Now That You Have 2 Gig Speed, How Do You Get the Most Out of It?
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2 Gig internet is so fast, you can’t just plug a cable into your router and expect to get the best speeds. If you want the fastest internet around, you have to configure your home network, update your devices and make sure everything is compatible. Let’s look at how to make the most of a 2 Gig connection.
The 2 Gig internet advantage
2 Gig fiber optic internet offers symmetrical upload and download speeds of up to 2 Gbps—that’s ridiculously quick. With that kind of bandwidth, you can download a 10 gigabyte file in less than a minute. Most of the time, you won’t be able to come anywhere close to maxing out your connection.
But here’s the thing about 2 Gig internet: It means everyone and every device in your house gets incredibly fast connection speeds at the same time. It doesn’t matter if someone is downloading an HD movie, video gaming or conference calling—your connection will stay lightning quick.
Make the most of Frontier’s 7 Gig speed too
Multi-gig speed is a Frontier specialty, and now we’ve even pushed speeds all the way to 7 Gig. That’s super-fast speed: 7,000 Mbps upload and 7,000 Mbps download. Frontier Fiber 7 Gig delivers unstoppable speed + our most popular extras and Wi-Fi 7, all in one premium package. When you sign up for it, we’ll help you make the most of it, starting with the right router that will get you to lower latency, ultra gaming performance and an internet experience with bandwidth for everybody. Find Frontier 7 Gig here.
Getting a fast wired connection
Wired Ethernet connections allow for faster, more stable connections than wireless connections. With the right setup and compatible devices, you can get the full 2 Gbps speeds over a wired connection.
A fast wired connection requires a few things:
- A gigabit router capable of handling 2 Gig speeds.
- An Ethernet cable that can handle all that bandwidth.
- A device with a port that’s capable of handling 2 Gig speeds. The latest games consoles, like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, for example, have Ethernet ports that can only support 1 Gbps speeds. You can easily upgrade your gaming consoles and computers with an adapter or dongle for your Ethernet connection.
Gigabit routers
A compatible powerful broadband router will probably come with your internet service provider’s fiber plan, but if not, you’ll need to get one with a Multi-Gigabit port (which just means it has a port that can handle 2 Gig-plus speeds). Check online as there’s only a handful of them.
Gigabit switches
Most routers that can support Gigabit internet speeds only have a single Multi-Gigabit port. If you want more than one device to be able to get the maximum speeds possible, you’ll also need a device called a network switch with multiple Multi-Gig ports.
Cat6 (or better) Ethernet cables
Not all Ethernet cables offer the same speeds, even though they look the same. To get 2 Gig support, you need at least Cat6 cable; Cat5e or lower won’t do it. (You can normally find which category of cable you have written on the side.)
A device or dongle that can handle 2 Gig
As discussed above, most computers and other devices don’t have Ethernet ports that can support 2 Gig speeds. (It’s an option on some high-end PCs and Macs, but if you don’t know you have one, you probably don’t.)
This doesn’t mean you can’t get the most from your 2 Gig connection, however, it just means you need to use an adapter. USB-A 3.0 and USB-C ports (which most computers do have) can support 2 Gig speeds using an adapter. When you’re purchasing, you’ll see the adapters described as 2.5 G or Gb or Gbps. Select any of these to upgrade your Ethernet adapter for your new 2 Gig speed.
Getting a fast wireless connection
Wi-Fi connections are a little harder to control for than wired connections, as there are multiple factors that affect your internet speed, including the Wi-Fi standard your devices support, how far they are from the router and what materials your home is built from. A brand new iPhone 13 placed right next to a top-of-the-line Wi-Fi 6 router is going to get faster wireless speeds than an iPhone X two rooms away from an older router.
With that said, there are some ways to improve your Wi-Fi speeds and make the most of your 2 Gig connection.
Look for Wi-Fi 6 devices
The latest and fastest Wi-Fi standard is Wi-Fi 6. It lets Wi-Fi routers have faster speeds with more (compatible) devices than Wi-Fi 5 (which you’re more likely to see called 802.11ac). To get the fastest wireless connection you can from your 2 Gig service, you’ll need both a Wi-Fi 6 router (which will likely come with your plan) and Wi-Fi 6–compatible devices.
This means you may need to upgrade some of your gear if you want to see the fastest possible speeds. The iPhone 11 and newer, for example, support Wi-Fi 6, but older iPhones don’t.
Similarly, you also may need to update the firmware or operating systems in your various devices, so they can take advantage of your faster router.
Set up your Wi-Fi network correctly
To get the fastest possible Wi-Fi speeds throughout your home, you’ll need to set up your network correctly. You can’t just plug your router in anywhere and hope to get a lightning fast connection in the far corners of your home.
