UPDATED 2020 CONVERGE REVIEW HERE: https://www.karenmnl.com/converge-internet-review-2020/
We’ve been using Converge since 2017, and I have been chronicling our experience here:
https://www.karenmnl.com/converge-fiber-internet-review-worth-switch/
https://www.karenmnl.com/converge-ict-review-one-year-later/
Of course, the more we appreciated the speed and bandwidth, the more gadgets we had connecting to our wifi, and we had problems with connections dropping, etc…
A few readers have suggested that we buy a separate wifi router, but I didn’t want to spend extra money on it. I feel that the stock modem router provided by Converge should be good enough. Also, at that time, I still wasn’t convinced that the problem was with the Converge modem/router. Basically, I didn’t want to spend extra money because I feel that providing a good modem router to their customers is part of Converge’s responsibility and part of their package.
WHY WE FINALLY HAD TO BUY OUR OWN WIFI ROUTER
So, the more wifi connection issues we experienced, the more I called Converge, and finally, after almost a year of calling Converge every month and they just telling me that “everything is normal based on their checking”, someone from their technical team actually delved into our problem. He saw that we had 19 gadgets connecting to the wifi, and he said that it was too many, the stock Converge modem/router can’t handle it, and that’s why it’s dropping connections or restarting or overheating. I’m like, 19 is a lot??? 
We had family coming over from abroad to stay with us for the holidays, and it was important that our internet be working fine. Although I still personally feel that as a customer, I shouldn’t be shelling out extra money for better equipment because the one provided by Converge is too low quality, what else can we do?
Quick Overview for the non-techie:
The equipment provided by Converge is a 2-in-1 kind of gadget that is a modem and a wifi router in one. What we are going to do is to use the Converge gadget purely as a modem, and then use another gadget purely as a wifi router. This way, the Converge gadget will not get too “stressed” doing too much work that it can’t handle.
BUYING AND INSTALLING THE ASUS RT-AC1300UHP
We have an old Tenda router that we bought at Octagon years ago for around P1,700+, so I tried connecting that first. This is a manual process that involves a lot of going through the 192.18.1.1 settings, first connecting my pc directly to the Converge fiber modem via LAN, changing status to bridge mode, deactivating wifi, etc… I’m not going to discuss the whole process because it would make this post too long.
Tip: Install a Screen Capture extension on Google Chrome to take full page screenshots of your Converge settings before you change anything (I use Full Page Screen Capture). Save the screenshots. This way, you can put the settings back to the original settings in case you mess things up.
Anyway, after I successfully connected the Tenda, there wasn’t any improvement. If I recall, we also had problems with the Tenda before, and that’s why we only kept it as backup. It used to overheat a lot and drop connections, too. Okay, so that sucks. We threw it away now because I’m on Marie Kondo mode. Damn thing does not spark joy. 😀
And that’s how we finally bit the bullet and ordered an Asus RT-AC1300UHP router from Lazada for P4,750. Other sellers were selling it for P5,000+ and this was the cheapest for this model. Delivery took 2 weeks though! 🙁
I asked techie friends and the recommended router brand was really Asus, and they insisted that I get the high-powered one because of all our gadgets. I was like, are you sure? That’s 5k… can’t I just get away with buying the 2k Asus routers? NO daw talaga. Okay, fine. Buying the 5k router.
Time jump to two weeks later: the Asus router arrived. I read the short guide on how to connect it and it was so easy. I did not have to do any of the things I had to do with the Tenda. I just followed instructions, and everything else was taken care of by the Installation Wizard. It all took less than 5 minutes.
Since this new Asus router is dual-band, it has two networks: one is the regular wifi network (2.4 Ghz band), and another on the 5 Ghz band (5G). So, on our wifi gadgets, we can choose to connect to either MYWIFINETWORK and MYWIFINETWORK_5G.
