Actiontec MI424WR (GigE) Router

I want to upgrade to this as my MI424WR 10/100 is too slow to support my NAS device. Does anyone know how to get one thru Verizon? I called Actiontec directly and they told me only Verizon can sell them. No luck going thru the normal channels @ Verizon so far.

Accepted answers

Anti-Phish1

tns is correct. The Actiontec rev. G (gig-E) router is only available to 150/35 customer.

The best solution is to buy a gig-E switch and connect all your devices to it.

All comments

tns

Currently you can only get one if you subcribe to the 150/35 (or higher) tiers. They have been hinting that might change some time in the future.

Anti-Phish1

tns is correct. The Actiontec rev. G (gig-E) router is only available to 150/35 customer.

The best solution is to buy a gig-E switch and connect all your devices to it.

gigabit

Thx, but that makes zero sense. They have the product but are not willing to provide it to customers? I'm not happy about that and will tell them so.

Anti-Phish1

@gigabit wrote:
Thx, but that makes zero sense.
As has been discussed in several other threads, the rationale is that VZ provides you with a router that is adequate to support your provisioned WAN speeds (25/25, 35/35, etc). They are under no obligation to provide you with a more expensive router because of what you have connected to your LAN. The rev. G has gig-E ports because that is required to support the 150 Mbps WAN speed.

gigabit

Understood. I don't expect VZ to provide me w/ an "upgrade" for free. i would be more than happy to buy the router from them. What I'm reacting to is the fact that they refuse to make it available to their "low speed" customers. BTW, I have already daisy-chained a switch to handle my NAS, but it's a clutter-fest.

cjacobs001

In my experience, Verizon's business model does NOT include 'sales' of the routers. If you have their products\service, you are entitled to and are only getting 1 free router which meets the requirements of the service package that you purchase from Verizon. They are not in the business of building-up your internal LAN, and so therefore are not responsible for your built-up internal LAN, and will not provide -free or for purchase - any different router which is not required for the product \ service that Verzon provides. -->> If they did, then someone would want them to support their built-up internal LAN and additional attached devices, which Verizon does not do.

gigabit

Thx for your post. Indeed, I think that about sums it up. Strictly speaking, VZ has no obligation to "delight" a customer like me by providing a product which is beyond the scope of the service they provide and I pay for. By the way, as a triple-play subscriber, I can't even get the 150/35 upgrade, which is the only service supported by the router in question.

smith6612

In areas where GPON is available, you should be able to order the 150Mbps package. These two threads might be worth the read:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r25099220-150-35-FiOS-Internet-available-11-21-10

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r25991693-Finally-got-150-35-150-65-.-I-mean-155-75-

That user had two FiOS connections in his home bonded to provide 70Mbps/70Mbps at one point. He went through a lot of trouble to get switched onto the 150Mbps package, mainly due to an issue with Verizon's database even though he had GPON service in his home on one of his lines. If your area has support for GPON, even at your local PON Splitter, you should be able to get the 150Mbps package, even if you have a BPON ONT. You will need to be moved to the new GPON splitter and have a new ONT installed, but it should work out. If your area is BPON only, then you're out of luck. BPON doesn't have the capacity to handle the package (even though it technically can) as Verizon does not want to oversell FiOS like that.

I figured I'd throw that out there even if it is unrelated. Otherwise, you're better off just using your own router and hanging the Verizon router off of your own router. You'll lose access to some FiOS TV services by doing that (Caller ID and Remote Video services) but I'm sure someone out there is making a workaround for that 🙂

morrisjl

Of course it makes sense. Verizon has a product, the newest Gig E + wireless N router, that might incentivize folks to upgrade to a more expensive data plan.

Anti-Phish1

@morrisjl wrote:
Of course it makes sense. Verizon has a product, the newest Gig E + wireless N router, that might incentivize folks to upgrade to a more expensive data plan.

I doubt anyone is going to order the very expensive 150/35 plan just to get the router.

There are better third-party routers available.

lorenkjr11

I have the revision F. of the MI424WR Fios router on my 35/35 plan. The man who set it up knew my devices were wireless yet, he set it up using wep. It was quite a while before I finally figured out why the wireless was so slow. Finally set it up for wpa2 and performance n. Works much better now. I do miss the fact that the router does not have gigabyte ethernet ports but, for a different reason than most would. Or then again maybe not. I have a couple of gigabyte networks disks and I would like to get faster performance out of them, if that ever becomes possible.

