I’m a huge FiOS fan! I’ve been a happy customer ever since fiber became available in my neighborhood. I’ve blogged about it a few times as well and have upgraded my bandwidth a number of times of the years…
- Upgrade from Cox to Verizon FiOS
- Verizon FiOS IMG Update Lottery Winner
- Verizon FiOS Router – Model #: MI424WR
- Verizon FiOS Multi-Room DVR External Storage Expander
- Upgrading FiOS Internet from 35/35 to 50/20
- Verizon Home Monitoring and Control
- Upgrading FiOS Internet from 50/20 to 150/60 Quantum
Verizon seems to be pretty slow in updating their router/wireless devices. Until I upgraded to the Quantum service, the continued to use their crappy Actiontec MI424WR Wireless router; which only supported 802.11 b/g and 100 Megabit LAN ports. The Quantum upgrade, fortunately, required an upgrade to the Actiontec MI424WR that included 802.11 b/g/n and Gigabit LAN ports.
Since I had a perfectly good NETGEAR W
ireless Router – N600 Dual Band Gigabit (WNDR3700), I disabled the wireless on my MI424WR and simply used my NETGEAR instead.
Unfortunately, as of late, the NETGEAR has been dropping wireless connections for all my iDevices, including TV, Bluray players, and computers. After resetting the thing a number of times over the past month or two, I decided maybe it is time to upgrade again….
This time, I decided to go with the Asus RT-N66R Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router.
The key features of this router are:
- Network – 80211 a/b/g/n and IPv4 and IPv6
- Firewall & Access Control – SPI intrusion detection, DoS protection. Parental control, network service filter, URL filter, and Port filter.
- VPN Support – IPSec, PPTP, L2TP pass-through and PPTP Server.
- WAN Connection Type – Automatic IP, Static IP, PPPoE(MPPE supported), PPTP, L2TP, Multicast Proxy support.
- Ports – 4 x RJ45 for 10/100/1000/Gigabit BaseT for LAN. USB 2.0 x 2.
You can read the full specs online, but this was everything I cared about or needed.
I really like this router. One because all my wireless devices now actually stay connected and can see my wireless network and two, because it has extended my wireless network to areas within my house that I previously had a poor signal or no signal at all. I suspect the external antennas have something to do with this; since the NETGEAR was internal.
One of the challenges to having FiOS though, is that you still need to use their Actiontec MI424WR router. This is because you still need the coax connection for MoCA specification for home networking to your DVR and STB. And I suppose its your cable modem as well. This means there is a little bit of a trick to just plugging in your own wireless router in place of your MI424WR.
- The Actiontec router must still be used as your primary router. Do not disconnect or remove this from your network.
- Log into your Actiontec router (usually http://192.168.1.1) using your admin login. The default is usually printed on the side/back of the router. Use an Ethernet cable because the next may disconnect you.
- Note your wireless settings and write these down. Then disable your wireless on your Actiontec router.
- Go to you’re your DHCP settings (under Advanced) and setup an IP range, such as 25-254. I try and keep the lower ranges free for static addresses such as network devices, servers, and printers.
- Reboot your PC and verify you can still get to the internet, etc. If not, troubleshoot your steps to figure out why.
- Disconnect your Ethernet cable from the Actiontec router to your PC.
Now, plug in your new Asus router (or any other similar router for that matter) and connect your PC’s Ethernet directly to the LAN port on the new router. The Asus router will be considered your secondary router.
- Log into your Asus router (usually http://192.168.1.1) using your admin login. The default is usually printed on the side/back of the router.
- From the Wireless tab, set up your 2.4 and 5GHz wireless SSID and security to similar to what you had setup on the Actiontec. This will prevent you from having to reconfigure all your wireless devices at home. In my case, I have HOMEWIFI for a/b and HOMEWIFI-N for g/n, for example.
- From the LAN tab, set your routers IP address to 192.168.1.2, subnet mask to 255.255.255.0, and default gateway to 192.168.1.1. Connect to DNS Server automatically No. You must change the router’s IP address because it will conflict with your Actiontec when you bring it back on network.
- From the Administration tab, set your router’s operation mode from “Wireless router mode (default)” to “Access Point (AP) mode”. This is important, as your want your Asus to be a secondary access point (switch) on your network and not a router. This means your Actiontec router is still you’re your NAT and DHCP server.
