I want to use my own router and keep tv guide
johng128
Enthusiast - Level 1

Just had fios installed TV and internet. 

ONT has coax and cat5 running to verizon router and coax also running to cable box

I would like to use my own router instead of the verizon router. I have a netgear nighthawk and I need it to get wifi throughout my house. 

I also have a buch of ports forwarded for a surveillance system. 

I tried plugging the cat5 from the ONT directly into my router but it wouldnt connect to the internet. 

Is this possible

Thanks

1 Solution
JustinG1
Community Leader
Community Leader

I have a good idea of whats up here. Just to re-confirm, your nighthawk is connected, and you can access the internet from it?

I believe the problem is that your Nighthawk is handing out LAN IPs in the range of 192.168.1.X, which is also what the G1100 hands out, so the G1100 and Nighthawk network are overlapping.

You'll need to change the IP range that the G1100 uses for the set top boxes. To do this, please login to the G1100 (Easiest way to do this would be to plug an ethernet cable from the G1100 into your computer). Go to http://192.168.1.1/ and enter the username and password listed on the side of the router.

Once you've logged in follow these steps:

Click My Network at the top of the screen. Then click Network Connections on the sidebar of the page that will appear.

Click on Network (Home/Office).

Click the Settings button at the bottom of the page.

Look for the portion of the settings page which says Use the following IP address:, you should see 192.168.1.1. This is what you have to change.

Change the address to 192.168.5.1.

You just need to change two more settings before moving on. Scroll down a bit to the IP Address Distribution section. You'll see a "Start IP address" and "End IP address" section. Change these from 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.254 to 192.168.5.2 and 192.168.5.254.

Your configuration should look like this (images may not always show up due to them needing moderated manually): image

Lastly, click Apply at the bottom of the page. The Verizon router will reboot. Reboot your set top boxes, and check for connectivity.

I'm 99% sure this should solve your issue Smiley Happy

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76 Replies
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

RoyF,

Just to confirm, you do not have ethernet running from ONT to router?

If so, like Justion said, you can put it anywhere.

Try moving it to the first floor and see if that makes WiFi better.

Will need to move the splitter to do that.

Probably would need to go by local big box store and pick up a male-male connector to take splitter out in basement.

Hope this helps.

royf1
Enthusiast - Level 2

CRob,

Correct, there are no ethernet cables connected to the ONT.  The ONT is in the basement (it cannot be relocated) and the wireless router is on the 1st floor.

The ONT has a coax connection the goes to a spliter which takes 1 coax to the 1st floor and 1 coax to the 2nd floor. On the first floor there is another spliter that takes 1 coax to the DVR STB and the other coax to the wireless router. On the 2nd floor, the coax coming from the basement is connected to an HD STB.

My goal is to speed up all wireless devices.  Those devices are a wireless laptop used on the 2nd floor, 2 Chromecast connected TVs (1 downstairs, 1 upstairs), 2 iphones, and a PS3.  I recently upgraded from 25/5 to 75/75 and am renting the G1100. I am not satisfied with the wireless signal coming for the G1100.  I can rarely get a stable 5 GHz connection (only the iphones can sometimes discover that signal) which means everything is using 2.4.  I just realized this morning that my son's PS3 in the living room has an ethernet connection in the back, so that's 1 less device on wireless as I made that connection to one of the LANs on the wireless router. 

After reading other complaints about the G1100, I decided a fairly inexpense replacement would be the Netgear AC1900 R7000.  I'm supposed to get that delivered Thursday along with 100 ft of cat6 and end connections.  Instead of returning the M1424WR which I can use rent free, I'm going to return the $10/mo G1100. 

This was my plan:

1) keep the coax connections I presently have, but only replacing the G1100 with the M1424WR for purposes of FIOS TV, programming/on demand services.

2) running cat6 from the ONT to the new Netgear router for wireless internet and also a wired connection to the pc right next to the router. (I understand the ethernet connection that needs to be made between the 2 routers)

Justin said that I would NOT need the coax connection with the ONT if I was going to run the cat6 cable.  So I'm wondering how that would work.  Can STB's be connected using ethernet instead of coax?  If so, I'm guessing I would run cat6 between the ONT and one of the routers (M1424WR ?), then connecting the 2 routers with ethernet, then connect the STB to 1 of the LAN's of the M1424WR, then connect one of the routers to the pc (which router ?).  If I need to run a cat6 from the router to the STB upstairs, that's not a problem.  This guess is not sounding logical to me.  I have a feeling I'm way off track.  Can you use spliters on cat6? If so, then I'm thinking to keep my present wiring map and just replacing all coax with cat6 and using the ethernet connection on the ONT instead of the coax connection.

Just trying to make the fastest, most reliable network I can without much expense. 

??????  thanks, guys!

