Not getting full 20/5 service w/ verizon router

I've signed up for verizon's hi speed 20/5 service. This is what I
have running now in my house. No on-line gaming or video downloading
going on. Pinged several sites to take readings.

1. PowerMac G5 - full 20 mbps DL speed (hardwired to router, OS X
10.4)

2. older Dell XPS desktop (P3 mobo) 5-9 mbps DL (hardwired to router,
Kubuntu)

3. Dell XPS laptop (wireless, Win XP) 6-9 mbps DL

4. Sony Vaio laptop (wireless, Win XP) same as #3

Why am I not getting full DL speed on 3 of 4 computers in my house? UL
speeds are rather consistent across the board with all computers. The
biggest disparity is DL speed.

Is a 802.11b/g compatible network card limited on DL speed? What is
its top speed limit?

TIA

And you expected a full speed with wireless ! just use direct connect
to the modem and voila !!


On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:36:07 -0800 (PST), (E-Mail Removed)
wrote:

>I've signed up for verizon's hi speed 20/5 service. This is what I
>have running now in my house. No on-line gaming or video downloading
>going on. Pinged several sites to take readings.
>
>1. PowerMac G5 - full 20 mbps DL speed (hardwired to router, OS X
>10.4)
>
>2. older Dell XPS desktop (P3 mobo) 5-9 mbps DL (hardwired to router,
>Kubuntu)
>
>3. Dell XPS laptop (wireless, Win XP) 6-9 mbps DL
>
>4. Sony Vaio laptop (wireless, Win XP) same as #3
>
>Why am I not getting full DL speed on 3 of 4 computers in my house? UL
>speeds are rather consistent across the board with all computers. The
>biggest disparity is DL speed.
>
>Is a 802.11b/g compatible network card limited on DL speed? What is
>its top speed limit?
>
>TIA

On Nov 30, 6:50*pm, "floffy" <M...@manywhere.org> wrote:
> And you expected a full speed with wireless ! just use direct connect
> to the modem and voila !!


Yes, I did hardwire both laptops and got the full speed (20/5mbps).
What is the reason I can't get the same result as wireless?

My wireless network card says I can get 54 mbps. I don't get it and
Verizon can't even answer my question why.

My Verizon hardware is a modem and router all in one (Actiontec MI424-
WR rev.D)

