Netgear and Linksys and stuff like this

[ldiaco]

Ok, so I just got FiOs, and im pretty happy with it... at least when I
plug my computer directly into the wall. I did a few speed tests and
the average download speed I got was 20485 Kbps, with an upload spead
of about 8.9 Mbps.... thing is, my network setup is a little screwy.

So, lemme lay it out for yall. They ran the Cat5/e (I think it was
that, its a newer version of the cat5 everyone's use to in their
house) through the basement ceiling, and put a nice little wall outlet
right where the lady of the house wanted it. From the wall outlet, I
ran a brand new, lovely sky blue ethernet cable to my similarly lovely
and brand new Linksys Super-G Wireless Router. Ya following me so
far? Good. Now since the wireless router was in the basement I new I
would have to get some range extenders to get a nice clean and stable
connection to the second story of the house (don't get me started
about "why didnt you have them run cable up there instead and put
a few outlets on the second and first floors?" thing..... women,
thats all im saying.). So, I got the brilliant idea :retard: of
doing both a wired and a wireless setup :\ . So, I went out and got
the netgear powerline kit, and a linksys wireless range extender.
Talk about headaches. From my linksys router in the basement, I
connected the Powerline Wall plug unit, and placed the other wired
wall plug units next to the two computers on the second floor. Also
on the second floor (in the main hallway which is a two story entrance
way) I placed the Netgear Powerline Wireless broadcasting whatever it
was called. In the same hallway, which I neglected to mention is on
the midline of the house, I put the Linksys wireless range extender.
Now this should have covered the entire house, Basement, first and
second floors, and even the neighbors properties around us. Oh, and
the two desktops on the second floor use Netgear PCI cards, and the
two laptops use their own internal cards (make unknown)

Here's the problem... From my desktop on the second floor (connected
through the powerline unit - electrical wires - powerline unit -
Linksys router - FiOs wall plug) I did some diagnostics and I was
loosing 20% of all the packets sent to the IP address of my ISP:
Verizon. On top of that... the internet all over the house is very
slow (my second floor desktop ran 3 speed tests and it got 386 kbs dl/
455kbs ul , 721 kbs dl/511kbs ul , and 492 kbs dl/ 329 kbs ul.... this
compared to over 20 Mbps dl and 8.9 Mbps ul when plugged directly into
the wall in the basement), and at some points completely disconnected
form the internet. Here's my questions... could this be from the
setup I have? Could this be from a conflict between the Netgear and
Linksys products I have? Am I having a stupid moment with something
that is right infront of me? lol..... Just wanted to get some
feedback on this..... A smiley emoticon for the first person to help
me out on this..... lol

 

[Grinder]

Ok, so I just got FiOs, and im pretty happy with it... at least when I
plug my computer directly into the wall. I did a few speed tests and
the average download speed I got was 20485 Kbps, with an upload spead
of about 8.9 Mbps.... thing is, my network setup is a little screwy.

So, lemme lay it out for yall. They ran the Cat5/e (I think it was
that, its a newer version of the cat5 everyone's use to in their
house) through the basement ceiling, and put a nice little wall outlet
right where the lady of the house wanted it. From the wall outlet, I
ran a brand new, lovely sky blue ethernet cable to my similarly lovely
and brand new Linksys Super-G Wireless Router. Ya following me so
far? Good. Now since the wireless router was in the basement I new I
would have to get some range extenders to get a nice clean and stable
connection to the second story of the house (don't get me started
about "why didnt you have them run cable up there instead and put
a few outlets on the second and first floors?" thing..... women,
thats all im saying.). So, I got the brilliant idea :retard: of
doing both a wired and a wireless setup :\ . So, I went out and got
the netgear powerline kit, and a linksys wireless range extender.
Talk about headaches. From my linksys router in the basement, I
connected the Powerline Wall plug unit, and placed the other wired
wall plug units next to the two computers on the second floor. Also
on the second floor (in the main hallway which is a two story entrance
way) I placed the Netgear Powerline Wireless broadcasting whatever it
was called. In the same hallway, which I neglected to mention is on
the midline of the house, I put the Linksys wireless range extender.
Now this should have covered the entire house, Basement, first and
second floors, and even the neighbors properties around us. Oh, and
the two desktops on the second floor use Netgear PCI cards, and the
two laptops use their own internal cards (make unknown)

