Can I use FiOS G1100 as just a WiFi Router with a cable modem?
agaurav
Enthusiast - Level 2

I had Verizon FIOS service and bought my own G1100 router. But now I moved to Comcast Xfinity service area. I have a cable modem. Can I use the G1100 as a WiFi router? If yes, what are some high-level steps? I assume that I connect the Ethernet CAT5 from modem to the WAN port of G1100. How do I change the settings of G1100 to not look for MOCA on Coax?

Thanks in advance.

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Re: Can I use FiOS G1100 as just a WiFi Router with a cable modem?
Capricorn1
Community Leader
Community Leader

@agaurav wrote:

Thanks a lot for the detailed reply.

I didn't realize that the cable modem also has a DHCP server. What you described makes the G1100 as a wireless access point.  I hope I will be able to use it as a "switch" as well since I have 2-3 wired devices also.

Do you know if it is preferred to use DHCP server of the cable modem or the external router? I would have thought that G1100 will use its DHCP server for WiFi and LAN ports and cable modem is pass-thru.


Now that you make me think about it some more, I shouldn't assume that the cable modem you have is a gateway. That is, it may not have a DHCP server or a firewall/router function at all. I forgot that some cable modems were just modems and didn't do anything but deliver a single IP address to whatever device is (first) hooked up to the Ethernet port. The ones I've seen recently included a firewall, wireless access point, (4-port) switch much like the G1100 does with FIOS. Comcast will let you buy/bring your own modem (chosen from a selection of approved ones) and they offer a bunch themselves. Do you know the brand and model number of the modem you actually have?

If you have one that just has a single Ethernet port, you should be able to hook the WAN Ethernet port from the G1100 up to your cable modem and use the G1100 pretty much as before. I haven't used the G1100 myself, but the older Actiontec routers would recogize if you hooked up the coax or Ethernet (but I assume connecting both at the same time is not a good idea - it may default to coax in that case) on the WAN side and use that without needing to do anything to cause the G1100 to switch. The G1100 should then try to get an IP address from Comcast (though the modem), and assuming it gets one, you should be good. That may actually be simpler than what I first proposed.

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Re: Can I use FiOS G1100 as just a WiFi Router with a cable modem?
Capricorn1
Community Leader
Community Leader

You can do it the way you are suggesting, but you don't need to go quite that far. If you really, really want to, there's some other adjustments to make in the G1100's routing that would probably be necessary. You can just hook up a Ethernet cable from a LAN port on your cable modem to a LAN port on the G1100. The G1100 will take care of converting wired to wireless for you just as it would have if you connected a desktop to one of it's LAN ports and used a laptop on wireless networks and sent files between the two (when you were using FIOS).

I'm "borrowing" this from another answer I posted. If you see EA7500, substitute G1100. Smiley Happy

On the G1100:

  1. Leave the G1100 disconnected from the rest of your network. You need to work with just it alone to start.
  2. Attach a laptop (or desktop) using wired Ethernet to the LAN side of the G1100. It will just be the G1100 connected to the laptop. There will be no Internet service (nor is it needed).
  3. Reboot the laptop or disable/enable the wired Ethernet to get an IP address from the DHCP server on the G1100.
  4. Log into the G1100 admin web site using the laptop. That's usually http://192.168.1.1 or http://192.168.0.1.
  5. Find the settings to disable the DHCP server entirely (but your laptop will maintain the IP address it was given for some time). Your cable modem also has a DHCP server running, and there should not be two of them on the same network.
  6. Change the LAN IP address of the G1100 to something other than the same IP address of the cable modem (but on the same subnet). That is, if the cable modem's LAN address is at 192.168.1.1 (and the G1100 is also set to use 192.168.1.1 as its LAN IP address) change the G1100's IP address to something like 192.168.1.254. If the cable modem's LAN IP address is 192.168.0.1, change the G1100 to something like 192.168.0.254.
  7. Run a cable from your cable modem's LAN to the LAN side of the G1100. (You can leave the laptop connected to one of the G1100's ports as well if you wish.)
  8. Reboot or power cycle the G1100 (You may want to reboot the laptop as well to have it get a new IP address from the cable modem's DHCP server.)

