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Can't take my Ferrari out of first gear

nighthawk67

nighthawk67

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 26, 2016
138
188
Cincinnati, OH
So here's the deal my WiFi is through AT&T, this is my modem:(https://www.amazon.com/AT-U-Verse-Modem-5031NV-Pace/dp/B00KXBNGNE) and it's awful, I don't really know a whole lot about how WiFi works, but I do know my connection is slower than molasses. Just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to get better wifi speeds on all my Apple products. It's cruel and unusual punishment to have all these expensive devices, but have the usage hindered by my wifi network. I occasionally download things from Piratebay and if something has a lot of seeds I can get around 800KBps on a good day, but at my girlfriends house I get about 3MBps, but she pays for faster internet through time warner cable. Like a 30 min download at my house is a 5 minute download at her house!

I know part of the reason that my connection is bad is because I live with 4 other people, and here are the devices that could be connected at any given time..
5 iPhones
2 MBA
Xbox one
iPP

So that's 9 devices not including if there are more people here and there are typically always more people at my house. I kind of thought buying a router would help take on the amount of devices that are using the internet, but I'm looking to macrumors for any other suggestions.

(My iPP is my Ferrari)
 
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U-Verse is DSL which is slow by modern standards. I used to have a DSL line back in 2000-2005. There is no way to speed up a slow line. You need a faster internet line. Cable or FIOS. Even 4G would be much faster.
 
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Eric5273 said:
U-Verse is DSL which is slow by modern standards. I used to have a DSL line back in 2000-2005. There is no way to speed up a slow line. You need a faster internet line. Cable or FIOS. Even 4G would be much faster.
Click to expand...
So you don't think getting a router from best buy or anything would help at all?
But yes I was also considering just switching to TWC from DirecTV, but the only reason I have DTV is for the NFL Sunday Ticket, but I dont know how I could ever live without it again.
 
Do you have access to a device that has a web browser and can plug into the LAN socket? If so see what difference in download speed you get wired compared to wireless. When I lived in the US I had the Comcast Xfinity router and the wifi was appalling; wired I was getting 70 Mbps but wireless (and in the same room) I was getting under 10. Leave the room and I struggled to get 1! Bought a cheap Airport Express off eBay to handle the wifi and speeds improved.
 
nighthawk67 said:
So here's the deal my WiFi is through AT&T, this is my modem:(https://www.amazon.com/AT-U-Verse-Modem-5031NV-Pace/dp/B00KXBNGNE) and it's awful, I don't really know a whole lot about how WiFi works, but I do know my connection is slower than molasses. Just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to get better wifi speeds on all my Apple products. It's cruel and unusual punishment to have all these expensive devices, but have the usage hindered by my wifi network. I occasionally download things from Piratebay and if something has a lot of seeds I can get around 800KBps on a good day, but at my girlfriends house I get about 3MBps, but she pays for faster internet through time warner cable. Like a 30 min download at my house is a 5 minute download at her house!

I know part of the reason that my connection is bad is because I live with 4 other people, and here are the devices that could be connected at any given time..
5 iPhones
2 MBA
Xbox one
iPP

So that's 9 devices not including if there are more people here and there are typically always more people at my house. I kind of thought buying a router would help take on the amount of devices that are using the internet, but I'm looking to macrumors for any other suggestions.

(My iPP is my Ferrari)
Click to expand...

You need something with MIMO. Multiple in multiple Out also this has the ability to split 3 Channels independently. And name them uniquely.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/co...&m=Y&c3api=1876,92051677442,&is=REG&A=details
 
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We have Directv as well as ATT phone service, but have Charter for internet. Even the Directv/ATT service guy said their internet service was slower than Charter.
 
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I think I'm going to just go ahead and switch to TimeWarner and pay for the turbo internet. Thanks for all the suggestions though, this just seems like the easiest most foolproof route!
 
nighthawk67 said:
I think I'm going to just go ahead and switch to TimeWarner and pay for the turbo internet. Thanks for all the suggestions though, this just seems like the easiest most foolproof route!
Click to expand...

Uh... good luck with that. What is "turbo" to them? 5 mbps? I was getting about 1 mbps max with TW, that was when our internet service was actually up. There were 'outages' every week, and I'm in NYC, not some backwater.

