Use my router or Verizon's?

June 21, 2010 8:43 AM

Getting FIOS installed right now. Should I use Verizon's router or my Airport Extreme?

I can use the Verizon router as a bridge if I want. The Verizon is an Actiontech MI424WR

Tech specs here.

posted by digitalprimate to computers & internet (6 answers total)

Are you getting FiOS TV installed too? Then you need Verizon's router to use Video on Demand.

I've had fine luck with Verizon's Actiontech router. It's a good deal more powerful than most ISP-supplied boxes.

If you want to use your airport for some of its Apple-specific features, you could set it up as a secondary base station.
posted by schmod at 8:53 AM on June 21, 2010

You'll need to use the Verizon router for VoD, as schmod says. I have an Airport Extreme in addition, however, and do so so that I can have a USB drive plugged into at as well as 802.11n, which the Verizon router doesn't support.
posted by alaijmw at 8:56 AM on June 21, 2010

Use Verizon's router, but you can turn off the wireless and plug in your router into the Verizon router and use that for internet access. I'm doing that same setup right now. You'd want to turn off the wireless on the Verizon router so that it doesn't interfere with your router.

Verizon's router is actually the modem with a built in router so you need to use the modem to get online but you'd be plugging in your own router.
posted by eatcake at 9:56 AM on June 21, 2010

I have a similar setup, but using a time capsule rather than an airport extreme. My setup is:

1. disable wi-fi on the verizon router.
2. use time capsule in bridge mode, (connection sharing: off) so that IP addresses are assigned by the verizon router.
3. Wired computers are plugged into the time capsule (although I guess they don't have to be)

This works fine with video on demand, allows the time capsule to do everything it needs to do, and allows me to use an additional airport express to extend the wireless network / broadcast itunes.

(on preview, what eatcake said. I think)
posted by condour75 at 10:50 AM on June 21, 2010

I disabled most of the stuff on the FIOS router and turned it into two bridges. One, from WAN Coax to LAN Ethernet (which connects to my real router's uplink). Then, from WAN Ethernet (connected to my real router's LAN ports) to LAN Coax. The Video on Demand stuff works fine--it reaches my router through the second bridge.

I see lots of info on the internet about setting up the first bridge, but nothing about the second (and without the second I didn't get digital cable features). If you can follow the instructions for one you should be able to do the same for the other.

eatcake's solution involves running two routers. condour75's has one router (the FIOS one) and another box acting as a bridge.
posted by mohrr at 3:09 PM on June 21, 2010

Well, isn't this special: Verizon's router doesn't seem to like any Apple ethernet input. My old Macbook, my wife's new pro, my AE...but everything's fine with the tech's Win X box. Odd. Wireless is fine (reliably 20 up and down).
posted by digitalprimate at 7:46 PM on June 22, 2010