Should FIos Router be installed on top of ONT in garage?

[Joeflaherty1]

Had my internet service upgraded Gigabit connection in December.  Installer swapped out my older ONT and installed /set the Router on top of the ONT in our garage (damp area). Then put a wifi extender in our office (which was prewired from original install 2008) which is where my original router was. 

Is this normal? Shouldn’t the new router just have been replaced in the same spot as the older one? 

We have a ranch style house so coverage wasn’t an issue before, but now I am thinking a router in a place with moisture may be. 

Also, bumping to gigabit and new ont/new router did not help with the slow responses from our (wired) cable boxes. 

[Cang_Household · Accepted solution]

Upgrading to speeds higher than 100Mbps requires an Ethernet connection between the ONT and the router. It is likely that you don't have an Ethernet connection to your older router's location, but do have a coax wire. Coax wire for WAN side is limited to 100Mbps, but 2.5Gbps on LAN side. So to have good signal at your older router's location, the installer likely placed an extender at that place and uplinked to the G3100 router through coax. This allows G3100 to stay with the ONT so an Ethernet wire can be routed easily between them.

The current gigabit subscription provides a free router rental, as well as a free extender rental.