I have Verizon FiOS, which includes a wifi router (integrated to what I will call a cable modem but I don’t know if that’s the right word for this device). I believe it is proprietary–I can’t just walk into Best Buy and get another one off the shelf.
The range isn’t great. The signal drops off dramatically at about 30 feet and is barely there beyond 50 feet, especially if it has to go through a wall. I tried a range extender halfway between the router and my bedroom. I get a great signal from the extender but the bandwidth is just as bad as if I go directly to the wifi router.
The device is probably about 4 years old and I’m thinking there have been improvements since then. I was thinking I might just buy a new wifi router and cable it to the Verizon router. I know there are upgrades to the wifi standard all the time which give faster data rates, but do they also give a longer range?
(I use one of those devices that uses house wiring, but that requires an Ethernet cable to the computer at the other end and is not wifi. I use it for my son’ Xbox.)
That’s what I ended up doing. My Verizon FIOS-supplied router is in the basement and only does “G” wireless. I ran an Ethernet cable from that router up to a center room in the top floor and connected a more modern router (which does “N” wireless) to that cable.
The main advantage to this approach for me is that the second router has much better wireless range, both because it’s an “N” class and because of its location. Also, if I ever switched from Verizon to, say, Comcast my various devices wouldn’t be affected because everything connects to my router, not Verizon’s. Speed isn’t impacted by the Verizon router’s wireless capabilities because the connection between the two routers is wired Ethernet (which is faster than either wireless connection).
The main disadvantage is that on those rare occasion when I have Internet connections I now have to check two routers to find where the problem is.
Internet connection problems!! Those rare occasions when I have Internet connection problems!!!
I am considering buying a new Verizon routerfor $100, but I’m not sure it’s the best use of that money compared to other modern routers.
If I get this, I could plug my old router to the WAN port to get the extra four LAN ports to use for closer, less-used devices. But I don’t know if I will get better range out of this.
In the PC World reviews I linked above they do empirical range tests but the manufacturers never seem to publish range performance. What kind of range would I be able to expect from this new Verizon router?