Beware 35/20 speed is not guaranteed over wireless
techie_consult1

I had recently upgraded to the 35/20 plan in anticipation of faster speeds.  I thought I'd post my insight after speaking with verizon CS rep.

After they tried to blame it on my laptop wifi card (which supports 54mbs), they came back saying that they don't guarantee the speed for wireless, only hardwired. Of course hardwired is always faster.  But it doesn't matter if my laptop is right next to the wireless router, I can only get 18/18 over wireless.   So save your money unless you are hardwired to the router,  20/20 is all you need for now. (and likely 20up is overkill for the average web user).

 

I'm also guessing there's no chance of having a disclaimer anywhere when ordering speeds above 20/20, so here's my attempt to post an advisory. I wonder when N-routers will come out?

I will be calling the billing dept in the morning to revert my speed back to 20/5.  Too bad, I was looking forward to faster speeds and would not have minded paying extra for it.

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Re: Beware 35/20 speed is not guaranteed over wireless
BrianMcD
Specialist - Level 1

To get faster Wireless Speeds you could get a Draft N Router to provide wireless connectivity and get new cards for your laptops.

Here is some information on using another router with Verizon FIOS:

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/verizonfios/3.0_Networking

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Re: Beware 35/20 speed is not guaranteed over wireless
spacedebris
Master - Level 2

@techie_consult wrote:

I had recently upgraded to the 35/20 plan in anticipation of faster speeds.  I thought I'd post my insight after speaking with verizon CS rep.

After they tried to blame it on my laptop wifi card (which supports 54mbs), they came back saying that they don't guarantee the speed for wireless, only hardwired. Of course hardwired is always faster.  But it doesn't matter if my laptop is right next to the wireless router, I can only get 18/18 over wireless.   So save your money unless you are hardwired to the router,  20/20 is all you need for now. (and likely 20up is overkill for the average web user).

I'm also guessing there's no chance of having a disclaimer anywhere when ordering speeds above 20/20, so here's my attempt to post an advisory. I wonder when N-routers will come out?

I will be calling the billing dept in the morning to revert my speed back to 20/5.  Too bad, I was looking forward to faster speeds and would not have minded paying extra for it.


Actually, to be quite frank, its not just on the 35/20 speed. Wireless speeds are not guarenteed at ANY speed. Wireless can be affected by too many things outside verizon control. When speeds are quoted by verizon they are alwasy "wired speeds" only.  And the wireless signal is only guarenteed for 10 feet (or same room) which ever is more. If you are on wireless only, the smallest speed offered by verizon right now 15/5 is likely overkill for most. (assuming that you are using the stock equipment from verizon with no 3rd party extras). If you follow the options from brian above, you can get faster speeds but those are not supported (meaning no troubleshooting) from verizon. They would be a YMMV option. A good one but still not a guarantee
Message Edited by spacedebris on 07-09-2009 07:55 AM
Re: Beware 35/20 speed is not guaranteed over wireless
jumpin68ny
Master - Level 2

Having installed wireless networks in large customer environments I've done study on the effects of wireless.  My point here is that a 54meg connection is only a theoretcial speed and one should expect to get between 15-25 meg.  Wireless carries overhead that does not permit you to get 54meg in addition to interference from other wireless networks, cordless phones, bluetooth devices, microwaves, etc.  Verizon is correct when they tell you there is no way to get speeds of 35/20 speeds on wireless.  Its a limiation of wireless, and not anything verizon can do.   

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Re: Beware 35/20 speed is not guaranteed over wireless
cjacobs001
Contributor - Level 3
and so there could be no wireless guarantee, from ANY provider.
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Re: Beware 35/20 speed is not guaranteed over wireless
techie_consult1

Agree with all of you. I am a person who runs speed tests and reserached the limitations of wireless G, N, etc.  Hence why I called to revert back to 20/5 and save some $$$.  

I guess my point is, alot of people are getting fooled and paying more money without realizing there is no gain in speed. And Verizon is happy to collect from the those that don't know better.

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Re: Beware 35/20 speed is not guaranteed over wireless
cjacobs001
Contributor - Level 3
caveat emptor, but surely read the contract paperwork
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Re: Beware 35/20 speed is not guaranteed over wireless
jumpin68ny
Master - Level 2

To further the discussion on 35/20 speeds, due to various bottlenecks within the Internet, no quality of service, etc. for as nice as 35/20 sounds the average users would not see any difference even when connected via a wired connection. 

I've had this discussion a few months back about Cablevision offering 100meg Internet and would anyone really notice the difference?  The end result would be if the service providers began to offer hi-def video then that kind of speed may be necessary.  

Today I plan to stick with my 20/5 unless I see a need for increased bandwidth.  Today I connect 3 PC's, two VOIP telephone services and stream Internet radio all simultaneously without any problems.

 Jim

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Re: Beware 35/20 speed is not guaranteed over wireless
spacedebris
Master - Level 2

your absolutely correct. For the most part, internet speeds offered by fios and even some of the other providers are getting to the point of being faster than what the commercial sites can handle. Most of the "internet" is geared toward slower speeds, lots of traffic, but lower bandwidth from the average user. At least for now. But as with most things, as the speeds that the average user can get increase, the commercial applications will follow. Right now, Verizon and the other internet providers that are offering this huge bandwidth speeds, are just ahead of the curve right now. They are just banking on the mentality of most people that believe that more is better. Most people dont consider that they have too much. They think that if they can go that fast anything they do will be at that speed. And the internet companies are in that mind set too, competing to see who can offer the fastest speeds. What they should be doing in my opinion is to see who can offer decent speeds at lower prices. Instead of offering free upgrades from 5/2 to 10/2. Why not offer both and make the 5/2 cheaper for example? Can you imagine a 5/2 speed on fios for $25 for example?  The super fast speeds are nice but only a small portion of the customer base can really utilize those kind of speeds.

Re: Beware 35/20 speed is not guaranteed over wireless
jumpin68ny
Master - Level 2
To think T1 speeds (1.5meg) go for a large amt. of money (+$500/month) yet speeds of FIOS of say 20/5 are $40-$60 depending on your package.  Its amazing!!!!!
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