Advertised vs. Actual Fiber Speed

[wfallen]

My fiber install was done this Thursday, Oct. 18, here in No. Berkeley. Yes, my connection is snappier than was my previous Fusion DSL connection.

Today (a Saturday afternoon) using Ookla to test my speed, the download speed averages around 95Mbps, and the upload speed around 60Mbps.

The advertised speed for fiber is 1000Mbps (1GB). As I understand it, my speeds are less than a tenth of that.

Have I misunderstood something?

[LG12]

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.

[dane]

I would guess you are getting a 100Mbps connection on that device instead of Gigabit. This could be related to the device’s capabilities, use of a 100Mbps switch, an Ethernet cable that doesn’t support Gigabit, or another factor.

For a good roundup of tips for getting your devices at home using the full potential of your connection, check out this article by the folks at SpeedTest: https://www.speedtest.net/insights/blog ... s-to-help/

[wfallen]

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.

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.

[igorru]

Cat 5 cable is only capable of 100Mbps speeds, you need Cat 5e or Cat 6 for full 1Gbps. That is probably the reason for your slow connection.

[LG12]

While I have not used an apple airport extreme router I would be very surprised if it was the source of the bottleneck as even older sub $50 budget routers can typically handle at least 250mbs of throughput and a quick look at the product page does show support for newer wireless standards.

I also would be surprised if the wireless nic in your macbook was the cause as it should be able to easily handle more than 100mbs of throughput, I have a 2011 macbook pro that can do 300+ mbps transfers via wifi.

As igoruu has noted the most likely cause is the cat 5 cable. You will need at least a cat 5e cable for gigabit throughput. I would recommend just buying a shielded cat 7 cable as the price difference is minimal and the shielding will ensure that electrical interference is not an issue. You can find them on amazon for as little as $9 for a two pack by searching "5ft shielded cat 7 cable"

[wfallen]

Thank you.

I have just substituted a new CAT6 cable for the old CAT5 one. (Got your reply too late to ask in the store about CAT7.) Anyhow, no change in speeds.

My Airport Express router standard is 802.11n.

While I have not used an apple airport extreme router I would be very surprised if it was the source of the bottleneck as even older sub $50 budget routers can typically handle at least 250mbs of throughput and a quick look at the product page does show support for newer wireless standards.

I also would be surprised if the wireless nic in your macbook was the cause as it should be able to easily handle more than 100mbs of throughput, I have a 2011 macbook pro that can do 300+ mbps transfers via wifi.

As igoruu has noted the most likely cause is the cat 5 cable. You will need at least a cat 5e cable for gigabit throughput. I would recommend just buying a shielded cat 7 cable as the price difference is minimal and the shielding will ensure that electrical interference is not an issue. You can find them on amazon for as little as $9 for a two pack by searching "5ft shielded cat 7 cable"

[LG12]

Do you know the model of your router? It just dawned on me that like many apple products the airport extreme is a line of routers dating back more than a decade. In the event that it is a 1st gen model it may not even have a gigabit Ethernet port. There should be a model number somewhere on the base that would be an A followed by 4 numbers for example "A1521" is the last model they produced and was released in 2013.

[igorru]

Is it an Airport Extreme as you said in your earlier post or Airport Express?

Airport Extreme has Gigabit ports for WAN and LAN.

Airport Express only has 100Mbps ports.

[LG12]

The model number may also look similar to "ME918LL/A".

Here is a list of all of the model numbers.


0th gen (original round)

M8799LL/A

A1034

1st gen

MA073LL/A

A1143

2nd gen

MB053LL/A

A1143

3rd gen

MB763LL/A

A1301

4th gen

MC340LL/A

A1354

5th gen

MD031LL/A

A1408

6th gen

ME918LL/A

A1521