What is the difference between the Xfinity XB7-T and XB8-T routers?
Answer: The Xfinity XB7-T and XB8-T modem/routers look pretty similar. They are both white towers with two telephone jacks and four Ethernet ports. The XB8 is slightly larger, with a rounded top and a USB-C port on the back.
Front View
Rear View
Performance
After upgrading to the XB8-T, I noticed two significant improvements:
- Better wireless range
- Faster upload speeds
With the XB7, my iPhone 13 and 15 Pro would struggle to maintain a Wi-Fi connection in my living room, which is one floor lower and on the other side of the house — roughly 100 ft away. The Wi-Fi signal would often cut out completely when I stepped into the backyard.
With the XB8, my phone maintains 2 out of 3 Wi-Fi bars and never loses the signal. I just walked into the backyard, and it showed 3 out of 3 bars. Checking the Xfinity app confirms the iPhone 15 is now operating on Wi-Fi 6, which explains the reason for the range improvement.
Just as exciting is that my upload speed increased 5x. The download rate stayed at an impressive 1400+ Mbps, but the upload speed jumped from 42 Mbps to 216 Mbps. That's a massive boost for my online backups and server uploads.
The XB7 is an excellent modem/router combo device that functioned reliably for me for the past three years. However, the XB8 significantly improves the Wi-Fi range and upload speeds, making it a worthwhile upgrade.