Called their customer service, and their rep accused me of stealing cable. I had a fully paid up account with them for over five years. Then they started charging us rent on the five year old cable box we had from them. That was the last straw, I went to AT&T and never looked back.
 
Good lord, what are you paying for those connections?
At this moment I'm paying 90 Euro's for a 500/500Mbps connection (and I get 56MB/s download speeds) I also get a mobile 4G sim with 500Mb per month, free premium spotify and some other freebies. It also comes with television, some 70 channels and 32 HD channels, unlimited calls to land and mobile in my country and 2 neighboring countries. Oh and when I call customer support they are really nice and do their best to help. And if they can't they promise to call back and they do call back. Even if it's to say they didn't find a solution but are keeping to get there. I had some trouble when I upgraded from 100 to 500Mbps. Turned out the switch in the neighborhood had to be updated. Took two weeks, just a few days quicker then promised.

But al standard modems have crappy wifi, so I switched the wifi on mine off and went with a couple of Airport Extreme's. They work nicely. My father has a fiber and got really bad wifi. Switched the wifi on his router off, then connected a airport and hey presto 100Mbps he paid for.
If you are in doubt about your speeds, first get a decent laptop connected trough an ethernet cable and then test the speed. If that is still slow as molasses then it's time to get a better internet provider.
But routers are
 
alecgold said:
Good lord, what are you paying for those connections?
At this moment I'm paying 90 Euro's for a 500/500Mbps connection (and I get 56MB/s download speeds) I also get a mobile 4G sim with 500Mb per month, free premium spotify and some other freebies. It also comes with television, some 70 channels and 32 HD channels, unlimited calls to land and mobile in my country and 2 neighboring countries. Oh and when I call customer support they are really nice and do their best to help. And if they can't they promise to call back and they do call back. Even if it's to say they didn't find a solution but are keeping to get there. I had some trouble when I upgraded from 100 to 500Mbps. Turned out the switch in the neighborhood had to be updated. Took two weeks, just a few days quicker then promised.

But al standard modems have crappy wifi, so I switched the wifi on mine off and went with a couple of Airport Extreme's. They work nicely. My father has a fiber and got really bad wifi. Switched the wifi on his router off, then connected a airport and hey presto 100Mbps he paid for.
If you are in doubt about your speeds, first get a decent laptop connected trough an ethernet cable and then test the speed. If that is still slow as molasses then it's time to get a better internet provider.
But routers are
Click to expand...
The US is a strange beast there. Regulations make it difficult to compete, so for example, as I understand it, cable companies do not have to allow any competitors to use their lines, and while telcos do (like AT&T) the incumbent carrier aka owner of the lines has to allow competitors copper connections over POTS lines are just not as fast as fiber or cable. It doesn't help that the US is much larger than most other countries.
 
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M. Gustave said:
Called their customer service, and their rep accused me of stealing cable. I had a fully paid up account with them for over five years. Then they started charging us rent on the five year old cable box we had from them. That was the last straw, I went to AT&T and never looked back.
Click to expand...
:eek: Omg. They accused you of stealing cable? Wow! I would have left too. Sheesh.
 
"I occasionally download things from Piratebay and if something has a lot of seeds I can get around 800KBps on a good day..."

Torrenting over WiFi is a bad idea. The sheer volume of packets will slow down WiFi considerably. If you're torrenting (IMHO a bad idea in the first place), use a computer that is hard-wired to your router. You will be astounded how much faster everything will work.

I have FIOS at my home and it came with an older router with WiFi capabilities. I disabled its WiFi and use two AirPort Extreme base stations in access point mode for WiFi. I've had ~35 people in my home, all connected to the WiFi, and it was still manageable. You might consider doing something similar.
 
Are there any higher bandwidth packages available from ATT?
Other than ATT, what other providers can you get?
 
Verizon FIOS is total beast.

I have it in NJ and it slaughters everything else. I go home to my parents DSL line and it feels like I am on a 56k.
 
Oh you can take your Ferrari out of first gear, but you're try to go down the most narrow ****ing road there is
 
I've had nothing but problems with AT&T and U-Verse internet. It is complete crap! Been with TWC/Spectrum for years and years now. Had a 200Mbps/20Mbps plan with TWC and when Spectrum took over went down to 100/10. Even with the 100/10 plan I still get 130/13 on a bad day.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
I've had nothing but problems with AT&T and U-Verse internet. It is complete crap! Been with TWC/Spectrum for years and years now. Had a 200Mbps/20Mbps plan with TWC and when Spectrum took over went down to 100/10. Even with the 100/10 plan I still get 130/13 on a bad day.
Click to expand...
Spectrum sucks , right ?
 
ipulsecases said:
Spectrum sucks , right ?
Click to expand...

