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Steve asked: “Comcast sent me an e-mail saying that my modem will be too slow for their “upgrade” for speed. Made me think that maybe I should be looking for a new Wi-Fi router also to go with the new modem. I currently have a Netgear WNDR4500. Curious if you think I need to upgrade the router AND the modem, or just the modem.”
Steve, you probably have a DOCSIS 2.0 modem (DOCSIS stands for Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification), DOCSIS 2.0 will probably not get you to even 40mbps, so your ISP probably wants to put you on DOCSIS 3.0 or 3.1 so you can reach higher speeds, since most of the packages probably exceed your modem’s limits.
DOCSIS 3.0 was released in 2006 with support for higher speeds and IPv6, and 3.1 was released in 2013 to allow for connections of up to 10gbps.
You probably do not need to change your router, though. The Netgear WNDR4500 is advertised as a dual-band “gigbit” router capable of 900mbps, but that’s only because it uses two bands each capable of 450mbps.
If you’re getting a gigabit connection, you should replace it with an 802.11ac router that will actually get you gigabit speeds on any device that meets the gigabit WiFi standard.
If your connection is not gigabit, your router can probably still meet your needs without any issues.