Help choosing new modem (DSL) or solve slow wifi

[clovehitch]

I have fiber optic DSL service, no telephone 100 Mbps. Have moved four months ago (two houses down), with the same service.

In the old house, 50mbps with Pace 4111N modem, I routinely achieved 35mbps same room wifi performance.

New house, 100mbps with Pace 5168NV modem. Same room wifi performance is 20-29Mbps. I've seen it go up a few times to 55-65Mbps, perhaps for half a day. Ethernet cable shows 75-85 and most often 100Mbps.

ISP has no options for modems, and recommends a router. All we have are a couple of notebooks, a desktop, an iPad, iPhones and printer. No TV. All speed tests with one device connected.

 

[hallux]

Where's the list? Time Warner ran fiber to the house or does the modem connect on RG-6 (same connection a TV would use) to the street where the fiber is?

If the modem connection is RG-6, I would highly suggest a Motorola modem, take a browse through this article, you'd be looking at the SB6183 to support your speeds and the ability to go beyond should you decide to upgrade.


Wait... That Pace 4111N is a DSL modem. Time Warner doesn't do DSL, they do cable internet. The 5168nv looks to be a hybrid of some kind, supporting DSL and cable internet (using RG-6 connection). Both appear to be combo modem/router boxes. Those are known to be OK at both but have a modem and a router would be MUCH better.

You need to determine where the network speed is slow, is it between the router and the computer or the modem and the destination. On a Mac, you can option-click on the network icon in the menu bar to see what the connection speed is to the access point. The downside to the combo boxes is you can't plug into a connection that bypasses the router, if you had a box that was JUST a modem and one that was JUST a router you could unplug the router and plug in direct to the modem to get a baseline without the router.

 

[clovehitch]

Sorry I got confused, too often these days unfortunately (horrible accident, long story). Have tried to edit the original post.

You are correct, we have 100mbps DSL (Pace 5168NV), and today the ISP recommended a router. They said no to alternative modems. :shrug:

Would be nice to get a consistent 70+ mbps wifi. Airport Extreme would be a simple addition, but some say its performance isn't that great.

 

[hallux]

For the money you'd spend on an Airport Extreme, you can get a REALLY nice 3rd-party unit. I have a Netgear unit for my place and it handles my needs very well (though I only have 30 Mbps Time Warner service), the WiFi utility on my Mac shows my connection speed at 216 Mbps and I can get signal almost 100 feet away across the street with my cell phone.

Check reviews on http://dslreports.com What router did they suggest?

 

[HenryAZ]

Can you put your DSL modem into bridge mode and use the good router/wi-fi provider behind it? That would be my preference. Let the modem be a modem, only, and then set up your network how you want it behind that passthrough.