How to setup a Linksys router with Verizon FIOS
Key words and phrases:
linksys wrt54g verizon fios actiontec actiontech ActionTec MI424-WR setup how to network bridge
Description & Info:
So you just got Verizon FIOS installed and are starting to realize that the ActionTec MI424-WR modem/wifi router that they gave you is a piece of junk...(unless of course you want to go back to the stone age and use an ethernet cord!!) Don't worry, there's hope. You can disable the router features and hook up your trusty old linksys, just use the instructions below.
!!WARNING:Following these instructions will disable your Verizon TV service features, such as On-Demand.
(original post/ resource here )
Why make the MI424-WR a bridge?
- New FiOS installations now connect you using the MoCA system from the ONT, not ethernet, thus preventing you from directly connecting a router of your choice to the ONT (some of you may say that the ethernet jack at the ONT is still there and you could run an ethernet cable to it, but it will NOT work because the ONT was not configured for ethernet connectivity during initial install by verizon)
- As part of the new FiOS installations, you are given an ActionTec MI424-WR router
- The MI424-WR is a pretty decent router (is powerful, has lots of features, and is quite flexible), however the major issue with it at the moment is the puny NAT table (only 1kb in size). The NAT table is easily overflowed just by running a single bittorrent or in some cases, playing games. When the NAT table is overflowed, you will get the "No IP for NAT - connections may fail" error logged in your MI424-WR's security log. During this time, you will unable to browse, ping, or connect to anything until you wait about 3 minutes. This problem seems to be widespread with this router, regardless of which firmware release is used. No one has been able to produce a workaround for this issue and neither Actiontec or Verizon has acknowledged this issue officially. This problem makes your FiOS connection next to useless. While your overall throughput may drop when using a store bought consumer grade router, your actual usability may increase. I personally would take this trade off over NAT errors any day
- Instead of paying at least $100 to fix something that's not your fault (buying a MoCA to ethernet bridge), make the MI424-WR as a bridge and use a router of your choice!
This is what you will need to do:
- Connect your computer to the MI424-WR using an ethernet connection if you have not done so
- Open your web browser and type in 192.168.1.1 in the URL and press "enter"
- The default username and password for the MI424-WR is "admin" and "password, however verizon techs tend to change the password to "password1". If neither works, you will need to do a hard reset on the router (hold down the reset pinhole with a paperclip for about 10 seconds). If you did a hard reset, you may not be able to reconnect to the ONT due to a configuration issue with the default router settings (I will explain how to get it working as you keep reading)
- Once you are logged in, go ahead and reset the router to the default settings if you have done numerous customizations in the past, otherwise don't worry about it. To reset the config to defaults, click on "Advanced" at the top, then click yes in the confirmation box. You will then see "Restore Defaults" at the lower left side of the screen (under the red toolbox icon). The router will now reboot itself. Remember that the username and password resets itself to the ActionTec default of "admin" and "password". It's a good idea to change the password after this is all done of course.
- Go ahead and log back into the router if you have "Restore Defaults", otherwise just click on "My Network" at the top of the screen. Once you are there, click on "Network Connections" at the menu on the left.
- You should now see a list of interfaces that exist in the router. To see them all, click on the "Advanced" button below that list.
- Now you will need to do this very important step. you will need to release your MI424-WR's IP from the ONT or you will NOT be able to have your new router DHCP an IP for itself!. To do this, click on the "Broadband Connection (Coax)" from the connection list. Then click on the "Settings" button at the bottom. You will now see a bunch of settings for this interface. Make sure the "Privacy" option is enabled (if you have reset your MI424-WR to defaults earlier, it maybe disabled. Not having this setting enabled will cause the connection to the ONT to fail!). You can click on the "Release" button if an IP address is currently assigned to the MI424-WR. Click the "Release" button and immediately change the "Internet Protocol" option to "No IP Address" (default setting is "Obtain an IP Address Automatically"). Click on "Apply" afterwards, then "Yes" (if there's a confirmation message), then "Apply" again.
- Now you will need to turn the MI424-WR into a bridge. In the connection list, click on "Network (Home/Office)", then click on the "Settings" button. You will see a list of interfaces under "Bridge". Check the box next to the "Broadband Connection (Coax)", then check the box under the STP column. Click on "Apply" afterwards, then "Yew" (if there's a confirmation message), then "Apply" again.
