Were you a "TIME WARNER CABLE" customer before the changeover to "SPECTRUM"? If yes...and you made NO CHANGES to your service...you may still be regarded as a "LEGACY" customer and that could make a difference in the actual speeds and equipment you receive not to mention how much you are being charged. These could all vary depending on where you live and when your area made the change.

I moved to my area shortly before Spectrum came in, but the cable company was Charter, not TW. Yesterday, I went to the Spectrum service office and they told me that the problem was likely the older router and not the cable modem, but they gave me a new(ly packaged) cable modem, which I have not yet unboxed or installed. I also went to Staples and talked with the tech there and got the same story. One problem is that none of the routers they had in stock had more than 4 Ethernet ports, and I’m currently using 8.

Cable modem protocols updated at some point in the last couple years from DOCSIS 3.0 to DOCSIS 3.1. The "legacy" designation on your replacement modem may be related to it being DOCSIS 3.0, which still works but doesn't garner maximum speed on faster service levels. My service is 200Mpbs. I have a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, it works fine. Do your research to find at what speed DOCSIS 3.1 is necessary, compare that your stated service level.

(edited to correct the 2nd and 4th sentences)

So, when I was at the Spectrum office yesterday I asked what speed my service should be and he said "about 300-350 download, 10 upload), which is what I measured. I just opened the box containing my new cable modem and it looks just like the old one, but no "legacy" sticker. On the bottom it says "DOCSIS 3.1 eMTA". The Ethernet port is labeled 2.5G and the label which has the MAC address says "H/W version 2.76.2" and "Factory ID: FY DC: 092322". Could that last number a date? Anyway, it looks like I'm good! After I install this, I'll look at the same information on the old one.

A related matter: The techs at both Staples and Spectrum recommended that I replace my router. When I said that the one they have available have only 4 ethernet ports, and I use 8. They said I should just use WiFi for many of my devices. Is there any validity to their recommendation? One thing I might be able to do, is to move the router to a central location, put a Gigabyte switch at the old location near the cable modem and connect the currently unused Ethernet cable which runs from the old location to the new one and plug it into the WAN port of the router. That would give me all my old wired connections and put the WiFi access port nearer my WiFi devices.

It's possible to get slightly better speed (typically down moreso than up) than the stated service level. Depends on how tightly the provider controls it. I routinely clock better than the stated 200 Mbps on mine. 229.5 down a few seconds ago at SpeedTest .net.

Note that speed rates are typically stated in Mbps (lower-case b, which is megaBITS, not megaBYTES).

I have a few thoughts to share:

1) Internet "speed" is really not speed but bandwidth. The signals travel at the speed of light, slowed by passage through routers, poor connections, malfunctioning equipment and the like. The differences in "speed" that vary by plan purchased or connection issues are really differences in bandwidth, throughput. Think of water going through a pipe - more water flows through a 4 inch pipe at a given pressure than through a 1 inch pipe, but in both cases the water travels at the same speed. Variations in bandwidth can affect performance.

2) Routers are notorious for having limited lives. It's not necessary to spend $350 unless you have multiple gamers in your house. For more typical internet use, you can get what you need for one third as much, or less. Try buying a new router from a retailer that will allow you a return with no restocking fee. See if that makes a difference.

3) Have the cable company send out a technician to check your drop (the external connection) and the wiring in your house. I've done this twice in 3 years at my second house and both times different wiring/equipment problems were found to be the cause of periodic problems with my connection.

Docsis is a standard at the modem level, not the router. Dadoes , there's no Docsis designation for a router and I'm told the differences between the newer and older standards for most users, so long as the modem is acceptable to the cable system, are minor.

My first sentence says: Cable modem protocols updated at some point in the last couple years from DOCSIS 3.0 to DOCSIS 3.1.

The second and fourth sentences referencing DOCSIS to a router should also have stated modem ... but may come into play if the unit is a combination modem/router (as my mother has). But I have edited it for the correction. TYVM.

