Will FIOS even work in college dorms, also is 15/5 good enough?
CS231
Enthusiast - Level 2

Living on campus and the internet, especially the wireless internet is iffy at best.

Me and my roommates are thinking of getting 15/5 fios, maybe 25/25, but can they do this in dorms without drilling holes etc?

Also, we'll have 3 laptops and up to 3 systems running at once, one plugged in most likely, will 15/5 be good enough to be host/non laggy, or should we go higher? thanks for the input!

Re: Will FIOS even work in college dorms, also is 15/5 good enough?
lasagna
Community Leader
Community Leader

Dorms are private property as is the networking infrastructure of the college ... it is extremely unlikely that you could order any kind of telecommunications service for this location.   I would advise starting with a question to the college first.

You'll likely need to move off campus to a private residence or apartment before pursuing your private internet connection.

Re: Will FIOS even work in college dorms, also is 15/5 good enough?
CS231
Enthusiast - Level 2

ok so if they DO allow it, would 15/5 be good enough?

Re: Will FIOS even work in college dorms, also is 15/5 good enough?
lasagna
Community Leader
Community Leader

Would really depend on what you're doing and how much traffic it creates.  My initial FiOS installation was 10/2 with 3 computers, a VoIP phone service, and 2 gaming systems and it was more than adequate for talking on the phone while surfing the net and my teen playing some online video game.    But then that was my usage profile ... YMMV.

One thing people often miss is that wireless performance is not the same as wired performance -- it's highly variable depending on local conditions, interference, etc.  If you've got an electronically noisy location, wireless performance will suffer regardless of how fast a connection you might have.  The first step is always to plug in to a hardwired connection.

With that said, do these dorm rooms not have a hard wired connection?  Typically these are 100mb into the campus internet connection and are behind an internet connection which has bandwidth which far exceeds a residential internet service speed.

Re: Will FIOS even work in college dorms, also is 15/5 good enough?
CS231
Enthusiast - Level 2

well it does, and I guess it'll be fine for gaming, but the wireless is sporadic and so I won't be able to be on the laptop at the same time, like sometimes it's down for nights, and I really don't feel like walking 10 minutes to get to the labs.

Re: Will FIOS even work in college dorms, also is 15/5 good enough?
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

You need to ask the College first if it is OK to bring in your own Internet connection. Cable and DSL they may let fly if the existing telephone network isn't tied into a PHX and Cable connected to a Campus-wide Cable system. If by chance you can get DSL or Cable, that would be easiest. FiOS would be awesome to get, but the problem is that would require the college to get involved since getting FiOS installed in your dorm will involve Verizon making modifications to the building (need to place the ONT somewhere), holding the college responsible for the Battery Backup Unit's battery when you move out of the dorm, and the college will have to ensure it is fine for Verizon to run the fiber cabling up to you, or to use existing telephone wiring as if it were an MDU install. Either way you won't be getting FiOS without a hole being drilled somewhere nearby.

If you can't get your own connection for the meantime, see if your dorm has an Ethernet connection available. If all the college offers is Wireless access, shame on them. Wireless is too unreliable to be relying on, especially in a college dorm environment. If there is at least one free Ethernet port in the dorm, you can ask the college if it is fine to connect a router of yours to the Ethernet port to split it to your devices using Ethernet. Many colleges are also picky about student-owned routers being on the network for network topology and tracking reasons as well, so while you can probably get by safely with one attached, it leaves you liable to the Ethernet port being physically disabled at the location of the network switching gear by the college for violating a network usage policy.

Anyways, I wish to best of luck to getting better Internet service in your dorm 🙂 .