Here's the problem... From my desktop on the second floor (connected
through the powerline unit - electrical wires - powerline unit -
Linksys router - FiOs wall plug) I did some diagnostics and I was
loosing 20% of all the packets sent to the IP address of my ISP:
Verizon. On top of that... the internet all over the house is very
slow (my second floor desktop ran 3 speed tests and it got 386 kbs dl/
455kbs ul , 721 kbs dl/511kbs ul , and 492 kbs dl/ 329 kbs ul.... this
compared to over 20 Mbps dl and 8.9 Mbps ul when plugged directly into
the wall in the basement), and at some points completely disconnected
form the internet. Here's my questions... could this be from the
setup I have? Could this be from a conflict between the Netgear and
Linksys products I have? Am I having a stupid moment with something
that is right infront of me? lol..... Just wanted to get some
feedback on this..... A smiley emoticon for the first person to help
me out on this..... lol

I've not had much luck with those power line network doodads. Of the
half a dozen installations I've been familiar with, the best one was
producing much less than half of the rated throughput (85 Mbps) and
required weekly resets.

I know you've already put out some money, but my recommendation is to do
a bit of work up front to simplify the network. Run a high quality
cable from the router in the basement to a switch in the attic. From
there, you can drop wires into whatever room you need. It takes some
effort to make it look cosmetic, but you won't have to screw around with
wireless or powerline adapters.

 

[Ken Maltby]

I've not had much luck with those power line network doodads. Of the half
a dozen installations I've been familiar with, the best one was producing
much less than half of the rated throughput (85 Mbps) and required weekly
resets.

I know you've already put out some money, but my recommendation is to do a
bit of work up front to simplify the network. Run a high quality cable
from the router in the basement to a switch in the attic. From there, you
can drop wires into whatever room you need. It takes some effort to make
it look cosmetic, but you won't have to screw around with wireless or
powerline adapters.

That would be my advice as well. Wired will beat wireless for
everything, except truly mobile devices.

You should have some spaces in your home that run from the
basement through to the attic, or at least from the first floor to
the attic. You may have a fireplace with an enclosed chimney.
You surely have vents for your plumbing. If nothing else, you
can run it outside, then up the exterior wall and into the attic.

Luck,
Ken

 

[badgolferman]

Ok, so I just got FiOs, and im pretty happy with it... at least when I
plug my computer directly into the wall. I did a few speed tests and
the average download speed I got was 20485 Kbps, with an upload spead
of about 8.9 Mbps.... thing is, my network setup is a little screwy.

So, lemme lay it out for yall. They ran the Cat5/e (I think it was
that, its a newer version of the cat5 everyone's use to in their
house) through the basement ceiling, and put a nice little wall outlet
right where the lady of the house wanted it. From the wall outlet, I
ran a brand new, lovely sky blue ethernet cable to my similarly lovely
and brand new Linksys Super-G Wireless Router. Ya following me so
far? Good. Now since the wireless router was in the basement I new I
would have to get some range extenders to get a nice clean and stable
connection to the second story of the house (don't get me started
about "why didnt you have them run cable up there instead and put
a few outlets on the second and first floors?" thing..... women,
thats all im saying.). So, I got the brilliant idea :retard: of
doing both a wired and a wireless setup :\ . So, I went out and got
the netgear powerline kit, and a linksys wireless range extender.
Talk about headaches. From my linksys router in the basement, I
connected the Powerline Wall plug unit, and placed the other wired
wall plug units next to the two computers on the second floor. Also
on the second floor (in the main hallway which is a two story entrance
way) I placed the Netgear Powerline Wireless broadcasting whatever it
was called. In the same hallway, which I neglected to mention is on
the midline of the house, I put the Linksys wireless range extender.
Now this should have covered the entire house, Basement, first and
second floors, and even the neighbors properties around us. Oh, and
the two desktops on the second floor use Netgear PCI cards, and the
two laptops use their own internal cards (make unknown)

