Why are my Verizon home internet speeds slow?
Why are my Verizon home internet speeds slow?
I've had Verizon 5G Home Internet for a week and so far the connection has been good. It hasn't lost connection at any time. But I haven't been getting the speeds I was told to expect. The numbers are 85 Mbps down, up to 300 Mbps down, and 10 Mbps up. The first day it started, it went from 40 Mbps down, up to 212 Mbps down, with 10 Mbps up. Since then my speeds have averaged about 70 Mbps down and 6 Mbps up. I have the ARC-XCI55AX Gateway. It's Ethernet (Cat5E) connected to my Linksys AX1500 Max-Stream Router, which is also Ethernet (Cat6) connected to my PC. My service works fine, but the speeds keep running slow. I've reset, rebooted, power cycled, and repositioned the 5G Gateway. Also my router has been power cycled and rebooted. I'm waiting on a Verizon ticket. But I would like to know if anyone else is having similar issues? Verizon 5G Home Internet with strong signal but slow speeds? Any way to fix this? Could it be a faulty gateway? Or do I need an antenna or booster? FYI: the speed I'm getting works fine for my needs, I just want the speeds I was promised.
I don't know why so many ads show such high numbers when you only get them living under a cell tower. You can try moving your router to another window or testing different times of day since Verizon home is actually an unlimited plan with lots of room for usage. It seems the data goes more toward cell phones than the home unit, which makes sense during rush hour. When many cars drive past the tower and lots of people watch 4K Netflix from home, your speeds drop down. Cell towers can't handle that much traffic compared to how many users they serve. I bet you'll get better numbers very early in the morning. I'm surprised you're getting those rates so fast. I talked to someone who lived where there was no internet at all and only had WISP connections with a low cap. He was happy when he got 25mbps and could watch HD Netflix without worrying about a limit. You should really only use a wireless system if you have no choice but wired ones, since the wired ones now usually give exactly what they say and sometimes even more than that. Even though mine is supposed to be 1gbit, it often only tests at 500-600mbps during times when other people are using internet too.
I put this router in its best spot available to me. If I tested it on different days and times, like I mentioned before, my average speeds were 70 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up all day long. These are below the advertised speeds. However, the speeds I get work fine for my internet needs. I haven't had any connection drops either, which is a big plus. Previously, I used cable internet but am tired of Spectrum's overpriced pricing and their pushy upselling tactics. So I decided to try Verizon's 5G home internet instead. If I can fix the speed problem with this router, things will be great. But maybe the ARC-XCI55AX Gateway itself is faulty and not letting me get my full speed?
I do not think the hardware is broken and that would be very uncommon. Honestly, I am surprised technology has moved forward so much that ISPs now sell unlimited plans. Verizon copied other companies like T-Mobile by renaming many services as "5G," even though they don't actually provide speeds close to gigabit levels or low latency at lower costs. Verizon does offer some 5G where it is built into the network, but only in very specific places and even then mostly just large cities. As long as the signal stays stable, the speed should be fine for most people who use internet for basic things like web surfing and watching videos up to 4k quality. The main problems are with gaming because games need a lot of bandwidth and they require very consistent latency after downloading large game files. Cell service struggles a bit with gaming at times. Mobile broadband has always exaggerated the prices more than other ISP tech. This doesn't matter much for people who download just one small game, but when they start offering huge home downloads, it becomes more important.
I got my problem fixed today. Verizon said the tower was down or had trouble. After I reset it, my speed went up. My last test was two minutes ago: 125 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload. That's pretty good for me to expect. If this keeps going like that, everything will be fine.
*Update*: Those improved speeds only lasted a few hours. Now I'm back down to 70 Mbps again.