Newer gadgets that have the capability to connect to 5G were connected to 5G, and older gadgets that can only connect to regular wifi connect to the 2.4 Ghz. This way, the “work” is split between 2.4 Ghz and 5G.
This is how we set it up. The Converge modem is at the back. The Asus router is placed on top of an upside-down hole-y plastic basket so it gets ventilation. The square Converge thing is inside the plastic basket to hide it because it was starting to look cluttered, we made sure that the wires aren’t bent or crushed.
What are the differences between regular wifi and 5G wifi?
Basically, 5G is faster, but has a shorter range. 2.4 Ghz is slower but has a longer range.
INTERNET CONNECTION AFTER INSTALLING THE ASUS ROUTER
The internet connection drastically improved. Wifi was so stable. No more disconnections, except for two times when Converge was actually down (the second time, there was a cut on the line at the San Juan Bridge).
The wifi range was also farther. With the Converge modem router, the wifi did not reach our kitchen, and we had to install a wifi repeater there. With this Asus router, we didn’t need the wifi repeater anymore.
We used to have poor wifi connection problems when using our smart TV, Apple TV, Alexa and Google Home Minis. The Alexa and Google Home Minis were gifts from relatives abroad last year. I actually hated using the Google Home Minis because I would need to reset them all the time because they would lose wifi connection all the time. Now, I’m so happy the wifi is stable, and I have no problem with our Google Home Minis! I love making them play house music using Spotify. I have never reset them since we got the Asus router. I don’t even use my Bluetooth speakers anymore since we got the Google Home Minis. Both Minis can play the same music at the same time (synced) so if I have one Mini on one side of the house, and another Mini on the other side of the house, when I walk from one side of the house to the other, I’m still hearing the same music. This was a very useful feature last Christmas! Christmas music was playing throughout the whole house, it was great for parties (background music)! I want to make a review on them soon.
Did you know that Starbucks has their own Spotify playlists? Whenever I want to have that coffeehouse ambience, I just choose a playlist from here depending on my mood.
https://open.spotify.com/user/starbucks
As for YouTube, Netflix, etc… watching on Apple TV, Smart TV, tablets, PC, no problem, none. No buffering, no poor connection issues. Connection was strong and stable, watching in HD on 42″ TVs.
As for playing Ragnarok Mobile, it’s better and the connection is generally more stable. Although I still experience some lag and die on rare occasions, I’m not sure if it is because of Converge internet or if the Ragnarok server itself is laggy, or if my phone is not responding quickly enough to my fly wings and potions.
We have also connected some IP cameras to the network and it hasn’t seemed to degrade the network. I feel confident that I can add more gadgets to the network and the Asus router can handle it.
SUMMARY
The modem router that Converge provided is just not good enough for customers who have more than basic gadgets. While I am not happy about having to shell out extra money to buy a better wifi router, having a separate, good quality router provides a much better wifi connection and internet experience. I understand that the Converge modem router is “free” so of course, it’s not going to be the best quality.
After this, I realized that most of my complaints about Converge stem from their lousy modem router. Their internet itself seems to be stable. You just really need to shell out some money and get yourself a good wifi router. I feel like they should be informing their customers about this instead of just saying that there’s no problem. Tell customers that the modem router they provide can only handle x number of gadgets and cannot handle “heavy load” gadgets like internet cameras or Google Home Minis.
So far, I am very happy with this Asus router. No problems since I installed it more than 2 weeks ago. I’ve never had to restart it, not even once! It also has features like a USB port that can allow me to add a NAS (network attached storage) or other expansion in the future.
Now that we’ve bought a wifi router, I’m not going to say that I wished we’d done it sooner. The modem router provided by Converge worked fine, although not that well, and I didn’t know what I was missing. Also, the new Asus router is expensive at almost P5,000! I wasn’t going to spend that kind of money on a router until I was desperate. J was even suggesting that I buy the same router that he has, which costs P10,000+ and I was like, “No.” What the h, do I really need a P10,000 router? I’m not running an internet cafe here. I don’t even know why he’s using a P10,000 router when his home has far fewer gadgets than we do.
