Problems with the Fios 20/5 connection speed in my area dropping down to less than 3mbs.

Question

I have written out a flyer that I plan to go door to door with. Since I am under contract with Verizon, I am forced to honor my side of the contract. Even if they are allowed to make me pay for a service that I am not completely getting. I am very displeased and as soon as my contract is up, I will change back to My local cable companies all in one that does not require a contract and has no issue such as the one I am having.
Do you have Verizon Fios Internet?
Are you on the 20/5 connection?
If so, you may not be getting the speed you are paying for. I am on a 20/5 connection and when my computer is on for longer than an hour the internet download speed with Verizon Fios starts to slow down until it is below 3mbs. It takes about 24 hours to get down to 3mbs but only about an hour or two to get down to about 6-7mbs when I am paying for 20mbs…
I have 3 computers in my home that have Windows Vista, Windows XP home edition and Windows Media Edition 2005. All of the computers run into this same exact issue, I have tried every setting I could think of with my 24 years of computer technical experience. I finally took one machine with Windows XP and ran a full format on the hard drive and reinstalled a fresh Windows Xp Operating system onto the hard drive so it is a bare bones OS. This way there is no other software on the machine that could possibly be causing the problem and found that when I connected online through Verizon Fios the machine still ran into the same exact issue. This proves to me that the issue is not on any of my machines.
Now all of this time my buddy that lives 1.2 miles away from my house has been having the same issue with three computers at his home also. He has Windows Vista on two machines and Windows XP Pro on one.
When I concluded that it was a Verizon Fios issue, after a few months of trying to get by, researching, diagnosing and losing much information in order to verify it was on Verizon’s side, I contacted technical support at Verizon’s online website. The agent and I went through the regular procedure that anyone would have to go through and I patiently explained what I had done to try to diagnose the issue. The agent came to the conclusion that he could not figure out the problem so he guessed that the Verizon router/modem may be the issue and told me he would send me a new one by mail.
I received the new Verizon router/modem, installed it and had to call to have it activated. Afterward it still had the same exact issue as the prior router/modem. So now we know it’s not my computers, it’s not the router/modem. My Verizon router/modem is connected right at the Optical Network Terminal (ONT), which is the box that connects the fiber-optics to your home, usually just inside or outside your garage wall. Mine is just outside…
From here my buddy, who has been having this problem also the entire time, called the local office of Verizon Fios and an installer was setup to come over to his home and trouble shoot the issue. My buddy called me and told me when the installer was headed to his home and I met him at his home to see what the installer found and in hope that my issue would be fixed at the same time. The installer went through the system at his house and was frustrated about not finding the reason for the issue and ready to leave without fixing anything. I simply asked that he stay long enough to see the issue present itself within an hour-hour and a half.
His laptop itself already showed the speed drop from 20mbs to between 16-17mbs, it was on its way down. He basically told us something that online tech support already stated to me, it is extremely difficult to prove it is on Verizon’s side. In other words it is extremely difficult to prove it, in a way that will convince Verizon to check its own servers, routers and software updates to their own systems. The installer, good guy, couldn’t/wouldn’t stay but we did convince him not to simply drop the issue. He called shop and they sent another installer out to take over the issue.
The new installer, great guy, got up to speed on what was already done at my buddies home. The first installer, checked and replaced the Verizon router/modem, checked the wiring and splitters. Basically went through the entire system up to the Optical Network Terminal (ONT), the box that connects the fiber-optics to your home. He pulled and replaced the Optical Network Terminal (ONT), thinking that perhaps the unit was compromised. While he was doing this job a tech was called and asked to stop by for assistance with the issue. The tech checked the computers inside and tried to do some settings that the main office informed him to try. I explained to the tech that the same issue was happening at my house, that I went through every setting I could think of and find online to help alleviate the issue. After some shop talk about what I had tried, including the full format and reinstall of the operating system on one of my machines, he just as I came to the conclusion that it couldn’t be with the computers and since everything that had to do with the Verizon Fios system from the street to the end-user computer had been checked, verified and/or replaced, the issue had to be coming from Verizon’s main office.
The installer had already checked the main at the road that has the 3x2 green service cover on it by the side walk. Everything was in good working order. The tech called the main office to see if my buddy and I were on the same hub, basically a big splitter that continues the service from the main office to the homes, we were not. So that was ruled out…
My understanding of the system ends there. The only other components I know of are the Main branch’s routers, servers and software.
Verizon had a new connection speed added to their system, 25/15 about the same time our issue began. So I am guessing that when they updated the system to include this new connection speed they corrupted the software for the 20/5 connection.
We have been waiting to hear from the tech that was at my buddy’s house, to see if the issue will be dealt with. My buddy has called him a couple of times and he has mentioned that he is trying to get it addressed and to call back if we hadn’t heard from him. He remembered who he and I were and what the issue was, so I believe he is taking it seriously. How far he can move the issue is beyond me…
I want to add that my buddy and I have been customers with the all in one package from Verizon Fios since their services have moved into our area, about a year and a half… It has only been since about June that this issue has presented itself, before then we were on 7th heaven with the speeds. We couldn’t have been more than happy with the services.
This issue has caused that to all go afoul, not only do the speeds get down to less than 3mbs but the speed is not smooth at all. Rather the 3mbs speed is stop and go, freezing in between at times, very choppy. Barely usable at times, unless you restart the computers and start over.
We are hoping that anyone with Verizon Fios Internet Services will keep an eye on their speeds by going to http://speedtest.net and doing tests to verify they are getting the speeds they are paying Verizon for.
This is what it will take for Verizon to take this issue seriously is to gather everyone on the system that may be having the same issue. I believe it is everyone that is within the 1.2 miles from my house to my buddy’s and will distribute flyers to each and every house in between.
If you find that your speed is not as fast as it should be please contact me and I will add you to the list, this way we can see exactly how far this problem covers and perhaps it will also help to show a pattern and understanding as to why the issue is present in the first place.
My contact information,
I have left this out here, you can contact me on these forums...

