Can I run two modems simultaneously to have 2 networks while I work from home?

I have fios tv, along with running the g1100 modem router. During the pandemic, the router was not giving us optimal wifi speed/strength, and fios was no help. We were getting speeds of 1-4 megs per second, and fios just kept saying we must have interference. We pay for 100megs up/down. Between myself ad my wife, those speeds were not gonna work. I added a a netgear nighthawk wireless router plugged directly into the g1100, and that solved our problems, I could now get 100 megs from 3 rooms away on the netgear, and the kids could use the wifi from the g1100.

Since then, I was given a g3100 modem from a friend. I hoped I could just plug it into coax and run it as a second wifi network, but since I plugged it in, it is causing problems with everyones wifi. Is there something I have to do to have it run as a second stand alone wifi network? I have read about switching it to a static ip, but cant figure out how to do that. When I log onto the g3100 internet, it goes in and out. And our wired xbox has to be restarted every once in a while. Any help in getting all 3 networks to happily live together would be appreciated.

Accepted answers

Cang_Household

Well, first of all, as gs0b mentioned, Fios does not use modems, Fios uses ONTs. G1100 and G3100 are fully qualified routers. They cannot modulate or demodulate or convert photons to signals.

To answer your question directly, the answer is yes. In fact, I made an interactive widget a year ago for this very purpose.

For exact steps, it depends on how do you want to place the G3100. Do you want to use it to substitute G1100's function as the primary router or use it solely as an coax-backhauled access point?

Also, given you have 100/100, you are likely on a grandfathered plan and is probably paying more for less speed. You might want to review the Mix and Match pricing to see if you can get a lower estimate. For Internet only 300/300, M&M is only $40/mo. The price still adds up if you want Fios TV.

The ideal setup for a home network built with multiple routers is to designate one of the routers as the primary router, and all other routers as access points with their routing functions disabled. This would effectively bridge the LAN of all three routers together into one. Regarding WiFi SSIDs, that's a different story. They are technically not separate networks, but different sets of associations between the access points and the clients. You can leave all the SSIDs to be different as well as disabling the SON feature on both G1100 and G3100. This would give you 2+2+3 = 7 wireless names. Or, you can configure all the SSIDs to be the same for each band, that is, G1100's 5G band has the same SSID name with NetGear's 5G band and with G3100's 5G-1 band. G1100's 2.4G band has the same SSID name with NetGear's 2.4G band and with G3100's 2.4G band. I operate 10 SSIDs in the lab, but that's probably confusing in real world.

All comments

pacmusicman

If the goal is to have different Wi-Fi network names, consider replacing the 1100 with the 3100 and running the Night Hawk behind it. The 3100 would have one network name and the Night Hawk could have another name.

If the aim is to have two completely separate Internet feeds from Verizon, that would be another situation altogether. 🤔

gs0b

Welcome to the forums! You're talking mostly to other customers here. All we know about your issue is what you post, so the quality of the responses provided depends on the details you give.

First, know that fios does not use modems. Both the G3100 and G1100 are routers, not modems. They do have a coax port for MoCA, which is basically Ethernet over coax. MoCA is used for in-home networking. Contrast that to cable systems which need modems to convert DOCSIS on the coax to a local network interface. The ONT in fios performs a similar function as a cable modem by converting light on the fiber to MoCA or Ethernet, but it's not technically a modem. MoCA is used for speeds up to 100Mbps for the ONT to router WAN connection, while Ethernet is used for higher speeds. MoCA can also be used for in-home LANs at much higher speeds. G3100s and G1100s actually have two MoCA ports behind the coax jack; one for WAN and the other LAN.

Next, know you can only have one primary router. When you attach both the G3100 and G1100 to coax, both try to become primary and bad things happen. You can attach the G3100 behind the G1100 by running an Ethernet cable from a G1100 LAN port to the G3100's WAN port, and this will create yet-another WiFi network in your home. It will be somewhat separate from the main network and the Nighthawk's network.

There are other options as well, such as using the G3100 as primary for it's WiFi-6, configuring the non-primary routers as access points to avoid double NAT'ing, and more. What makes sense really depends on what problem you're trying to solve. Are you concerned about WiFi range? WiFi speed? Separate networks for work and home? All of these? Something else? Answers to those questions and/or a description of your use case will get you better suggestions.

Cang_Household

Well, first of all, as gs0b mentioned, Fios does not use modems, Fios uses ONTs. G1100 and G3100 are fully qualified routers. They cannot modulate or demodulate or convert photons to signals.

To answer your question directly, the answer is yes. In fact, I made an interactive widget a year ago for this very purpose.

For exact steps, it depends on how do you want to place the G3100. Do you want to use it to substitute G1100's function as the primary router or use it solely as an coax-backhauled access point?