How should I prepare/what to expect with Gigabit Upgrade next week

[ipswichclam]

VZ is coming on Monday to upgrade my ancient ONT and upgrade me from 50/50 to Gigabit.  I also have a Cable Card in my Tivo, and POTS service. No VZ DVR or STB.

 I have some questions.

1) Are they installing more than one type of router these days, if so, is there one brand I should try to convince them to give me?

2) I will need to forward some ports on my new router. I have done this myself before with the old Actiontec router. Any reason to think it will be difficult to set these up on the new router? Specifically 8176, and I think 1433, for home automation and some business software I use.

3) Currently I have COAX running from the ONT to my 3rd floor home office and the Actiontec router. I presume the new system will be all Ethernet from the ONT. Do you know if VZ will run Ethernet from the ONT to my home office as part of the install fee?

Anything else I should make sure they do/check before they leave?

Thanks!

[Cang_Household]

Ok, let me answer your questions one by one.

These days Verizon offers G3100 router for $300 to buy or rent at a cost (I am not sure). I don't think they offer G1100 any more, but you can purchase it without a warranty from a third-party vendor. If you don't have STBs, you can consider to buy your own router from Cisco or other major brands.

If you want to forward some ports, you follow the same steps as when you setup your older router.

Third question is the toughest question to answer. You have coax running through the house probably. Before, you have MoCA 1.1/1.0 running from the ONT to the old Actiontec. Since you upgraded to gigabit, you need to connect the ONT and the router with ethernet. Verizon does not offer fishing cables. If you hire an electrician to do so, that will be very expensive, we are looking at $500+. 

So, you need to place your router near the ONT (of course inside the house), then probably use MoCA 2.0+ LAN coax to transmit the LAN to the third floor via coaxial cable. I believe you want WiFi upstairs, but not so much near the ONT presumably. You can try this combination: a router (without wireless, near the ONT) + MoCA adapter (at the router side) + MoCA adapter (with wireless and ethernet ports, on the third floor).

The Verizon technician will probably offer G3100 as router, wireless AP, and MoCA adapter, and E3200 as the extender on the third floor as wireless AP and MoCA adapter. This costs $500.

Second option, buy a G1100 from a third party vendor (~$100) as router, AP, and MoCA, and WCB6200Q from Verizon ($120). This costs ~$220. One caveat though, G1100's MoCA 2.0 will bottleneck the third floor extender to a throughput around 500Mbps. Not a big deal if you hook some device onto G1100 directly.

Third option, probably the most flexible for future upgrades and the most complex option. Buy a third party router, for example, Cisco RV260 series ($160 or less), as router, no AP, and no MoCA. Buy ECB5240M ($55) from Verizon as the MoCA adapter near the router. Buy WCB6200Q from Verizon ($120) for the third floor and guarantees the gigabit delivery to the third floor. This costs less than $320 depends on what you choose for the router. RV260 has VPN, VLAN, and 8-port switch, probably you don't need.

You can consider these options. I prefer ECB5240M from Verizon than buying single-port ECB6200 from Actiontec, because it is cheaper.

How many ethernet ports do you need on the third floor?

[ipswichclam]

Thank you for the great answers. In order not to write a novel here, I simplified my situation a bit, so let me explain a bit more and see what you think.

I actually do have CAT6 that I ran myself going from the basement ONT to the 3rd Floor office   (I terminated it myself so I  not 100% confident in it at high speeds. It works when I tested it on my current set up. )

I also have a 10 port Gigbit switch near the ONT that I intended to use to feed lines running to other parts of the house.

VZ is going to rent the router to me, but they gave me 6 months free as part of a deal, and I prefer not to any more outlay cash up front if I don't have to. So I think I will accept their router, presumably the G3100.

So what if I put the G3100 near the ONT to feed the Gigabit switch from the router. From the switch I will connect my Cat6 run the 3rd floor, where I can use say a 5 port gigabit switch for what I need there (2-3 ports).

Also, one of other lines from the 10 port switch I am planning to connect to my Netgear RBR50, which is what I use for mesh wifi Any concerns about that set up?

Many thanks!

[Cang_Household]

That should work given you have ethernet cables around the house. Then, there is really no need to ponder about MoCA and coaxial cables altogether, even rendering the G3100 unnecessary given you have a meshed WiFi system, you can place your own router.