But anyway, you get what you pay for. I compared the Asus router models available and googled all the features, and finally settled on this model because it had the newer features that the cheaper models didn’t have. If I was going to buy a modem, I might as well get something that is future-proof, at least for the next few years. What I looked for was high capacity to handle many, many devices simultaneously (MU-MIMO); high speed (uses 802.11ac); dual-band to be able to use 5G; as a bonus, it has a USB 3.0 slot that can be used to 1) connect to a network hard drive if I ever want to set up Plex in the future, or used to 2) connect a network printer in the future.
Plex is like your very own Netflix, except you stream video from your own collection in your hard drive. Plex itself is perfectly legal. This is great for those who have a vast library of things to watch, so you’re not limited to only watching what’s available on Netflix, and best if you have a smart TV or a Roku or Chromecast where you can install Plex so you can watch on a big screen.
The most important thing I needed from the new router was the capability to handle many wifi connected gadgets. I live with family and relatives, plus the help – there are many people in our house. Imagine each person has at least 2-3 wifi gadgets – that’s a lot, not including the “house” wifi gadgets like smart TVs, Google Home Minis, Alexa, wifi cameras, etc… and so far, this Asus router is handling them all very well.
So, for the two weeks or so that I have used this router, I am satisfied with it 🙂 I will post updates if there are any changes.
UPDATE May 28, 2019: So far so good, walang sakit ng ulo! 🙂 The only problems I have had have nothing to do with the internet. So, a few times, I noticed that my laptop was running very slow. I thought it was an internet problem, but it turns out, it’s Windows Update. Whenever my laptop is about to install a new Windows Update, it slows down to a crawl. After the Windows Update is installed, it goes back to normal.
63 responses to “UPDATED: Converge Internet Review Using Separate WIFI Router”
Lol! From a tech guy like myself, 19 users for a stock wifi router is REALLY a LOT! Most of the FREE stock wifi routers should only be up to 10 users. With the tech today, your 5k Asus AC1300 is considered as basic or entry level, your friend’s 10k is around average. And there are 30k HOME routers for those who earn money by gaming and/or streaming!
Kudos to you for upgrading your home router by yourself! And kudos to your techie friends as well for recommending the best router in the market!
Thank you, JP 🙂
I just never thought that I needed to upgrade to a separate wifi router. I used to think it was only for people like my techie friends who are maarte about this stuff 😀 Hahaha, omg, cheap pa pala and basic lang pala the 5,000 pesos router 😀 😀 😀 And here I thought we got the better than average model because I was originally thinking of getting the 2,000 pesos ones lang. In my mind talaga, internet cost is the monthly bill lang, so this was not an expense I expected. The last time I bought our own internet equipment was a Hayes 56.6 modem pa, hahaha. Also, when the PLDT ADSL modem router conked out and we couldn’t wait for them to replace it so we bought a cheap Tenda lang for temporary use. But everything else was provided by the ISP so I just never considered spending extra.
It wasn’t until now that we have so many wifi gadgets that I’m seeing the limitations of the stock modem routers. Dati kasi, the seniors didn’t want any touchscreens, hirap daw gamitin. Nokia phone lang gusto. But now, naka tablet na din sila, daming ka-chat, hahaha.
Hopefully this router lasts us years. 🙂
yep, stock routers provided by ISP(even before) can only handle up to 10 devices(sometimes less). the installation fee u pay is actually the router + the service. With tons of IoT devices coming around, some ISP also offer optional router upgrade. great decision on upgrading your home router! i’m also a converge user(35mbps) and i also placed additional router in my home to manage those bandwidths hahaha!
19!!!! DAMEEEE TEEEEEHHHH!!!!
Di tlga kakayanin ng stock router yun. Ang nangyayari, most likely, is nag-aagwan na ng connection yung mga devices, kasi di kaya nang sabay-sabayin yung lahat ng gusto mag connect. Kaya nadi-disconnect ka from time to time. Tama yan sis, need niyo talaga ng router.
