Paying for 100/100 Fios degraded to 5/5 over wifi
Alisson
Enthusiast - Level 2

Hello All. 

I am so frustrated. I have been messaging and calling Verizon for months trying to resolve my slow wifi to no avail. I have wasted so many hours working with them... the vast majority for the call is listening to a lot of excuses why I don't have good service, occasionally they switch the channel (which I can do myself), once in a blue moon (when I get pissy) they reset things remotely but nothing ever changes. It is an exercise in futility to continue that approach. I have never been able to get close to the 100/100 service.

I was not given an option on the placement of the service coming in to my apartment... the Verizon tech was in and out in 5 minutes (after trying to cancel the apointment for the second time after I waited around all day for him). He placed the router at the furtherst point from where we use it. I mentioned it to him but he made an excuse why it had to be there and left. I live in a small (900 sf) 3 room apartment. When I am on top of the router (bedroom) I may get 50/50. When I move to the next room (kitchen) I drop down to about 12/12 and then when I move to the living room (where my TV lives along with everything we do electronically), still in LINE OF SIGHT OF THE ROUTER, we drop down to about 5/5. The fact that I can't stream a movie on Hulu or Netflix during peak hours on FIOS 100/100 service does not seem reasonable. 

It is an open floor plan apartment in a 135 year old building with brick walls - I am a renter and so I am limited as to what can be done from a wiring perspective. To move the router to the living room, I would have to run an exposed wire through the middle of the apartment. I am on the top floor and so Verizon could run the wire along the roof but they refuse to send someone out to address my issue since they insist they provide the wired service and the wifi is not their problem (even though it is their router). I guess there is a lot of interference - I don't have a baby monitor, wireless phone or much of anything aside from a smart tv, DVD player, laptop, ipad and iphone. I do have a LOT of neighbors with wifi. 

I have the Verizon Actiontec MI424WR Rev 1 router. I bought the 'Actiontec Single Dual-Band Wireless Network Extender and Ethernet Over Coax Adapter' but that did not work because my service is not transmitted via coax... so that was returned. I then bought the NETGEAR N300 Wi-Fi Range Extender and placed it right by the TV but I am getting the same 5/5 service on that second network that I get on the original. 

I have not been able to test the 'wired' service as my macbook and ipad do not have the necessary port. I don't feel comfortable begging a neighbor to borrow a laptop to perform the test. Verizon should be able to tell me if they are delivering what I pay for.


My questions (simple non-technical language greatly appreciated):

  • Who's problem is this to fix? Should I expect Verizon to do anything? If so, how do I get them to do it?
  • What can be done to cut down on the interference? Would a third party dual band router accomplish this? If so, any suggestions on a good one?
  • Should I/how can I get Verizon to move the wiring to the back of my building? 
  • Anything else you can suggest to help improve my signal?

Thank you!!

Alisson

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Re: Paying for 100/100 Fios degraded to 5/5 over wifi
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Verizon only guarantees service via wired connection and only within their network (like most ISPs).

You may be having interference on your wifi.

Try logging in to your router and changing your chanel from automatic to set number.

Typical values you would want to try is 1, 6 and 11.

If you had an android (unfortunately apple blocks direct wireless access) you could download an app called wifi analyzer that would help you diagnose wifi issues.

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Re: Paying for 100/100 Fios degraded to 5/5 over wifi
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

Assuming the wired connection gets 100/100,  everything else is your problem.  You shouldn't expect much help from Verizon.

There is at least one big post describing some of the things you can do to try and get better wireless access.  Its sticky near the top of the forum.

Re: Paying for 100/100 Fios degraded to 5/5 over wifi
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Verizon only guarantees service via wired connection and only within their network (like most ISPs).

You may be having interference on your wifi.

Try logging in to your router and changing your chanel from automatic to set number.

Typical values you would want to try is 1, 6 and 11.

If you had an android (unfortunately apple blocks direct wireless access) you could download an app called wifi analyzer that would help you diagnose wifi issues.

