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FIOS: slower then expected wireless internet speeds

Discussion in 'Community Broadband & Computers' started by volvo_nut, Dec 24, 2010.

  1. volvo_nut

    volvo_nut New Member

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    All-in-all we are satisfied with the switch to FIOS. The Guide is not as intuitive as Comcast, the DVR has MUCH less hard drive space and our wireless internet performance just hasn't lived up to the hype.

    Surfing the web, I found that changing the FIOS wireless router to another channel other than auto might help, it did for a bit but speeds reverted back. There are times when we are down to 1.5Mb/s download and another later puts us at 26Mb/s

    Tonight I am at: (14 up / 5 down )
    http://www.speedtest.net/result/1083923553.png

    and 5mins later: (2 up / 7 down)

    http://www.speedtest.net/result/1083925720.png

    I've tried switching to my back to my Apple Airport but the performance does not remain consistent. The kids try to watch Taylor Swift on YouTube and the clip will stop & start ... very frustrating for a 5yr old. :)

    Ideas on what might be causing such varied performance swings? I know wireless takes a hit versus a cable but we did not have the performance issues with Comcast, it was either up and running or not.
     
  2. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    I just ran mine (also FiOS wireless) using the same program and got:

    25.78 Download
    4.76 Upload
    16 ms Ping

    I don't know why yours is slower but here are some ideas from DSLreports.com. Do you have a wired computer that gets the same speed results?
     
  3. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    what you have FIOS vs cable is irrelevant to your wireless performance. The difference is only local.. what your wireless router is and your client setup.

    Isolate the wireless vs your FIOS feed by testing wired then testing wireless or vise versa on the same machine (make sure you force the test to one interface by disabling the other by turning the wireless off, or unplugging the lan cable, etc).
     
  4. Pluto

    Pluto New Member

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    I am getting the following speed using FIOS wireless:

    16.69 - upload
    12 - download

    I have viewed several programs from netflix streaming and never seen any problem in the streaming...... it has been great so far.... knock on wood.

    But, how can I get better than this?

    I am very positive if I hard wire, I would get much better speed.....

    I have my router placed behind my TV... Is that a problem?
     
  5. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    I just rechecked and got about the same scores. I believe Verizon may sell varying levels of speed? We got the equivalent of medium, whatever that is.

    You might try downloading and running the Verizon In-Home Agent and see what clues it gives.
     
  6. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    I just downloaded and installed the Verizon In-Home Agent and when it did the speed test it came up with:
    Download 9.0 Mbps
    Upload 4.6 Mbps

    I'll run the optimization part and see what I get...
     
  7. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    After the Verizon optimization I now get:
    17.8 Mbps down
    5.5 Mbps up
     
  8. volvo_nut

    volvo_nut New Member

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    Hardwired has been great on the tests I perform. The wireless is where I notice the drop, so I need to dig into the settings further. I'll play with the Airport Extreme vs the FIOS wireless router and see if one or the other can be fine tuned to solid & consistent performance.

    Here are my results from turning off the FIOS router's wireless and doing a wired test:

    30 Mbps down
    22 Mbps up
    http://www.speedtest.net/result/1085817615.png
     
  9. TDT

    TDT TDCKY

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    ok, we are on open band and our wireless started to be very slow tonight too but the regular PC is fast.
     
  10. Rhaegar

    Rhaegar Member

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    Wireless speed is solely based upon the connection between your machine and your access point. The upstream connection (cable, fios, etc) is a different subject. Wireless can fluctuate quite a bit on speed depending upon potential interference in your house. Wireless is going to generally operate in the 2.4Ghz unlicensed band which could also be home for any number of other devices including cordless phones and baby monitors which will interfere. Often times they will use the entire spectrum so changing channels won't matter either. I generally use the 5.8Ghz spectrum for my wireless to reduce interference. I also don't let any devices into my house that use the 2.4Ghz spectrum. My phones, remote extender, baby monitor and anything else are all use different spectrum. Also, if you have an older 802.11b machine attaching to the same access point (or even if your neighbor associates with your AP) it's going to drag down the speed of the entire AP for any machines attached to it for backwards compatibility. If you want to evaluation your Internet speed, you have to be wired, if you want to evaluate your wireless speed, treat it as a separate item.
     
  11. IRideYZFR6

    IRideYZFR6 Linux Guru

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    Yes, what is happening right now with the placement of your WAP the TV is impeding the signal and bouncing off the TV back at itself. The best place I found for my FIOS WAP was in the basement utility room with the antenna lowered and laying perpendicular with the ground.

    This is one of the most simpliest images I could find to explain my positioning of the antenna and placement of the WAP. So take the image and turn itself on its side. We have strong signal strength on the top floor and outside the house. Sorry the image is so big.

    [​IMG]
     
  12. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    The pole antennas on most access points have a antenna pattern that can be represented like a donut - with the antenna itself sticking up at the center of the hole of the donut.

    So basically your signal would suck directly above the antenna - that's why tilting it down aimed more sweet dough your way and you get into the side of the donut :)

    For Pluto - yes, putting your WAP directly behind anything really dense or metal will basically create a big wall for the signal. The signal goes through walls pretty good (still attenuated though) but things more dense really block direct signal.

    And you have less 'walls' between you when you are shooting up through the house vs across the house generally.
     
  13. Pluto

    Pluto New Member

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    Thanks for the clarification. I will change the router place and try again.
     
  14. razng2grtboys

    razng2grtboys New Member

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    not happy at all with my speed right now - just signed up for new bundle with Verizon last week...should be getting 35/35. A few minutes ago it was 14/14.
     
  15. Rhaegar

    Rhaegar Member

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    Wired or wireless? How did you test it?
     
  16. razng2grtboys

    razng2grtboys New Member

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  17. Rhaegar

    Rhaegar Member

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    It's not fair to judge your FIOS based upon your wireless speed. You should run a wired test. If the wired test shows that you're getting what you're not getting what you're paying for, then you can yell at Verizon.

    But if your wireless is slower then your wired, that's a wholly different thing to troubleshoot and we need to start looking at things that Verizon doesn't control including interference, what else is attached to your access point and driver quality.
     
  18. razng2grtboys

    razng2grtboys New Member

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    just ran another test:

    wireless = 13.39D/14.47U
    wired = 42.62D/30.32U

    WOW! Now what?
     
  19. IRideYZFR6

    IRideYZFR6 Linux Guru

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    LOL, where to start? Things that could affect your wireless throughput;

    1. Placement of the WAP
    2. Type of encryption method used (load on WAP)
    3. Other wireless points near your that use the same channel or a channel close to the one use are using (crossover noise)
    4. Which 802.11 Protocol that you are using (i.e. 802.11b max is 11mb/sec)
    5. Drivers used on your wireless cards
    6. I/O on your devices that use wireless
    7. Firmware version on your WAP
    8. Hard set QoS
    9. Etc………
     
  20. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    I was having connection issues once in a while with my wireless connection. I tried changing the channel and that seemed to work. My router fits so nicely between our wooden bookshelf and the wooden file cabinet but based on the comments here maybe it's not offering its best wireless access that way...
     

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