Fios extender not working...

fiosquestioner
Enthusiast - Level 2

I recently got Fios at my house. They came and installed the router - and were supposed to bring an extender with them. They did not. They sent one out later (after repeated calls). It showed up without a ethernet cable to connect to the router(as it is supposed to). So I had to go out and get one. So I'm starting a little annoyed.

I go through the steps. When I get to the end - I place my extender about 30' away from the router - and initially get the white light, but after a few minutes - I get a solid yellow light. According to the manual - the light should either be white, blinking fast yellow or blinking slow yellow. I don't have any of these options. 

I call tech support - and walk through a bunch of ways of trouble shooting, including resetting router, extender, moving extender closer and further away. 

Eventually tech support says my only option is to hardwire the extender to the router. Which seems crazy to me. It seems to me like something is wrong with the extender. Has anyone run into this, and or have any suggestions aside from hard wiring the extender?

thanks. 

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Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

Some corrections and extensions on Dexman's answer.

An E3200 cannot be wirelessly backhauled to a CR1000A is due to both technical and administrative constraints. CR1000A broadcasts one 5GHz band and one 6GHz band, while E3200 broadcasts two 5GHz bands. While it is technically possible to establish a wireless backhaul on the 5GHz band, this would leave CR1000A with no 5GHz band to serve 5GHz client devices. There are client device capable of 6GHz, but those are minorities right now.

When E3200s are installed with a CR1000A, the preferred backhaul should be coax instead of Ethernet. While it is true that MoCA adds a 3ms ping, it supports a multigigabit uplink of 2.5Gbps, as opposed to a 1Gbps Ethernet link. CR1000A is a 10Gbps capable router and is designed for the multigigabit Fios rollout up to 8.2Gbps in the near future. To not introduce bottlenecks in the path to the Internet, a higher uplink speed should always take precedence over a lower uplink speed.

A mesh system is perhaps worse than a system with multiple Fios Extenders backhauled with coax. Each mesh node introduces a 3ms ping. So if your path to the edge router traverses two nodes wirelessly, you would get an additional delay of 3ms + 3ms = 6ms! Fios Extenders, when backhauled with coax to the edge router, have a maximum delay of 3ms for the MoCA signal translation.

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Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

None of the Fios extenders since the launch of Fios service is capable of being wirelessly backhauled until E3200. E3200's wireless backhaul ability is also now removed when a CR1000A is present instead of a G3100.

It is likely that you have an E3200 with CR1000A, which is coax or Ethernet backhaul only due to technical and administrative constraints.

To backhual an E3200 wirelessly, you need a G3100 instead of CR1000A. Even this, I would strongly recommend against a wireless backhaul due to bottlenecking the speeds.

fiosquestioner
Enthusiast - Level 2

thanks for the info - I'm checking the models I have. 

It appears like the router I was given is the CR1000A, and the extender is the E3200.  So you are correct! Thanks. 

So given that I have a CR1000A for the router - supplied by Verizon. What/how can I get a wireless extender to extend the range of my wifi? 

And lastly - I am relatively new to all this - so am a bit confused by all you wrote about backhaul etc. 

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dexman
Community Leader
Community Leader

There is an extender designed to connect to the new router via WiFi:

https://www.verizon.com/support/residential/internet/equipment/network-extender/wi-fi-extender-mini

Having said that, Cang Household is spot on... WiFi should be the ultimate last option to connect an extender to a router. 

Radames45
Enthusiast - Level 2

I have a Verizon Cr 1000a and recently brought a Verizon Wi-Fi extender model E3200.  

I already have the cr1000a set up and working fine. I connected the Wi-Fi extender to the router. It connected to the internet and works fine. Both solid white lights. Then when I unplug the Wi-Fi extender and move it upstairs to my room and plug it in, the Wi-Fi extender blinks white then changes to solid yellow. What am I doing wrong ?

please help. 

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dexman
Community Leader
Community Leader

The only way to connect the E3200 to the CR1000A is by using an Ethernet cable.

If an Ethernet cable is being used at the final location, check to make sure that the all cables are plugged in.

Radames45
Enthusiast - Level 2

So there is no way for me to have the Wi-Fi extender in a room different from the router? 

dexman
Community Leader
Community Leader

Yes, but the E3200 needs to connect to the 1000A via an Ethernet cable. WiFi and coaxial cable won't work.

The E3200 will connect to the G3100 via Ethernet, coaxial cable or WiFi.