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CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

For TV service, you have to have coax from ONT.

You have the choice of Internet via coax or ethernet.

If you choose ethernet, you then need a moca bridge to get Internet to STBs for guide and VOD.

Ethernet can not be split in the way you think.

You can connect a switch and then plug multiple connections there.

Is cat6 coming pre-terminated?

If not, you will need to look up how to terminate the cable (pinouts, etc).

And you will also want to lookup how to turn your Netgear into an AP.
That works best as it allows any wireless device (android and IOS) to talk to VMS via FIOS app.

If/when you choose to get rid of Fios TV, you then can replace their router with your own and use it to its full capability.

BTW, I just bought a TP-Link router for the exact reason you are.

I have a two story rancher. Even it doesn't provide wireless throughout my entire house (and it is not that big). I hoped it would cover entire house. But I kept it as I had an old DLink router that only had 2.4G. So I used the DLink to provide 5G in my basement.

CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Are you using Verizon STB for TV?

If so, it would be best to use Verizon router.

They have all of the correct ports open that the STs need for guide as well as VOD and remote DVR viewing.

To use your own router, you would not only have to get the right ports open, you would need to have a MOCA bridge as STBs use coax for Internet.

You could use the Netgear as an Access Point (put in bridge mode) if you like its WIFI performance better.

JustinG1
Community Leader
Community Leader

CRobGauth,

Just out of curiousity, is the open ports for the STBs a requirement?

For my job I've setup at least 7-8 locations where we replaced the Verizon router, and followed my method above to provide the STBs with internet access. Each time the STBs still got VOD, Guide and DVR access. 

Doing a TCPDump on all of the activity from the STBs I also notice that they are always sending outgoing connections to Verizon servers for VOD, Guide and DVR access, and I haven't seen any incoming traffic. 

I'm aware of the remote access port that prompts for login on the STBs, and I assume this is for Verizon to troubleshoot, but again at 7 different locations we have yet to run into issues with this. 

Again, I don't mean to sound rude, I'm just purely curious.

CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

May depend on model.

If it is the older legacy STB, you may be able to get away with it.

But I believe the new Quantum devices require it.
Esepcially if you want to be able to use the FIOS app to control DVR and remotely view recorded content.

I can't say for 100% as I have never tried it, but I have seen other posts where people have tried it and have had issues.

pl626
Contributor - Level 1

I've been using non-V* routers in front for years.  I currently have an ASUS RT-AC68U in front of the V*, which is only a MOCA bridge.  I turned the DHCP off along with the wireless. 

The only function I don't have is the remote-access dvr.  Not a big deal for me.  Bandwidth is more important to me.

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CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Why do you say you get better bandwidth with your router in front?

Never had a speed or bandwidth issue with my Verizon routers.

pls60
Enthusiast - Level 2

Question for JustinG...

I, too, would like to have my own router.  I bought and set up a Dlink DIR-895 and it connected right up (though I had to return it because the 2.4ghz didn't work at all).  My method (as opposed to your method) was keeping everything the same on the Fios router (192.168.1.1) and hooking to the dlink WAN port.  The dlink ip is 192.169.0.1 .  I was surprised this worked without a problem (though I only used it for a few hours before I discovered the 2.4ghz problem).  Is this a viable connection method and did it work simply because the Dlink was on a different subnet (192.168.0.1)?  Thanks.  I really value the education.

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Tobenits18
Enthusiast - Level 2

I read the thread and I would just like to make sure if I understood it correctly. I recently had Fios installed. Only opted for the internet. I have a Netgear Nighthawk too I wanted to use as the range on the G1100 is horrible compared to it. So if my G1100 is already connected to the ONT via an ethernet cable, I could directly connect said cable to my Netgear router's Internet port and use it without the G1100? I was looking around for info on this and everyone was saying I had to put the G1100 on bridge mode. Some even said the Nighthawk can't be used directly as it isn't a modem. So which is which?

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JustinG1
Community Leader
Community Leader

Hey Tobenits18!

Your correct. You can completely replace the G1100. The comments saying that it needs to be in bridge mode only applies to users with FiOS TV. 

However, you do need to release the DHCP lease from the G1100 router before plugging in your own router or else your own router will not get an IP. Follow these instructions. This only has to be done once.

To release DHCP lease via the router GUI, follow the below steps on the Actiontec or FiOS Quantum Gateway.

First, connect your computer to either the ethernet port on the G1100 or its wifi network. Then go to http://192.168.1.1/ in any web browser. Login to the page (login info is on the side of the router on a sticker.) Now follow these steps:

   

1Click on the My Network icon at the top.
2Click Network Connections from the menu on the left.
3Click Broadband Connection
4Click Settings
5Scroll down and click Release under DHCP Lease
6Click Apply
7Disconnect the router immediately to prevent it from re-requesting a DHCP lease.