Di ba sinabi ni Converge kung ilang devices lang kaya ng modem?
Also, ganun pala Ragnarok… medyo di ko trip yung pwede mong iwan if finished na yung quest (hands-on pa rin the best).
Kala ko aayaw na ako sa Converge because of the previous 2 posts, kasi meron na dito sa Naga, Cam Sur, (kaso di pa kami abot; priority yung city proper, wala pa sa mga katabi, LOL).
Medyo relieved, hahahahaha, kala ko greedy na si Converge! I LOLed.
Sorry wala ako potato, mahal na eh.
Oh, and BTW, ingat ka sa 5G… mabilis yan, pero I heard may health effects yan. Not confirmed, but it makes sense because mas malakas signal output niyan, even more so na short wave yan. Ask your tech friends for updates, tips and warnings for health risks… just to be safe.
Thanks! Akala ko 5G cell towers lang may health concerns. Pati 5G wifi din pala. Okay, will do more research 🙂
Nag outage na naman last Sunday around lunch time. Converge modem and wifi router seemed normal, wala naman not normal sa lights. Restarted both, wala pa din. Tried calling Converge pero tagal ko waiting so I gave up. Anyway, went out. Pagbalik ko sa gabi meron na internet… So meron pa rin akong na eexperience na outage with Converge but when it works, at least steady naman yung internet. Pero parang mas madalas sila mag outage kesa sa PLDT DSL namin before. Ewan ko lang kung bakit laging nasasagi ng truck or something mga linya ng Converge. To be fair, hindi naman nila talaga kasalanan if it was an accident like that, pero napapadalas na, halos once a month na.
I was thinking na magpakabit ng converge but was hesitant, your post helped a lot! It answered most of the questions and doubts in mind. We had PLDT DSL pero everynow and then nag di-disconnect sya like one moment wifi was there then the next minute it’s gone then back again! How frustrsiting was that! 3 days na syang ganyan and I just had enough so magpapalit na ko ng internet provider… Thanks you so much for your honest review ???
How’s the speed from the asus router? Same padin ba from the converge router?
hi, your post came up in my search for a guide on how to switch to Bridge Mode. Most of the posts i find says it is not allowed but yours is the latest so I’m guessing it’s actually allowed.
Can you share a copy of the configuration steps, if you have? Thank you!
As I remember, it was automatic. I just connected the Asus router to the Converge modem. There was an instruction pamphlet that came with the Asus router and I just followed instructions.
If you want to manually change the Converge modem to bridge mode, you’ll need the username password to login to the modem’s web settings. Under Interface Settings, there is a radio button choice whether to activate or deactivate Bridge Mode 🙂
Setting it up is a bit more complicated than just changing that, I think. You might need to adjust other settings, as well. Best to get a techie person to help you 🙂 Even I can’t do it myself, I need my techie friend on the other end of the phone. Naka Call-A-Friend ako, hahha 🙂
thanks for the reply! they have a “super” admin account username and password which i can’t find in the internet the correct one. The regular admin account and password won’t give the option to change to bridge mode. My router is already setup for bridge mode, i just need to change the converge huawei modem settings. anyway thanks again!
Hi RJ,
I’m not sure if it’s this one:
nice review. Very detailed and very helpful
Thank you, Patchie! 🙂
Bagal na ng Converge namin. Hirap kausapin sa email kasi antagal nila sumagot tapos pagcheck ko sa email, naclose na pala nila yung ticket ko kasi di daw ako sumagot (wewz).
I’m thinking na router problem siya hopefully? Kasi dati naman abot sa kwarto ko yung signal pero right now minsan naddc nalang device ko sa WiFi or di nagbubuffer yung video unless itapat ko yung phone ko papunta sa pinto.
