I see from my website statistics that a lot of folks are looking at the post I wrote after I got my G3100 Router to use with Fios. Since there is so much interest, I thought I would give you a quick update.
The G3100 Is Still Delivering Fast Speeds
I see I wrote the initial post at the end of August 2020, so I have had the router for a while now. My impressions have not changed. The speed is still fast, the router is still reliable, and I am still happy with my purchase. The speed I pay for from Verizon is 100mpbs. I get that or higher next to the router. It decreases to about 80 halfway through my house. I just ran a test on the computer I am typing this on, which is next to the router. As you can see from the image, my speeds were 109.3 down and 108.8 up. Yes, more than I am paying for. (Please don’t change that Verizon.)
No Serious Problems
I have had to reboot the router a couple of times when I had buffering while watching video. Over the months I have had it, I would say that I have rebooted the router due to necessity because of connection problems only 2 or 3 times. I cannot say that the router was the problem, of course.
What is Connected to my G3100
I have quite a few devices connected to my G3100. The types of devices I have connected include an Apple TV, smart home devices, and the usual computers, tablets, and phones. I use a device to connect my phones via VOIP as well. I can use my computer and talk on the phone with no problem.
It is not uncommon to have several devices using a good bit of bandwidth at the same time. No major problems, though occasional slowing if two large videos are streaming. I ran two high bandwidth webinars at the same time recently. The webinars had full-screen videos and sound. One I did not watch, I was just recording it locally using a screen recording. But when I watched the recording later there was no buffering at all. Nor did I experience buffering on the webinar I was actively watching.
What is My Setup?
Here is my setup. I have a very old house with lath plaster walls. My first router, the one I bought from Verizon when I moved into my home 6 years ago, could not get through the walls and I had to use a repeater. My house is not large, but it is rather long for its size.
The G3100 has no trouble getting through the walls. I get a strong single no matter where I am in my house. I get an ok signal if I am outside my house and very close to it. Then the signal fails pretty quickly. I do not think this is a bad thing for security reasons, I don’t want people to be able to connect to my internet connection from the road. However, if you have a house like mine and you want to make sure you get a greater reach, you may have to buy the extender that specifically works with the G3100. It is expensive. On Verizon’s website, when I first purchased the G3, I noted that Verizon specifically stated that only the extender they were selling would work. I have no idea if this is only the case with Verizon or if it is something specific to the G3100. Therefore, I would suggest you look into this if you think you will need to extend the signal.
Should You Buy a G3100?
I am very pleased with the G3100. It meets my needs, provides a consistently fast and reliable signal, and since I bought it from Verizon, works well with other Verizon services. If you are in a similar situation, I recommend a G3100. I cannot speak to how it works with other services or what will happen if you try to use it with Fios but do not buy from Verizon.