Problem with WIFI slow speeds and Verizon Actiontec MI424WR router
fanisp
Enthusiast - Level 1

Hello everybody. 

I have the following problem 

I recenlty upgaded to FIOS Optimum 75/25 speed. 

I have a macbook laptop. 

When my laptop is connected wired to the router the speed is amazingly fast and sometimes goes even more 75MBps! 

The problem starts when I use my laptop with a wireless connection through the router...which that's what I do in most cases. 

I have tried every different option. 

Trying to change the security, the mode b/g/n and all differnet options and tried also to change the channel. 

In most cases the speed I get is up to 10mbps. 

Does anyboy know why this is happening?

Do you have any tips?

Thank you 

Re: Problem with WIFI slow speeds and Verizon Actiontec MI424WR router
Hubrisnxs
Legend

the channel changing is likely your ticket.  you can't try just one channel.  the recommended channels are 1, 6 and 11.  Did you try all three?

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Re: Problem with WIFI slow speeds and Verizon Actiontec MI424WR router
DiRt_DeViL
Enthusiast - Level 2

I'm having the exact same problem, my plan is 50/25 and on a wired connection I get  higher speeds but when on the wireless the speed slows down to about half the speed.

Tried to log into the router and couldn't, every thing that I type has extra characters and the login attempt fails.  Searched here and found that the extra characters are for security purposes and that the default password is in upper case; will give it a shot tonight.

What channel usually works the best?

Re: Problem with WIFI slow speeds and Verizon Actiontec MI424WR router
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

@DiRt_DeViL wrote:

What channel usually works the best?


This varies from location to location. Some areas have higher saturation on some channels than others. A spectrum Analyzer or in the basis of Wi-Fi itself, a program such as Vistumbler or InSSIDer will help you determine what is best to use out of the three offered channels.

In some cases, some folks have found some better speeds off of the overlapping channels whereas 1, 6, and 11 caused issues. Use those only as a last resort on the 2.4Ghz band.

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Re: Problem with WIFI slow speeds and Verizon Actiontec MI424WR router
wraujr1
Contributor - Level 1

The problem is wireless technology, period, not Verizon.

As you all have posted, when wired you are getting your contracted speeds.

You will never get those speeds with existing a/b/g wireless technology (once again, not Verizon's fault).

And the Actiontec is not the best either for wireless.  OK so maybe they could have supplied a better router.

But, the truth is you buy a wireless router at Best Buy, Amazon, etc,... some are great and many are junk.

At a minimum you must get the newer Actiontec that is capable of Wireless-N.  Second upgrade your clients to 'N'.

But, most disable the wireless in the Actiontec and add a high performance Wireless-N router to their network.

This would have to be Wireless-N and all your devices (clients) would have to support Wireless-N.

Do not mix legacy a/b/g clients with a fancy new Wireless-N router, they will bring you down...

Putting a legacy 'g' client on a new 'N' network will typically get 22Mbps, much less than the 75M you really want.

If its a/b/g, forget about it. Oh and 'N' will not necessarily get you more range.  Expect your performance to

drop as the distance between router and client increases....

Read this link (its a sticky at top of this forum):

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-Internet/How-to-Get-the-Fastest-FiOS-Speed/td-p/462931

Quote for the day: "Technology is not always as "sweet" and cheap as those 30 second commercials lead you to believe...."

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Re: Problem with WIFI slow speeds and Verizon Actiontec MI424WR router
DiRt_DeViL
Enthusiast - Level 2

Understand the limitations and am willing to deal with them but this router sucks, tried several times to reset it so I can set a new password, tried and tried, never got the welcome screen.

Could any of you explain to me why my router has -29 gain when I can see other similar routers in the -80's?  Who's on the weak side of the measurement?  Used inSSIDer to check and have -29 and I'm on channel 11 while others where on channels 1 or 6 and all on the 2.4Ghz band.

The PS3's are going wired for sure.

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Re: Problem with WIFI slow speeds and Verizon Actiontec MI424WR router
wraujr1
Contributor - Level 1

My suggestion (and you sound like you have tech knowledge) is skip the wireless part of Actiontec and buy a good Wireless-N router.  Save youself the aggravation of putting lipstick on a pig.....

About 2.5 years ago when I switched from Comcast I had a Linksys WRT-54G a/b/g Wireless Router that performed rock solid.  When I googled, there were plenty of complaints about Actiontec wireless range. etc..

Now remember, you are buying download to the home quality and Verizon is throwing in the wireless for free... You are not buying wireless networking so they are really under no obligation to give you a top end Wireless-N.

So with Actiontec you get what you paid for and it does not appear to be a high quality wireless device.

So I shut off wireless and hung my WRT-54G LAN 1 port to the LAN 1 port of MI-4242WR GEN2.  All router/DHCP functions are performed by Actiontec to keep FIOS TV happy.  2.5 years later I have had a very reliable rock solid network.  My 25/25 gives me 30/25 wired and my 'g' wireless gets 15-20M which is fine for me...

Look at this thread:

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-Internet/How-to-Get-the-Fastest-FiOS-Speed/td-p/462931

An ASUS RT-N16 can be had for $70 at Amazon and probably little aggrevation.

A top-of-theline ASUS RT-N66 for $190 but thats dual-band, etc.

Both allow GigE hardwire that your hard-wired PS3's will appreciate.

It reminds me of the old days.  If you really wanted a kick a... stereo you went component.  You bought a turntable from one guy, an amp from another, a tuner from a third, and speakers from a fourth mfgr.  Each mfgr had a specialty.

The all-in-one is never as good as the "component approach", its not cost effective in the consumer market.

Re: Problem with WIFI slow speeds and Verizon Actiontec MI424WR router
DiRt_DeViL
Enthusiast - Level 2

That would be the way to go if I could only be able to log into the Actiontech and change the settings, so far even afer pressing the reset button for more than 15 seconds it never resets and don't want to have 2 active ap's at home.

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Re: Problem with WIFI slow speeds and Verizon Actiontec MI424WR router
wraujr1
Contributor - Level 1

When the Verizon tech sets up the Actiontec MI-424WR the login is (should be):

admin              (login id)

password1    (password, all lower case ending in the number 1)

Now, if you have "defaulted" you Actiontec through some "reset sequence" then it changes:

admin             (login id)

password    (password, all lower case NOT ending in the number 1)

If you have actually "defaulted" your Actiontec you'll know it because the first time you log in it will request your change password.  It may also default back to 'password' following a firmware upgrade (I'm not sure).

And don't get confused because for every password character that you type, the text input field will show three stars instead of one as you would expect.

To "default" your router

http://www22.verizon.com/support/residential/internet/fiosinternet/networking/troubleshooting/questi...

To see what Verizon says your default password is:

http://www22.verizon.com/support/residential/internet/fiosinternet/networking/troubleshooting/questi...

Summary:

login is always 'admin', then try"

password1   (set by tech maybe)

password (default)

<serial number> from label (see second Verizon link above)

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Re: Problem with WIFI slow speeds and Verizon Actiontec MI424WR router
DiRt_DeViL
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thanks for the links and help, was never able to log into the Actiontec and my speeds dropped even more, now I get about 10d/5u on the WiFi and 20d/10u wired on a 50d/25u plan; this is just not acceptable.

Tried password, password1 and all the numbers on the label, nothing worked; not even pressing the reset button worked.

 Will contact Verizon to see what they say about this.

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