by
wfallen » Mon Oct 22, 2018 9:00 am
My setup:
The Sonic fiber modem is connected by a 5' CAT5 Ethernet cable to an Apple Airport Extreme router. The router's signal travels less than 5' to my 2016 Macbook Pro. Would a CAT6 cable connecting modem to router make a difference? Or do I need a new router? Or both?
The ports on the laptop are all USB-C, so there'd be an issue with an adapter of some sort. Besides, I like having one less cable to deal with.
A suggestion:
In order to avoid disappointment and consequent posts like this, how about having the installers go through a checklist as part of the installation?
- Are all a customer's devices getting a wifi signal? (See my post below re editing router settings.)
- What conditions need to be addressed to get the signal strength closer to what is advertised? (Like the items in the link Dane provided, some of which I understood.)
This would be a welcome second stage of the installation process. Not leaving such details up to the end user, especially the tech-phobic, could be a positive addition to Sonic's already strong reputation.
LG12 wrote:Are you connecting via wifi or wired?
If wifi try connecting to the router via an RJ45 (ethernet) cable and see if the speeds improve.
If the speeds do not improve when connecting via ethernet try connecting directly to the ONT via ethernet and see if they improve then.
If you are connecting via wired already check that the cable you are using is cat 5e or better, in the event that the cable run from your router to the computer is over 100 yards you may want to upgrade to a cat6 cable or better.
Also please make sure that the location you are using to check your speeds against on ookla is within 100 or so miles of you.
With fiber it is highly unlikely that sub par speeds are the result of a improper installation or an issue with the fiber optic cabling.