Verizon router/wap update and Wifi 6 testing

internet speed comic
internet speed comic
internet speed comic

I received the replacement Verizon router/wap and it was a newer WiFi 6 model. I just tested it now and it wasn’t great.

Why do I say that? After enabling it the speeds are not noticeably faster and the fast.com results are almost the same. Just a tiny bit faster 780  instead of 760. It connects to the computer at a higher rate of speed with the exception of my MSI laptop which has a killer WiFi card. I was going to say a low link speed but when I went back to check it said it is connected at 2286 Mb/S. That is far higher than I first saw at about 500 Mb/S. Which didn’t make sense because I had just done the fast.com test which said it was 780. This might be a Linux bug on reporting the speed.

Ultimately however it doesn’t matter. I only have a 1 gig connection so that speed won’t be used. I wrote earlier that a 2 gig connection is available but I can’t justify spending the extra money on it. Perhaps in the future if something amazing comes out like real time Virtual Reality or something but until then what I have is working great.

I threw the old WiFi 5 Verizon router/wap away yesterday. The newer one is square instead of a cylinder but that doesn’t matter to me. It is slightly smaller so that is nice. Space in NYC is at a premium. I have it set on my kitchen counter in the corner. That was the least destructive way to install it when the tech came by. I like that I can see that it is working and that it is easy to keep track that it is online. In the previous apartment it was in another bedroom because that is where the drop of the Verizon line came in. It meant that besides being out of sight, I had slightly decreased speed due to the extra distance/walls. The average connection speed was about 500ish. In real terms I didn’t notice a difference in speed between that and this new WiFi 6 speed. The internet is almost instant.

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The old Thinkpad gets about 760 and the 4 year old mac gets the same speed. The WiFi 6 has increased their link speed but I don’t notice anything in real terms. I will try to play a game online to see if it makes any difference with the killer card but I’m afraid my reaction time is more to blame than computer equipment.

Therefore I have to ask myself, if I had to pay for WiFi 6 is it worth it to me? The answer clearly is no. In life things are always more hype than reality and I will never overcome the biggest difference I felt long ago when I went from dial up to DSL. I thought DSL was amazing and I was so grateful to have it. Since then I have used other ways to connect to the Internet but fiber optic seems to be for me the most reliable. You just have to watch out for the lousy equipment that you get from fiber optic providers.

I will do research today to see if the other fiber optic providers in my area are better than Verizon. If they are then I will switch. I will keep you updated.