Problems with the Pace modem/router

[Arjun]

I'm thinking of replacing the Pace modem+wireless router combo with our own. A few reasons

1. Faulty connection/modem Whenever we pick up the unit and move it around, it loses connection - most of the lights go off, Internet goes down, and it resets. It's not the power, but the broadband and wireless lights that turn off. Power stays on. I'm not sure if it's a contact problem with the cable, but the phone cable is locked securely.

2. The range sucks. We're in a 2 bedroom apartment. The modem is in the kitchen in middle of the apartment. There's a long hallway with the 2 bedrooms at the end. Signal goes down to 2 bars out of 5 on both my new laptop with wireless N and my phone.

We are only 842 feet from the local serving office according to Sonic's website, but when we test the speed online it gets anywhere from 15-18 MBps down and only measly 0.8 Mbps up, and this is in the kitchen right next to the router. Down in the bedrooms, speed is even slower. No joke, but it seemed like I was getting faster speed on my phone with 4G LTE than connected to the WiFi.

Could it be due to the standard combo modem + router? Would our speeds be faster and wireless range better if we bought a dedicated modem and higher end wireless router?

Which brings me to my next question: What kind of DSL modem do I need to buy? And what kind of provisioning or config is required on the modem? Will it get the broadband connection plug and play? I know how to set up a router.

[dane]

It sounds like there's a loose connection in the broadband jack, so I'd encourage you to phone our team on 611 and just have them send out an advance replacement. That's one of the big advantages of the equipment we supply - we take care of things like this.

Once that's done, give a look to your sync speed at http://gateway.sonic.net/ and see how fast it's connecting. I'm at a location 1,600ft from the CO and see a sync of around 23Mbps, and speed tests clock around 19Mbps.

As for WiFi performance, the unit auto-detects what it thinks is the best channel, but perhaps a channel change might help. Re-locating the equipment away from sources of interference or obstruction can also help. Support can provide advice on this.

[Arjun]

I logged onto the gateway and it shows its connected at 21.3 Mbps down / 1.0 Mbps up. Which speed test site are you using? I used http://www.speedtest.net I live in SF and it connected to an SF server. I got 15.9 / 0.85 only. The speakeasy.net speedtest shows similar. At 842 feet shouldn't we be getting closer to the 2.5 Mbps upload speed?

Wouldn't replacing the stock router with a better, dedicated high end one make a difference? As I understand some of the newer better ones do channel bonding, and they have various speed "ratings" like N300, 450, N600, N900, 2.4GHz vs 5GHz, better antennas and range. Does the Pace support any of these? I couldn't find any reviews for this device

Not sure what interference we could have, it's a barebones house. No TV, no DVR or receiver.

[dane]

Do you see better performance to Internet speed test sites when you connect with Ethernet instead of WiFi?

In regards to the potential for 2.5Mbps upstream, to get that you need to toggle upload priority mode (aka "Annex M"). You can do this in the Labs section of our Member Tools https://members.sonic.net/ or by calling 611 and selection option 2 from your Fusion line.

I'd also suggest testing with our own speed test site, http://speedtest.sonic.net/ as another data point. Testing here eliminates "The Internet" itself as a potential slow-down. I do generally find Speedtest.net's volunteer-hosted servers to be okay, but they can themselves be a source of delay, as can anything between us and them.