Home Internet - Verizon FiOS - 75/75 Mbps

[rambo47]

I recently upgraded my FiOS router to the new G3100 model and I'm enjoying superior coverage. However, the internet plan we have is apparently kinda crap. I thought 75/75 Mbps was fine but apparently I'm a dinosaur and still living in the stone age. My plan is NOT up to par. Between gaming consoles, smart tv's, home security devices, iPads, laptops, etc, we have a significant number of devices connected at all times. So on Monday Verizon is coming to upgrade us to Gigabit Internet.

Look at me! I'm crawling out of the primordial ooze and beginning to walk upright!

Our old Verizon wireless modem was weak. Coverage from room to room carried from mediocre to non-existent. To compensate I repurposed some Apple AirPort base stations and spread them around the house, creating a secondary network. It works well and has always been faster than simply connecting to the standard Verizon WiFi network. I may leave it in place for now and see how it works with Gigabit Internet. I'll use a Verizon WiFi extender if my secondary setup can't handle the new speed.

 

[Juicy Box]

I am curious, were you having issues with your 75Mbps speeds? Or are you upgrading just because someone told you it is slow?

I thought 75/75 Mbps was fine but apparently I'm a dinosaur and still living in the stone age.

It totally depends on what you use your internet for, but 75Mbps would be more than adequate for the huge majority of homes.

Between gaming consoles, smart tv's, home security devices, iPads, laptops, etc, we have a significant number of devices connected at all times.

Unlike what the ISPs advertise, number of devices alone is not a good metric for determining an appropriate download speed.

So on Monday Verizon is coming to upgrade us to Gigabit Internet.

I see so many people spend a lot more money to upgrade to Gigabit speeds that just will never or hardly ever utilize the speeds.

Not saying that is your situation, but I talked to a lot of my neighbors, and many of them are using their Gigabit speeds to stream Netflix, play video games, and use Facebook. Gigabit is overkill for most people.

Think of it this way, A Gigabit connection could stream 1080p Netflix on over 250 different TVs all at the same time, and over 50 4K streams at the same time.

With your "slow" 75Mbps connection, you can stream Netflix over 20 1080p TVs at the same time.

 

[rambo47]

Several of us stream Netflix, Amazon Video, and others. My son's Xbox is a real bandwidth hog too. Gigabit Internet is costing me an extra $40/month above what I pay now.

 

[rambo47]

I am curious, were you having issues with your 75Mbps speeds? Or are you upgrading just because someone told you it is slow?

Probably a little bit of both.

 

[max2]

We have Gigapower from AT&T or whatever they call it or use to call it. It is fiber though.

I just wish my nephew could get better than 25 Mbps speed tier from AT&T sadly he is on older technology.


75 Mbps should be more than enough for 4 people or less.

Unless everyone downloads or uploads large files constantly.

 

[Juicy Box]

Another thing, even if the 75Mbps speeds were starting to be too slow for someone, the ISP tend to push Gigabit connections with expensive rental equipment, when a much cheaper 100Mbps to 300Mbps speed would be cheaper and more than adequate for most.

I am currently paying for FiOS internet 200Mbps/200Mbps service, and my monthly bill is only $35 a month. I don't pay for the rental equipment.

FiOS over provisions their speeds where I live, and I actually get 310/350 speeds when I test it.

But... I was perfectly happy with the 100Mbps service I had before. The only reason I upgraded to the 200Mbps service was because it was no added cost.

I have a crap load of devices connected to the internet, many computers, I work from home, I have 4 kids who are stream-happy, using their TVs and phones, mostly at the same time. They play video games all the time. I run a Plex media server that my family uses remotely for movies and TV shows.

All that, and 100Mbps was never too slow for me.

Several of us stream Netflix, Amazon Video, and others. My son's Xbox is a real bandwidth hog too.

So was the 75Mbps too slow for you? The Xbox can use a lot of bandwidth, but mostly that is for downloading updates. Most online games use very little bandwidth while playing.

Actually, World of Warcraft can actually be played on a dial-up connection. The latency is bad, but it is playable.

Gigabit Internet is costing me an extra $40/month above what I pay now.

That really adds up over time, especially if it something that isn't really needed.

Don't get me wrong, if you are happy to pay that, and love your service, then by all means, continue. I just hate to see ISPs take advantage of people, charging them for services they don't need or would hardly ever utilize.

Is an extra $40 a month worth it for the few times your son downloads an update on his Xbox, just so it downloads quicker?

Lots of times FiOS has better plans for the same price, that is how I got my current connection. You can't call them, but use this link:

Fios Mix and Match: Custom Internet, TV and Phone Packages | Verizon

With Fios Mix & Match, you choose the internet, TV or phone plan that works for you - no contracts or surprises. Bundle packages or pick a standalone service.

verizon.com

After logging in, clicking the "upgrade" then check out the other plans, they push the Gigabit service, but lots of times, they have better options for the same exact price.

This is what mine looks like now, when I upgraded to 200Mbps, it was the same price of the 100Mbps service I already had:

 

[max2]

Wow Verizon 1 Gbps is only $64.99 now ?

 

[Juicy Box]

FiOS over provisions their speeds where I live, and I actually get 310/350 speeds when I test it.

