I am moving soon and my only option at my new house is TWC/Spectrum. I've been a U-Verse customer for years and have always used their all-in-one 2Wire modem and router.

with TWC/Spectrum i'd like to get my own setup. Should I use their modem and buy my own router? Or should I buy both? I am a cord-cutter so I want everything to be fast enough to support streaming (4K) and multiple devices at the same time.

It's been so long since i've had to worry about any of this. I have no idea what the latest and greatest is.

3/26/2018 2:29:58 PM

Buy your own and don't buy the combo unit router/modem. Buy a separate modem and router.

Modem - https://www.bestbuy.com/site/motorola-docsis-3-1-cable-modem/6105800.p?skuId=6105800

Router - https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgear-nighthawk-ac1900-dual-band-wi-fi-router-black/1754208.p?skuId=1754208

Router - https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-wireless-ac1750-dual-band-wi-fi-router-black/5760300.p?skuId=5760300

Router - https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tp-link-archer-c7-ac1750-wireless-ac-dual-band-router-black/5889900.p?skuId=5889900



[Edited on March 26, 2018 at 2:34 PM. Reason : all 3 routers are easy to set up and have good coverage depending on how big your house is]

[Edited on March 26, 2018 at 2:35 PM. Reason : how big is your house?]

3/26/2018 2:31:15 PM

^not huge. <1500 Sqft

3/26/2018 3:02:24 PM

All of those should be fine.

3/26/2018 3:19:04 PM

If you're tech savvy, go Ubiquiti.

3/26/2018 3:19:47 PM

not tech savvy. Just want it to work with minimal effort and programming.

3/26/2018 3:30:57 PM

+1 on buy your own. Cheaper in the long run, and generally better quality.

3/26/2018 5:28:36 PM

Charter basically made you use their modem, but it was built into the price and no discount if you had your own. Spectrum has continued that in most areas with their mergers, so using your own router does save money, your own modem won't.

Plus, if there is a problem they can't blame your equipment.

[Edited on March 26, 2018 at 8:15 PM. Reason : Fhhdbdb]

3/26/2018 8:15:00 PM

spectrum doesn't charge for routers like it did when it was twc, at least in my area

3/27/2018 8:30:32 AM

great router for $48
https://deals.kinja.com/heres-a-ridiculous-deal-on-our-readers-favorite-wi-fi-r-1823738264

even for my spectrum business i couldn't use my own modem. existing customer owned modems are okay, but they told me they won't activate any new customer owned modems. (they don't charge you for it though, or at least they don't for mine)

[Edited on March 27, 2018 at 9:00 AM. Reason : .]

3/27/2018 8:58:58 AM

Spectrum in Charlotte does not charge for the modem. However, they do charge $5/mo for the router.


There are just two of us in the house. A few devices, two TVs with FireTV, and a PS4. Is that AC1900 really necessary or could i get by with the R6700?

3/27/2018 9:12:50 AM

either will be fine, but the asus is only $48 if you don't mind following instructions and replacing the firmware


i just really like the asus because the phone app makes it so easy to setup and tweak, you don't have to use any slow web interfaces to make changes and you can easily monitor your traffic from your phone/tablet

3/27/2018 9:25:37 AM

hmm, i found a link to flashing the firmware. A lot of steps, but doesn't seem overly complicated.

Does the router have to be functioning as my main source of internet in order to do this or can I flash it over my current network setup?

3/27/2018 10:25:29 AM

i haven't read the walk-through, but you should just need the internet to download the firmware so you could just do that now and even go ahead and get it updated before you move

3/27/2018 10:48:37 AM

Just get a WAP. I just got new service with TWC/Spectrum last week after having it at another place for years, but we put it in my wife's name at the new house to save $$. The last place had the 2Wire combo WAP/modem and charged us for it. The new setup is a Sagemcom router and a separate 2.4/5GHz WAP. Once we get moved in I am going to pick up a new WAP to save that extra $5/month.

3/27/2018 12:29:20 PM

i went with the ASUS AC1750 RT-AC66U_B1. With closing on the house, packing, and moving all this weekend I didn't want to stress over trying to flash a piece of hardware and have it ready by the time Spectrum got there on Saturday. I'll spend the extra money for it to be ready out of the box.

3/27/2018 3:53:55 PM

I have actually been using a Ubiquiti USG and AP-HD for the last 4-5 months and ended up going back to a high-end netgear for the reasons you just stated. Uibquiti makes a great product but I hated the UI. Making changes just became a chore to me. I also constantly had issues with their cloud key and just got tired of screwing with it.

3/29/2018 11:13:53 AM