Lopez Family blog

Getting the most out of FiOS

by Roger on Dec.28, 2009, under Web Performance

A few months ago we changed our internet provider from cable to fiber optic. This change was mainly due to our unhappiness with the cable provider. The service from the cable company was fine for the most part, even if the connection speed topped out at 5Mbps for download. What made us want to change provider was the ever increasing costs of the service, every month there was an increase of about $1.00 hidden in mysterious fees.

Around that same time Fiber Optic service was new in our area and was offering pretty good deals. We ended up changing to a bundle deal which not only saved us money but we also now have a top download speed of around 20Mbps.

We had to wait a few days for installation but when the day came the FiOS technician installed everything in a matter of a couple of hours. Excitedly I tested my work laptop, which has Windows XP, both wired and wireless and got 20 – 21 Mbps download speeds. I used Speedtest to measure the download speeds, but there are other sites that will do the same. I also tested our Power Mac G4 (yes, I know it’s a dinosaur) which was wired directly to the wireless router that was provided, an Actiontec MI424WR. The speeds for the Power Mac were also close to 20Mbps so all was well, we had fast internet.

Only it wasn’t, Lisa’s Mac Mini had a painfully slow internet connection and the TiVo was also suffering from some of the same. At first I thought that it could be due to the fact that they were both in the room furthest from the router. But the room isn’t quite that far and I could get 20Mbps on my work laptop’s wireless.

I thought of many ideas on how to improve speeds in the living room so that the whole family could take advantage of the full 20Mbps. I considered running wires to the living room, which wouldn’t have been easy because we have a crawl space under the living room to which I’ve no idea how to get to. I also considered buying some of those power line Ethernet adapters, but the idea of using our electrical wiring wasn’t too appealing since it’s pretty old and I wasn’t sure how it would hold up or if we’d get better connection speeds.

Then I remembered my old Linksys WRT54G which was just in a bag somewhere in the basement. I couldn’t connect it directly to the entry point since the service comes into the house via coax cable so I had to still us the Actiontec router as the entry point. I plugged the Linksys to the Actiontec router and turned of the Actiontec’s wireless. I changed all our computers and the TiVo to use the Linksys wireless.
I tested with my laptop to make sure I was getting the same speed as before and then I tested with Lisa’s Mac. Surprisingly that change made the whole difference, Lisa’s computer was now getting 20+Mbps and the TiVo is able to stream content from the internet without any choppiness.

Just out of curiosity I had both routers with the wireless turned on and sitting next to each other. I tested using the Actiontec’s wireless from Lisa’s computer, and got the expected 5Mbps download. I then connected the Mini to the Linksys router and got 21Mpbs.

So the moral of the story, if you have FiOS, get rid of the Actiontec router and use one that will allow you to take advantage of the full potential of your connection. If you want to try it yourself I found these two guides helpful Using a Linksys Router with Verizon FiOS and Making an Actiontec MI424-WR a Network Bridge.


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