You need to:
- Place your router as centrally as possible.
- Avoid possible sources of wireless interference, like microwaves, large appliances and electrical wiring.
- Consider getting range extenders or setting up a mesh network to boost signal around your house.
For more, check out our article on getting the strongest Wi-Fi signal.
Don’t stress it
If you have a 2 Gig connection, you’re on the cutting edge of home internet. It’s going to take a few years for every device to support such fast speeds—but that doesn’t matter.
The point of a 2 Gig connection isn’t that one device has ludicrous speeds, but that every device has really great speeds (and important ones like your computer have incredible speeds). It’s not necessary for your smart speaker or smart lights to support Wi-Fi 6, as they are inherently low-bandwidth devices. The advantage of a 2 Gig connection for them is that they’ll never detract from your internet speed when you’re working, gaming, watching a movie or otherwise doing some kind of higher-bandwidth activity with a device that is making full use of the fast speeds of your amazing 2 Gig internet service.
Is your 2 Gig speed from Frontier?
If you’re still on the lookout for the right ultra fast internet connection for streaming, gaming, working from home and running your smart home, find out about Frontier Fiber here. Then check here to see when it’s available at your address.
Do you know what adapter should I purchase to upgrade my Xbox series x I have 2000 mbps internet but the Xbox port can only handle 1000 mbps, in your article you said that we can easily upgrade the console can you please let me know how n what I need to buy for this thank you
Hi Oswald, this is a great question. Let me first start by saying there is really no reason to do this, but it may be fun to try! For gaming, increased bandwidth beyond the 950Mbps you would get from Gigabit Ethernet would provide no observable difference when it comes to in-game performance. In fact, the amount of bandwidth needed while playing a game is really quite low. Stability and very low latency, also attributes of Frontier Fiber, are far more important. Chances are you wouldn’t see much faster downloads, either, as I suspect Microsoft’s servers are going to load balance and max out on their side well below what your bandwidth is capable of with our 2Gig service. The real intent, of which, is to have monster amounts of bandwidth available to many users with high bandwidth needs under one roof rather than one person saturating that entire connection. With all of that said, this would be an interesting experiment. Since Microsoft puts Gigabit Ethernet on the Xbox series X, it may not work with USB adapters, but then again, it may. You would want to find a USB-A (not C) 3.1 2.5GBase-T Ethernet adapter, or faster. 5GBase-T would also work, as would 10GBase-T but this could also become cost prohibitive as these Ethernet adapters are not as ubiquitous as Gigabit Ethernet because there is rarely a need for a single device to need more than Gigabit throughput. Hope this helps! ^Michael
I tried a Trendnet 2.5G adapter on my series x and it simply didn’t recognize it. I had it plugged into the USB port. Oh well, sticking with max 1 GBPS on series x. My mac mini and windows pc using the adapter gets me 2.0 GBPS speeds and I love it!!!
How can I figure out my wifi password? Or can I just change it? I’ve tried everything I thought it might be.
Hi Martha, I have just the answer for that! https://fybr.to/3nP3ZnN is an article on our help center that should be able to help! The easiest will be to install the MyFrontier App! If you have Eero devices you would want to use the Eero App. If none of these options help you can reach out to our support team on Social Media at the links below. ^Michael
Hello, does the Frontier Arris router model# NVG468MQ support your 2GB service? I currently use it to receive your 1GB service. Ty
Hi David, great question. We provide different hardware for our 2Gig and 5Gig service to better support the higher bandwidth. It is possible an NVG model router may be used if a voice line is included in your service. ^Michael
I can’t seem to find a solid answer for this: if you have a 2gbps service and an AX signal from the router to a device that’s wifi 6 compatible, what’s the fastest wifi speed you could expect within say 10 feet or so of the router? Is 1.4-1.5gbps a reasonable expectation?
This is a great question, Adam! Wi-Fi 6/AX is capable of breaking the gigabit threshold in true throughput. Wi-Fi 6E can even exceed 2Gbit/s of true throughput in ideal conditions. The real consideration are those conditions. Any type of radio frequency interference from any source in the 2.4ghz, 5ghz, and 6ghz (6E) bands will impact performance of a wireless signal. Increases in distance, Wi-Fi signals must obey the inverse square law, and physical obstructions will also have a significant impact. Ideally, if ultimate performance is desired, a wired connection is the way to go. It will always be faster and have lower latency. Fast Wi-Fi is great, but the primary use case should focus on the convenience and portability over the raw throughput, so even if one device is only seeing 300-400Mbit/s a room or two away, in real world use it’s unlikely you would notice any issues, particularly when considering that 4k UHD streaming, the most common use of bandwidth in today’s connected home, only requires about 25Mbit/s. Having plenty of bandwidth on tap for bursts of big downloads and more importantly, sharing with all your connected devices, is where our multi-Gig connectivity really shines! Thanks for the question! ^Michael
Hello, I just had your 2gb service installed. I noticed that my wired data rate is one gigabyte per second, falling into your “good” category. Is this to be expected?