- Since the MI424-WR will no longer be used for routing, go ahead and disable its wireless interface also. Click on "Wireless Access Point" in the interface list and then click on "Disable". You can also disable this in the "Wireless Settings" section.
- Just in case the MI424-WR will do something wacky, I disabled the built-in firewall also. Click on "Firewall Settings" and then select "Minimum", then click on "Apply".
- Verify that the MI424-WR no longer has a connection to the internet by looking at the status information in "Main". It should have a red light and say it's on PPPOE right now. The MI424-WR should still have a connection to the ONT. You can check this by going back into "My Network", then "Network Connections", then clicking on the "Full Status" button at the bottom of the list. "Broadband Connection (Coax)". Should say it's connected still.
- Next, disconnect all computers from the MI424-WR. Setup the router of your choice (for me, I'm using a Linksys WRT54G v4 running dd-wrt). Make sure your new router's IP address is something different from 192.168.1.1 or it will conflict! Your new router should now DHCP an IP from verizon without any problems.
The only way to access the MI424-WR after this setup is to directly connect a computer to it (via ethernet) and using a static 192.168.1.* IP address. It will no longer DHCP an IP to you. You will also notice that the "Internet" light (may look like a map globe) on the router will now be lit orange and blink red. This is normal. The MI424-WR control panel will also perpetually say you're not connected to the internet. That too is normal.
You will know everything is working when you see your new router getting an IP from verizon.
Thank you! Intrestingly, I followed the instructions exactly (I think) -- and was unable to get an Internet connection via my Linksys router.
Went back and undid the changes you listed, verified that my 'Net connection was restored. Just for fun, I then checked -- my Linksys router is routing. Am I missing something? Thank you again.
The install was a breeze, honestly I expected more of a fight from Verizon's hardware. Cheers!
But is Dan the Danny Hakimzadeh I once knew from Istanbul?
Thank for posting this- this is exactly what I was looking for and, for internet, this worked great. However, it messed up my Fios TV DVR box. I didn't see the correlation, but I kept getting 'Cannot connect to server. Please try again later" messages whenever I tried to do a lot of things on the DVR. Eventually the box crashed and when it returned all my listings were gone. I called tech support and they said that the TV box needs the router to get the information from the Verizon server.
I don't know how these boxes work if you don't have the internet package. Maybe they install the router too? I will probably not figure out how to get the DVR box working with a different router. I already cancelled my Fios TV package because I hate the DVR box anyway, and this is just the icing on the cake. In a week I convert over to DirecTV's HD DVR box.
But I thought anyone who is following this tutorial should be aware of this issue.
There's two basic problems with doing this, from what I can understand...
The first problem, as mentioned in the instructions, is that you can't get to the Verizon router's control panel after doing this, because the router is on the other side of your firewall, acting as the ethernet bridge. You can solve that by using another ethernet cable to link one of the router's downstream ports to the Verizon router...
The other problem is that the Verizon router doesn't have the information it needs to contact the internet on its own - only a local net IP, no gateway, no DNS, no route to get out - so if set-top boxes use the Verizon router for extra information, they won't be able to get it. I was trying to think up a solution to this - perhaps using the Verizon router's upstream Ethernet port to connect back to the router that's doing the NAT - negotiate with DHCP, and so on - but I haven't been able to make that work out...
I wish I'd just got them to run ethernet instead of coax...
it didnt work for me n i have been trying every thing. i called fios n i was on the phone with those retards for 2 hours the i was on the phone with linksys for freakin 3 hours. n now i cant return the dam thing wtf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111
Dan, I have the same router using that particular device for my fios connection for my business internet access. I took the Verizon router out of the loop completley so as to comply with the setup my software supplier wants as far as tech support. I know it's a simple question, but I have very little understanding about routers. My goal is to have a wireless connection to tap into to enjoy T Mobiles' "hotspot @ home" feature.
If it will work, will leaving the wireless feature on leave my business open to hacker attacks from wireless users in the area?
Thanks for the 411 in advance.
