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WiFi nearly dead after switching to Ethernet

I have phone and internet, no TV. I dropped TV about a year and a half ago.

I want to use my own router instead of Verizon's. To this end, I have run a Cat 6 Ethernet cable from my ONT to the Verizon Quantum router location. I want to make sure the Verizon router is working fine with an Ethernet feed before I try switching to a new router.

I called Verizon tech support last night and asked them to turn off MoCA and turn on Ethernet out of the ONT. Initially all looked fine, but as soon as I got off the phone, I noticed that WiFi speed was abysmal all of a sudden. (I ran the Verizon speed test from their website and got speeds on the order of 3 Mbps down and 1 up. I pay for 75/75.)

I called tech support again and this time was told my Ethernet cable was "too long." It was about 30 feet long, running straight to the router from the hole in my outside wall. I had about 18 feet of excess, in case I wanted to move my router later. (I was under the impression that a long run for a Cat 6 cable is something like 150-200 feet.)

So I cut the cable, terminated it with a new Cat 6 connector, and tried again. WiFi worked, but poorly. But when I ran the Verizon speed test with my laptop hardwired to the router via an Ethernet cable, speeds were consistently blazing, like 85/85 or higher. I ran a speed test with a couple other sites and got similar results.

This morning when I woke up, my router showed only a red globe icon, not the white globe and WiFi icons. I rebooted and noticed the same results: crappy WiFi, very fast Ethernet connection to my laptop.

So my question is this: did I just happen to do this whole changeover at the precise moment my Verizon router started to kick the bucket? Or is there something wrong with the cable I installed from the ONT to the router? (One end of the Cat 6 cable is "store-bought"; the other end has a connector that I installed.)

Why is my WiFi painfully slow but the hard-wired connection to my router perfectly fine? The only changes are my installing a cable and asking Verizon to enable Ethernet on the ONT.

Thanks.

Comments

jonjones1

Well first I would have turned your Verizon router off completely and then waited until it was fully back up online then would have checked that the WiFi on the Verizon router was on and functional.

it is then a good practice to turn off all devices not using ethernet direct to the lan ports on your Verizon router.

i would check for connectivity to be stable on the WiFi devices. Please note WiFi will not be more that half of your hard wired speed.

Additionally Verizon routers have been shown to not be all that great WiFi wise to other top of the line routers like Netgear or Asus or TP Link etc.

another thing to remember is once you install your own router your tech support is only for feed to your home. Nothing more. So if you are savvy and since you can do your own ethernet cabling and terminating on that cable then you should have no problem fixing your router issues.

Just a suggestion would be to use the Verizon router for internet connection and put your own router in for Access Point Mode then use the WiFi from your router and terminate the WiFi on the Verizon router. This way your own router will handle the WiFi and assign the ip to your devices. The high end routers like I use produce a higher quality WiFi than the Verizon routers. Just google it and you will see people prefer their own routers for WiFi over theirs.

shepdave

Thanks.

Just to be clear, I have rebooted the router several times during the process, leaving it off for 2-3 minutes at a time.

I am aware, too, that WiFi test speeds will much lower than hardwired speeds. I'm used to seeing speeds over WiFi of anywhere from 28 to 50 Mbps, which I consider normal and fine.

Right now speed tests over WiFi are yielding anywhere from 1 to 3 Mbps in both directions. The same router, same laptop, same test site yields 80-90 Mbps hardwired. Moreover, the WiFi connection seems to go in and out sporadically.

It seems to me that something is wrong either with the router or with my cable termination on the inside end of my Ethernet cable. That last situation, though, seems unlikely, since the Verizon signal out of the ONT is obviously quite robust with high hardwired test speeds.

The only two things I can think of doing right now are replacing the cable and using "store-bought" terminations on both ends, or replacing the router.

I don't want to replace the router, though, until I know 100% that the signal from the ONT to the router position is completely fine. I realize that once I decommission Verizon's router I'm on my own.

I'll be calling FiOS tech support at least one more time, and I may try to escalate the call to a second-level support tech.

If anybody else has any ideas, I'd be grateful.

jonjones1

The best way to test is to simply put another router in service after you do a dhcp release https://www.dslreports.com/faq/15898

after following the above instructions try your new router or router or borrow one from a friend. Then make sure WiFi is on in the new router. If it works as it should then you know it’s the Verizon router.

i also gave you the idea of placing your own router in AP mode then turning off the Wifi on the Verizon router. But you may be looking for a better answer.

Good Luck

shepdave

I appreciate the tip.

Just to be clear, I can release dhcp on the Verizon router, try my new router, and then if need be reactivate the Verizon router so I can get guidance from FiOS tech support if it's something else?

I expect the new router to come in tomorrow. I'd say if I switch over and the new one works fine, then I'll forget all about the Verizon one.

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