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What kind of performance should I expect
from my new SFCN Fiber service?

Many factors affect the speed and throughput of an Internet connection. You can use the information on this page to help you get the most out of your high speed fiber optic pipe to the Internet.

A few things to keep in mind...

• You will get the fastest connection speed by having your device directly connected with an Ethernet cable. As good as wireless connections are getting, they still face enviromental interference issues and cannot yield overall connection speeds as good as Ethernet.

• Average expected speeds
  based on the capabilities
  of your wireless devices:

  Wireless Standard	Theoretical Maximum	Real Average
  802.11a	54mb/s	25mb/s
  802.11b	12mb/s	5mb/s
  802.11g	54mb/s	25mb/s
  802.11n (N300)	300mb/s	50mb/s
  802.11n (N600)	600mb/s	80mb/s
  802.11ac (AC750)	750mb/s	100mb/s
  802.11ac (AC1750)	1750mb/s	300mb/s
  802.11ac (AC3200)	3200mb/s	600mb/s

  
  

  NOTE: The theoretical maximums
  count speed in both directions.

  Wireless connections do not hit full gigabit speeds. There are many factors that play into real-world wireless performance. The latest wireless standards have theoretical gigabit speeds, (with zero interference and with distances of inches or less) but in actual practice they are usually well below 300Mb/s. Below is a list of many, but not all of the factors that can affect wireless performance:
  • Distance. The farther away your device is from your wireless router, the weaker the signal will be, which will slow the connection speed.
  • Placement and configuration of wireless router. Ideally, your wireless router should be centrally located and on the second floor of a multi-story home. Your router requires some ventillation and shouldn't be in enclosed cabinets or shelves, and should be standing upright. Improper placement of the wireless router can greatly reduce the connection speed you receive on any device. You will also want to ensure that the firmware is up to date and that QOS is disabled on older routers.
  • Construction of your home. The building materials your home is made of can have a negative effect on wireless signal strength, resulting in reduced connection speeds - especially thick masonry and metal framing.
  • Interference from other wireless networks or devices. If your wireless router's signal is competing with other networks or devices, your speeds could be affected as well. Some of the typical household devices that can cause interference to wireless networks are: microwaves, cordless phones, baby monitors, Bluetooth devices, wireless peripherals such as keyboards and mice, fluorescent lights and wireless security cameras and devices.
  • Equipment. Different types of wireless devices will use different types of wireless equipment and standards. To reach the highest speeds supported by your wireless router, devices connecting to that router need to also support the newest wireless standard in use by your wireless router. Typically, with a wireless router that supports 802.11ac, you will want older and slower devices connected to the 2.4GHz band and the newer, faster devices connected to the 5GHz band.


• Even hardwired speeds can come in lower than full gigabit. Even though the speeds you'll get with your new SFCN Fiber connection will be much faster than you ever had with traditional cable modem service, many things can still reduce your speeds:

• Remember: Fiber optic cables are
  fragile and expensive to repair.
  
  Use caution around fiber cables!

  Out-of-date hardware or software on your computer or device. When you are using a computer or device to access the Internet, everything running on that device can affect the speeds you are receiving. Your network interface card is the first thing to consider. Only 1Gb network cards have the ability to operate at the speeds available on a gigabit fiber connection, but they didn't become the standard in most machines until around 2012.
  Also, most older operating systems and processors are not capable of communicating at gigabit speeds, and some of the applications you have running can limit your speeds as well. Industry leaders recommend the following ideal computer specifications to more accurately test gigabit speeds: a Core i7 2.7 GHz quad-core processor with a 128 GB solid state hard drive, 8 GB RAM, and a 1Gb NIC running at least Windows 7 64-bit operating system.
• The website you're trying to access has a slower than gigabit connection to it or it simply cannot run that fast. The Internet is made up of a collection of computers, servers, network equipment and network connections located all over the world. The fiber connection that you now have could be considered your path to the front gate of the Internet. Although you'll be screaming fast from your house to that front gate, you'll be travelling through many other network connections to get to the website you're trying to access. Each connection is different and can be of varying speed which can lower your overall connection speed.
• Your router may not be powerful enough to handle the speeds of a gigabit connection. Some routers have slower processors that can have a difficult time keeping up with data on a gigabit connection. Some options in this case are to disable any QOS or packet prioritization in the router configuration, make sure that the router's firmware is the latest available, or consider replacing the router with one capable of gigabit speeds.


• For the best results in running a speed test on your new SFCN Fiber connection, follow these helpful tips:
  • Use the newest device you have available to you.
  • Connect your device with an Ethernet cable directly to an available Ethernet port on your router, or even directly to the SFCN Fiber media converter.
  • Ensure that no other applications are running on your device, and that no other devices connected to the network are using large amounts of data. Note: If you disable Windows Firewall and/or any anti-virus software running on the device, you may see improved results, but do so at your own risk.