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Wireless speeds extremely slow. Fixes?

My wireless speeds are extremely slow. I've been having trouble even loading simple web pages. I've tried changing the channel to avoid overlapping with my neighbors, but unfortuanely, the problem persists. I have the MI424WR router from Verizon. When I plug in with an ethernet cord, the speed is close to advertised.

I've also tried updating the software on the router, but apparently it is already up to date.

I have moved the router out into the open and the speed issue persists even when I'm about 5 feet away from it with no obstructions.

Does anyone have any other ideas? Do I just have a bad router? I have other devices on the network, but they are not currently in use. I've run scans for malware and viruses, but came up empty.

Thanks.

Comments

SinCara

Is the router set to performance mode instead of compatibility mode?

I just upgraded to 75/75 (had 50/25) and was consistantly getting around 50 down and 40 up on wifi. Since the upgrade I get 15 down and 9 up on several speed test servers and Verizon's speed test and I can't figure out why since I changed nothing on my end. I tried resetting the router, reboot the ONT, changed channels, you name it so you aren't the only one having the slowness of wifi.

My wired speeds are fine.

eljefe2

@Encephalitis wrote:
My wireless speeds are extremely slow. I've been having trouble even loading simple web pages. I've tried changing the channel to avoid overlapping with my neighbors, but unfortuanely, the problem persists. I have the MI424WR router from Verizon. When I plug in with an ethernet cord, the speed is close to advertised.
I've also tried updating the software on the router, but apparently it is already up to date.
I have moved the router out into the open and the speed issue persists even when I'm about 5 feet away from it with no obstructions.
Does anyone have any other ideas? Do I just have a bad router? I have other devices on the network, but they are not currently in use. I've run scans for malware and viruses, but came up empty.
Thanks.

What type device are you using? Mac? PC? What operating system?

Do you have experience on other WiFi networks and, if so, are the speeds better there?

It might be helpful to isolate the problem (to your computer or your router) if you could connect another device to your WiFi network and see what speed you get. If none of the other devices you mentioned are available, might you be able to borrow one from a friend or relative?

Encephalitis

I've tried 2 separate PCs (one with windows 7 and the other with 8), as well as 2 iPhones (a 4 and 5). They all are having the same problems with the wireless connection. It would seem it's an issue with the router. I just reset the router to default settings, but the issue has persisted. I'm not sure what else I should change to try to improve the speed.

The router is in compatability mode.

Thanks

SinCara

@Encephalitis wrote:
I've tried 2 separate PCs (one with windows 7 and the other with 8), as well as 2 iPhones (a 4 and 5). They all are having the same problems with the wireless connection. It would seem it's an issue with the router. I just reset the router to default settings, but the issue has persisted. I'm not sure what else I should change to try to improve the speed.
The router is in compatability mode.
Thanks

You never said what your actual speeds are. If they are a really low number it is possible the router is defective.

One thing you do want to do though is switch the router to performance mode. You will...or at least should see in increase just from that. How much depends.

Just note if you have any devices running off of g band they will stop working since performance mode is strictly n band.

Also, download inSSIDer which shows you everyone around you and what channels everyone is using, any overlapping channels, etc... It's a great tool and this is the free version.

http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5936-inssider.html

I've been testing my speeds all night since I've been having pretty much the same issues (although I dont know what speeds you are getting). I have seen my download speeds jump to 30 but upload is still low. Since it is the weekend and most people around me are home I'm going to re-test it tomorrow and see if my issue is simply neighborhood/network congestion. From looking at inssider it seems to be my issue.

eljefe2

@Encephalitis wrote:
I've tried 2 separate PCs (one with windows 7 and the other with 8), as well as 2 iPhones (a 4 and 5). They all are having the same problems with the wireless connection. It would seem it's an issue with the router. I just reset the router to default settings, but the issue has persisted. I'm not sure what else I should change to try to improve the speed.
The router is in compatability mode.
Thanks

Given the info you've provided I agree you seem to have a defective router. That being the case, I would suggest one of two steps:

You could ask Verizon to give you a replacement router. Or....

You could buy almost any other WiFi router, DLink, Netgear, Asus, etc., and use it to replace the WiFi function on your Actiontec.

Fastfuel

I've been dealing with this at my house too. Called support and they sent me a new router but nothing has changed. Even our plugged in the router computer has moments, everyday, where the speed slow downs to slower than dial up. I'm pretty sure it's a problem with Verizon and not your home or computers. Seems silly for me to be paying for Quantum at this point. The change for me was all of a sudden. One day, had great internet, the next day, I'm paying for a service that I'm not getting.

SinCara

I'm giving an update on my situation since I mentioned it here. My wifi speeds are back to where they should be. This tells me my issues was simply network congestion.

To the OP as I mentioned set the router to performance mode and run a few tests on Verizon's speed test. I was told by several people over at dslreports not to use speedtest.net as their results arent accurate.

I believe it because this morn my download speeds were at like 128 down and 16 up. I know that wasnt right. Verizons came in correct. 78 down 79 up.

Let us know what speeds you are seeing.

eljefe2

First, let me say I've been using speedtest.net for years and always found them very reliable. Yes, once in a while a server mis-behaves but with a little common sense to can tell when that's happening and not use those results in your diagnosis.

For the past few days I had noticed the Secaucus, NJ server, was consistently reporting results much slower than I got on any of the other nearby servers. I reported that behavior in feedback to speedtest.net and this evening I see that server is no longer available.

Point being speedtest.net takes their network results seriously.

Having said that, the server reporting you were getting 128 down may have been broken. I would've reported it and asked to have it looked in to.

Glad your speeds are back to normal and I hope they stay that way. One of the attractions of FiOS to me is I've never seen any kind of fluctuation in speed. Never. Friends and neighbors subscribed to cable do find their speeds low during evenings and week's to network saturation but the nature of FiOS makes that much less likely.

edit: No sooner than I finished typing this post and I received an email from speedtest.net tech support telling me: Thank your for your follow up and this server has been removed for capped bandwidth."

Thank you speedtest.net!

Hubrisnxs

"The router is in compatability mode."

You're mileage may vary, but you'll want to find out if you in fact have any Wireless G pc's or devices connected.

If you do and you're in mixed mode, you'll see some wierd speed behaviors.

10

It seems to be an "old" wives tale that, when using a wireless-N router in "mixed mode" to support legacy 802.11b or 802.11g devices, the performance of 802.11n clients will suffer.

Some places claim that when running in mixed-mode, all (some?) N clients run at G speeds. Others make the same claim, but say it only happens when a G client is connected.

Other places say N clients run faster, but still run about 30% slower than if the router were in N-only mode, even if there are no legacy B/G clients connected.

Still others claim there is no speed drop for N clients when running on a mixed-mode network. They say the only issue is that overall network throughput will be lower, because only one client can be transmitting at any time, so some of that transmission time must be shared with the legacy B/G clients running at lower speeds, reducing the overall throughput from what it would be if there were only N clients connected

if you have any wireless G you may want to consider getting them connected with an inexpensive wireless N adapter or dongle

dslr595148

I point to http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-Internet/Why-your-Wi-Fi-is-slow/m-p/534451

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