I'm Kind of an Internet Caveman Too

[Mandobart]

About 12 - 15 years ago I put in a wired home network with CAT 5E drops throughout, a cable modem, wireless and wired router etc. I still have a wired desktop computer (over 10 years old) but most of my internet connection is wireless through a smart phone or tablet.

I know its past time to upgrade everything. I'm looking for some advice from the knowledgeable IT/IS pros (and hobbyists) that frequent this forum.

The new modem will likely come from my cable ISP. For router I'm looking at a mesh system. I'll still have the need for a decent desktop computer for those rare times when I can work from home.

What mesh routers do you all recommend? If I have a choice, what should I look for in a cable modem? What order should I replace the components in? What questions am I too inexperienced to even ask about? Thanks!

[Mandobart]

As an update, I just replaced a very old (like over 15 years) DOCSIS 2.0 cable modem (Motorola Surfboard something or other) with Spectrum's latest DOCSIS 3.1 version.

Same old 15 year old Netgear WPN324 router and 10 year old Dell Windows 7 computer.

Internet speed feels a lot faster when opening tabs on my iphone, tablet and desktop.

I'm still going to replace the router and add a PoE switch to allow use of a wireless AP in the basement and far corner of the upstairs, plugging into my existing Ethernet jacks. Extends the wifi without paying a penalty in reducing speed by half using wifi extenders/repeaters. I'm thinking mesh will be overkill.

Slowly moving into the current century.....

[Dirk Hofman]

I'm no IT guy, but I really like the Google Mesh system we installed, mostly because it was really easy, just worked, the app is fantastic, and it gets great signal to the whole house. It's the only mesh system we've used.

[Mandobart]

Ok, another update. I checked and searched and read reviews and decided to get the TP-Link AC1750 Dual Band Gigabit Router Model Archer C8.

It just wouldn't work no matter which settings I tried. Called tech support at Spectrum and TP-Link. They tried, they were patient and helpful, but we all just gave up after a couple days.

So....I returned the TP-Link router. Just picked up a Netgear AC1750. You can log in to the router and set it up old school, but I went with the Netgear app. Pretty painless, though I had to first set up a Netgear account.

All the wireless devices and desktop computer connections worked the first time. And I have better Wi-Fi signal throughout the house.

A mesh system does NOT appear to be necessary for our modest home. I may not even need any type of wifi extender or wireless access point.

Like the guy falling off the top of a skyscraper as he passed the 12th floor said - "so far, so good....."