So this is a weird one... At least in my experience. Just as a preface I am a tech nerd. My knowledge in networking, however, is completely limited. In fact it's probably the lowest ranking of all my consumer tech-centered knowledge. I build my own custom water-cooled PC's, I Hackintosh, I even solder my own keyboard PCBs and program the firmware. Networking is something I've never had a firm grasp on. I know a bit above the basics. I'm hoping someone here that's much smarter than I am can explain this to me. Here we go...
Two months ago I set out to ditch Comcast Xfinity. Our family is a heavy internet usage family and I was consistently going over their data caps which gets pretty pricey. Not to mention that with Coaxial I was sharing the internet connection with the entire neighborhood. I got Frontier FIOS (500/500) service setup around the first week of February. I decided to keep Comcast active for the first week or two to make sure that I liked Frontier - this also gave me an opportunity to test the bug I'm about to describe and eliminate certain variables, like environment. I have since cancelled Comcast (I'm not a psychopath after all).
First off, I use my own router. I only have internet service with Frontier so there is no need for me to use the Arris router/gateway they supply. I use a Netgear Nighthawk XR500 - a very nice and very expensive router designed with the gamer in mind...
So my issue is this:
When I was with Comcast and with the same exact router I got around 500 mbps download speeds over 5Ghz WiFi - which is what I paid for (now granted, their upload speeds are garbage because of the tech - I think around 15 upload). Once I switched to Frontier I only get around 200mbps over WiFi 5Ghz. Now over Ethernet (my PC has a direct Ethernet connection from the router) I get the promised 500/500 so it's not a service issue. I even tried Frontier's router - a brand new, still in the box Arris NVG468MQ and got the same result - 200mbps download over 5Ghz WiFi.
Now is where it gets interesting... Since I still had Comcast service up and running at the time, I took the same router, same settings and hooked it up to the Comcast modem and guess what? I got the full 500mbps download speed over WiFi again! This is testing multiple servers via multiple methods. This also eliminates 2 variables: an issue with the router and any other environmental concerns. Also remember that the true 500mbps service exists because a direct Ethernet connection is usually flawless.
I have talked to tech after tech over at Frontier about this and NOBODY can explain why this is happening. Some try and play it off like it's normal and other's give me crappy analogies like they're talking to a 75 year old that's never owned a smart phone (frustrating). Some don't even understand the issue at all and resort to reading me some training script over and over.
So can someone help me understand what the issue is here? I'm close to switching back to Comcast! I don't wanna go back!
Second issue:
Since around 2-3 weeks ago I keep getting the ol' ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED anytime I try to access a simple google searchbar result or by even going to google.com all by itself on ANY device - wifi or ethernet connected... Even the Google-based Captcha on this site failed to populate! I WOULD chalk this up to "high-demand" over the stay at home policies but still another weird one... Say I'm on my ipad, if I disconnect and reconnect WiFi from control center (just tap the wifi icon on and off) the issue goes away for about 5 minutes and I can go direct to google.com or enter queries in the search bar with no issue. After a few searches the issue returns - forcing me to log in and out of WiFi. Basically any time I want to do a Google search I have to turn wifi on and off to get a connection. This happens on every single piece of tech I own, even my PC and Mac connected via ethernet, iPhones, iPads etc. Anyone else experiencing this? Any solutions or ideas on what might be causing it?
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