Topic 'Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless' in forum 'Verizon Fiber Optics' - dslreports.com

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 21:42:55 EDT

VirtualLarry posted :

So it seems that there is either a problem with my router or there is a problem between me and YouTube. I ran a trace last week and didn't see anything unusual. Any ideas?

I thought it was known that YouTube intentionally throttles FIOS users. I've noticed it too, compared to my DSL and my friend's Comcast cable internet.

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:01:50 EDT

biggbrother posted : Well I received and installed the new TRENDnet AP and set it up. As you can see in the above chart, my speeds improved pretty good.

Near the router I am seeing speed increased of over 100%. Upstairs it's less dramatic, around 50-60% on most devices. The Galaxy Nexus seems to have improved the most upstairs.

But how about YouTube? Well that's hit or miss still. I have only tried upstairs so far. The first video, a Consumer Reports Tesla Model S video, loaded on the Asus Infinity loaded pretty quickly and built up the buffer pretty fast. It did not stutter or pause at any point. It was hauling down about 3-4mbps.

But the second video, an Edmunds Lexus IS-350 auto show video, did not build up the buffer quickly and I could see I was pulling down around 600-900Kbps, and paused every 10 seconds. :(

I downloaded a few more and got the same result. So I am not sure if these videos are on different YouTube servers that perform differently or what. I am going to try YouTube down in the living room and see if it still pauses there, and try out different devices.

Wireless G to Wireless N

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:53:06 EDT

biggbrother posted :

said by bemis:

I am looking to move within 2 to 7 months after I sell my home... if I end up in a rental apartment in the city I will probably either try to make a deal with a neighbor for cash, find an open AP, or go for **shudder** a cell contract where I can use my phone as a hot spot.

Perhaps you can avoid a wireless contract. T-Mobile is now offering Unlimited Data on their Prepaid Plans. So for $70 you can get unlimited Minutes, Text, and Data at their higher 42mbps HSPA+ speeds. If you purchase a Nexus device, then you won't be charged for tethering. I think you only pay sales tax. No other fees.

Trust me, I kick myself everytime for buying my Verizon Galaxy Nexus 1 month before Google decided to finally put it on sale in the U.S. for $399 contract-free.

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:11:56 EDT

bemis posted : I paid $29.95 for 6-mos with Comcast, up to $42.95, and soon to be $62.95 ... that was for their 16/4 service which is really just 12/2 service after the first 30 seconds of sustained transfer. The 29.95/42.95 were my final costs, no taxes or equipment fees since I own my modem. No contract.

With VZ I am paying $74.99 (don't know about taxes/fees yet) for the 50/25 service. I oped for that vs. the $64.99 lower tier because for the extra $10 I figured I may as well... this is month to month contract.

I am looking to move within 2 to 7 months after I sell my home... if I end up in a rental apartment in the city I will probably either try to make a deal with a neighbor for cash, find an open AP, or go for **shudder** a cell contract where I can use my phone as a hot spot.

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 09:49:17 EDT

biggbrother posted :

said by bemis:

I wonder..... I'll bet the VZ "save" dept has some latitude with regard to keeping customers. I have never tried this but, as a 3-year customer, if you called to cancel because you are switching to cable "which is $40 per month cheaper" I bet you'd be able to convince them to keep you as a customer in exchange for sending you a new Rev I router in the mail for your current one which "keeps power cycling itself and is getting frustrating".

I did consider it, but the consesus around here and in the FAQ is that Verizon will not replace routers since I am not renting it from them and they sell the Rev I for $80 on their website.

But I should have given it a shot! I have ordered a Wireless-N AP but I may call Verizon and give it a shot. I can always return the AP to Amazon.

And when I mentioned cutting the cord, I meant just the TV side. How much do you pay for your Internet only, and for what speeds?

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 09:24:14 EDT

bemis posted : I never sign up for a contract with them... they change their speed tiers too often for the price protection to really be worth it in my opinion. I use pre-paid for my cell phone... my iPhone 4S with AT&T costs me exactly $53.13/mo for 250 mins, 250 txt and 1GB of data. Compare that to a contract which is over $80/mo.... I'm crossing my fingers that T-Mo's swap to no subsidies will apply increasing pressure to the others...

I cancelled landline phone and TV at home, but I can't cut the cord for HSI...

I wonder..... I'll bet the VZ "save" dept has some latitude with regard to keeping customers. I have never tried this but, as a 3-year customer, if you called to cancel because you are switching to cable "which is $40 per month cheaper" I bet you'd be able to convince them to keep you as a customer in exchange for sending you a new Rev I router in the mail for your current one which "keeps power cycling itself and is getting frustrating".

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 09:09:24 EDT

biggbrother posted :

said by bemis:

Not exactly... from 2009-2011 I had FIOS. About a year ago I switched to Comcast because they offered a $29.99/mo HSI special (vs. VZ's lowest price of high $60s). When I cancelled, VZ told me to keep/recycle the router. So, I continued to use the VZ branded Actiontec with my Comcast service. When I switched back to VZ (on Sunday), they did the typical "here's your free router", so I installed the new Rev I in the place of my old Rev F. I'm hanging on to the Rev F on the off chance I may move somewhere that I could use a spare MoCA bridge.

Nice! I've had FIOS for 3 years this month, and I'm still using the router they originally provided me with. Would be nice if they provided existing customers with an upgrade after a certain amount of time as well, instead of simply giving newer/better equipment to new customers.

Perhaps it's because I have never had a contract. They keep trying to get me to sign a contract, but the offers have never been good enough (more like $5 off per month).. I'm at the point where I am going to cut the cord alltogether soon...

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 09:03:15 EDT

bemis posted :

said by biggbrother:

Did you get Verizon to swap out an older model for you for free?

