or hire someone to help you out.  Set up your Pluto TV account on each TV's Fire stick.

So for a house with three tv's you're looking at the following costs:

Equipment	Cost	Quantity	Total
Modem / Modem + Router	$141.97	1	$141.97
Antenna	$82.70	1	$82.70
Fire Sticks	$49.99	3	$149.97
Fire Recast	$279.99	1	$279.99
Total			$654.63‬

I'm under what you'd spend for 6 months of cable TV.  You will need an Amazon Prime account for these devices to work, however you probably already have this.  It enables the TV guide on the Recast and provides a ton of movies and programming as part of your membership.

More complex solution

Now if you'd like to not only have a DVR for your antenna TV, but also want to use your existing smart TV, video game console, Rokus, or other devices and have an old computer sitting around this is the option for you.

To start us off lets start with the software.  Plex is free to download and install on your computer.  You install it and then point at your library folders (Music, photos, Movies, Recorded TV) and it finds everything.  Your smart devices most likely have a Plex app already available.  All current video game systems do, as does the Roku and your phone!  You can take your personal media on the go with you streaming from your own home server.  Now for a guide to allow downloading TV programming you will need to get Plex Pass.  You can either subscribe for a monthly cost, or you can just pay once and own it outright.  The cost is typically $119.  I have seen them go on sale as low as $75 on slickdeals.net.  I will use the standard price in the final tally below.

You will need each TV to either be a Smart TV, have an attached Game system like a Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, or PS3, or just have something like a Roku.  If you have a TV that has nothing and you're not willing or unable to relocate a device from another TV (like a home theater with multiple game systems) then buy one of these per TV.

Now you will want to add some storage space to your computer.  I'd strongly recommend building a RAID or a Windows Storage Space in your computer.  This means you use multiple inexpensive drives in tandem to make one big drive that is more reliable and tolerant of failure. I'd recommend 4 drives.

You will also need a TV tuner.  The best on the market is the HDHomeRun Connect Quatro.  It acts as a TV tuner for your Plex server.

Now if you have an existing computer you can add the drives to great!  If you're not interested in modifying a computer or just want an easier solution you can use this instead of the four drives above.

Now you can use your computer, or if you used the NAS device you can use another laptop or computer to rip your CDs, DVDs, Blurays, and even scan your photos into your Plex folders.  This media will be scanned into Plex allowing you to access it from any of your devices with the Plex app.  This is all on your own storage media so you're not paying a monthly fee or renting movies.  This is your stuff.  It's great for people with big media collections who want an easier way to access it all.  Plex will even backup your camera phone to your home server over the internet.

Lets look at total costs here in a worst case scenario.  The price here will look high, but that's because I'm assuming you have no equipment to reuse and want this solution. In almost all scenarios you'll come up to a much lower price.

Equipment	Cost	Quantity	Total
Modem / Modem + Router	$141.97	1	$141.97
Antenna	$82.70	1	$82.70
Roku Stick	$46.22	3	$138.66
NAS with Drives	$769.00	1	$769.00
HDHomeRun Quatro	$129.98	1	$129.98
Total			$1,262.31‬

Again this price looks high, and is more than 6 months of cable TV service.  However you own all your equipment and will have no more monthly bills for TV.  Again if you have any unused or unloved computer equipment and smart devices this price goes down quickly.  In this scenario you'll have the ability to stream your personal media anywhere in your home and also anywhere in the world with your other devices.  It does require some skill to set up, but the folks at Plex have made this much easier than it used to be. 

Anyway I hope this helps some people.  I offer these designs up for free because I rather like putting the screws to cable companies.