- Connect the Ethernet cable that came with your Asus from a LAN port on the Asus to a LAN port on the Actiontec. DO NOT PLUG THE CABLE FROM THE WAN PORT ON YOUR ASUS TO THE ACTIONTEC LAN PORT. YOU CANNOT USE YOUR WAN PORT IN ACCESS POINT MODE.
- Reboot or power reset your Asus
- Reboot or power reset your Actiontec
- When both routers come up, verify from your PC that you can ping and login into the admin page of both routers…. 192.168.1.1 (Actiontec) and 192.168.1.2 (Asus).
- Verify you can still get to the internet.
After you get this configuration working to your liking, you may want to go to Asus website and download the latest firmware for your router. Mine was several revisions behind when I bought it new.
Hope this helps!
I have been looking for an article just like this to help me with my Verizon MI424WR router. I have a question for you before I try one more thing. I have a coax from my Verizon box to the router, not an Ethernet line. Do you think your method will work?
Yes, should work exactly the same way. I still have a coax for the DVR and STBs plus the new ethernet for the Quantuum. However, the ethernet doesn’t change anything as you still get your internet through the coax WAN.
Ok. I’m full of assumptions and silly questions. In step 3 how do I “disable the wireless”? There are too many ways to physically unplug, remove connections, etc or do I “unclick” something on the Verizon menu?
I found the DCHP settings and have way too many wireless things in my house! Thanks in advance for your help.
Kim
Log into your Actiontec admin webpage, click “Wireless” on the top toolbar tab, then in the left-side click “Basic Security Settings”. You should then see a link (1. Turn Wireless ON) that gives you a radio button for ON or OFF. That’s all you need to do.
Yes, I have a lot of DHCP clients as well…. iPads, iPad Minis, iPods, laptops, Bluray players, STB, DVR, LCD TV, Verizon Home Security cameras, etc. Pretty crazy!
Good luck –
my fios quantum router died so in the mean time i bought the asus router mentioned above.i just plugged in the ethernet cable that comes in through the wall directly to this asus router kept the same essid and password from the old fios MI424WR router and i got a small but noticeable bump in my dload speed and a much better upload speed than i had before on all devices wired and wireless.so you really dont need the coax hookup if you just need the internet connection.i also get all the internet content from the tv. or samsung blue ray player,so in my case there is no need for the fios router at this time.
Right -
But if you have STB, DVR, etc., I believe the supplied router and coax hookup is necessary for these devices to communicate with each other. I.E., multi-room DVR, channel updates, and accessing your FiOS services using an iPad or iPhone, etc.
Hello dmohorn,
I wondering, since you still have the Actiontec as the primary router, isn’t it still performing all of the routing decisions/processing etc? If so, doesn’t it mean that the only real benefit of the ASUS router is better wireless coverage, but not processing/routing power?
Have you noticed a good improvement in your overall performance since adding the ASUS router as an access point?
Thanks,
Mic
Correct — it is only providing be better wireless and wireless coverage. I can say for me, it has better reliability and coverage than my old Netgear router. The old router would never make it to the end of the house…. the ASUS does. Maybe the external attenessas make a difference… but either way, I love the ASUS.
I switched from a Netgear WNDR4000 to the ASUS RT-N66R. Setting it up with the Actiontec MI424WR has been frustrating to say the least. With the Netgear it was just a simple disable wireless on MI424WR, connect via Actiontec LAN port to the Netgear “Ethernet” port and it automatically set up a LAN TCP/IP address of 10.0.0.1/subnet 225.225.225.o with a starting IP of 10.0.0.2 ending in 10.0.0.254. Everything connected whether LAN or wireless 2.4ghz/5ghz populated through the Netgear with 10.0.0. 3 and above. The Netgear served as the DHCP server. Only thing on the Actiontec was the 2 Fios Set top boxes, an older TIVO and two Blu-ray players. I set up the TIVO and Blu-ray players (for Netflix) with Actiontec MoCA adapters (Coax to ethernet) to get Fios LAN speeds (sweet!). However, with the ASUS it seems like going around your fingers to get to your thumb to achieve anything close. EVERYTHING is on the Actiontec and the ASUS seems to be just an expensive set of “mutant rabbit ears” (being 3 of them). I LOVE the extended coverage and signal and speed of the ASUS but MISS the Netgear Genie that lets me keep track of everything on my “subnet” (and even label it all) and who is on and who is off the home network. Is there anyway to set this kind of network independent of the Actiontec with the ASUS?