Since I have the fios tv, telephones, and internet; I am not sure how I could benefit by connecting someone elses router to the my present one and get the added speed I desire. Explanations? I am all ears. One thought I had does intrigue me but, still not sure how it would work out. What would happen if I plugged an Airport Extreme into my Mac along with a gigabyte hub or switch. That I assume would keep the two network drives going through the router, correct?

smith6612

With your network setup, there are plenty of ways we could accomplish what you're looking to do. If you wished to keep the FiOS router as your primary router, you can simply hang switches and other routers (disabling DHCP and NAT functions, of course!) off of the Ethernet ports on the FiOS router to accomplish what you'd like to do. If you wanted to replace the FiOS router entirely, you could use it as nothing more than an Access Point + Switch + MoCa Bridge, but there are a few downsides to that. Again, it's up to how you wish to do things. So essentially, you've got...

ONT --> FiOS router --> Switches/Apple Airport Extreme/Devices --> Devices

ONT --> Your own router --> Devices/Switches/FiOS Router --> Devices

Perhaps this FAQ will help you out a bit more, rather than my jumbled and broad thoughts 🙂

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/verizonfios/3.0_Networking#16077

Oh and yes, as you've found out WPA2 is required for Wireless N to work. WEP and WPA cannot be used what so ever.

tsh_138

While the versions of the MI424WR router prior to Rev. G may be able to support the throughput of the FiOS connection they cannot support high throughput for wireless applications inside the home. The 802.11n spec adds MIMO, supports both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, and has a number of other improvements which make it a measured improvement over 802.11g. For this simple reason Verizon should provide routers that support 802.11n to all FiOS customers.

pwith

Does anyone know how to activate the USB ports? The 2011 manual says that in the future these will be activated. One would think after two years, Verizon might actually implement this capability. According to Jungo their OpenRG supports this capability (as well as a number of others), but Verizon has disabled it.

Anyone have any ideas?

Justin46

@pwith wrote:
Does anyone know how to activate the USB ports? The 2011 manual says that in the future these will be activated. One would think after two years, Verizon might actually implement this capability. According to Jungo their OpenRG supports this capability (as well as a number of others), but Verizon has disabled it.

Anyone have any ideas?

The USB ports are powered so you can charge a smart phone or tablet, but other than that they are not active. It is not so much that Verizon has disabled the ports, it is that their software just does not support them. Verizon has not made any statement that I am aware of that they will support the USB Ports (I suspect the manual you are referring to is one produced by Actiontec, not Verizon, correct? If it is really a Verizon manual could you please provide a link or if you have a paper copy scan the cover page and the page with that statement and post them here? Thanks).

I'm curious, did you have a specific use of the USB ports in mind? Maybe there are good alternatives (or maybe not...).

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9.4
Keller, TX 76248 (VHO 1)

pwith

Thank you for your reply, Justin.

The Verizon manual to which I refer is Verizon ActionTec MI424WR (I) Manual. Page 15 states, "In the future, with a firmware release upgrade, the USB host functionality will be available for devices such as external storage and cameras."

Page 165 of the Jungo OpenRG manual, the software used by the device, states that the shared storage function is operational. (If you review this document, you'll see the baseline software has a number of other capabilities Verizon has not incorporated.)

So I am still annoyed that Verizon has chosen not to implement this capability.

Cheers,
PW

Justin46

@pwith wrote:
Thank you for your reply, Justin.

The Verizon manual to which I refer is Verizon ActionTec MI424WR (I) Manual. Page 15 states, "In the future, with a firmware release upgrade, the USB host functionality will be available for devices such as external storage and cameras."

Page 165 of the Jungo OpenRG manual, the software used by the device, states that the shared storage function is operational. (If you review this document, you'll see the baseline software has a number of other capabilities Verizon has not incorporated.)

So I am still annoyed that Verizon has chosen not to implement this capability.

Cheers,
PW

Thanks for the reference to the Verizon manual. I stand corrected. However, that of course does not change the fact that Verizon so far has chosen to not support the USB ports.

I seem to remember a Verizon FiOS development manager saying a long time ago they would not support USB due to the high overhead using that interface and its impact on the overall router performance. That was long before the more powerful Rev. I Actiontec became available though, so maybe Verizon has rethought that issue and now plans to provide the support. Lets hope so. But I guess I would suggest not holding your breath.... Smiley Happy

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9.4
Keller, TX 76248 (VHO 1)