No? I pay for 100/10 and on a bad day I get 130/13. I get upwards of 150/15, so 50% more than what I pay for and compared to AT&T my bill is cheaper and my service never cuts out. AT&T, my serviced dropped daily.
 
It really depends on your market for U-verse...I have their 24Mbps tier and have been quite happy, but it all comes down to who did the install and the type of modem you're using. It's a bit of a different beast than traditional DSL (ADSL/VDSL depending on the area), and AT&T requires you use their modem, as authentication is based on a certificate on it...I have found that when installed properly, speeds are about as advertised (sometimes a bit faster). Just out of curiosity, what tier are you set up for? What does fast.com or speedtest.net say, especially if you're on ethernet?

That being said, AT&T has been standardizing on much newer modems (they call them residential gateways), and you should be able to call them up for an upgrade (they own them, and will do swaps). The current go-to is the Pace 5268ac, which is used for both U-verse ADSL/VDSL and AT&T fiber installs. Wi-Fi on it is actually pretty good for range/speed.

However, once you verify your connection is good, you can always put your U-verse modem in "DMZ+" mode, where the routing and wifi capabilities are bypassed and you can use any router of your choice. Generic DSL modems on other phone companies typically have a "bridge mode" for this method.

The two keys to U-verse is how far you are from the VRAD (cabinet in the street that is fed by fiber) and the internal wiring in the house/apartment. In the case of me, I'm limited to 24Mbps, while the other end of my apartment complex is closer and can get 45Mbps. Usually the tech can verify your maximum speed possible so you aren't overpaying. Additionally, faster speeds are achieved through bonded connections, where two pairs of phone lines are used or a connection. You might have to have a technician set this up, but there isn't an extra cost for that second pair to be in use (other than possibly moving up to a faster speed tier). I was able to go from (I think) the 6Mbps tier max at my apartment to 24Mbps just by that change. My dad can only get DSL trough CenturyLink and bypassing his home wiring (new jack going out to the CenturyLink box) fixed all sorts of connection issues he had and improved speeds.

Cable can vary based on the provider, but the speeds are generally faster overall, sometimes can fluctuate more, and some providers will let you use your own modem. I think Spectrum (TWC's new brand with the purchase by Charter) provides your modem without a charge and there are no data caps. If you can get it, give it a try, and at worst, you can call AT&T back and get a new install/new modem/new customer deal. By the way, if you did a bundling deal, check to see if you signed a 1-year-contract with AT&T for internet. That locks in pricing and discounts, but you get penalized $15/month for whatever is left on the contract for an early termination fee.

For me, I find U-verse works pretty well in my area and I find AT&T better to deal with than Comcast. I'd love for Metronet (another provider) to come to my apartment complex, but they're building a few blocks away still (fiber, no data caps, local customer service).
 
nighthawk67 said:
So here's the deal my WiFi is through AT&T, this is my modem:(https://www.amazon.com/AT-U-Verse-Modem-5031NV-Pace/dp/B00KXBNGNE) and it's awful, I don't really know a whole lot about how WiFi works, but I do know my connection is slower than molasses. Just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to get better wifi speeds on all my Apple products. It's cruel and unusual punishment to have all these expensive devices, but have the usage hindered by my wifi network. I occasionally download things from Piratebay and if something has a lot of seeds I can get around 800KBps on a good day, but at my girlfriends house I get about 3MBps, but she pays for faster internet through time warner cable. Like a 30 min download at my house is a 5 minute download at her house!

I know part of the reason that my connection is bad is because I live with 4 other people, and here are the devices that could be connected at any given time..
5 iPhones
2 MBA
Xbox one
iPP

So that's 9 devices not including if there are more people here and there are typically always more people at my house. I kind of thought buying a router would help take on the amount of devices that are using the internet, but I'm looking to macrumors for any other suggestions.

(My iPP is my Ferrari)
Click to expand...

This may be a stupid question, and it's definitely not helpful to your problem, but how do you download from Pirate Bay onto an iPad? Is it jail broken?
 
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