On Nov 30, 7:00*pm, Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:36:07 -0800 (PST), david.bla...@yahoo.com
> wrote:
>
> >I've signed up for verizon's hi speed 20/5 service. This is what I
> >have running now in my house. No on-line gaming or video downloading
> >going on. Pinged several sites to take readings.
>
> Ping does NOT give you the download speed of the connection. *You can
> also have fairly high latency and still get good speed. *I suggest you
> try one of the numerous online speed tests. *Select one that is close
> to your location. *RDNS says:
> * pool-72-94-46-50.phlapa.fios.verizon.net
> which puts you in Philalphia. *Try:
> <http://www2.verizon.net/micro/speedtest/java/>
> <http://speedtest.verizon.net>
> Looks like it automatically selects the closest server.
>
> >1. PowerMac G5 - full 20 mbps DL speed (hardwired to router, OS X
> >10.4)
>
> >2. older Dell XPS desktop (P3 mobo) 5-9 mbps DL (hardwired to router,
> >Kubuntu)
>
> That's wrong. *Kinda looks like the interface is stuck at 10baseT or
> 10mbits/sec. *Please check the interface speed:
> * ifconfig eth0
> and look at the lights on your unspecified model wireless router to
> see if it's 10 or 100 mbits/sec.
>
> >3. Dell XPS laptop (wireless, Win XP) 6-9 mbps DL
> >4. Sony Vaio laptop (wireless, Win XP) same as #3
>
> What is your connetion speed for these wireless connection? *It should
> be shown in the status page of the wireless connection or in the
> wireless client software. *Take this number and divide by two. *That's
> your absolute maximum thruput. *If there are protocol issues (RWIN
> etc), then it's even slower than half. *It also varies depending on
> whether you're using TCP or UDP for testing.
>
> >Why am I not getting full DL speed on 3 of 4 computers in my house? UL
> >speeds are rather consistent across the board with all computers. The
> >biggest disparity is DL speed.
>
> >Is a 802.11b/g compatible network card limited on DL speed? What is
> >its top speed limit?
>
> Yes. *802.11g is limited to a connection speed of 54Mbits/sec. *With
> overhead, the maximum thruput is about half of that or 25 mbits/sec. A
> more accurate chart of maximum speeds can be found at:
> <http://wireless.navas.us/wiki/Wi-Fi#Performance_and_Speed>
>
> A common problem is also that many wired and wireless router are just
> plain gutless and will not perform well on thruput tests. *See test
> results at:
> <http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/component/option,com_chart/Itemid,189/>
>
> Also, check the firmware version of your unspecified model router to
> see if you're up to date.
>
> In addition, you might find it useful to measure your performance
> between two machines on your LAN. *One should be wired (probably the
> G5), while the other could be wired or wireless. *If the test shows
> that you are performance limited even on a local connection, then the
> problem is obviously in the router. *Search this newgroups for my
> posting on iPerf and JPerf. *Tutorial:
> <http://openmaniak.com/iperf.php>
> JPerf is easier. *See examples at bottom of tutorial:
> <http://sourceforge.net/projects/iperf>
> <http://sourceforge.net/projects/jperf>
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann * * je...@cruzio.com
> 150 Felker St #D * *http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann * * AE6KS * *831-336-2558

Thank you! See reply to floffy.

The same thing happened when I had a Belkin N router as a comcast
customer. Half of what I should have been getting for DL, about right
for UL.

I just did a speed test on the Dell XPS laptop (with a distance of
about 1' between computer and modem/router). 7.4 mbps DL and 4.7 mbps
UL (which is close to what it should be for UL).

On Nov 30, 7:00*pm, Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com> wrote:

>
> >2. older Dell XPS desktop (P3 mobo) 5-9 mbps DL (hardwired to router,
> >Kubuntu)
>
> That's wrong. *Kinda looks like the interface is stuck at 10baseT or
> 10mbits/sec. *Please check the interface speed:
> * ifconfig eth0
> and look at the lights on your unspecified model wireless router to
> see if it's 10 or 100 mbits/sec.
>
>

The modem router Actiontec MI424 doesn't have this info by the lights.
This is verizon's proprietary modem/router combo. It's got to be
designed to carry the max, that's the service I'm paying for.

I did the ifconfig on kubuntu and I'm not seeing anything about
interface speed in the window. What should I be looking for?

Verizon never said anything about not getting full speed with
wireless.

On Dec 2, 6:26*am, "Bill Kearney" <wkearne...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > This is verizon's proprietary modem/router combo.
>
> It's hardly proprietary. *Actiontec is a 3rd party company.
>
> > It's got to be
> > designed to carry the max, that's the service I'm paying for.
>
> It's actually not a very good router at all. *I replaced mine.
>
> > Verizon never said anything about not getting full speed with
> > wireless.
>
> Because wireless specs are not their business. *You won't get a full 54mbps
> out of a wifi link. *There's overhead involved. *That and if there's ANY
> other wifi traffic nearby it would also decrease your speed. *Neighborswith
> wifi, interference, etc, will all contribute to the overhead and there's not
> much you'll ever be able to do about it. *Wired is faster. *If you'rehell
> bent for better speed, use a wired connection.

Bill: can you please suggest an alternative to verizon's hardware?

I wasn't expecting full 54 mbps, just the 20/5 I am paying for. I was
also told by verizon that unlike comcast's cable delivered internet,
I'm not subject to network traffic with FIOS.