Update: the old modem was also DOCSIS 3.1, but the Ethernet port didn’t have the 2.5G label. But the new one didn’t work! After about a half hour or so, I noticed that one if the lights on the Ethernet port was flashing, perhaps with a code. So I put the old one back, which worked. After a couple of hours, I tried the new one again and NADA, still didn’t work. So I put the old one back and it works. I have 2 choices: quit while I’m ahead and return the new modem, or try to debug it. The tech gave me his phone number but, being Saturday afternoon, I would hold off calling him until Monday. BTW, My download speed wired is 330 and with WiFi it's 160.

To keep it in context, a Zoom conference needs about 10 down and less up to work without jitters or interruption. Streaming TV, less than 15. Your wired download speed would likely support more than a handful of intense gamers.

I own the modem at one location, and it's a Spectrum-supplied piece of equipment at another. Modems generally are cheap. The one I own now was purchased. last year and it was a shade over $100. Figure that for system-provided equipment, they pay about half that. Exchanging an older modem for a new one is cheaper than an hour of a tech's time trying to figure out a problem and that's what Spectrum does. They'll provide a new one when a customer wants one and returns the old one.

Modems also have shorter lifetimes than one would expect, just like routers. My most recent purchase was a model recommended to me by Comcast tech support. I called and asked which brand and model they had the fewest problems with and that was what I bought. It was a good recommendation. It is DOCSIS 3.0.

PS - Unless you transfer many very large files frequently over your network between wired PCs, having 2.5G ethernet capabilities is well beyond useless. A few hundred megs is all anyone would ever make use of. And Wifi speed can be quite acceptable for such use too.

Your internet speed issues could be related to your "new" but potentially outdated modem or your high-end router that may not be capable of handling current demands. Try connecting directly to the modem with an Ethernet cable, contact your internet service provider, and consider upgrading your equipment to improve your speeds.

A few updates:

I took the cable modem back to Spectrum, and they said, "did you activate it"; my answer was "no", so I have brought it back home, but haven't activated it yet (the old one seems to work fine).

BUT another problem cropped up - my Wi-Fi started acting "flakey". Many of my Wi-Fi-connected devices quit working, including two thermostats and a BlueSound Wi-Fi-connected powered speaker connected to my NAD home audio system.

I took to heart the suggestions of many of the people here and elsewhere that my router was too old, and I should get a new one. I purchased a recommended tp-link AX3000 and set it up. Of course, all my Wi-Fi-connected devices had to have their connectivity changed to the new router and password. They all now work fine, except for the speaker, which I can't get to connect. I have a ticket in to BlueSound on that device so I'm hoping for success (they are famously slow to respond). It does work when wired, but I have no Ethernet cable near where I want to place it.

One problem with BluSound is their setup procedure. It's only done through a mobile device, in my case, an iPhone. The first step is to go to "settings/WiFi" on the iPhone and look for the desired device. Under settings there is "Wi-Fi" and "Networks". All my Wi-Fi devices show up under Networks, including two printers, my thermostats, etc. But, frequently, not the speaker. And the router shows up under Wi-Fi, not Networks.

To Denis, what happens if you connect a wired network device directly to the modem and not go through the router?

There's no need to change the WiFi credentials of all your various devices if you program the new router to the same WiFi network name and password as the previous router. That's part of the setup process of a new router. The administrative log-in should also be changed to something other than the factory default. I've gotten a new router twice over the years. Programmed the same WiFi log-in, nothing to change on the devices. I did the same when I recently changed my mother's modem/router. Much more convenient and reasonable to re-program one router than multiple other devices (two phones, iPad, thermostat, smart TV, smart DVD player).

mtvhike, think of an apartment house where all mail is delivered to the front desk. The desk person takes each message and puts it in the box for the intended recipient. And takes outgoing or inter-apartment messages and puts them where they belong. That's all a router does, whether the device connection is wired (ethernet) or Wifi. If there's just one apartment (device), the connection can go directly to the modem. By taking the router out of the signal path, it's a way to see if the modem itself is functioning properly.

I agree with dadoes, easiest to set a new router's SSID and passwords to what was used on the old one - that way, no changes are necessary on the connecting devices. Similarly but a bit different, I've done just that at my second home. Same SSID (broadcast network name) and same password as my primary home. We can take tablets, laptops, phones, etc., from one place to the other and they connect without adjustment.