Gig speeds, not so much

[lapper131]

2 weeks since install and receiving approximately half the advertised speeds. 

These speeds are while plugged directly into the Verizon demarc (ONT RJ45 port).

No router in between the computer and Verizon demarc.

Tried multiple computers and multiple Cat 5E jumpers.

All testing computers meet minimum specs listed on Verizon site.

Here is the most powerful (and brand new) machine I've tested with:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wRpbgL

Here are today's test results:

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/6487249847

The verizon speedtest always fails:

{edited for privacy}

[jonjones1]

You are not provisioned properly.

Call 1-800-VERIZON have tech support first verify the speedtest failure. Then you will get a engineer to be alerted of the situation. The tech support person contacts them via messaging and they then give an ETA of the time it will be fixed.

it happened when I purchased gigabyte and it was five days before it was provisioned correctly.

[lapper131]

I'll give it a shot, thanks.

Tier 2 at Verizon FSC verified the ONT was properly provisioned twice, but I'll try your suggestion.

[jonjones1]

The issue is the tech support lady stayed on the line and troubleshoot the problem. She tried the speed test from their end, it kept timing out. Then it was a simple restart of the ONT and router from their end. They tested again. Still no go. Then it was hit the reset back to factory button and then reset all my settings, still no go. Then she said you are using a Netgear can I unhook everything from the LAN ports and switch if using one and turn all devices off. Tried that still no go. Finally she contacted a engineer who said they would work on the provisioning and it would be up within 3 days.

to my amazement it was up in two and blazing fast. So they may have to do all that for you as well.

Good Luck 

[lapper131]

Reached out to verizon support (online chat), who say they can't verify the speedtest failure because I'm not using the Verizon router. Every Verizon support person I've spoken to, including their field techs, are absolutely clueless about how a network works. 

I'm a network engineer and was a field tech before that. If you are not receiving your level of service at the demarc, be it TV, phone or internet, then the issue is on the telco network. That's the very definition of demarcation. But every Verizon support person I talk to insists that the issue is on my side of the demarc, which I have already verified a dozen times with them.

These people are worse than Comcast, which is not an easy acheivement.

Thx for your feedback.

I'll keep plugging away.

[Twentworth12]

I had to buy a Verizon router on eBay just to resolve this issue. 

My repair date is tomorrow so I’ll see if mine was also a provisioning problem. 

[lapper131]

How'd your repair go?

[Twentworth12]

They closed my ticket and the Router speed test still doesnt not work. I'll going to make them re-open it. 

[geschinger]

 I'm also not using the Verizon router but I happen to have one which I took out during a troubleshooting session that ended up being a waste of time.  I was maxing out at ~200Mbps on all external speed tests and the Verizon one was failing.  I connected the Verizon router during a call with support and the internal VZ speedtest was 900+/900+ but from that router I was also maxing out at ~200Mbps across the board.  This was in the evening.  When I tested again the next morning I was able to get 900+/900+ on external speedtests.

I suspect that Verizon has insufficient capactiy at the ingress/egress points and in the evenings when more people are online and streaming and instead of upgrading those ports connections are being throttled.  The most frustrating thing is support will not even look at anything as possibly being wrong at the ingress/egress points.  They will say that they have no control outside of their network - technically true - but they do have control over capacity at the peering points.  They can add ports if there is too much congestion instead of throttling.   I don't believe it is issues with the test servers I'm connecting to as I can remote into my work connection which is a couple miles away which has a 1Gbps stealth.net connection and consistently get close to 1Gb up/down to the same test servers at the same time that the Fios connection is maxing out at ~200-~300 Mbps.  While not a perfect apples to apples test it's close enough that I'm convinced the problem is on the Verizon side.

From about 6PM until 10-11PM my gigabit connection usually maxes out between 200Mbps - 300Mbps and 900+/900+ other times during the day.

[CRobGauth]

Keep in mind that all they are selling is access to their network.

Yes, a provider that has great access speed but no connectivity, is that great, but that is all any provider will guarantee, access.

Not sure if any of the other major cable providers do much better, especially when it comes to prime usage times.

[Tobster1]

I agree completely, I am also an IT person, I have had the tech support people out three or four times already, I am getting one tenth of gigabit speed, I'm at the point that I guess I'm going to have to accept those speeds since no one can get it to work properly, the guy that came out and test the speed ,called me since I was not able to be at home and told me, there are many things that will affect network speed, I had to stop him there and I told him I could understand if I was getting 700 it said of 940 that would make sense but I'm getting 70 Mbps download on my iMac, I'm getting about 100 on my work computer, what are they going to tell me all of my equipment just no good?

