Why are the new, faster speeds asymmetric?
CStenfors
Contributor - Level 1

The early FIOS speeds were all symmetric up/down, eg. 5/5, 15/15, 25/25, etc. I see the newer Quantum  speeds are asymmetric such as 75/25 or 150/35.

Is there a technical reason for this? A different protocol, or something?

I've always liked the fact that I have very high upload speeds, sine it makes uploading photos, etc. a breeze. Now I feel that the new asymmetic speeds are not as good as the older symmetric speeds.

0 Likes
Re: Why are the new, faster speeds asymmetric?
jumpin68ny
Master - Level 2

My comments are only a guess, nothing more.

Most traffic generated is from downloading not uploading.  25Meg upload speed is a lot.  I am on 25/25 but used to be 20/5 and can't say I notice much difference.

0 Likes
Re: Why are the new, faster speeds asymmetric?
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

Here's another thing to consider. While Verizon probably has no problem with offering Symmetrical speeds and not considering the fact that more likely the download will be used, you will also find that the PON system Verizon uses on FiOs is also not symmetrical in nature. In reality, GPON is basically a 2:1 ratio in speed. 2.4Gbps on the download, 1.2Gbps on the upload which is split across 32 to 64 homes. If it's an older BPON system you've got a 5:1 ratio, where it's 622Mbps/122Mbps(??) split across 16-32 homes. Not a whole lot of room there for fitting lots of folks with Symmetrical speeds without really overselling the upstream on FiOS.

Re: Why are the new, faster speeds asymmetric?
CStenfors
Contributor - Level 1

That was an awesome reply.  I could Google PON and find the Wikipedia description for Passive Optical Network - and the BPON and GPON descriptions.

I recall seeing somewhere in my system once a 622Mbps speed for my FIOS cable, so that led me to deduce that I'm on an "older" BPON network - which is interesting, since it was only rolled out here in 2010. However, I also know that VZ is offering the higher Quantum speeds out here, so I'm wondering if they have dual circuits and can switch users over? Not that I care particularly much, 25/25 is plenty for me - the only inducement I'll have in the near term is to get unblocked HTTP and HTTPS ports.

I may do the sums and see if I can "upgrade" to busines Internet and FIOS TV for less than my Triple Play, since I hardly use my home phone anymore.

Since I'm on a roll, I'm going to ask a different question here. Is there realistically any point - if I do get Business Internet - to use/implement IPv6?  Not that I know much about it, but I like to tinker and maybe this is interesting to tinker with?

ANyway, thank you for your informative answer.

0 Likes
Re: Why are the new, faster speeds asymmetric?
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

@CStenfors wrote:

That was an awesome reply.  I could Google PON and find the Wikipedia description for Passive Optical Network - and the BPON and GPON descriptions.

I recall seeing somewhere in my system once a 622Mbps speed for my FIOS cable, so that led me to deduce that I'm on an "older" BPON network - which is interesting, since it was only rolled out here in 2010. However, I also know that VZ is offering the higher Quantum speeds out here, so I'm wondering if they have dual circuits and can switch users over? Not that I care particularly much, 25/25 is plenty for me - the only inducement I'll have in the near term is to get unblocked HTTP and HTTPS ports.

I may do the sums and see if I can "upgrade" to busines Internet and FIOS TV for less than my Triple Play, since I hardly use my home phone anymore.

Since I'm on a roll, I'm going to ask a different question here. Is there realistically any point - if I do get Business Internet - to use/implement IPv6?  Not that I know much about it, but I like to tinker and maybe this is interesting to tinker with?

ANyway, thank you for your informative answer.


If they brought FiOS to your area in 2010 I would have expected GPON to be deployed. You could be in one of those hybrid GPON/BPON COs if Verizon wired up a portion of your town years ago with FiOS. For dual connections, it may be possible that the Fiber Distribution Hub you're on has a mix of BPON and GPON splitters, but the field techs will be able to tell you that. The technology you're on and what is available is what after all, determines what packages you can get, especially with the Quantum packages at play.

On Residential, I haven't checked to see if Port 80 and 443 are still wide open but to my knowledge, they should still be wide open. For busines service and IPv6, Verizon was stating that they would be upgrading the network and potentially rolling out IPv6, not systematically but slowly in Q4 which is now upon us. I haven't seen or heard of any additional news on this but I suppose it never hurts to set up IPv6 support. For the time being, the least you can do is use a tunnel until you get native (dual-stack) connectivity. Just be aware of the security implementations of IPv6 and whether or not your security solutions will monitor that traffic.