Monday, November 11, 2013

Rogers cable … still the king …

I am a little frustrated by the huge leap from the plan I am on – extreme plus I think it is called – to the one I want – ultimate. The cost is almost double, but the speeds are almost triple, so that sounds like a bargain. Still, as I have mentioned in the past Rogers has the best technology for now, and this peak time speed test kind of confirms it, at least anecdotally.

PCMag tested all of the ISPs in Canada and Rogers came out as #1, which did not surprise me.

However, there is a small cloud in that victory, which is to say that people like me who are on the cusp of transitioning to the highest speeds have a somewhat unreliable modem from Rogers – the SMCD3GN, which is the standard DOCSIS 3 modem and router that they have used for years.

image

The modem most favored by pirates (get IT?)

This modem is not quite reliable as a cable modem and is abysmal as a router. Make sure that you acquire a good router (I love the Apple routers) and that you ask Rogers to put your modem into bridge mode to disable its internal routing function. This makes a huge difference.

But I am about to embark on a quest to get them to give me a CISCO modem instead, as it is universally lauded as the most reliable as a cable modem. Its router is also a little weak and I certainly would not use it after experiencing the nirvana of the Apple Airport Extreme … but YMMV.