Home Internet Discussion Thread
 

As I meet more Villagers, I'm hearing more and more questions about home internet problems and concerns and many have no where to find the correct answers. If you have questions on anything to do with your home internet such as which router or wifi device should I buy, my TV buffers in the Lanai so what can I do, I don't get strong internet signal in the garage for my computerized irrigation controller, should I put RJ45 connectors on all my ethernet cables, what's the difference betwee an ethernet switch and a hub, do I need Wifi7, should I hardwire or use wireless for my devices, should I cancel my Internet and try another company because I'm not happy with my service or is my installation not correct, why is my cable so slow after 8pm every night or when it's cold or rainy out, or any kind of technical question or problem you may be having, please post here and we can discuss the answers.

This thread is NOT to talk about which Internet service is the cheapeast. I believe that discussion has been heavily discussed.

I have Xfinity, 1.2 gbps service and I rent my modem/router from Xfinity. No problems whatsoever. Is it expensive? Yes.

As of yesterday, Xfinity offered 1 gig of Internet for $75 a month includes your wireless router. My plan went from $152 a month to 75..

Advice for anyone, regardless of who you get your internet from:

Walk from room to room and run a speed test *before* installing any pods. You may not need any additional hardware, additional points of failure, potential sources of interference, or additional costs.

Different providers, different modem/router, different homes, and different furniture makes everyone's situation different. Running a speed test on your phone is very simple and will let you know if you truly need more than the single modem/router.

I love when my internet blows out because then it forces me to get outside and enjoy The Villages. Usually by the time I get back from a town square or a long walk or just sitting in my driveway with my kindle it’s fixed.

That's the fastest speed offered by Xfinity. It's supposed to have more upload speed. What upload speed are you getting and did they give you their new Router and wifi device? Also, when I called them about this service, it was $75 for the for one or two years, I forget but after that is was $110/month.

My download/upload speeds recently measured at 937mbps/24mbps. I am pretty sure I have the latest modem. It is white and square and only has one light. My monthly fee is probably less than $110 per month because the internet is bundled with other Xfinity services, which gives me a contract and multi-service discounts.

Thank you for this comment. With the new Wifi7 equipment that Quantum fiber and other's are now offering with their internet service, in most homes you do not need the extender pods in order to get adequate coverage. If you install an extender and they are too close then they will do more harm than good.

The only installations that I've seen where an extender pod was necessary is in a very large Premier home where the main pod was installed in an office on one side of the home and the extender was installed on the other side of the home. Also, if you have a home where a front bedroom/office is the only place to install the main pod, in some homes due to the layout and the number of walls the wifi signal has to pass through, an extender may be needed to get adequate coverage but it must be placed as far away as possible from the main pod.

Upon the completion of activating the main wifi pod the technician is supposed to use a special app to check the wifi coverage throughout your home and if there is any room where the wifi signal is too low, they will install an extender pod to improve the coverage.

The same applies if you go and get your own equipment such as a Netgear Orbi or Amazon Eero. You may be able to get away with only the main wifi7 router and if not, one satellite should be more than adequate to saturate most sized homes here in the Villages.

The only exception to this rule is if you want a wired equivalent connection to a home theather where there is no ethernet connection for example, you can use some of the more specialized Wifi7 devices which have their own wireless backhaul system. This is a whole other discussion. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll add to this thread.

Remember, the higher you can place the main pod such as on a shelf over a desk or furniture, the greater the wifi coverage you will get because there will be less obstructions for the signal to pass through to get to the rest of your home. So, wifi device placement is the most important task in order to get the best wifi coverage throughout your home.

What I suggest is to go onto YouTube and enter your question in the search bar, you will be buried in solutions. As far as companies, equipment needed, price you will find it all depends on what your needs are. I cut the cable a few years ago and found there was a huge savings on rental equipment alone.