Hi Drew, thanks for the question. There are a few possibilities at play here, but the most likely one is that the Ethernet interface on the machine you’re testing with may be limited to the 1 Gig. This is the most common speed of Ethernet interface that you will find in devices today and generally speaking it should be fine for most use cases. The primary use for our multi-Gig service isn’t necessarily for a single device to utilize and spike throughput for all of that available bandwidth but rather for today’s busy household to have all the bandwidth necessary for many users. That doesn’t mean with our 2Gig service that you can’t use all that bandwidth for one computer. You would need to make sure that every interface from the router to your computer was capable of at least 2Gig throughput. For Ethernet that would be 2.5GBase-T and for MoCA that would be MoCA 2.5. You can reach out via Social (links below!) and we can make sure that you have the right hardware from us and even help you check the adapter in your computer is good to go. ^Michael
Can I stream television station through my smart TV with Frontier
Hi William! Absolutely! Frontier Fiber is a fantastic match for any household’s streaming needs! We’ve even partnered with YouTube TV to stream all your favorite channels! ^Michael
will my 100ft 6E shielded ethernet cable be able to serve an updated 2G fiber service?
Hi John, thanks for the questions! Regarding YouTube TV we refer you to their page https://fybr.to/428JBOq to see their lineup. As for the question regarding your Ethernet cable, Cat6E works up to 10GBase-T at lengths up to 100 meters and is backward compatible to 5GBase-T, 2.5GBase-T, and 1000Base-T so that wouldn’t be an issue! ^Michael
What extender do I need to have to get wi-fi to the other end of my house
Hi Vanessa, fantastic question! There are many possible answers to this one but the best possible solution would be a mesh! Here’s a link to our blog article explaining what a mesh is: https://fybr.to/3CdjxFF There are many great Wi-Fi mesh solutions out there including Amazon’s Eero line, which is who we have partnered with. If you’re interested in adding Eero hardware to your service with us, you can reach us using the Social links below. ^Michael
I saw the Eero pro 6E lists it can do 1.6gbps wireless. Are there any others that can do 2gbps WIRELESS? I can’t seem to find any other models that list their wireless speed. They only seem to list their wired speed.
Thanks for the question, Ryan. You are correct that ISPs and hardware manufacturers list wired speeds because wired speed is more representative of the actual speed capabilities and will always exceed wireless. Wireless shouldn’t be looked at as a replacement to wired, in fact I encourage people to use Ethernet in their home when possible for devices supporting it, and when mobility isn’t required.
Wireless connections using Wi-Fi 6E at both the router and device max out at around 1.6Gbps of actual throughput. Because Wi-Fi must adhere to the basic rules of physics, throughput diminishes rapidly as distance increases following the inverse squared law. Add on top of that any walls or other competing signals in any of the 3 bands used by Wi-Fi 6E it’s not out of the ordinary to see throughput over Wi-Fi vary throughout the home and at different times of the day.
The final complexity regarding Wi-Fi throughput are the devices, which is often overlooked. Wi-Fi technology has been advancing rapidly, but the most common adapters built in to our devices don’t get an upgrade. An 18 month old mobile phone, for example, is likely only a dual band wireless device, not Tri-band Wi-Fi 6E. Other than the newest and most high-end laptop computers, they too most often have a wireless adapter a generation or even two behind! This may seem odd, but it ultimately boils down to use case. The most common use case for bandwidth is streaming and 4k UHD only requires about 25Mbps. Other than large file downloads, nearly everything else from gaming to web browsing and email uses considerably less bandwidth.
The latest and greatest Wi-Fi isn’t necessarily about maximum throughput for a single device at all, it’s about the overall user experience. Do pages and videos load and play without buffering? Do I have signal throughout my home? Is it reliable / stable even though there are several competing networks in range? Is it secure from unwanted intrusion? By comparison, a 10Gbps Ethernet connection is secure by default, it’s not flying through the air. It has a stable 10Gbps of throughput, minus a tiny amount of network overhead. It does this over a 2ft long cable or a 100 yard cable. Most importantly, that’s the cable that’s feeding the wireless access point that provides the convenient Wi-Fi connection.