Well ayun hopefully sa router lang talaga siya and di something like “sa una lang magaling Converge”
Hello! Thanks for the review, was considering switching to converge. Currently using Globe’s Internet Fiber, and parehas with your case na it comes with a Modem/Router combo and was wondering Pano mo siya na transfer to the Asus Router? Because I also bought a router and connected it to the stock modem/router na Bigay ng globe and it works but the stock router still broadcasts its ssid. Ganun rin po ba yung sa inyo? Was wondering how to use the stock router / modem to be only a modem connection.
Hi Ray!
Thank you for reading! In my case, the Asus installation wizard did everything.
But, you can log in to the settings of your modem router and look for where you can turn off or disable the wifi part. I suggest doing this with a techie friend if you’re unsure about what you’re doing. Also, before changing anything, make sure to take screenshots and save the screenshots! This way, in case you mess up, you have a guide on how to put back the settings to the way they were 🙂
Ah I see, thankyou!
Hello, thanks for the really detailed and honest review.. planning to get one this month as well. I do have one question though, back when you had first gotten your WiFi connection did you have to pay for the days that you were running your WiFi before the first billing? [ex. You get your WiFi up in the 12th of June and billing comes 8 days after, do they charge you for the 8 days haf you’ve had your internet or no? I heard they’d charge every 20th of the month so I assumed that they’d do this.
Hi Hanzu,
Thank you for your reading! 🙂 I can’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure that it was pro-rated or something, because I would have flipped out if they made us pay the whole amount for the days we did not have internet yet.
Thanks for writing this! Just switched to Converge 2 weeks ago, and moved to a bigger house, so I’m experiencing bad issues with network range – default modem/routers were good enough in a much smaller house.
So did you end up using the Converge router as a modem, and use this ASUS as a router? Or did you just use the ASUS as both?
You mentioned that you just followed the installation guide and wizard, which I assume will take over everything.
Hi Dodge 🙂
I still used the Converge modem as the modem, and used the Asus as the Wifi router. I just followed the Asus wizard. My Asus is just a router and doesn’t have a Fiber modem function so there wasn’t any mix-up with installation 🙂
Hi, may i know if your IP address changes if the modem is restarted for some reason? I.e. power loss/brownout/internet outage. On pldt home plan right now but checking to see if converge gives static ip.
Thanks
Hello once again, since you used the Asus as the wifi router and the converge as a modem, did connect the two using an ethernet cable? If so did you plug it in the yellow LAN port of the Asus router or the blue port of the router?
Hi, I used a cable to connect the Converge modem to the Asus router. Plugged in to the blue port 🙂
Hi! Your post is really helpful 🙂
I was thinking whether I should switch to Converge Fiberx or PLDT Fibr. Currently we have a PLDT myDSL with 3mbps. And with the number of devices in our house going up, this won’t do anymore. Plus, we are still using the stock router, so the signal when it’s blocked by a thick wall really is nonexistent.
Thank you for your nice comment! 🙂
PLDT Fibr is more stable overall, based on kwento kwento (no hard data), but it’s more expensive and not easily available. The reason we tried Converge in the first place was because we’ve been waiting for YEARS and PLDT Fibr still wasn’t available in our area in Sta. Mesa.
Upgrade ka na from PLDT myDSL 🙂 We were myDSL users before we switched to Converge and what a difference! Sobrang liberating yung di mo na proproblemahin at all kung kaya ba ng internet mo ang ganito o ganyan! Kahit mag stream pa ng 1080p to the max 😀 We don’t have any 4k gadgets yet so di ko pa alam kung kaya, haha.
Nice review! Questions though…did you set your modem to bridge mode? Any changes you did on the modem settings before connecting the asus wifi router? Also, can you post a picture of the actual connection between the modem and the asus router via lan cable? Thanks
So what was your entire process of having your modem switched to bridged mode?
Hi pooo. I was browsing reviews for converge when I saw your trilogy reviews hahahaha. Tanong ko lang po kung gaano katagal bago kayo nakatanggap ng email confirmation sa converge for your application?