Re: Paying for 100/100 Fios degraded to 5/5 over wifi
Alisson
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thank you - that is what I was afraid of... I needed to know if this was my issue or Verizon's and it sounds like it is mine.

I am in such a conjested urban area that the channels all seem pretty maxed. I swap them from time to time with a little lift if I am lucky.

I just dragged the router into the middle of the apartment and am getting 50/50 (during non peak time) in the living room and so I will see if I can conceal the wires somehow and call it a day... not ideal but I am tired of dealing with it.  Hopefully peak time will still be strong enough to watch a movie... low expectations seem to be key.

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Re: Paying for 100/100 Fios degraded to 5/5 over wifi
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

To help improve your wireless situation, since it sounds like you have a newer MacBook which should have 5Ghz support, see if you can get ahold of a 5Ghz Access Point, or try using the ActionTec Wireless Extender again. The ActionTec should work so long as you have an ActionTec MI424WR Rev. I or the GreenWave G1100 router. Even if service is delivered over Ethernet between the ONT and your router, the coaxial connection is required to be connected for FiOS TV. The ActionTec Wireless Extender should work by connecting it to any live coaxial jack connected to the same coaxial network/splitter that your ActionTec/Greenwave router lives on.

The 5Ghz Access Point/extender should be placed in a location where you most frequently use the Internet, and where your devices need the speed the most. It should only be wired into the router.

Also note that range extenders using wireless connectivity to extend the wireless will cut whatever speed it is receiving in half. So if your range extender is only receiving 5Mbps, it will deliver 2.5Mbps to 5Mbps depending on the environmnet.

Re: Paying for 100/100 Fios degraded to 5/5 over wifi
Alisson
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thank you 

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Re: Paying for 100/100 Fios degraded to 5/5 over wifi
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

Nothing wrong with Cord Cutting at all. I'm in full support for that. Haven't cared to turn a TV on to watch in years, ever since the Stargate Franchise was canned.

A Coax to Coax connection between the Router and the ActionTec extender should be all that is needed if you're able to hook that up. Just something to consider 🙂

Re: Paying for 100/100 Fios degraded to 5/5 over wifi
Alisson
Enthusiast - Level 2

Interesting. If my lame 'pull the router into the middle of the apartment' solution does not pan out (or breaks my neck from the tripping hazzard), I will give that coax extender another shot. The ActionTec helpdesk told me it could not be done with my set up but I am quickly learning that these boards tend to provide more creative and helpful troubleshooting than the offical channels. Thanks again!

Oh and thumbs-up on the Stargate mention... I was looking for a show to binge on this weekend (provided I can keep a strong enough signal) 

Re: Paying for 100/100 Fios degraded to 5/5 over wifi
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

@Alisson wrote:

Oh and thumbs-up on the Stargate mention... I was looking for a show to binge on this weekend (provided I can keep a strong enough signal) 


You're welcome! Be sure to watch Stargate SG-1 first. Once you get to around the end of Season 7, begin watching Stargate Atlantis unless you want to go all the way to the end of SG-1 (Season 11). Then watch Universe last. 🙂

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Re: Paying for 100/100 Fios degraded to 5/5 over wifi
viafax999
Community Leader
Community Leader

@Alisson wrote:

Hello All. 

I have the Verizon Actiontec MI424WR Rev 1 router. I bought the 'Actiontec Single Dual-Band Wireless Network Extender and Ethernet Over Coax Adapter' but that did not work because my service is not transmitted via coax... so that was returned. I then bought the NETGEAR N300 Wi-Fi Range Extender and placed it right by the TV but I am getting the same 5/5 service on that second network that I get on the original. 

Thank you!!

Alisson


From the stament above it would appear that your internet is being delivered via the ont's ethernet port.

Assuming that your appartment is wired for coax why don't you just request Verizon to change the ont provisioning to moca and then you can connect the apt coax to the ont and move the router to anywhere you want. that has a coax connection.

Of course they will probably tell you that for the 100 and up service they have to deliver it via ethernet so if they won't change it then you can downgrade to 75/75 and request the moca connection and you will be no worse off.

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