Grump, Florist Grump
I was able to bridge the ActionTec (which is COAX connected to the ONT) to my Asus WL-500g (running x-wrt) and my PCs could all hit the internet through their existing WLAN. Unfortunately, the bridge did break the set top box network so video on demand and the widgets died (maybe other functionality as well, I didn't play with the DVRs too much). I reverted back by releasing the DHCP IP from the ASUS, then walking backwards through the instructions. This makes me sad because the performance of the ASUS is fantastic.
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our internet connection kept dropping every hour. We had to turn off the router every time.
Verizon COULDN'T FIGURE OUT what the problem was.
They sent technicians, ran tests, etc. It TOOK them over a week and they ended up saying it's ONE of our PCs.
I followed your instructions (they are so easy by the way) and VOILA!!!!!! Problem solved!
Their MI424-WR SUCKS!!!
Thanks again man!!!
You know your stuff.
Thanks!
Art
Hi,
I'm about to get Verizon's voice and internet 'bundle' installed in 5 days. I was wondering:
Do you know if your work around using a Linksys Router adversely affect the voice service? I read your post and understand that it would affect the TV service (which I won't be purchasing). I would think it WOULD affect the phone service, but I was hoping that you knew of a work around for that also. Thanks!
Leo
Not sure about that... I have no way to test it... please lemme know if/when you find out
I've had fios for about a year now. Last summer, I disabled the wireless on the actiontec, and setup my WRT54G V5 as a wireless bridge. It's worked pretty well, but the actiontec can't handle torrent traffic.
I guess I was a lucky, and managed to have only an ethernet connection from the ONT.
I followed everything UP to step 7, except I did it for the "Broadband Connection (ethernet)" connection, instead of coax. I skipped steps 8 and above.
After that, I plugged the ethernet from ONT into the WAN on the linksys. Then I turned off the actiontec, reset the linksys, and setup the linksys how I wanted it (changing the default IP address from 192.168.1.1, to 192.168.1.2). Then I plugged an ethernet cable from LAN 1 on the linksys to LAN 1 on the actiontec, and turned the actiontec back on. I was able to connect to it and view all the settings. It warned me on the front page that Coax and Ethernet connections were disconnected, but I ignored that.
Then I unplugged the power to the cable boxes for about a minute, and plugged them back in. On-demand and on-screen guide work fine. The coax connections show up in the "My Network" section on the actiontec.
So, now I've got my WRT54G controlling everything, and the actiontec acts as a bridge for the coax connection. Works great.
I like it...
Bridging the routers seems like the best option if you want to add better wireless and still keep your Verizon TV features... I am gonna look into this.
Great Comment!
Did anyone try this procedure? Does it work....would like to reconfig my two routers and keep the "on demand" features.
I am wondering if it's possible to do something similar without ethernet from the ONT.
My goal is to keep the on demand / guide features, leverage my wireless linksys device running openwrt as the primary router, and run a web server off that router. After disabling the firewall and wireless on the actiontec and enabling some port forwarding rules, everything works fine with the exception of my web server.
Any ideas?
I have the same equipment (linksys and actiontec) in this article but I went about it differently.
First - I turned off the wireless feature on the actiontec
Second - I used a static ip address for the linksys router - 192.168.2.1
Everything now connects to a different subnet while the actiontec only knows of a connection from the linksys router
I have no interruption to any of my services for a year now from either the tv or the internet
I would post the instructions on how I did it but its been a year now and i doubt I'll be able to recall
so if you want to use your favorite router - create and use a subnet
This looks like what I need. Any idea if it will be a problem with my business static IP?
Using the Bridging method is probably the best way to go to ensure no breaks in your regular services, like OnDemand or static IPs. When I have some free time, I'll post the step-by-step for that method too
So I got the actiontec modem/router setup as a bridge with the directions above......but now what? You kinda drop off about how then to connect the linksys(or whatever brand) router to the actiontec after the bridge is set on the actiontec. Any settings in the router we need to change and look for?
It's about 75% done, and now you've lost me.
Do I plug into the 1 lan on the AT then to the WAN port on the router, or the 2 lan port to the 1 lan port on the router? Act like I'm retarded and I have no clue how a bridge to router work.....explain.
