One of my techs has been reporting for a long time that he has not been getting his full speeds and has had problems with his VOIP phone. Last week, we mandated that the techs learn how to program a MIkrotik 751U router and sent one home with all of them to use. Lo and behold, after moving his VOIP adapter/router from the front of the line to behind the router he started getting his full speeds and the VOIP started working better. These are Linksys ATAs, and we have been using them with Ubiquiti AirMax radios. He went from 3-5meg top speeds to 10-12meg (what he should be getting).
This was just the latest of many issues we have been seeing with customers using consumer grade routers, especially on the wireless interface. Cannot tell you how many customers have been complaining about speed issues on 4meg+ plans that don’t exist when we test to the radio or to a laptop directly connected to the radio.
In one of the weird ironies of this business, we now have wireless last mile equipment that is capable of delivering speeds far faster than a lot of the existing consumer indoor routers (wired and wireless) can deliver to the last few yards.
Argh!