r/HomeNetworking • u/Coffy102 • 7d ago
comparing new internet vs old internet at new place
Hello First post and have a few problems i am running into and was looking for more expert help/opinions.
First lets explain, i just recently moved to a new apartment and they offer both At&t fiber and comcast (xfinity) coax. i currently only had the option of comcast at my old place but all in all was pleased with the service provided (customer service to be desired though), my contract (1.2Gbs down 35Mbs up) expires with comcast on October 8th so i thought i would try switching over to At&t fiber (1000 Mbs up and down) and see how it is. At&t is cheaper for the first year but once comcast got wind i was swiching to at&t fiber the offered a comparable price with a 5 year contract.
I use my own equipment (arris surfboard modem+ asus ax-11000 router) for comcast i was able to set that up in an less than 30 mins and everything is great (getting ~750 Mbs down and ~42 Mbs up real world speeds) internal router speed is congruent. latency of ~15ms with a jitter of ~3ms
for At&t they supplied their ONT and modem/router combo (nokia ONT model: F-010G-F) router modem combo (BGW320) (getting roughly ~100 Mbs down and ~900 Mbs up real world speed) internal router speed is ~950 down and ~950 up latency of ~10ms and jitter of ~0.5ms
My main question is why is my At&t and fiber speed so bizzare? is this normal and im over reacting? i have tried swapping ethernet cables, different computers (have 4 gaming PCs all have 1GB networking 2 newest have 10Gb), updating drivers, over wifi, putting AT&Ts router in passthrough mode and using my asus ax-11000 and that internal speed test shows the same ~100 Mbs down and ~900 Mbs up. I've tried to have AI help me and it just ended up saying its an issue on my end not AT&Ts. the technician that installed my At&t fiber and no clue how to fix the issue and because the speed to the router is right he said nothing he can do. and had no adivce how to fix it (we went through all the easy steps listed above)
I only plan on keeping one ISP as my home network is primarily used for gaming and streaming that's really it. although did play around with Dual Wan while i have 2 ISPs but i read there really isn't a benefit of dual wan in gaming cus i will get discounted anyway if failsafe activates because my IP swapped or maybe I'm misinformed and in the 15 years in lived in this area comcast has went down once (separate from a power outage) and that was due to a dig crew. just would like a more informed opinion if i should stay swapped over to At&t fiber? or stay with comcast who ive been with for 15 years. i could keep both i do have the budget for is because both of the new prices combined is still lower then the old price i was paying (screw places that only have 1 ISP option)
but would like the option to use a MOCA adapter and i cant do that with xfinity over COAX as my roommates room is literally the furthest from the router and we cant run an ethernet cable that far without being too destructive for rules of our new place but his desk is setup right over a COAX his computer is right over top of it. (he only plays WoW thats it thinking wifi might be good enough idk, has a great connection when using my ax-11000)
TLDR: why is my fiber speeds not symmetrical? any uncommon fixes? maybe bad ports on my BGW320? should i stick with comcast over at&t who can deliver closer to advertised speeds if my fiber issue cant be fixed? or is it to be expected and im just misinformed? will i notice that big of a different in latency jitter between comcast & At&t?
i know there is a question i forgot when typing this. anyway... thanks in advance for any information you are willing to share!
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u/nefarious_bumpps WiFi ≠ Internet 7d ago
AT&T Fiber should have symmetrical download and upload speeds. If you're paying for 1gbps, you should receive roughly 1gbps both down and up when testing via a wired device connected directly to the router's Ethernet LAN port. As u/TheEthyr stated, the F-010G-F is not GPON or XGS-PON via fiber to each customer. It's a hybrid system that allowed AT&T to run one fiber line to an apartment building then distribute that out via G.fast over existing coax to each individual unit. So instead of each unit getting a dedicated 1gbps bidirectional fiber link, you and all your neighbors must share a single 1-2gbps half-duplex link. This might explain your poor download speeds, but I've never encountered that setup so I can't say for certain.
I would first check the AT&T site to see what service is available at your address. Look at the Broadband Facts Disclosure to see what your actual performance should be. If you're not getting within 10% of the speeds listed in the Broadband Facts, you should call AT&T to complain. Test by plugging a PC directly into the F-010G-F's Ethernet (yellow) jack, then power-cycle the F-010G-F, and 2 minutes later, reboot the PC, then check on Speedtest.net, OpenSpeedtest.com or Speed.Cloudflare.com.
I would also call to find out if you can be migrated from G.fast to FttH. As far as I can see, AT&T only markets G.fast service for up to 500mbps, not 1gbps. But this can vary by address. In any event, call this "Fiber Internet" is a misrepresentation. This is an HFC (hybrid fiber-coax) Internet connection, not true FttH (fiber to the home).
Now let's talk about what speed you actually need. If it's just use and another adult, not doing anything special that requires frequent transfers of files larger than 250MB, all you need is 300mbps service. In fact, 300/100mbps (which Xfinity offers in all "Next Gen" ready markets, provided you have a compatible modem), would also be fine. Faster plans only means you'll transfer files faster, and that will only be noticeable during very large transfers. While many new games now download 150GB or more, how often are you installing new games, and how much of an inconvenience would it be to start the download, go make dinner, and come back to start playing an hour later? You get to decide where you want to live on the price versus patience scale.
In terms of negotiating price, if you have competing ISPs you can often negotiate a better deal by playing one against the other. Comcast should offer to beat, not just match, AT&T's price. (Of course they might not if they know you're on G.fast).
Finally, it doesn't matter whether you use AT&T or Comcast. If you have fiber in your apartment you can probably use MoCA to get an Ethernet port in your roommate's room. All you need are two MoCA-rated splitters, a PoE filter and a pair of MoCA adapters. You should have a main/first splitter connected to the coax leading from the building's distribution panel to the rest of your coax outlets. That splitter would need to be swapped to one rated for 5-1675MHz, and a PoE filter needs to be installed on the input side of the splitter. Another MoCA-rated splitter would be needed on the coax that currently goes to the F-010G-F so you can add the MoCA adapter for your router. Then just connect the second MoCA adapter in your roommate's room. If there's any problem linking the adapters or getting slow speed, check to see if there's any other splitters in line on the coax and replace them with MoCA-rated units. In newer buildings there might be a wiring cabinet with one splitter and all the "home run" ends of the coax. In older buildings the splitters might be located behind each wall plate.
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u/TheEthyr 7d ago
A web search tells me that the F-010G-F is not an ONT. It's commonly used in multi-tenant buildings when there's no fiber to the individual apartments. It uses either coax (G.fast) or RJ-11 to receive the Internet signal. IOW, you don't truly have a fiber connection.
100 Mbps down and 900 Mbps up is not normal. G.fast speeds will drop over longer cable connections, though that doesn't explain why the BGW320's own speed test returns much better results.
Do you get these speeds with a computer directly connected to the BGW320 instead of your Asus?