If the router you want to bridge is wireless, your linksys or whatever it is, you shouldn't even need a wired connection. If the router has been set to 'bridged mode correctly, you'll only have only one network visible in your wireless networks, and the second (or many) will talk to your crappy verizon router...
Regardless of this, I will go to my friends house later and bridge the routers there and post some info on the process, as I don't have Verizon and hopefully never will....
First, I reset the Actiontec router to the default verizon settings, as if they had just installed it, then I accessed that and shut off the wireless feature.
Then I plugged an ethernet cord into port 1 and plugged the other end of that into port 1 of my wrt54g. (not wan, not uplink)
I then accessed the linksys settings, changed the IP to 192.168.1.2, disabled the dhcp server,
and voila, the linksys is bridged to the actiontec! all the directtv features like on demand will still work and you can setup your wireless however you like on your trusty linksys
remember, do it the agaric way...
Didn't get it first try..
After about another hour of troubleshooting I got this up and running and it's working very nice..
One thing to note, however, when you click on the "Network (Home/Office) in the FiOS GUI, be sure to turn off the DHCP server.. My first attempt resulted in a battle against two routers fighting for DHCP addresses.
So i disabled it -> Unplugged the power from both routers -> Plugged in an ethernet cable into the WAN port on the linksys router and port number 1 on the FiOS router -> Powered up the linksys first ->Then the FiOS router and I waited about 2 mins before I plugged my client machine in...
I suppose the wait is what did it.. Because now my Linksys router has an external IP from verizon.
OH NO!! As i'm typing this, my wife is complaining that her laptop is timing out again wirelessly... Hrm.. It seems to be bridged correctly.. Wonder if it's still using the NAT tables on the old router? Any thoughts?
The actiontec should be the router with dhcp server
the secondary should not, only wifi on that one...
HI, I have a Actiontec Router for FIOS, but it is connected via Ethernet , not Coax. It is not clear to me why I cant just replace my Actiontec with my Linksys router (I have seen other threads about cloning MAC addresses etc, but am not sure why I need to do that).
Can you help me to understand how I might replace the Actiontec completely instead of bridging as above.
Dave
This is a very important thread.
I just got FIOS set up. I hate the DVR; it's so loud and never truly powers down. I didn't really want it but it lowered the price for the 1st year.
I've find I can't network into the home lan from outside via UltraVNC. Probably because of the damn ActionTec. How about just a MODEM Verizon...!? I already have a D-Link 655 so when I got home from vacation I'll probably try to establish a subnet.
I'l d like to have 2 PCs use wireless and have main PC for BT traffic. It'd be nice to just connect the main PC via the Actiontec but if it can't handle BT, what a surprise.......I have 20/20 bandwidth too : (
DC
I don't know whether I have a slightly newer revision or not (Rev D), but I had to turn the auto config option off in the "Broadband Connection (Coax)" settings in order to be able to turn the "private" option on. I also had to turn off the DNS and DHCP services under the "Network (Home/Office)" settings while turning the STP option on for the "Broadband Connection (Coax)" bridge.
I am using a load balancing dual router with 2 WAN ports for this purpose (Syswan SW24 VPN router). It took a very long time (hour?) for the connectivity to be established with the Verizon server, it could be the Syswan router. Perhaps, it is because I plugged the Verizon FIOS router's LAN1 port to the WAN2 of my dual router. But the result is a success, at least for now. I connected a 1gig switch for all my computers and a wireless router and voip modem to the Syswan router. The data transfer rates are as expected.
I've been messing around with this for awhile. My FIOS service is relatively new.... June 08
Originally I tried a non-WRT54G Linksys router and was able to directly connect it to FiOS and pick up an IP via DHCP so long as I cloned the MAC of the MI424-WR.
However, the linksys router I was using was one from work and when I tried my personal one, (WRT54G), I couldn't get it to obtain an IP address no matter what even with MAC cloning enabled!
I ran into your article above and what caught my attention was your statement to 'release' the IP address on the MI424-WR prior to connecting the WRT54G. I did that and then immediately disconnected the 'Ethernet' WAN connection from the MI424-WR and connected it to my (powered down) WRT54G. I powered up the WRT54G and presto, it picked up an IP address and all is 'right with the world' :-)
Cheers