A few days lang. Pero dati pa eto, nung 2017. Konti palang customers ni Converge at that time.
plug n play po ba yung router?
Yung Asus, yes. May wizard. Finollow ko lang yung Wizard ok na 🙂
so basically kinabit nyo lang po ung router? or router/modem provided by converge may ginawa kayo?
Yes, kinabit ko lang. Follow lang instructions sa paper na guide, tapos may Installation Wizard. Then ok na.
Hi! Thank you for your story. Congratulations for a stable connection. 🙂
Now my question is, do you really have to set the converge modem/router to bridge mode? How did you do that? Can’t find that in the settings via 192.168.1.1.
Have you tried using a range extender too?
Thanks!
Hi Leo,
Since Converge changed our modem to a Huawei one, I’ve never fiddled with the settings anymore. It all works. Plug and play lang talaga. The technician just replaced the Converge modem, plugged in the wires, and that was it. We just double-checked that the internet working and that was that. I am checking each of the settings pages and I can’t find the option for bridge mode. I have the WIFI for the Converge Huawei modem off, so I’m not able to access the WIFI settings.
The username pw are on the back of the Converge Huawei modem. It’s 192.168.100.1 for us.
We have a Xiaomi range extender for the wifi to reach the smart TVs on one side of the house. Oddly, the wifi reaches to the street from the second floor (I have signal when I arrive outside the house), but the signal can’t reach 8 meters away from the modem on the same floor (second floor). Must be because of the concrete walls.
Thanks!
Hello,
It’s been sometime since you posted this blog post, but it is still helpful. Quick question, is the wifi ssid of the converge modem still broadcasting even after connecting the asus router? I followed the installation wizard of the router too.
You have to go in to the Converge router settings and turn it off.
Hi po!
Great review!
Just ask lang kung dapat ko ba ioff ung converge modem ko sa gabi na wala gumagamit.
Or hayaan ko lang sya nkabukas 24/7
Hinahayaan lang namin nakabukas 24/7… Hassle naman on/off araw-araw 😀 Also, modems are designed with the expectation that it will be ON 24/7 so dapat kaya niya. Baka mas masira pa sya sa kaka ON OFF 😀
Unless may special circumstances like sobrang mainit or sobrang maalikabok where it’s more feasible to turn it off at night.
Hope this helps.
Hello, what was your converge internet plan with 19 devices connected po? Thank you :))
The one na P1,500 per month 🙂 Still on the same plan, just added a separate wifi router.
Hi Karen. Read on to your blog and decided to buy the same asus router like yours. May i ask, to turn off the wifi of converge is to to disable the WLAN? Put the ethernet cable to the blue socket of ASUS and the other end to the LAN of converge’s router? Is that the process?
Obviously, Converge didn’t want to teach me how to do that. They said it isn’t compatible since the ASUS didn’t have a fiber patch socket
Hi Sharon, sorry for the late reply. Yes, that’s correct 🙂
On the Converge admin page, just turn off WLAN. To access the Converge admin page, the IP, username & password are on the sticker at the bottom of the Converge router.
Hello Karen.
We used to have terrible connections with the Converge-provided wireless modem/router. Though that device officially can support up to 32 devices, and we reached that number (wifi shared among in-laws in a compound) all of them will disconnect/reconnect to the modem. I have repeaters connected to it, using lower-model ASUS routers set to repeater mode, but still the disconnections came. We were getting erratic speed results, ranging from 5 to 25 Mbps (before they upgraded the connection). Worst of all, 5 are using it for school or work, including myself.
A brother-in-law recommended this blog post to me, and after reading this, I followed your advice and bought the ASUS router (ASUS RT-AC1300UHP). After setting it up as a wireless router, and disabling the wifi signal from the Converge modem, all 30+ devices connected to it are now enjoying a smooth, reliable Converge fiber connection. I thank you very much for this post.