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 08:38:58 EDT

biggbrother posted :

said by bemis:

I got the Rev I router yesterday. My laptop has an 802.11n card.

Did you get Verizon to swap out an older model for you for free?

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:44:23 EDT

bemis posted :

said by biggbrother:

Has anyone here had any luck having Verizon provide the newer router that is cable of the N standard?

I got the Rev I router yesterday. My laptop has an 802.11n card.

With that laptop and 2 other wireless devices connected the best speed I could achieve using speedtest.net was ~35Mb/s.

Windows 7 was reporting at the time that my wireless connect was "54Mb/s" through the task manager.

Once I plug it into ethernet speedtest.net shows ~55Mb/s.

My solution was to run ethernet to the locations I use my laptop and plug it in if I'm doing anything other than simple browsing.

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:05:59 EDT

biggbrother posted : Yeah thanks. I just ordered one of those TrendNet 300MBPS wireless N access points for a reasonable $44.00. Let's see if it helps.

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:24:14 EDT

patt2k posted : I get full speeds on 5ghz wireless N , you might wanna buy your own router just a tip :)

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:09:47 EDT

tito79 posted : When i had my install yesterday tech told me not all websites are ready yet to support verizons speeds.

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 08:43:44 EDT

biggbrother posted : Honestly this just has me baffled.

In my house we have multiple wireless devices:

2 Galaxy Nexus
2 Nexus 7
1 Asus Infinity TF-700
1 Dell Windows 7 laptop

I have an Android app called "Network Monitor Mini" »goo.gl/Ki49a which tells me my data speeds real-time. When YouTube is used on all devices except the laptop, data speeds fluxute between 500 Kbps and 2 mbps download. This causes frequent loading and buffering of HQ video in YouTube.

However, If I open up Netflix or Hulu Plus, the monitor shows me pulling 15-20mbps, and I see not buffering or loading. This would lead me to believe that YouTube just sucks.

However, the Windows 7n laptop is able to stream 720p and 1080p fine over the same wifi connection with no buffering.

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 21:45:28 EDT

biggbrother posted : So switching to a WiFi (N) AP, I won't see better performance over WiFI?

Here is another curious issues. I was frustrated tonight trying to watch YouTube on my tablet but still getting constant buffering, about every 10-5 seconds. I ran a SpeedTest and I am getting around 18 mbps download. So I figured it was YouTube being overloaded.

But then I decided to test something. I put my Verizon Galaxy Nexus LTE on the couch and enabled mobile hotspot and connected my tablet to that instead. I loaded the same HQ YouTube videos over that LTE connection and I got absolutely no buffering. The video loaded quickly and had plenty of buffer. I ran a Speedtest and it was pulling down around 6mbps over LTE, so roughly 1/3 of my FIOS connetion, yet it loaded the videos fine.

So it seems that there is either a problem with my router or there is a problem between me and YouTube. I ran a trace last week and didn't see anything unusual. Any ideas?

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 17:11:17 EDT

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:14:56 EDT

VirtualLarry posted : When I had my FIOS installed two years ago, they gave me a router with a single large antenna that does N 150. I don't think it has gigabit ports. So would that make it an "F" model?

Anyways, I get 35Mbit/sec down through it over 2.4Ghz wireless, with my N150 laptop. It shows a connection rate of 65Mbit.

I just upgraded the first of the year, to 75/35, and I'm getting 84/34 on my wired PC on speedtest.net.

It would be nice to get higher speeds over my wireless.

I have some secondary routers, E2500 Cisco models, running Shibby Tomato 104. I had them configured as 5Ghz WDS nodes, but they were only giving me 23Mbit. I reconfigured them as a 5Ghz AP, and the other two nodes as 5Ghz wireless ethernet bridges. That got me nearly 40Mbit/sec down. Still, I want more. Was looking into a refurb E4200v1 unit at the Cisco Home Store for $80.

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 22:52:02 EDT

quienes posted : I had a similar need a few months ago. After about 1/2 hour with different levels of VZ tech support [ b/c my router was "getting flaky" ] the guy said he would send me a replacement router - and guaranteed me it wouldn't do 802.11N. An Actiontec "F" came in 2 days, it does N A-OK, no charge and a note in the box told me to throw away my old router. HTH. :-)
:D

Re: Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 22:27:35 EDT

guppy_fish posted : »www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi···esize=20

N routers start at 13 bucks at newegg ... any of them can be set lan to lan to be an "N" access point

I recently bought off eBay a Actiontech "G" for 49 bucks so I could get the 1Gbs Lan/Wan so I get the full 75/35 speeds of 84/39

FYI, There is nothing on your tablet or phones that could possible use more than your current "G" speeds , except possible running a speedtest app :)

Upgraded to Quantum 50/25 But Still Need to Improve Wireless

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 22:11:52 EDT

biggbrother posted : As documented in an older thread »25/15 MBPS Service Pointless if Using Wireless Devices? I have the older Actiontech MI424-WR Rev E, which is not N capable. All of the tablets and phones in my house are N capable.

Even with the 50/25 speeds, my tablets and phones only get marginally better speeds over WiFI (G), around 18-20mbps, and definately not worth the extra monthly cost of Quantum. Wouldn't "N" be faster?

I noticed that Verizon sells the newer "N" router for $80 on their website? Is there any chance I could go to a my local FIOS office and swap it for the newer model?

I'd hate to pay $80.00 just to be able to use the speeds I am paying for 50/25. Otherwise, what is now the next cheapest option? An AP?

How difficult is that to configure? The cheapest AP I saw on Amazon cost around $40, so it's 50% cheaper than the official Verizon router, but perhaps comes with more complexity in setting up.

Has anyone here had any luck having Verizon provide the newer router that is cable of the N standard?