My Verizon FiOS is Speedy

Early this week I wrote about my switch from Time Warner Road Runner to Verizon FiOS. The Verizon installer was here all day and then I spent the next couple days fine tuning my computer to finally obtain the full benefits of the advertised 20 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload.

I’m spending a long weekend in Portland so I thought I’d give everyone an update before I flew across the country.

Ta-Da!

I wish I could point to a single example of what I changed to double my download speed but it required a couple applications to do the job.

Our friends at PC Pitstop have a cool little app called PC Pitstop Optimize. This application allowed me to do a lot more than the optimize program provided by Verizon. Even better, it actually told me what it was changing so I could decide for myself if I wanted to make the change.

I also used WinPatrol PLUS to review many of Windows Services which were set to Automatically start even though I had no interest in using their associated product on a regular basis. I certainly didn’t need six services running just to phone home to check for autoupdates. WinPatrol allowed me to set some Windows Services to Disabled or Manual and I immediately noticed that more memory and resources were available.

I’m still not ready to give my full blessing to Verizon FiOS but I’m really happy with my new found speed. Stay tuned for more FiOS details as I discover them.

Verizon FiOS Speed Test Paradox

This weekend I switched my home office to the new Verizon FiOS fiber optic service. I’m pretty excited to be one of the first in our area to have it. I pay a few dollars more but the advertised speeds are twice what I’ve been getting on Road Runner.

The package I signed up for is 20 Mbps download and 5 Mbps Upload for $49.95 a month. Time Warner is charging me $38.53 for an advertised 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload.

On Road Runner my advertised 10/1 would usually test as 5–6 Mbps down and 0.7 on upload. When I tested my FiOS connection today on DSLReports.com I was pleased with my new upload speed but a little concerned with my download.

Verizon FiOS Test
(Advertised 20/5)

When they installed FiOS they ran an optimizer program which I assume changes the registry values like MTU that many other optimizers do. I plugged back into my Road Runner to see if maybe the optimizer helped their service too. It did make my upload a little better then my previous tests but I’m obviously pleased with the improved speed of FiOS.

Road Runner Test
(Advertised 10/1)

I’m not ready to give my full blessing to FiOS yet. I’m especially suspicious because when I go to Verizons own speedtest page, I get values much higher than I get using DSLReports.com. When I go to Verizon Central they consistently tell me the following.

http://speedtest.verizon.net/

So much for truth in advertising. For instance, my 1000 GB hard drive only has 926 GB’s available which is common. This kind of “rounding up marketing” is getting out of hand.

Update: Its working better. Now if only they would come back and fix my phone. See http://billpstudios.blogspot.com/2007/11/my-verizon-fios-is-speedy.html