I eventually tried to connect my other ASUS routers to it (as repeaters), thinking that ASUS products work well together. But I was disappointed; not only would the repeaters disconnect intermittently from the ASUS router, but it would also show poor speed results with connected devices, ranging only from 0.1 to 5.0 Mbps.
All in all, a great recommendation from you. Thank you very much. I just wish I could connect repeaters to it to extend the range.
Hi Amiel,
Thank you very much for your comment! I’m so glad this also worked for you.
To extend the wifi, we use a couple of Xiaomi Wifi+ plugged in to a wall outlet, one to extend to the roofdeck, one to extend to the farther side of the house. It’s a white, thin, rectangular thing. It’s an older model, we got it a few years ago, I think they have a new model out.
So far, the Wifi+ works well. It’s one of the cheaper, if not the cheapest, option among reputable wifi extenders a few years ago. Android TV works great with it – we’re able to stream 1080p on Netflix & WeTV without a problem. Noticed a little buffering with WeTV sometimes, but never experienced that with Netflix on the same TV though. My sister’s home office also connects to that Wifi+ and no problem with Zoom calls and work stuff either.
Kamusta na po ang Converge WiFi nyo Ms.Karen? Or have you switched to PLDT na?
Hi Dave, so far, ok naman siya for normal use 🙂 For streaming (which is our biggest internet usage, I assume, since we watch so much K-drama, C-drama, etc…), it’s working well, HD quality all throughout for big TVs except maybe at the start of the show where it’s a little blurry but then becomes clear in a few seconds (but this is rare).
The only problem I notice is when downloading torrents. Daytime download of torrents – it will take forever. Download speed is low and the speed cycles from low to high. Like, seriously, my upload speed is faster than my download speed! This is for popular torrents with thousands of seeders and also many leechers. Downloading torrent speed seems to improve significantly after midnight. As in what took 4 hours before midnight only took 30 mins after midnight.
The low torrent download speed can be frustrating, but I don’t download torrents that often anymore since almost everything is available in my legit streaming services, so switching to PLDT, while I’ve thought about it during frustrating moments, is not worth the hassle right now 🙂
As for gaming, I haven’t actively played any PC online game in years so I can’t say 🙂
Thank for this kasi comprehensive albeit in a less techie way (which is awesome at mas madali). I am planning to buy a router kasi ang liit ng reach ng 5Ghz n frequency. a wall and a few feet lang from the router e 2-3 bars n lang agad. BTW, 5G and 5Ghz are not the same. 5Ghz is a frequency while 5G just means 5th generation.
Thank you! Iba pala sila 🙂 It’s confusing kasi. Thank you for clarifying! 🙂
Hi there Mam Karen! Ask ko lng if you disabled the wifi ng stock router/modem (Converge) or hindi po? Thanks
Hi Kennedy 🙂 Yes, we disabled the wifi of the stock modem. Kasi kung hindi both sila maglalabas ng wifi (Asus and the stock modem).
Yung Asus nga 2 na nilalabas na WIFI – 1 is normal wifi, the other is 5G wifi. Tapos pang 3 na yung wifi stock router.
So we turned off the wifi of the stock router na. Natira nalang yung 2 na wifi ng Asus 🙂
You’ve written it so well, and you have some really good ideas. This post is outstanding!
How is your experience with Converge these days?
For us Converge seemed the best option on paper and they had service in our area.
First, wrong modem/router was installed replaced by the correct one, a Huawei EchoLife EG8145V5.
Fiber 2500 should be producing 600mbps but is it is only producing 190 at best on 5g band, like 35 (?? – that is a hell of a difference) on the 2.4g band, and oddly enough less than the above 5g’s speed when connected directly to an Ethernet port. Anything connected on an Ethernet port is on a different Network ID than a device using WIFI for whatever reason.
We spoke to a Supervisor immediately when the correct modem was installed and noted the speed issues, we followed it by a request on their website, and eventually by an email. At least the email request was given a ticket number but no changes so far from all efforts.
