Here is was my network …
There are many like it but this one is was mine.
At the time this network was in service, the following applied:
- The monthly service cost was $92.95 excluding tax
- The bandwidth allocation to the modem was 150Mb per second
- The throughput directly from the modem was ~99Mbps (with a 10/100 USB adapter, the only one around)
- The throughput to the laptop sitting 25 feet away ranged from 35Mb to 55Mb per second
In other words, I was paying a pretty penny for bandwidth I wasn’t taking advantage of, using outdated equipment. Some of which I had to pay rent on too.
Here is my new network …
There are probably a few like it, but I recommend there be more.
It went into service at the following cost:
- Arris SB6141 Modem – $69.95, with neither tax nor shipping cost
- Airport Extreme – $139.32 to the front door
The Airport Extreme was added first, and throughput to the same laptop in the same location jumped to roughly 140Mb/second. Then the modem was brought up (with four additional download channels from the previous) but speed didn’t budge. Still, I was now utilizing most all the bandwidth I was paying for.
The next morning I returned the old (rented) modem. Afterward, thinking I didn’t really need 150 megabits – I had been getting along kinda so-so fine with the old 45Mbps (average) – I called my provider to downgrade service. I guessed that 50-75 megs would probably do. Unfortunately, that tier was no longer available, but they did offer a plan at a flat $69.99 that supposedly gave me the same one-fifty I was paying for before, and without a long-term commitment. I said go for it, and here is the result …
Excluding any purchase points (which I did use, to the tune of $57.24) or resale value of old equipment (estimated at $50), the investment was $209.27. Sans tax, my service now costs $22.96 less than before; that’s a payback period of just over nine months. Take into account points and equipment resale and it drops to under five. Not bad, and for ~148Mbps of additional, usable speed.
MG signing off (having not so much a need for speed as enjoying the return)
Editor’s notes: 1) results may vary, but these results were mine; 2) investment doesn’t include the hour fifteen I spent on the phone configuring new modems and adjusting plans