To show the over provisioning of speeds from FiOS (at least where I live), this is a speed test I just did, keep in mind that this was over Wifi on an old Apple AirPort Extreme router:

Wow Verizon 1 Gbps is only $64.99 now ?

Depends on where you live, and that is with a discount for being a Veteran. The discount is $5 for my service, and $15 for the Gigabit speed if I wanted it.

But, why pay $65 a month when the $35 service is overkill for me?

 

[max2]

To show the over provisioning of speeds from FiOS (at least where I live), this is a speed test I just did, keep in mind that this was over Wifi on an old Apple AirPort Extreme router:

View attachment 1771075



Depends on where you live, and that is with a discount for being a Veteran. The discount is $5 for my service, and $15 for the Gigabit speed if I wanted it.

But, why pay $65 a month when the $35 service is overkill for me?

True.

I always get 900 to 940 Mbps download speed on certain download servers so it is well worth it to me.

That is on a single computer too.

Not multiple computers.

Plus it doesn't really slow down the others. Ok fine maybe a little but I have a good third party router.

 

[rambo47]

I have noticed significant slowdowns when we are all using the internet. I've learned that ISP-quoted speeds are under ideal or laboratory conditions, not the real world. So even without getting full promised speeds from Gigabit Internet, I should still see huge improvements. Even during periods when the local Verizon network is jammed.

 

[max2]

I have noticed significant slowdowns when we are all using the internet. I've learned that ISP-quoted speeds are under ideal or laboratory conditions, not the real world. So even without getting full promised speeds from Gigabit Internet, I should still see huge improvements. Even during periods when the local Verizon network is jammed.

Yes.

I wonder who is the best Fiber provider?

AT&T, Verizon, Google, or some local ISP ?

 

[Juicy Box]

It totally depends on what you use your internet for, but 75Mbps would be more than adequate for the huge majority of homes.

I should probably mention for other people viewing that my statements above are based off the OP having FiOS.

There could be more things to consider for other ISPs, especially Comcast or other cable companies, mainly being upload speed.

FiOS and most other fiber-based ISPs have symmetrical speeds, meaning upload and download speeds are (mostly) identical.

Comcast and other cable companies have asymmetrical speeds, and the upload speed is usually a tiny fraction of the download speed.

Again, this may not even matter for most people, and the argument I made above still applies, but if your family does a lot of uploading, such as running a YouTube channel, a media or other types of servers, cloud backups, etc., the upload speeds available on the lower tier internet plans might not be adequate for your family.

Comcast's upload speed for their 1 Gigabit service is only 35Mbps. The upload is only 5Mbps for their 200Mbps download service, which is horrible.

Just like FiOS, Comcast does over provision their speeds by 20%, meaning you will see about 40Mbps upload for their Gigabit plan, but still only 6Mbps for their lower tier plans.

I've learned that ISP-quoted speeds are under ideal or laboratory conditions, not the real world.

I think it depends on where you live.

In the past, I had issues with speeds, but where I currently live, I get over what is promised from both FiOS and Comcast.

I have noticed significant slowdowns when we are all using the internet.

This could be from your internet speed, but it could also be from your equipment.

So even without getting full promised speeds from Gigabit Internet, I should still see huge improvements.

This is probably correct, but you would also see improvements with a slower tier as well, without spending an extra $40 a month.

I would look at your equipment as well, an old router could be slowing things down. Also, an over crowded band could also be slowing things down. I moved everything to 5GHz in my house, with the exception of the few devices that are not compatible with the 5GHz band.

 

[Boyd01]

When I moved to my rural location in 2006, there was no cable service and no broadband at all so I ended up getting a satellite dish from HughesNet. The speed was comparable with the DSL service I had in my old home, but the latency drove me crazy! About a year later, I was able to get Verizon DSL which was around 400kbit - similar speed but low latency. After many years, with an upgraded router I was able to get in the 600-800kbit range. I later learned that I was lucky - I got one of only 100 DSL lines that were available in my little town of about 1000 homes. A Verizon technician told me that many people were still on dialup or had no internet at all in their homes.

In 2017 an army of Verizon installers descended on my little town to install fiber and I got 400/400 FIOS. This has been great and usually delivers the promised speeds. Almost never goes down. Last year, I got an e-mail saying I was now getting a free trial of gigabit FIOS. Wouldn't have even realized the change if they hadn't told me, it clocked somewhere near gigabit speed, maybe a bit less. But the cost to upgrade was around $20 more per month, so I decided to pass.

Really happy with FIOS, it's around $80 with all the taxes and fees, compared to $60 for my old sub-megabit DSL. Sure, I would like it to be cheaper, but FIOS is the only broadband available and I'm glad that Verizon made the investment in my little town where no other ISP was interested. Also, my home is back in the woods and they had to bury 800 feet of fiber from the utility pole to my house - at no charge.

I definitely use the FIOS speed, I manage several mapping websites that involve uploading/downloading lots of geodata, use Sling for TV and have a couple AppleTV's. I live alone, so the 400/400 is fine. "Bragging rights" about having gigabit speed might be fun, but not worth $20/month extra.

 

[rambo47]

Yes.

I wonder who is the best Fiber provider?

AT&T, Verizon, Google, or some local ISP ?

I think it varies by area. I have a choice in northern NJ between Verizon and Optimum Online. Slim pickings.