A former editor offered excellent advice concerning this column. He opined that his 93-year-old grandmother should be able to understand it. However, you don’t have to be

93 to be confused by technology that’s moving faster than a male teenager driving a Porsche.

A recent column discussed routers and internet connectivity, inspiring a few reader questions such as: “I have a 100 mb service from Mediacom, which I am happy with. I am currently using one of their dual-band modem/router combos, for which I am paying $11.50 a month. I would like to buy my own modem and router to get rid of the monthly fee. After doing some research, I’ve found the Motorola mb8600 is rated very highly, but it is a modem only. Could you suggest a router that would work well with this modem, or maybe suggest a different modem/router combo? My house is a single-level ranch around 1,700 square feet. I have no problem with the Wi-Fi signal throughout the home.”

And from another reader: “We are using an AT&T DSL line. We recently installed Zoom. About three weeks ago, we contacted AT&T, which rebooted our line, slightly improving performance/speed. About 10 days ago, over the weekend, our response time (never swift) degraded noticeably — do not know why. In the past, we have attributed massive slow-downs to students returning to campus, or other university-related problems, but I don’t think that is the case. Your recent News-Gazette article (June 26) about upgrading the router drew my attention. You wrote about modem and router as two separate devices. What is the difference? If the device wired into my system is a modem, what is a router? Would I have one on my antique system? If so, how would I replace it, and would it make any difference? We did not subscribe to a fiber-optic connection when it was offered in our neighborhood several years ago. Is joining up the best option for us at this point?”

The word “modem” is a contraction of “MOdulate/DEModulate. Telephone lines and cable originated to convey analog signals. The specific line/cable limited the quantity of signals.

When we entered the digital age, a bit of ingenuity transformed digital bits so they could ride on these analog lines while also increasing their capacity. The digital signal required modulation at the originating end and demodulation at the receiving end. Think of it as sending an encoded secret message with the recipient decoding that message.

Fiber-optic transmission requires no modem, since it was designed for digital transmission. It merely requires a small, cheap device to change the optical pulses (bits) into electrical pulses.

The router takes the digital bits and, well, routes them, distributing the data to multiple devices via Ethernet wiring and/or Wi-Fi. Currently, most people focus on the Wi-Fi. All routers offer similar Ethernet performance.

The modem and router can be combined into a single package called a gateway. While this may be convenient and dispense with extra wires, most gateways provide minimum performance and can’t be upgraded. Most cable/phone companies provide a gateway and charge an outrageous monthly rental fee, often $125 to $175 a year.

The Motorola mb6800 modem cited by our reader costs $160. You can buy an Arris 6183 Surfboard that’s almost as good for $70. You also can buy a very good Netgear or Asus router for $70 and an excellent one for double that. So, in answer to the reader’s question, in one year, you can save money by owning your own modem and router versus renting. However, if you subscribe to cable TV, you’ll probably still need the cable company’s set-top box, which often doubles as your internet gateway.

Quickly answering the question about upgrading to fiber: If you can upgrade for only a slight increase in cost, it is worthwhile. We’ll answer the rest of the questions in the next column.

Rich Warren, who lives in the Champaign area, is a longtime reviewer of consumer electronics. Email him at hifiguy@volo.net.