You should be good to go. You can log into the G1100's admin web site using http://192.168.1.254 or https://192.168.0.254 from any laptop or desktop on the LAN. Substitute the IP address you chose in step 6 above for 254 if that is not what you used. I have an older Linksys E1200 that I use that way myself. You can now set up the wireless LAN in the G1100 if you need/want to make changes. You have bypassed the firewall and WAN on the G1100 entirely, but if you just need it to serve as a WAP, this will do the job.

You may have an additional step on the cable modem if its DHCP server reserves the entire range from 192.168.x.1 to 192.168.x.254 (the values .0 and .255 have special uses and cannot be used as IP addresses). In that case, log into the cable modem (not the G1100) and change the upper range of the DHCP server to something like 200 down from 254, so that you can have some devices with fixed IP addresses (starting at 192.168.x.201 where x is 1 or 0). (Alternatively, the cable modem might let you reserve/assign specific IP addresses to specific equipment, but let's assume you will just change the range of IP addresses the DHCP server can hand out.)

Re: Can I use FiOS G1100 as just a WiFi Router with a cable modem?
agaurav
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thanks a lot for the detailed reply.

I didn't realize that the cable modem also has a DHCP server. What you described makes the G1100 as a wireless access point.  I hope I will be able to use it as a "switch" as well since I have 2-3 wired devices also.

Do you know if it is preferred to use DHCP server of the cable modem or the external router? I would have thought that G1100 will use its DHCP server for WiFi and LAN ports and cable modem is pass-thru.

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Re: Can I use FiOS G1100 as just a WiFi Router with a cable modem?
Capricorn1
Community Leader
Community Leader

@agaurav wrote:

Thanks a lot for the detailed reply.

I didn't realize that the cable modem also has a DHCP server. What you described makes the G1100 as a wireless access point.  I hope I will be able to use it as a "switch" as well since I have 2-3 wired devices also.

Do you know if it is preferred to use DHCP server of the cable modem or the external router? I would have thought that G1100 will use its DHCP server for WiFi and LAN ports and cable modem is pass-thru.


Now that you make me think about it some more, I shouldn't assume that the cable modem you have is a gateway. That is, it may not have a DHCP server or a firewall/router function at all. I forgot that some cable modems were just modems and didn't do anything but deliver a single IP address to whatever device is (first) hooked up to the Ethernet port. The ones I've seen recently included a firewall, wireless access point, (4-port) switch much like the G1100 does with FIOS. Comcast will let you buy/bring your own modem (chosen from a selection of approved ones) and they offer a bunch themselves. Do you know the brand and model number of the modem you actually have?

If you have one that just has a single Ethernet port, you should be able to hook the WAN Ethernet port from the G1100 up to your cable modem and use the G1100 pretty much as before. I haven't used the G1100 myself, but the older Actiontec routers would recogize if you hooked up the coax or Ethernet (but I assume connecting both at the same time is not a good idea - it may default to coax in that case) on the WAN side and use that without needing to do anything to cause the G1100 to switch. The G1100 should then try to get an IP address from Comcast (though the modem), and assuming it gets one, you should be good. That may actually be simpler than what I first proposed.

Re: Can I use FiOS G1100 as just a WiFi Router with a cable modem?
agaurav
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thanks. This all makes sense and I intend to try this next week when we move to the new house. 

Best,

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Re: Can I use FiOS G1100 as just a WiFi Router with a cable modem?
andylaz5
Enthusiast - Level 1

Good advice. My G1100 (Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 PCI-E) works with my Comcast voice modem (not a Gateway). Just needed to reboot the modem for the router to get a new IP. Here are my steps.

1) Connect comcast modem directly to computer ethernet port to verify connectivity.

2) Connect a LAN port on G1100 to computer and WAN port of G1100 to modem.

3) Factory reset G1100. (reset button in rear, may not be needed)

4) Reboot modem and router. Router should have white globe lit on front once rebooted.

5) Reset your computers network connection. Disable then Enable your wired connection under Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network Connections. (Windows)

6) Use http://myfiosgateway.com to log into your router, set Wi-Fi, password, etc. You should see Router Status as Connected and a Comcast IP. I could not initially connect with http://192.168.1.1 but after setup I can.

7) Connect other devices over Wi-Fi and LAN ports.

Re: Can I use FiOS G1100 as just a WiFi Router with a cable modem?
LawrenceC
Moderator Emeritus

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