Once the G1100 router is disconnected, simply plug in your nighthawk, and you should have internet! If you have any issues, post back here.

Best of luck, and enjoy using your own router on FiOS! 🙂

Tobenits18
Enthusiast - Level 2

UGH! Thanks for the quick response. If I knew it would be this case, I wouldnt' have bought a G1100. I bought one to avoid those monthly "rental" fee. I could have let them install it using their device and then give it back to them once I installed the Nighthawk.

JustinG1
Community Leader
Community Leader

Sorry to hear about that. Maybe giving Verizon a call and explaining the situation they'd be willing to let you return the device. Or if worse comes to worse, you could sell on ebay. 

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jonjones1
Legend

@JustinG wrote:

Hey Tobenits18!

Your correct. You can completely replace the G1100. The comments saying that it needs to be in bridge mode only applies to users with FiOS TV. 

However, you do need to release the DHCP lease from the G1100 router before plugging in your own router or else your own router will not get an IP. Follow these instructions. This only has to be done once.

To release DHCP lease via the router GUI, follow the below steps on the Actiontec or FiOS Quantum Gateway.

First, connect your computer to either the ethernet port on the G1100 or its wifi network. Then go to http://192.168.1.1/ in any web browser. Login to the page (login info is on the side of the router on a sticker.) Now follow these steps:

   

1Click on the My Network icon at the top.
2Click Network Connections from the menu on the left.
3Click Broadband Connection
4Click Settings
5Scroll down and click Release under DHCP Lease
6Click Apply
7Disconnect the router immediately to prevent it from re-requesting a DHCP lease.

Once the G1100 router is disconnected, simply plug in your nighthawk, and you should have internet! If you have any issues, post back here.

Best of luck, and enjoy using your own router on FiOS! 🙂


I cannot stress this enough....http://kb.netgear.com/23977/Will-my-NETGEAR-router-work-with-Verizon-FiOS?cid=wmt_netgear_organic

netgear states their routers will not function in stand alone mode. My Nighthawk when connected directly would not get the full speeds. On calling Netgear they stated I had to use it only in AP mode. Which it did function after doing so.

the newest Nighthawk router I was told will function as a total stand alone. Of course I am not going to purchase a $600 after buying a $400 one. Just to find out.

i have read other routers have been proven to function with Fios without bridge or access point mode. But if only on internet only.

JustinG1
Community Leader
Community Leader

@jonjones wrote:
I cannot stress this enough....http://kb.netgear.com/23977/Will-my-NETGEAR-router-work-with-Verizon-FiOS?cid=wmt_netgear_organic

netgear states their routers will not function in stand alone mode. My Nighthawk when connected directly would not get the full speeds. On calling Netgear they stated I had to use it only in AP mode. Which it did function after doing so.

the newest Nighthawk router I was told will function as a total stand alone. Of course I am not going to purchase a $600 after buying a $400 one. Just to find out.

i have read other routers have been proven to function with Fios without bridge or access point mode. But if only on internet only.


You are correct regarding users with Internet only setups. When setup like this, the network is no different from any other ISP out there. Netgear's knowledge base isn't updated, as it is completely possible and feasible to use their router as your primary with Verizon's newer setups.

Verizon used to run a coax cable to their older Actiontec routers, rather than ethernet. While it would be possible to use your own router with these setups, I doubt netgear wanted to deal with trying to walk users through running ethernet cables from their ONT, getting the ethernet port provisioned, etc etc. 

With the new method of installations that Verizon has been using, which is an ethernet cable direct to the ONT, its much easier to swap out your own router (as long as your internet only, and you don't rely on remote DVR). Its simply plug and play. But again, I assume Netgear says this isn't possible because they don't want to deal with support calls when it comes to more complex setups (such as FiOS TV). 

However, jonjones, I am very curious as to why you've seen degraded speeds when using your own router! After performing probably over 50 or more Verizon router swaps for clients, and I've personally used 3 Nighthawk routers before, I have never seen anything like this. If you were still trying to use your nighthawk, I could try and help figure out whats up with it. 

jonjones1
Legend

Hi Justin:

the issue with my nighthawk was in my estimation a fluke. I had the fios installer here at my house and after we ran the Ethernet we took out a brand new netgear nighthawk R8500 x8 and I just put the cable in and it received dns and I could login and see the setup GUI however the speed was 15/5 I believe.

the installer said he was not computer savvy where I have worked on systems since the old Sperry Univacs. Mainframes, personal pc's and networking so I knew not to let it bother me.

the installer called Verizon and they kept releasing the dns and renewing and they kept insisting that we hook up the Quantum G1100 to see if it was a Netgear issue or an issue on their end. The quantum was up in running in 5 minutes. Full speed and no issues. I hooked multiple computers and devices to the quantum and all was well.

however I tinkered with the Nighthawk and I called Netgear and they insisted the R8500 x8 could not be used as a stand alone. They sent me a support link and I spoke to more than one person and they said the nighthawk was fully functional only when used in access point mode. 