There is so much bad info on home networks on these types of posts. Most of the time when somebody has slow WiFi, they blame xfinity/spectrum, which is a fallacy. Xfinity. Spectrum, or any other isp, has nothing to do with your WiFi, that’s totally on you, they have nothing to do with your internal network. Most of the isp providers give you 1 modem/router and that’s it, which is insufficient for total coverage. For example, I have a 4 mesh router network in my house so I can totally automate every area in and around my house. If I go into a bedroom, I still get up to 800Mb speeds, I can go out in the garage and get the same speed, or on my lanai. This is due to using the backhaul of the newer 6e and above mesh networks and in some cases, hardwired connections to each router. In most rooms I have a switch connected to the router so all my devices in these rooms think they are hardwired which is much faster than when the device would use the 2.4ghz WiFi. I just designed a whole house network for a friend of mine and he is using more routers to get the coverage he needs.
$75 for 1Gb internet is expensive, I’ve been paying $39 for 1.2Gb.
1 other question that comes up regularly, fiber isp or xfinity/spectrum? Always go with fiber, it will always be a cleaner sounding connection, faster speeds especially upload speed, and much more reliable. When you pay for 1Gb speed, you will get 1Gb download speed as well as 1Gb upload speed, compared to any copper network like xfinity/spectrum where for 1Gb download speed, you’ll get 20-40Mb upload,iAd speeds, which is a joke.

A $20 tp link extender solved my lanai signal issue. Also change the router dns to cloud flare. My speeds improved dramatically.

I have Xfinity and they provided the router on install. I purchased a 2 point WAP (Wireless Access Point) network that is plugged in at my guest room (at the router) and primary bedroom to "extend" the service. All of my TVs, computers, printer and audio system run wirelessly through this system. I have fine signal on my lanai (which is close to the WAP) and in my yard for iPad, phones, etc.

Thanks for this reply. I've been trying to say the same for a long time now but not many understand that the wifi setup if not done right will cause slow and inconsistent speeds and the homeowner then blames the Internet provider.

I know I talk a lot about Quantum Fiber but although all installations may not be perfect, their service and equipment provided for the average homeowner is their way to address much of what you said and in my opinion, it works. Wifi7 equipment is very expensive right now and we are just starting to see Wifi7 devices. One of my interests is to help Villagers get Quantum Fiber installed optimally and I can say when their main Wifi pod is installed in the best location, generally you get full coverage throughout your home, even to the outside cameras. Granted you might not get full speed everywhere but for most as long as you are getting a good signal, that's all that matters to them. The cable companies are now just starting to offer Wifi7 equipment as well but they are charging extra for it or only including it in their top packages.

To my point, I often run into a neighbor or friend who has "x" company cable internet and are payin $40/month for some slow speed for example. They are generally happy but admit one of their TVs buffer from time to time and when I investigate I find it's the Wifi device causing the problem. Although the internet speed is super slow, it's fast enough for them. When I propose switching to Quantum fiber, I explain the benefit is not only the faster internet but they would get the latest Wifi equipment solving their problem. Some switch and some don't because they want to say they got the cheapest internet possible no matter that it doesn't work well. The people who switch are very happy because they don't have to concern themselves with the internet anymore because it just works.

For those reporting what internet speeds they have and how much they are paying, please mention who the provider is and if it's a one or two or "x" year promotion and or if it's part of a bundle. The reason is because somone reading these responses may want to follow-up with that company to get better service than what they currently have and need to understand the "deal" you are talking about.

You should have stopped there, but you didn't

Please provide a link to the 1.2Gbps plan I can get for $39.

"cleaner sounding connection??" I don't even hear my internet connection, how could it sound cleaner? Or are you trying to say that a digital signal over fiber is different than a digital signal over other media?

"faster speeds" Okay, with fiber I can have 1Gbps capacity that I don't use rather than having 100Mbps capacity that I don't use but in both cases, this is capacity that I don't use. Kind of like arguing whether a Ferrari or a Corvette is faster for driving around the Villages.

"much more reliable" Not even close. A fiber break looks a lot like a cable break except a fiber break takes longer to repair. Once the signal is no longer on fiber, whether it is in your home or in the data center, the same equipment is used for all media types.

Ughh, yet another non-advertisement for Quantum.

From what you wrote, it seems Quantum installations are pretty similar to installations from other companies. Your *stated* interest is "to help Villagers get Quantum Fiber installed optimally" because "all installations may not be perfect" and therefore "you might not get full speed everywhere." Sounds no different than any other install from any other company.

"for most as long as you are getting a good signal, that's all that matters to them" That's the way I felt about Xfinity and that's the way I feel about T-Mobile today. Speeds fast enough to simultaneously stream to two televisions while also using multiple devices, prices comparable to other providers (Quantum included), and full wifi speed throughout my house and garage.

Hey, if you can afford to buy and maintain a Ferrari for your trips to Winn-Dixie that's great, you'll look really cool driving it! But if there are no Ferrari dealers in the area then it's great to have choices and that Toyota in the garage can carry grocery bags just as well.