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Fast wired, slow wireless speed - Verizon says nothing they can do & their service is fine

I am a high speed broadband customer of Verizon (FIOS). Recently, I noticed my internet speeds seemed slow and when I tested them, they were slow. Basically, I was paying for 50mbps (download) but getting about 10mbps. I have since learned that this is a wireless problem as the internet speeds are fine when used via a wired Ethernet connection (58 download, 38 upload).

In late March or early April, I went online to get help. After 3 or 4 hours with a Verizon rep via Live Chat, I was told I needed a new router, they would send me one, and this would fix the problem. They sent new router, I connected it and the wireless speed did not improve at all.

Two more times, once on April 30th and then the following day, May 1st, I again used Verizon Live Chat, engaged with their Indian help desk, for 2-3 hours each time, but neither time did they fix the problem. At one point I was told, we only promise 50mbps via wired connection, not wireless. When you look at the service offerings on the Verizon website, however, they promise “up to 50mbps” with no mention whatsoever of wired versus wireless. So they officially washed their hands of me and said there was no more they could do and as far as they were concerned, I was getting what I was promised. Funny, I could have sworn it’s the year 2014. I’ve even heard of people using this things called “ipads”… but guess that hasn’t reached Verizon yet.

My PC is about 12 feet away from the router, in the same room. The speeds are the same whether I have all four of my devices connected or only one.

My (new) Router is an Actiontec MI424WR Rev.I. I pay $153/month for Verizon Flex Double Play - combined internet (FiOS Quantum– “Internet Speeds up to 50 Mbps/25 Mbps”) and television (FiOS TV Ultimate HD). Total bill comes to $199/month.

If anyone has any suggestions re what I can do to get decent wireless broadband (short of moving to South Korea), they would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, I’m headed back to Time Warner. They provide the same crappy service as FIOS but it costs a bit less.

In the meantime, I plan on submitting a complaint with the New York State Division of Consumer Protection and the FTC. It won't solve my problem but will make me feel a bit better.

Comments

Telcoguru

Wireless is not guarenteed. You can change your router from compatilbility mode to performanve mode if all your wireless devices are N capable. You can also visit your wireless card manufacturers website and download the latest driver for you wireless card. Both of these things should help increase your wireless performance.

gutiea

Have you checked for channel interference? I was experiencing a similar problem. It improved significantly once I switched to a different wifi channel.

Hubrisnxs

For these kind of problems, I Can't recommend the verizon in home agent enough. go to http://www.verizon.com/connect

Download and install it, run it. there is a section for wifi problems, and it does a great job of finding interference, and moving your software to less crowded wifi channels and correct the information.

gutiea

Earlier I added: "Have you checked for channel interference? I was experiencing a similar reduced bandwidth problem with my Fios connection.. It improved significantly once I switched to a different wifi channel."

Upon further thinking and some experimentation I discovered that, in my case, much of the degradation of the data rates over WiFi was due to antenna mismatch. Specifically, I was using my laptop with an external monitor and the display cover closed!

This meant that the antenna of the laptop, that surrounds the display, was not oriented in the optimal position for maximizing reception from the antenna in the wifi router.

Upon opening the display and slightly realigning the antenna of the router the data rate increased 5 TIMES from the data rate with the display closed.

I started playing with a Tablet, pretty much the same results, with the tablet standing up right, the reception was optimal, with the tablet horizontal the reception data rate decreased significantly.

For those interested in the subject of antenna alignment, you can browse images of radiation patterns here: http://goo.gl/P2OzrH

Generally speaking if you want to use a laptop with the display closed, you are better off using an ethernet cable to connect it to the router, otherwise use it with the display open (or vertical), particularly if you are far away from the router, as I was.

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