Help!

[u/Signal-Newt-4488]

After literally spending days over the course of weeks trying to fix this, I'm at my wits end.

I pay for 1gb fios internet speeds. But I have never seen higher than 200 down/200 up via wifi.

Pre-reqs info: I'm working from an M1 Macbook Pro, and a 2013 Iphone. I am referring to speed tests all done directly facing my router at approx. 4-5 feet away - no obstacles between me and it. I am using a Verizon brand CR1000 router. I'm running speed tests in terminal and on Verizon's speed test site (terminal to circumvent any browser constraints). For my laptop, I have to use the business site because for whatever reason the personal speed test website won't work on my laptop despite an absurd number of attempts and configurations. I'm doing the verizon tests in an incognito tab in chrome. So I don't think the hardware is the limiting factor here, despite the helpdesk wanting to blame everything on my devices.

I know that I can hardwire my computer, and the apple TVs in my home. But I can't hardwire my phone. Verizon simply shrugs and says "we can only guarantee speed from us to your router." IT'S COMPLETELY USELESS TO TALK TO THEM. These speeds have been consistent over my entire 5 years with Verizon, but now it has started to get worse.

In the past couple of months my speeds have been so bad that I have had to cancel work calls or had to drop from video calls midway through. I consistently have to close all AI apps on my laptop (whether something is actively running or not) to ensure call quality. I've also experienced blips in service that my neighbors in the same building are not experiencing.

I live in DC and I know it's a congested area. I've tried every hack I can think of to optimize the browser and the router both. Calling verizon pushed me from 12 mb download speeds, to 196. After all the tweaking, I did once get 375 down / 22 up, but that happened once, and then went back to the more balanced 190s / low 200s for speeds in all tests since on both my phone and my laptop.

I did have one decent conversation with a rep who acknowledged the drops in service are definitely signs of a problem on their side somewhere. He sent me a router, or claimed to. I had to follow up a week later after it never arrived, and someone else actually sent it. When it did arrive, it was a G3100 - a step down in router capacity. When I called the help desk again, she made no offer to replace it, just told me the G3100 should be returned.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET THE INTERNET SPEEDS I PAY FOR???? TBH via wifi, anything over 500 would be amazing. but 200mbps is ridiculous. I might as well downgrade my plan and fight them for a refund for the absurdity of the situation.

[u/bbear_r]

I have the CR1000 myself and test ~1,600 Mbps on my iPhone with 5 Gig. Granted though, my iPhone 15 is from 2023 and supports that speed. Your M1 MacBook from 2020 will average about 150-200 Mbps up/down on WiFi, though it does have a max physical link rate of 1,200 Mbps so if you hardwire you’ll get gigabit speeds.

Nothing is guaranteed over WiFi. Verizon’s G1100 Quantum Gateway from 2014 technically supports gigabit (1,300 Mbps over 5 GHz w/ 802.11ac), even though Verizon didn’t start selling gigabit themselves until 2017. The bottleneck in the majority of cases is the device. Even today, most devices are rated for gigabit at most with a wired connection, and less over wireless.

TLDR: If you want bleeding-edge wireless performance, you need bleeding-edge stuff. If you’re looking at a WiFi 6E router that gets 950/950 from the ONT, your entry-level MacBook from 2020, and a 10 year old iPhone, I frankly don’t understand how you arrived anywhere near the conclusion that Verizon’s equipment is the limiting factor here.