Quote:
Originally Posted by ownedbycats
Some research indicates that modems tend to start degrading around 4-5 years, mine was a few years older than that. Additionally I believe it might've been affected by the Intel Puma6 issues. |
To be clear it is not the 'modem' that is the issue (modem just connects to internet at large), it's the wireless access point often built into the same piece of hardware.
The problem is that wireless standards and security standards change over time (we call it 'improvement') and new devices don't always work well with older standards (would you really want them to? no).
I started having issues connecting even where there was a strong signal; my iPhone 14 Max was particularly affected, would timeout and had slow downloads in our bedroom 12 feet away from the WAP. I had issues with handoff to the HomePod as well. At the time I had different SSIDs, one for each band, and finally figured out that HomeKit wants everything on a single SSID.
I tried to set that up on the cable equipment WiFi but it didn't really support it (probably 8 years old now). I tried using a Wifi router maybe 6 years old and that worked better but iPhone complained it wasn't 'secure'. Then I got a new one and that solved every issue. It broadcasts a single SSID and figures out which band to put the device on.
The cable company equipment is still there, but I turned off its WiFi. They're responsible for updating it, and it appears to have kept up with service upgrades so far (240Mbps now, we're paying same as when it was 10Mbps).