Scattered Thoughts . . .

For the past few weeks, we've been experiencing some internet issues, mostly with our wireless internet. However, there have been times when our wired internet was a pain in the butt as well.  For a little while, I was having difficulty deciding whether or not the source of our problems was due to a bad modem (Comcast's hardware) or a bad wireless router (our hardware). Most of our problems were related to dropped wireless so I was focused on our own router rather than Comcast's modem. There were times when we would lose all internet though. There were times when our FireTV wouldn't startup because it could not find internet and, unfortunately, we have our FireTV hardwired so I knew that particular problem wasn't due to a wireless problem but it still could be a problem with that wireless router since the wired connections are routed through there.  Even considering some of the wired internet problems we were experiencing, the source of our problems seemed to

A couple of weeks ago, Comcast offered us an upgrade to our router for free. I knew our router was getting old and I knew that we occasionally have problems needing reboots and removing the battery (which is difficult to get at) so a free upgrade seemed like a 'no-brainer'. When we got our free upgrade to Xfinity a year or two ago, I thought it was odd that the Xfinity package didn't arrive with a new modem but everything seemed to work just fine so I forgot about having an older modem. Sheila ordered this free modem upgarde and the package arrived yesterday... in a massive box... I left it, unopened, on the living room floor until after my usual afternoon nap. When Sheila arrived home from work, I opened the box... this new Xfinity router was absolutely HUGE! It was larger than our BlueRay DVD player! This router was so deep, that it barely fit on our entertainment center shelves. I would need to lay it down flat and bend all the cords plugged into the back of it in