[lapper131]

Do you have their Quantum gateway? You’ll need that directly connected to the ONT to get gig speeds. Make sure no sense, but that was my fix. Run the speed test from https://www.verizon.com/speedtest/

[Tobster1]

Yes,I'm using all their equipment, they came in and said everything is ok,but their speed test shows 940 download on the router ,but 70 to my device, I dont get it

[lapper131]

Is your device hard wired? I’m guessing it is, but gotta ask.

is your device directly connected to the quantum gateway or are there other devices in between? 

How old is your device? 

Have you tried updating the NIC firmware?

[Tobster1]

Yes ,plugged directly into router, everything was installed sep 8, they came back and replaced the ONT, but still the same, I wonder if the router should be replaced  but all my training and experience tells me it would probably not make a difference 

[jonjones1]

When ever you replace a ONT it’s a good idea to turn off the old DHCP from the router. This can be fine by doing a release and renew from the routers settings.

you must very very quickly unplug the router after you click renew. Or it will grab the old dhcp again.

now you could also simply reset the router back to factory prior to placing it back in service. This can be done after you unplug the Ethernet from the router you can use the electrical outlet then push in the reset button on the router.

many times these resets and new renewed dhcp can fix your connection issues and speed may then work as it should.

as the other poster stated you may get a nic card update if available. But many devices cannot achieve the higher gigabyte speeds.

[lapper131 · Accepted solution]

Finally found a solution and I'm finally receiving gig speeds.

The brilliant solution?

I have to use the Verizon Fios G1100 router to receive Gig speeds.

I should preface this by confessing my given profession; I'm a network engineer. I say this because I've spent the last decade of my career ensconsed in routing. I know it inside and out and know that routers NEVER make a WAN connection faster; they can only slow down a WAN connection due to processing overhead.

Each packet traversing the router is encapsulated in a layer 3 header that includes destination IP, source IP, as well as things like header checksum and TTL, which need to be read/processed and stripped away to create a Layer 2 frame to be delivered to an end device. 

But contrary to everything I know about how networks work, The Verizon Fios router makes the WAN connection 50% faster than when using a non Verizon router or no router at all. This makes no sense to me, but I cannot argue with the results.

When connected directly to the ethernet port on the Verizon ONT, the fastest speeds i could receive were 600Mbps. When connecting my Asus RT-AC87U router the speeds were in the high 500's. After connecting the Verizon Fios G1100 router to the ONT, my speeds immediately jumped to mid 900's upload and download. That's a 50% increase in speed by using Verizon's router. 

I have no idea why this is the case and I wish someone at Verizon would have just told me that their router is required to receive gig speeds. I had half a dozen techs dispatched to my house and dozens of calls into their tech support people, but not one of them told me their router is required.

I don't know what black magic their router is up to or why their magical router is the only device that delivers the gig speeds, but that's the result after 6 weeks of troubleshooting. 

Verizon wants $10 a month rental for their router, so I bought my own on ebay for $100.

So that's that. Was a tedious and painful process of discovery but my experience shows you cannot receive gig speeds without Verizon's G1100 router.

They also gave me $25 a month off my bill for my troubles (for 12 months), so overall I'm happy with the service now.

Thanks to everyone who reached out here. It's nice to have a community to bounce ideas and experiences off of, especially when dealing with telcos.

Later!

[smith6612]

So your findings make me curious regarding the RT-AC87U. That router is a bit special in how the hardware NAT Acceleration works. To route at Gig-E speeds, the router needs the following set:

• All DPI and traffic shaping functionality turned off.
• IPv6 disabled (IPv6 being enabled allows cut through forwarding at the switch level, but disables the proprietary Broadcom Flow Accelerator). With IPv6 enabled, the router is built to expect the manority of heavy traffic to shift to that, handicapping NAT performance but allowing wire speed throughput for IPv6.
• QoS must be turned off. Adaptive also disables Flow Accelerator but leaves Cut Through Forwarding enabled. Using Traditional or Bandwidth limiter turns off Flow Accelerator and Cut Through Forwarding.
• Stateful Firewall DoS protection must be turned off.
• MAC Spoofing must be disabled. Enabled disbles hardware acceleration.

Just some things to consider. The G1100 is built for speed instead of Flexibility and choice. The ASUS is a bit of a swiss army knife that can be made to do the job, but needs convincing and know how.

Doesn't explain why speeds were slow connected directly to the ONT, but I've seen stranger things.