Answer 1

Actually what this came down to was an issue between Windows Vista and an Ethernet Card on one of the machines in each of our local networks.
Even though our two machines are 6 years apart, we both have the same ethernet adapter on our main desktops. A RealTek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet Nic. It seems that the adapter does not work at the 20mbs download speeds with Vista. For some reason the adapter does not shut down when the computer does? I don't understand why but it doesn't, it keeps the connection alive. I removed the ethernet cable and pulled the power cable and had my two other computers still connected to the network and found that the issue was resolved. The way I found out was that I used the connections on my main computer to hook up one I had laying around and through further testing found the problem no longer existed...
Then I realized that my buddy and I installed Windows Vista at about the same time, a couple of months ago. Funny how you can forget an important detail like that. Then I remembered that he had the same identical ethernet adapter as I did, I had noticed that while trouble shooting his computer at his home but didn't think it was important at the time. Until the issue was narrowed down to the adapter, then it all seemed to all fall into line.
Quite humbling... In the end, anyone who has Windows Vista and this NIC probably will have problems with the 20mbs download speed of the computers on their own networks. I tried the latest Vista driver from RealTek and also tried to roll back the driver, with no success....
Back at the beginning when we first had fios installed in our homes there wasn't an issue when we had the 10/2 speeds and had Vista. Then we decided to change from Vista to XP because we both were having issues as to what programs you could use and which you could not, shortly after having fios installed. Then when verizon upgraded us to 20/5 we were amazed at the speed and still had no issue because we had XP on our main computers with the RealTek adapters...
We reinstalled Vista because it seemed like we were having more issues with XP by getting hit with Antivirus2008 and its variants and thought it time for a change back...
It didn't really hit us that Vista could be the culprit because we both have a laptop in our networks that have had Vista on them from the get go when there were no issues... We also didn't notice just how bad it was right away and over time kind of left the Vista install out of the equation.
Just strange that one computer can effect all the other computers on the network, even when it is shut down...
I allowed the other two computers to run 24hours and the issue did not present itself, when I added the main computer with the RealTek adapter back to the mix it reappeared. The Realtek adapter is the only real common denominator between his machine and mine.
So now we have three choices,
We can go back to Windows XP.
We can buy a new NIC or a wireless card to replace the RealTek...
Hopefully this post will help anyone else who runs into this problem, it has been very frustrating to say the least...
Thanks to everyone for their help and I apologize for complaining about verizon when it was not a verizon issue. I came to the conclusion that the only part verizon really played was upgrading us to a 20/5 tier which I am thankful for...
Would be nice if this card was on a list that Verizon support could use to troubleshoot , diagnose or eliminate for future support issues.
Message Edited by keiser0619 on 08-06-2009 03:58 PM