When plans in PH indicate “30% of Minimum Speed” does that mean that they only guarantee/are required to provide 30% of the plans’ speed?
Thanks.
Hi, so far, our Converge internet has been okay. Haven’t experienced any problems lately. There were a few outages a few months ago but those lasted for a few hours only.
Aside from that, we didn’t notice any problems. Ang lakas pa namin manood ng streaming sa TV (HD quality), daming Zoom meetings, etc… didn’t notice any issues.
We did buy a higher quality router than the one given by Converge, and I think that makes a lot of difference. We had so many problems when we were using the stock Converge modem router (it would randomly restart or drop devices, super basic siya so hindi nya kaya pag marami ng gadgets).
If you have a lot of smart devices connecting to your wifi, I recommend looking into getting a better quality router that can handle it 🙂
As for customer service, sad to say, Converge’s is not as good as it used to be back when it was new. Dunno about their competitors but I’m hearing the same complaints din. You really need to make an effort to make kulit.
Yes, that is exactly why Converge looked better on paper because the others, including PDLR, were so bad.
I expected the stock router to be not so great, that is a constant with all ISPs around the World. We had already selected a high end router, but my thought was that if we are not getting the proper speed into the house (190 at best vs 600 as per plsn) then an expensive router is not going to get that fixed, so trying to get that sorted out.
Did you ever experience a significant speed difference between the 5g and 2.4g bands? On ours the 2.4g speed was initially 15% of 5gs but it has gotten slightly better bur not by that much. In tests on our previous Country and even PDLT’s at my inlaws in Manila there is no difference or at most 10% so 85% difference is huge.
Also the issue with the ethernet ports assigning IP addresses thar are in a different newtwork id say something like 192.234.100.x instead of the 192.168.100.x on the wifi bands. Did you experienced that too?
I poked around the router’s webpage but it is so rudimentary that there is no much that one can do.
Thanks.
I haven’t quantified it but yes, there is a speed difference between 5G and 2.4 (I am using the Asus router connected to stock Converge modem).
When playing Mobile Legends, I noticed that the game response was better when my phone is on the 5G network than on the 2.4. I notice the lag when I am connected to the 2.4. This happens when I go out of range of the 5G wifi like when going to the gate for a bit (getting a shopee order or something), my phone automatically connects to the 2.4 and doesn’t go back to the 5G automatically when I return.
That’s the only time I really notice the difference – the rest of the time I’m just playing YouTube/Spotify in the background while doing stuff or watching streaming TV. My computer work is mostly writing/editing so I don’t notice any speed issues while staring at Office or WordPress, haha.
As for the speed, I haven’t really checked it lately. Just did a speedtest and got around 39Mbps (weekday afternoon).
I do agree with you that they are not providing the speed they are claiming. It would be nice if they did.
Converge has been increasing the speed, it’s supposed to be 100Mpbs now, I think, for Plan 1500 (it was only 20Mbps when we first got the plan 5yrs ago). I don’t feel like we’ve ever reached 100Mbps (that would be nice) but for now, I don’t really have any need for super fast internet since most of our bandwidth just goes to HD streaming. You may have different needs.
I think that 100Mpbs or whatever they’re advertising is just for advertising purposes. The real speed you will be getting is probably 30-40% of the advertised speed, or, you may get closer to the advertised speed during off-peak hours.
Not saying that they should get a free pass for misrepresenting/inflating their speed though.
Is it just plug and play? I am planning to upgrade din kasi but Im not familiar with router settings. Did some tech from converge set it up for you? Thanks.
Hi, ask lang po if ang modem niyo from Converge is 2.4ghz lang ang support? Tapos nung sinaksakan niyo ng 3rd party router na may 5ghz e nakasagap na kayo ng 5G? Kasi same po tayo na luma yung router na ininstall ni Converge, planning din po to get 3rd party router. Thank you po