Speed comparison: Optimum Boost vs Verizon FiOS

Optimum Boost advertises 30 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up. Here’s a speed test I just ran at Ookla’s SpeedTest.net:

(My desktop is plugged into the router, the router is plugged into the Arris cablemodem.)

Here’s one of the last speed tests I did with Verizon, on 2/15. I had the 25/15 internet package:

(Desktop was plugged into 8-port Linksys 100 Mbit switch, the switch was plugged into the FiOS/ActionTec router.)

Verizon’s upload is much better than Cablevision’s, as you can see. Most people probably won’t notice it, but I do. Another thing to consider is that the FiOS router has pretty good WiFi built in. I got pretty good speeds using 802.11g on my laptop upstairs connected to the FiOS router downstairs. With Cablevision I went back to my old Netgear WGR614v7 router that I’d bought in 2009 after my trust Linksys WAP54G AP had died (at that point I was using my Linux box as router/NAT). The WGR614v7 is pretty crappy. The UI is fine and I guess for basic usage it’s acceptable, but the antenna is pretty small and the signal was very weak. When I connected 6-7 devices to it (Wii, 2 laptops, Mac Mini, 2 iPhones, Kindle) it would randomly not work on one of them. Rebooting the router fixed it, for a while. Somewhere in the logging facility of the router I saw an out-of-memory error. The kicker was that we’d get errors in the browser randomly when loading pages, and wifi speeds were pretty lousy – 10 Mbps down on the 30 Mbps Optimum connection.

I decided to right this wrong and spring for a new WiFi router. After some quick checking of Newegg I found the TP-LINK TL-WR841ND 802.11n router for $25 with free shipping and a free 802.11n USB adapter (TL-WN727N). Seemed like a no-brainer. I got it, set it up in under 10 minutes, plugged the N adapter into my wife’s laptop and can easily max the 30 Mbps cable connection from upstairs now. My laptop is still using G and the speeds & signal are pretty good. The TP-Link has 2 antennae and both are much larger than the Netgear’s single antenna; I can get a strong signal outside on my deck on the opposite side of the house from the router in the basement.

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