Here's the problem... From my desktop on the second floor (connected
through the powerline unit - electrical wires - powerline unit -
Linksys router - FiOs wall plug) I did some diagnostics and I was
loosing 20% of all the packets sent to the IP address of my ISP:
Verizon. On top of that... the internet all over the house is very
slow (my second floor desktop ran 3 speed tests and it got 386 kbs dl/
455kbs ul , 721 kbs dl/511kbs ul , and 492 kbs dl/ 329 kbs ul.... this
compared to over 20 Mbps dl and 8.9 Mbps ul when plugged directly into
the wall in the basement), and at some points completely disconnected
form the internet. Here's my questions... could this be from the
setup I have? Could this be from a conflict between the Netgear and
Linksys products I have? Am I having a stupid moment with something
that is right infront of me? lol..... Just wanted to get some
feedback on this..... A smiley emoticon for the first person to help
me out on this..... lol

Hello Idiaco,

I am a Verizon Fiber Network Technician trained in the FiOS system that
we have begun implementing around the Verizon network. My main
training is in the network portion between the ONT (box on the side of
your house) and the OLT (the other end of the optical cable on our
side). I am glad to hear you are pleased with the overall service but
I am curious whether you have voice and video service also since the
setup of our equipment as you described is not consistent with the type
of equipment we have been installing lately.

If you have video service with us then there would be no CAT5e cabling
from the black Actiontec router in your basement to your main wired
desktop computer. We would be using our MoCA-enabled router to deliver
data and video through the existing coax cabling within your house.
Personally I am not a fan of MoCA technology and would prefer my data
delivered through ethernet cable but that would require additional
circuitry and wiring within the house and that equals additional
installation time/cost which equals less profit for Verizon.

As you probably know by now we only guarantee data speeds using a wired
computer within the Verizon network before it hits the outside of the
LATA CORE router . If you called tech support you would be instructed
to bring your wireless computer to within 10 feet of the wireless
router WE PROVIDED YOU to configure its settings. Even then we would
not guarantee any speeds to the wireless device. There are too many
variables involved when dealing with wireless connections, not to
mention obstructions, distance, radio interference, and such things.
One thing we have discovered really plays havoc with wireless
connections are cordless 2.4 Ghz telephones. You needn't even be using
the handset at the time for it to cause interference with wireless
routers.

I would suggest you check your data transfer speeds at
http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ using your wired computer for an
initial benchmark test. Try it over the course of the day several
times to get a feel for network traffic congestions. If you are still
not getting what you expect go to the Verizon Online home page and
search for the optimization tool. You might as well run that on all
your computers and then check your transfer rates. If you still have
slow throughput call in and you might be able to get it escalated to my
department for network troubleshooting. Remember, we will not support
wireless speeds, only connectivity and security settings.

As far as your in-home wireless setup, I am certain we supplied you a
wireless router. If you are connecting your own router to a LAN port
of our router you are in effect daisy-chaining. There's nothing wrong
with that but I don't know anything about the extenders you mentioned
and I believe you said it is using existing electrical connections
within your house to reach additional floors. As a prior electronic
technician I can tell you I would never use wires carrying AC voltage
as carriers for anything else. Noise degrades a signal tremendously.
I suspect your routers are having trouble deciphering the squarewaves
(1's and 0's) and are constantly retransmitting for error correction.

My first inclination is to tell you to move our wireless router to the
Ethernet wall jack that was installed by the Field Technician. Of
course that would require the current connection to the router from the
ONT be extended or a hub be put in its place. If you are truly using a
CAT5e cable on the WAN side of the router you are in business. However
if the router is connected by coax to the WAN then you're out of luck.
Otherwise just install your own router at the wall jack and hook up
your wired desktop to it. Then test your wireless computers to your
wireless router without all the other circuitry you mentioned. You
should get a decent signal within a two-story house. Personally I own
a Netgear WGR614 v7 that I am very pleased with so I would suggest you
try the Netgear first.

Good luck!