G3100 Router setting up questions

[VAer1]

Just bought a brand new G3100 router on ebay (around $200), but I have a few questions (new to G3100).

1) On the label on the back, it shows "Admin URL: myfiosgateway.com" , but when I try to open the URL, it shows "This domain is registered and protected by MarkMonitor", there is no login Username and Password on the page. Why?

2) Primary Network: What does "SON Enabled" mean, if I want to hide it so that neighbors cannot see it, should I disable it? What does 2.4 GHz/5 Ghz1/5 GHz2 mean? Should I keep all of them enabled?

3) What is IoT network? 

4) WiFi Protected Setup: How should I set up properly?

5) What else I need to set up?

Thanks.

Edit: So far, less than 2 hours,  the router has turned to yellow light at least 3 times by itself, not pleasant experience with this router, it did not happen to my old router MI424WR. I will keep an eye on it, and hope it can work smoothly.

New Question: I have set personalized password for Admin (Router access), when it turns to yellow light, I press the button for a few second for resetting router, but it seems that it does not erase my personalized password. Initially, I thought I will need default password (on the label) if I press the button to reset the router, but that is not the case, I still log in with my personalized password. Now the question is: what if I forget my password? How can I log in to manage my router?

 

[dexman]

SON "Self Organizing Network". When turned on, a single SSN is detected by equipment.

The idea is to automatically steer devices to the strongest frequency (2.4 or 5).

CL Cang_Household posted a deep dive discussion about how it works. I don't have the link readily available.

[gs0b]

Don't worry about hiding your networks.  Worry about having a good passphrase and use WPA2 or better.

Even if you turn off SSID broadcast, the network is still visible to anyone with the right tools.  The passphrase and encryption type are what protect the network, not whether the SSID is visible to other people.

SON causes the 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz networks to appear as one.  Useful for new devices, as the router will steer them to the best network based on their signal strengths.  It can cause problems with older devices such as printers or low cost devices with cheap WiFi radios.  If you like seeing different networks for each band, or if you have devices that have issues, turn off SON.

I avoid WiFi protected setup, as it doesn't add any value for the way I run my network and admit devices.  If you don't need it, don't worry about it.

The default settings work well for most people.  Unless you run into issues, I suggest you leave them alone.

If you haven't done a factory reset on the router, do that now.  That will put everything back to defaults.

[VAer1]

I press and hold the button for long time (about 20 seconds), it does not go to factory default setting (my personalized password for Admin, personalized SSID, password for SSID, they all remain).

Not idea how to perform factory reset.

[dexman]

The reset button should kick off a reset before 20 seconds. I use a paperclip 📎  to access the reset button. Works the best for me. 🙂

[VAer1]

Which button? I press blue light button. There is only one button.

[dexman]

The front button is for WPS set up. The reset button is on the back. 🙂

[Cang_Household]

The front button is for WPS. The Extenders can even pair themselves with the G3100 without pressing the front button. The reset button is located at the rear of the unit. You need to hold it for at least 10 seconds to restore factory settings.

SON stands for self-organizing network and the underlying mechanisms are band steering and access point steering. SON steers dual band capable devices to the 5GHz band whenever the signal strength permits. SON also steers devices to other access points when the previously associated access point has a low signal strength.

For older 2.4GHz single band devices, most likely IoTs, you can enable the IoT virtual access point and connect them to the IoT SSID. Notice that this IoT access point is not isolated from the main network, which is favorable if you need to share resources between the IoT and main networks. The introduction of IoT is for the purpose of allowing SON to be remained on even you have legacy devices.

If you want to hide your SSIDs away from the neighbors, you can do so in the advanced wireless settings.

[gs0b]

One other note.  Posters over in https://www.dslreports.com/forum/r33286357-My-experience-with-G3100-Router have reported DFS can cause issues with some devices.  It's enabled by default.  The posters over in dslreports recommend turning it off.