Radames45
Enthusiast - Level 2

What I believed was that it would work in an independent room without having to be physically connected to the internet router. That really defeats the purpose of the Wi-Fi extender. How can I extend the Wi-Fi if I have to have the Wi-Fi extender connected to the router. Shame 

dexman
Community Leader
Community Leader

If anything, connecting an extender to a router via an Ethernet cable is the preferred method because it provides a consistent path between the two units.

The next preferred method would be to use coaxial cable. The downside is a slight increase in latency.

A WiFi connection is the last option because increasing the distance between the router and the extender lowers the Internet speed realized.

There are a few ways to go at this point:

. Purchase a G3100 router. This will allow for a WiFi connection. The downside is that your Internet speed will be maxed out at 1 gigabit. Using the E3200 limits your Internet speed to 1 gigabit as it and the G3100 were not designed for multi gigabit service.

. Purchase the extender designed to pair with the 1000A. The downside is that the unit directly plugs into an electrical outlet and, as noted above, would provide slower Internet speeds the further away it is located from the router.

. If you do not subscribe to Verizon's legacy television service, you could purchase a third party mesh system and use that in place of the 1000A and E3200. The downside is that, in the event of needing Verizon technical support, they would only test as far as the ONT. The workaround would be to keep the 1000A and connect it to the ONT before calling for technical support.

fiosquestioner
Enthusiast - Level 2

Sorry - I am a bit confused about all this (and more upset that you guys have more info than the tech support from Verizon).

I understand that a wired connection will be faster than a wireless connection, and moving the extender further from the main router slows down the attainable speed. 

You mention that "Using the E3200 limits your Internet speed to 1 gigabit as it and the G3100 were not designed for multi gigabit service" Fios service maxes out for me around 900 Mbps - so the gigabit limit would not affect internet speed, it might only limit speed within my network, right? And I don't think I would personally notice a limit of Gigabit speed. 

With Fios does one need to use a verizon router? Sounds like a mesh system paired with my own router might make more sense? Unless I want to run ethernet cables around my house. Or a Mesh system with router included. 

If I go with an alternate router and mesh system - any recommendations - that are compatible with Fios? (Then again - I assume every type of router would be compatible with Fios, but maybe I'm wrong about that)

dexman
Community Leader
Community Leader

Verizon is in the process of making Internet speeds faster than 1 gigabit available to Fios subscribers. Right now, it is only available in certain parts of NYC, but will eventually be available to subscribers in other states.

When it does become available, the G3100 & E3200 will still only go as fast as 1 gigabit.

The 1000A router and the tiny extender can support the faster speed.

If you do not subscribe to the traditional Fios cable television services, you don't need to use the 1000A router. You can purchase just about any other modern router (except ones made specifically for cable service providers such as Comcast, Cox and so forth). I, myself used to use  Linksys routers & extenders before switching to the Verizon 3100 & 3200.

Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

Some corrections and extensions on Dexman's answer.

An E3200 cannot be wirelessly backhauled to a CR1000A is due to both technical and administrative constraints. CR1000A broadcasts one 5GHz band and one 6GHz band, while E3200 broadcasts two 5GHz bands. While it is technically possible to establish a wireless backhaul on the 5GHz band, this would leave CR1000A with no 5GHz band to serve 5GHz client devices. There are client device capable of 6GHz, but those are minorities right now.

When E3200s are installed with a CR1000A, the preferred backhaul should be coax instead of Ethernet. While it is true that MoCA adds a 3ms ping, it supports a multigigabit uplink of 2.5Gbps, as opposed to a 1Gbps Ethernet link. CR1000A is a 10Gbps capable router and is designed for the multigigabit Fios rollout up to 8.2Gbps in the near future. To not introduce bottlenecks in the path to the Internet, a higher uplink speed should always take precedence over a lower uplink speed.

A mesh system is perhaps worse than a system with multiple Fios Extenders backhauled with coax. Each mesh node introduces a 3ms ping. So if your path to the edge router traverses two nodes wirelessly, you would get an additional delay of 3ms + 3ms = 6ms! Fios Extenders, when backhauled with coax to the edge router, have a maximum delay of 3ms for the MoCA signal translation.

LawrenceC
Moderator Emeritus

I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to post your comments and opinions related to this topic. This topic has been thoroughly discussed and will now be closed. Please feel free to open a new thread for further discussion. Thank you.

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Gue224
Enthusiast - Level 2

Just got mine, the same way. As long as it is connected to the router via ethernet it works. If disconnected an used as a wireless extender, which was the whole idea, solid green light comes on. It will not connect to the router and not provide Wifi. No solution yet.