So, like many others, I have to WFH for pretty much the next 9 months. I live in the JC Heights and have a FiOS connection, and my coworkers are constantly complaining about my terrible internet connection during video meetings.
I'm in a situation where the router is on the other side of my apartment, live in a multi-family home with a lot of interference, and have roommates, all of whom occasionally also WFH. Between us and our smart devices, PS4s/Switches, multiple laptops each, tablets, smart phones, etc, we have a ton of devices connected.
I was initially looking into getting a mesh network for our apartment, but it seems that you can only use a Verizon Mesh Network system with FiOS. Considering that I'll likely be moving when my lease is up, I'd rather not sink money into something that only works with FiOS, or just a product I'm being forced to buy for compatability purposes.
Some friends and coworkers have recommended getting a dualband Nighthawk router; however, I'm not sure how much it will solve the suspected interference issues that I'm currently having. My internet connection is so poor in my room, but it isn't *that* far from the router, plus our current router is dualband already, so would a new router really alleviate the problem?
Wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and trying to see what worked best. I just want the best possible connection, so if the Vzw mesh network works better (or if mesh networks are better and theres one that's compatible with fios), I'll go that route.
we have Fios and added a Linksys mesh system a few years back. There are better systems on the market I believe, but for us it has made a world of difference. I am a huge proponent of a mesh system.
Sounds like you could get away with 2 pucks if the area you're in is on the smaller side? Can plug one puck into the router and then plug the other puck in a room or 2 away and you should be fine.
I have Comcast and have the google mesh set up
I have an older google wifi set up and have one of the "pucks" at my desk for a fast connection. I have a puck at the other new work from home station and two upstairs where our college age kids are school from home.
There's a lot of good choices for mesh network. I haven't used the google nest version, but the original has been fantastic. I hear Eero and Orbi are also great.
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Have you tried a speed test from your room? Try it with all other devices off and with several others (XBox, streaming, etc) on and see how much of an impact there is.
Generally speaking, unless the Verizon dual band router is complete crap, you're not going to see a significant improvement by just swapping that out for another dual band router.
Is there anyway to hardwire your laptop, even if only for your video calls? That would be a low cost solution.
Same for me.
I also debated using a mesh network or a router with a sup'd up wifi signal; at the time they were pretty much the same price point. Went with a mesh bc it allowed for expandability.
If you have that many devices connected to your internet router and have multiple people using it at once, the speed of your internet may be as much an issue as the weak signal to your room.
Just disable the wireless broadcast on the router and use the mesh's signal.
I just think my apartment is long, which is the problem, but I am thinking of buying another mesh point closer to that back room.
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We have the highest FiOS speed package available that includes cable (roommates use cable) -- and when I plug something in directly to the router (e.g. PS4) the connection is great. I also don't have any issues when I'm working out of my living room, so I don't think it's the actual internet speed/package.
I'd love to run some lines into my room and have a hardwired ethernet port available but unfortunately it just isn't an option considering we are renting with less than a year left on our lease, and are all almost definitely leaving. Seems like the juice isn't worth the squeeze.
Good to hear the info re: mesh networks, although it does confuse me more as each of the other handful of people I've asked about this told me to get a better router than Verizon's standard dual band instead of going with a mesh.
Might have to get the router, try it out, and just exchange it it doesn't work.
A nice bonus would be having the PS4 in my room actually being usable as well... it's nearly impossible to play online in my room.
Streaming, etc, all the time, no problem.
I also have an extender (you have to get the new one with it) which I would highly recommend.
We are required to use a Spectrum modem. Spectrum provided a router, which they charge a monthly rental fee, but the Deco is a router, so I just ran an Ethernet cable from the modem into the Deco. The Deco also has Ethernet out, so I ran a jumper to a switch and have some devices on Ethernet instead of WiFi. No problems with that.
I don't know how FiOS can require that you use their mesh WiFi. Once you run a cable out of the modem, you have control of the signal. Do they have a combined modem/router? I think you can ask them to turn off the router functions. They may not like it, but I think they have to do it. You probably can access those controls by a browser link. We had AT&T U-verse and that's how it worked on their hardware.
By the way, we used to have that modem attached to an Apple base station/router. We a lot of trouble with Internet dropouts and only realized after many months that the modem was also a router, so there were two routers on the network, which was causing conflicts on the network.