Comcast Gateway Router is slower than third party router.... why?

[Eshelmen]

Hey all.

I now have 180/18 megabit speeds from Comcast at my home.
I love it!

However, I've noticed a few odd things about the Comcast router/modem versus using the Comcast modem with a third party router " AC 1200 Netgear".

Wired up, the Comcast modem through speedtest.net is actually faster on tests, by about 7-10 megabits.
WI-FI, through speedtest.net, it's about the same.

However, in real world applications, from browsing the internet to opening up Netflix, the default modem is relatively slower in both the wired and Wi-Fi departments, versus wiring up with the default modem connected to the Netgear.

Why is this?

I'm no networking technician, which is why I'm wondering this. But it makes no sense to me to have two devices perform better together than having only one. Especially since having to use the default modem/router all in one with both tests.


Can anyone give me some feed back on why this happens?

Again, using default Wi-Fi/Wired through the Comcaat modem, it takes about 3-5 seconds extra to buffer even the least data costly websites, like Google.com.

Where as the Netgear seems to buffer better, much better actually, nearly instant load on everything, even though it's using the default Comcast modem for connection.

I'd appreciate the feedback.

Thanks all. You guys are the best!


Both Routers are AC1200 and I'm using Cat 6e for both setups.

 

[GotNoRice]

Wired up, the Comcast modem through speedtest.net is actually faster on tests, by about 7-10 megabits.
WI-FI, through speedtest.net, it's about the same.

Are you taking bursting into account? Example:

On Comcast, it allows you to exceed your rated speed for a short amount of time before the cap "kicks in" so to speak. In the example above, the cap was 24Mbps at that time. You can see when a download is started, it spikes briefly before the cap kicks in. Some things, like a speedtest, use a small enough amount of information that it all fits within the burst, so your speed test is a reflection of your burst speeds, not your capped speeds. Something like a large download will more accurately reflect your cap because the burst ends quickly.

One issue is that when the cap "kicks in", pings tend to spike up to 100+. That is pretty lame, especially if you are gaming while downloading, etc. I use PFSense for my router, and set my own caps just below my Comcast caps so that it never actually hits the comcast speed cap. That removes bursting for me, but I can have my connection pegged with torrents or other large transfers 24/7 and still get <20ms pings.

 

[Easius]

Could your other router be caching DNS lookups? This could account for the little extra delay you see on sites.

Just an idea.

 

[Eickst]

Your new router is using Comcast's craptastic DNS servers and the old one probably used google or open DNS.

Try setting a static ip on your PC and setting the DNS to google's public DNS servers, see if that resolves the issue. If it does go in to your router and change the DNS server it's using or handing out in DHCP.

 

[Eshelmen]

Are you taking bursting into account? Example:

On Comcast, it allows you to exceed your rated speed for a short amount of time before the cap "kicks in" so to speak. In the example above, the cap was 24Mbps at that time. You can see when a download is started, it spikes briefly before the cap kicks in. Some things, like a speedtest, use a small enough amount of information that it all fits within the burst, so your speed test is a reflection of your burst speeds, not your capped speeds. Something like a large download will more accurately reflect your cap because the burst ends quickly.

One issue is that when the cap "kicks in", pings tend to spike up to 100+. That is pretty lame, especially if you are gaming while downloading, etc. I use PFSense for my router, and set my own caps just below my Comcast caps so that it never actually hits the comcast speed cap. That removes bursting for me, but I can have my connection pegged with torrents or other large transfers 24/7 and still get <20ms pings.

Appreciate this reply. However, I don't think the speedboost by Comcast has that much factor in this. The fact that both routers receieve this speed boost doesn't really answer to why the presumed faster device is slower at loading real world applications. (Downloading, emails, browsing etc...)

As for the other reply, Ive noticed the Comcast router does not let you change the DNS server at all.