Throughput Questions

I’m considering upgrading to Pepwave Surf SOHO from my consumer router. I’m curious about the throughput changes I may see. Right now I see 140 mb/s hardwired and 100 mb/s over WiFi. I understand the SOHO is 120 mb/s.

My current setup is Arris SB6183 Surfboard modem, which the ISP tells me is putting out about 240 mb/s now. My router is an older Apple Airport Extreme (802.11n).

I’m not a LAN or a router guy, but I’ve been reading as much about them as I can and come here based upon Michael Horowitz at Router Security.org.

I understand I’ll need to buy a different modem than the Arris to use with the Pepwave.

I’m on a 200 mb/s contract with my ISP, and they guarantee 70% of throughput, hardwired - that’s the 140 mb/s I mentioned above. WiFi gives me between 100 WiFi including VPN and 140 mb/s hardwired VPN not connected.

So, after all that, I come to my questions:

  1. When I replace the Arris modem, what’s the sweet spot for its replacement’s speed - 200? 300? 600? Other?
  2. Is my old 802.11n two-band router responsible for some of that throughput drop? Will the Pepwave show more efficiency and a higher percentage (Arris - 240 mb/s out → Apple router → fast laptop - 100 WiFi usable)?

IME with the Surf SOHO MK3 I see just over 103 Mb/s hard wired and 100 Mb/s Wi-Fi with a 120 Mb/s feed. I would not expect more than 120 Mb/s hard wired even if the modem has a much higher capacity as the SOHO appears capped at ~120 Mb/s. You’d need a different model router for higher throughput. The Surf SOHO is an excellent router IME.

Jorge32, thanks - that would be fine. What modem are you using and how fast is it?

I’m using the TP-Link model TC-7610 rated at “up to 343 Mbps”. “Up to hardware ratings” however can be very optimistic.

Thank you. I ordered a Netgear CM600 - way overkill for the 200 mb/sec tier I’m on. Maybe I’ll find the features are worth the money.

I’ll install the modem, then tackle the Pepwave Surf SOHO the week after that.