If maximum bandwidth to a single device is a priority, top of the line wired hardware is the way to go. Balance that with a good stable Wi-Fi connection in the home for those portable devices and you can’t go wrong. Frontier can help you get set up with both! ^Michael
Excellent post. Keep posting such kind of information on your blog. Im really impressed by your blog.
Why does the Sagemcom Fast 5290 have only 1gb LAN ports? So how is it even possible to get wired 2gb speed to my desktop? Is the 2gb speed only designed for wifi and not wired?
Hi Erik, thanks for this question! There is a solution to get wired 2Gig using the Sagemcom using its MoCa connected extender since that device does have a 2.5GBase-T Ethernet connection. The primary reason for this hardware design would be the cost-benefit relationship and the common use cases for multi-gig Internet connectivity. Short of exceptionally large file up and downloads, the need to have multi-Gig speeds to a single device would be rare versus a more common use case of supporting many simultaneous devices and users. This was also the design philosophy behind Eero’s 6E, which has only a single 2.5GBase-T interface, the other being Gig Ethernet. Multi-gig Ethernet interfaces are still relatively uncommon in devices and often come with a pretty significant price premium compared to the more common 1 Gig Ethernet found in most hardware, so loading devices up with a bunch of costly multi-Gig Ethernet ports only really serves to increase the cost, but not necessarily provide a performance advantage for a majority of users who would use them at 1 Gig Ethernet speeds. Soon we will have options available for our customers to get Eero Max 7 hardware, which has 2 10GBase-T and 2 2.5GBase-T Ethernet ports. If your need for speed needs satisfied sooner, Amazon started shipping just recently, as did many other manufacturer’s Wi-Fi 7 and multi-Gig capable hardware. Just be aware, you’ll find there is a premium price to be paid for the latest bleeding edge performance hardware https://fybr.to/3RUrozn. Hope this answers your question! ^Michael
I need 2.5G for home security devices, how do I get this from my 2G router?
Hi CB, thanks for the question. I’m not sure what security devices you’re using that need 2.5GBase-T Ethernet speeds to each device given that even 8K video only needs around 50Mbps of bandwidth, which is a tiny fraction of 2500Mbps. You would end up needing to implement some of your own LAN hardware to connect those devices as our best upcoming option is limited to 3 LAN ports that can support 2.5BGBase-T, that would be the Eero Max 7 once released. ^Michael
I have a camera I want to hook up but it says I have to use the 2 gig. How do I switch it to 2 gig?
Hi Stacey, thanks for the question! I believe this question is confusing 2.4ghz, one of the multiple frequencies used by Wi-Fi, and 2Gig Fiber internet, which is an indication of the speed. These two technologies aren’t related to one another and you should be able to use any security camera with our Fiber regardless of which speed you subscribe to from 500, 1Gig, 2Gig, and 5Gig.
But let’s talk about that camera and the 2.4ghz issue. In short, if your camera will only work on 2.4ghz and does not work with dual or tri-band Wi-Fi networks that use band steering, I would suggest that you consider an upgrade to your camera, otherwise you may have to take steps that will compromise modern Wi-Fi features that ultimately improve network performance.
For several revisions of Wi-Fi technology, Wi-Fi has had multiple frequency bands available for use and in 2009 the Wi-Fi standard began to include both 2.4ghz and 5ghz frequencies. Band steering was introduced as a majority of connected devices evolved to support both of these frequencies. This technology allows the network to treat the multiple frequencies as a single network and use the one that will work best for that device at that moment – generally speaking, 2.4ghz is slower, but works at greater range whereas 5ghz (and now 6ghz for new tri-band networks) are faster but have a shorter range. Older devices that are incompatible with band steering mutli-band Wi-Fi networks will simply fail to connect. The typical workaround available from Wi-Fi routers that support it is to split the 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks in to two separate networks. This function is not available on many new routers because there is waning demand for supporting this network limitation. Doing this creates an inconvenience to users of modern multi-band devices because it requires you to manually disconnect and reconnect every other device to the 2.4ghz or 5ghz network based on where you are in your home instead of it happening automatically. And finally it also compromises overall performance because separating 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks will now allow the use of both band simultaneously, which is a key feature of Wi-Fi 6 and 7 technologies. ^Michael
I currently have Astound cable with Internet, Phone, and TV. I want to transition to Frontier fiber but am unsure how to set things up with the Phone. I would like to connect to the existing wired house phone wiring and use existing phones.
Hi Chris, thank you for the question. Over fiber we deliver phone service as a Voice over IP line that comes from a voice port on the provided gateway router. This is often the way cable delivers their phone lines as well. The voice line from the router is then connected to an outlet and the continuity of the phone wiring at your home should result in dial tone working at every other voice port you currently have. ^Michael