G3100 compared to G1100....Worse all around?
BRJones2004
Enthusiast - Level 2

I came to post my experience with the new G3100 router vs the G1100 'quantum gateway' on my fios gigabit connection:

a) for those considering the same switch

b) maybe someone knows something to help me

I have about a 3,000sqft 2 story house and currently have the G1100 in the basement where I work.  Everything is hardwired in the basement and wireless on the 2 floors above.  We have one extender in a room upstairs furthest from the router and one small 'slow zone' on the first floor under the same general area.

I ran some before and after speed tests from the crucial areas I was hoping to resolve with the G3100's increased range and speed. All tests below were done on the 5ghz band.

Samsung Note 8 performing wireless speed tests (down/up)

Aorus Z390 pro motherboard performing hardwire tests (down/up)

G1100:

HARDWIRE

Basement: 880/920

WIRELESS

Basement: 350/420

First Floor Central Location: 180/210

First Floor 'Slow Zone': 60/70

Upstairs Central Location: 100/120

Upstairs 'Slow Zone' (w/ extender) 240/320

Upstairs 'Slow Zone' (no extender) 15/20

G3100:

HARDWIRE

Basement: 480/590 (**bleep**?)

WIRELESS

Basement: 250/250

First Floor Central Location: 210/180

First Floor 'Slow Zone': 60/50

Upstairs Central Location: 50/50

Upstairs 'Slow Zone' (old extender doesn't work w/ G3100) No 5ghz Signal

As you can see the G3100 seems to be much worse in generally every aspect except for the first floor central.  The hardwire speeds are somehow even significantly slower.  I am hoping someone thinking of switching will read this and help their decision or someone else will know something i might have done wrong? My overall experience with the G3100 had really been very poor.  I am thinking about just returning the G3100 and adding another extender for the first floor for the G1100 and calling it a day, or researching some 3rd party router and moca adapter setups...

1 Solution

Correct answers
Re: G3100 compared to G1100....Worse all around?
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

G3100 and G1100 all have their deficits and advantages.

I would not recommend to upgrade a functioning G1100 to G3100 for two reasons. First, as you can see, G3100 does not necessary offer faster wired speed and wireless speed on 802.11ac 5GHz. Second, if you do not have 802.11ax capable devices, G3100 does not give your WLAN an upgrade.

One thing G3100 is better than G1100 is the MoCA 2.5 capabilities. G1100's MoCA 2.0 caps all extenders to 500Mbps wired.

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Re: G3100 compared to G1100....Worse all around?
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

G3100 and G1100 all have their deficits and advantages.

I would not recommend to upgrade a functioning G1100 to G3100 for two reasons. First, as you can see, G3100 does not necessary offer faster wired speed and wireless speed on 802.11ac 5GHz. Second, if you do not have 802.11ax capable devices, G3100 does not give your WLAN an upgrade.

One thing G3100 is better than G1100 is the MoCA 2.5 capabilities. G1100's MoCA 2.0 caps all extenders to 500Mbps wired.

Re: G3100 compared to G1100....Worse all around?
BRJones2004
Enthusiast - Level 2

Can you recommend, based on my household situation above, any good upgrades?

I guess maybe just adding an additional extender could be a solid fix.  One for the first floor and one for the second floor?

What are the best (range/speed wise) routers these days?

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Re: G3100 compared to G1100....Worse all around?
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

I need more information from you then. What is your house's wiring? Do you have ethernet cables all over the house or coax only?

How feasible is it for you to pull new ethernet wires?

Re: G3100 compared to G1100....Worse all around?
BRJones2004
Enthusiast - Level 2

it's coax to the 1st and 2nd floors, ethernet in the basement. 

I COULD pull new ethernet wires, but if i could throw some money at nicer equipment id rather just do wireless.  All options theoretically are on the table however

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Re: G3100 compared to G1100....Worse all around?
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

You could buy extenders, for instance WCB6200Q, sold for $120 by Verizon.

But with your G1100, all MoCA extenders' throughput will be capped at 500Mbps.

If you want speed higher than 500Mbps, I suggest you to either pull some ethernet cables or buy ECB5240M ($55) from Verizon to overcome G1100's MoCA limitation.

Cost consideration for 800+Mbps wired and 400+Mbps wireless around the house

1. No new cabling: 1 WCB6200Q + 1 ECB5240M < 1 G3100, $175 < $300

2. New cabling: cabling cost (? wire (~$30) + time + tools) + 1 Aruba AP11 ($90) < 1 G3100, ~$120 < $300

Cost consideration for 500+Mbps wired and 400Mbps+ wireless around the house

1 WCB6200Q < 1 G3100, $120 < $300

ECB5240M is a Bonded MoCA 2.0 ethernet adapter and 4 ports switch sold by Verizon. Aruba AP11 is a third party access point offering 802.11ac 400+Mbps (same as G1100 and WCB6200Q wireless standards).

The above are your options per my recommendation.

Re: G3100 compared to G1100....Worse all around?
BRJones2004
Enthusiast - Level 2

Honestly, thank you so much for taking the time to post this!

I am going to research the MoCA adapter this evening and see if maybe that fits the bill for upgrading a bit upstairs.

Again i really appreciate the time you took to assist me with these options to research. I will be carefully considering all of them.

Thank you!

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Re: G3100 compared to G1100....Worse all around?
rgrecco3527
Newbie

May I recommend an EERO system. 

I was having issues with everyone being home and on virtual meetings at the same time and this fixed my issues. 

No where in my house do I get less then 300mbps wifi...

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Re: G3100 compared to G1100....Worse all around?
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

Ethernet is better than Coax MoCA. MoCA, given it is wired, should be better than no wires (i.e. wireless).

Always wire as much as you can before resorting to wireless.

A new EERO system may cost more than buying 5 used G1100 from Ebay ($37). G1100 can deliver over 500Mbps+ on 802.11ac when it is in sight.

Re: G3100 compared to G1100....Worse all around?
danivanov
Enthusiast - Level 3

@Cang_Household wrote:

One thing G3100 is better than G1100 is the MoCA 2.5 capabilities. G1100's MoCA 2.0 caps all extenders to 500Mbps wired.




Wait, I'm confused. 

The router connect to coax moca too. But if the extender connects to coax moca it is limited to 500Mbps? What if the router is plugged in, is it limited too?

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