I placed it in AP and it fired right up.

i tinkered with the routers settings and tried hooking again and the same low speeds. I reset the routers both of them to factory and the netgear will not connect at the 150/150 I am provisioned for.

i can live with the situation for now, but I was having a laugh when Netgear wanted me to buy their newest x10 Nighthawk which support on the phone said fully supports stand alone with fios.

when I have the time I will tinker some more. 

Thsnk you you your kind offer of assistance .

Tobenits18
Enthusiast - Level 2

@JustinG wrote:

Hey Tobenits18!

Your correct. You can completely replace the G1100. The comments saying that it needs to be in bridge mode only applies to users with FiOS TV. 

However, you do need to release the DHCP lease from the G1100 router before plugging in your own router or else your own router will not get an IP. Follow these instructions. This only has to be done once.

To release DHCP lease via the router GUI, follow the below steps on the Actiontec or FiOS Quantum Gateway.

First, connect your computer to either the ethernet port on the G1100 or its wifi network. Then go to http://192.168.1.1/ in any web browser. Login to the page (login info is on the side of the router on a sticker.) Now follow these steps:

   

1Click on the My Network icon at the top.
2Click Network Connections from the menu on the left.
3Click Broadband Connection
4Click Settings
5Scroll down and click Release under DHCP Lease
6Click Apply
7Disconnect the router immediately to prevent it from re-requesting a DHCP lease.

Once the G1100 router is disconnected, simply plug in your nighthawk, and you should have internet! If you have any issues, post back here.

Best of luck, and enjoy using your own router on FiOS! 🙂


I tried to do this and see if the Nighthawk would work on its own. I released the DHCP Lease and disconnected it immediately. Upon connecting the Nighthawk, everything seemed fine. All the lights were on, making it look like the router is online. When I tried to scan for the wi-fi, I couldn't locate it. I used multiple devices and all the same. When I connected a device via ethernet, it was able to connect to the internet. My daughters were able to watch on the apple tv. I decied to connect a laptop via the ethernet and see if I could access the router that way. Thinking that maybe the wifi just had to be activated or something. When I connected the laptop, I got some sort of message about another device using the IP, and to try to connect later. As the apple tv was the only one connected, I took it off. I was then able to get online using the laptop. But when I tried to access the router via http://192.168.1.1 or http://www.routerlogin.com or http://www.routerlogin.net, I get a message that I am not connected to the router's wifi. I know I am not connected to the wifi, but I am connected wried to it, so how come I can't access it? Did I do something wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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JustinG1
Community Leader
Community Leader

The ethernet cable that was unplugged from the FiOS router, where did you plug it in?

Please make sure that you plugged it into the yellow WAN port of the Nighthawk router, and not any of the 4 white LAN ports, otherwise the router will not work.

If it is already setup in this configuration, factory reset the Nighthawk router, as something is up with its configuration. 

Tobenits18
Enthusiast - Level 2

It is in the yellow Internet port for the Router. The laptop I am using to reply to thread is the one I connected to the router via ethernet, so it is able to get online. But cant seem to "connect" to the router via the addresses I mentioned earlier. I also tried to Reset to Factory Settings by inserting a paper clip into the hole at the back. But somehow the thing won't "reboot". I am used to devices restarting when you insert paper clips into these holes. But for this one, I have had the button in the hole pressed for a good minute, but it wont reset. Does it mean something is wong with the device?

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JustinG1
Community Leader
Community Leader

On the laptop you are currently using to test, would you mind running a few commands for me to get a better idea of whats happening here? 

If you running a windows laptop, please open the start menu, and type "cmd". Open the application (it will look like a black window). Now, in the command prompt, type ipconfig

Please post the output / screenshot of this command. What we are looking for is the IPv4 Address. It should be 192.168.1.X, but if its not that could be a hint as to whats up. 

The output will look like this: image

And if your on MacOS, please follow this tutorial to find your IP address.

https://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=6526

If you are getting a 192.168.1.x IP address on your wired device, but still can't access http://192.168.1.1, and reset won't work either, then the only problem I can think of wouuld be with the Nighthawk itself. 

According to what I can find on the internet, holding in the reset button for 10 seconds should have initiated a reset. Its somewhat concerning that your device is not responding to this input, you may want to reach out to netgear support to see if they could give some insight. 

Tobenits18
Enthusiast - Level 2

Sorry. Everytime I tried to upload, it was taking forever. But this is what was on screen.

Configure IPv4: Using HCP

IP Address 96.225.66.80

Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0

Router 96.225.66.1

Search Domain: verizon.net

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