Upgrade Turned Downgrade. Help!
Allecto
Newbie

I recently upgraded to the 150/65 plan.  The order went through the same day.  I was able to connect to the Internet at speeds up to 100 mbps.  I was very happy.  Then the tech came and installed a new wireless modem/router (Red Actiontec with two antena), and my upgrade turned into a downgrade.

After the tech installed the new router, and set up a new wi-fi network, all my devices that connect via wi-fi (ipads, iphones, laptops) were humming.  After the tech left, however, I realized that my desktop iMac which connects via Ethernet could not connect at all.  The Network Preferences window shows cable is not connected.  It could connect via wi-fi, but only at about 5Mbps down.  When I unplug the ethernet cable from the back of my iMac, and plug it into a Macbook Pro, after a couple seconds, it connects with no problem, and at ~ 100Mbps.  My first guess was that the Macbook Pro, being a newer machine (2011), had some greater sensitivity than the older desktop machine (2010).  But then I tried with an even older Macbook (2009), and it was also able to quickly connect as well.

I have tried all four ports on the router.  No differences in results.  All machines are running the same OS 10.7.5.  After hours with Verizon support, and about an hour with Apple support yesterday, they all failed to help, and punted me to the Apple store.  Apple store this morning ran diagnostics on iMac and concluded everything working as it should.  Was able to connect to their network no problem.

Here's the stumper. When I move the iMac across the house and into the closet where the router is housed, and connect it via a short (10') cable, the computer sees the router and connects great, getting close to 150Mbps.  Obviously, I cannot keep my computer in the closet.  And I'm not willing to live with 5Mbps when I was getting 40Mbps before I started this whole process.  What can I do? 

Why would my connection work on my two laptops and not the desktop?  Why would it work on all computers with a short cable, but only the laptops with a long cable?  Why was it working great before the router swap out, but not at all after? 

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Re: Upgrade Turned Downgrade. Help!
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

If you know someone with a cable tester or have one yourself, you may want to have them test out your network cables just to ensure they aren't incorrectly wired for Gigabit or the rating isn't too low. Gigabit needs properly wired CAT5e cable at minimum, with CAT6a recommended. If you have two computers with Gigabit ports on them, connect them to both ends of the cable as a quick and dirty test to see if you can get Ad-Hoc networking working reliably with them. Gigabit requires ALL four pairs to work. Also note that if you have PoE injectors, Gigabit is incompatible with such devices and you'll require the use of Phantom power from the switch instead.

It's likely you could also have received a new router with a Wired switch that is defective, as the Rev. I ActionTecs have had some known issues with the LAN ports experiencing issues over longer distances but I've only seen a few of those so far.

Re: Upgrade Turned Downgrade. Help!
Allecto
Newbie

It was in fact the cable.  I purchased a 100' cat 6 cable today and the computer instantly saw the router.  Ran a speed test at 150/57.  What I still don't understand is why the same old cable works fine for the laptops but not the desktop.  This is what originally threw me off the scent on the cable variable.  Running a speed test on the laptop via the 12 year old cat 5 cable just got me 94/59 Mbps.  Regardless, problem solved.  Thanks.

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Re: Upgrade Turned Downgrade. Help!
gs0b
Community Leader
Community Leader

If you check you computers' specs, I'm certain you'll find that the laptop's Ethernet port supports 10/100Mbps while the desktop's port supports 10/100/1000Mbps.  The old router was 10/100Mbps only, while the new router supports 10/100/1000Mbps.  The cable was fine for 100Mbps operation, but not for 1000Mbps operation.

Enjoy your new speed.

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Re: Upgrade Turned Downgrade. Help!
viafax999
Community Leader
Community Leader


@Smith6612 wrote:

If you know someone with a cable tester or have one yourself, you may want to have them test out your network cables just to ensure they aren't incorrectly wired for Gigabit or the rating isn't too low. Gigabit needs properly wired CAT5e cable at minimum, with CAT6a recommended. If you have two computers with Gigabit ports on them, connect them to both ends of the cable as a quick and dirty test to see if you can get Ad-Hoc networking working reliably with them. Gigabit requires ALL four pairs to work. Also note that if you have PoE injectors, Gigabit is incompatible with such devices and you'll require the use of Phantom power from the switch instead.



Not 100% true.  
1000Base-T runs fine on cat5 or better cabling.  I've been running on gigabit speeds with no issues on 15 year old cat5 which is how my house is wired.
The spec for 1000Base-TX does specify cat5e or better
In reality most gigabit products in common use are actually 1000Base-T NOT 1000Base-TX