Hi, Ustavio.
I believe you will have to keep your Actiontec around, unfortunately. You would think FiOS would offer some alternative setup…
Good luck with your ASUS and enjoy! I still love mine!
Thanks. I am driving the family bonkers roaming around the house with my WiFi Analyzer App that pegs out everywhere. I did, however, solve the issue by trying the default wireless router setting instead of the AP mode and waddayaknow, it turns the ASUS in the full featured router I paid for and returns the Actiontec to being essentially a “supermodem” that handles all the FIOS MoCa stuff (set top boxes, TIVO, Blu-ray Netflix streamer, phone etc). I connected Actiontec LAN to ASUS Global and it allowed me to set up a subnet very similar to the one I had with my old Netgear. I know this is completely opposite your suggestion but you might try it and see for yourself. Although the ASUS software hasn’t fully ripened yet, it has far better options than the Actiontec. I’m even able to use the old desktop Genie to keep track of everything like before. As a final note, some have found the ASUS to run quite hot, but last night the family gathered around it and made smores.
Yes, I think before I realized that the ASUS had an AP mode, I hooked it up as you described.
I think I plugged my FiOS ethernet directly into the WAN port of the ASUS and then the ASUS into the WAN port of the ActionTec. It created a subnet between ASUS and ActionTec.
At the time, internet access worked in this configuration, but I then realized I still needed my Actiontec because of the Coax and MocA features…. for STB and junk.
Yep. Will always need the Actiontec for the MocA device, STB’s, Fios phone yada yada … but they are kept separate from all the “real” router nuts and bolts. I did not use the WAN port of the Actiontec. I just have the coax going in and an ethernet cable out of a LAN port directly into the ASUS Global WAN. It automatically creates the 192.168.2.1 subnet (which BTW is listed in the Actiontec network panel). From there I hooked up two LAN lines and a wired printer. All else is wireless. The wireless and landlines populate the ASUS network client list AND populate the Netgear desktop Genie as well (without all the MocA/FIOS clutter). With the latest Merlin software build on top of the 3004-270 firmware, it’s just way too awesome. I’m loving this ASUS so far.
I have the newest Asus router RT-AC66R. I have been going CRAZY for 5 days trying to configure with the Actiontec router. Finally I came across this post! I followed Ustavio’s suggestion of Actiontec Lan to Asus Wan port. Asus router took over and created 192.168.2.1 subnet. Getting all features now from Asus. Also it looks like the Actiontec automatically put itself into bridge mode. Anyways, all TV’s etc running perfectly! Thanks!
Hi, Josh! Glad it worked for you…
Sounds like the additional subnet isn’t a big deal for you. For me, it meant all my devices were on a different network and required me to reconfigure. But use whatever works for you! Have a good one!
thanks, this worked like a charm. Just have to change my devices since I changed the security type.
Has anyone tried this with a Cisco e4200? If so please help. I have the vz router in the living room, but have a pc 2 floors away that gets a piss poor signal.
I have connected a separate router to my Verizon FIOS and completely removed my Actiontech FIOS router. I have Cat5 running from my ONT to the Router, if you have COAX only you can’t do this. Also if you use their TV or Phone service you can’t do this either. But it’s so much better for me to not have to mess with the Actiontech one. I just released my IP before shutting it off, connected the new dual band 5Ghz router and it basically connected fine. Did a little fine tuning of my SSID’s and Channels, etc. Good to go. This is the first internet service I’ve ever had where I was actually able to use my own equipment.
Nice post! My question is:
With this setup, does the “Guest Access” part of the N66U router work well and keep those I give the password to off of my network (I share all of my files between all of my devices/NAS unit)? I have my network setup perfectly right now through the Actiontec Rev I router going to my 24-port switch to all of my wired devices (cpu’s, xboxes, ps3, blurays, etc). I will connect lan-to-lan from Actiontec to Asus when my n66u arrives. But, should I then plug my Asus to my switch and unplug my Actiontec from the switch for better speeds (NAT tables)?? Or will that not matter? I wish I could have the Asus only, but I have dvr’s and all!
Hope this makes sense!