FIOS installation

[dabuddha]

This might belong in the networking subforum and if so, I apologize in advance!

Verizon's coming out tomorrow (between 8am and 5pm in fact!) to install FIOS in my house. I went with the triple play with the multi room dvr. Main DVR will be placed on the ground floor, 1 tv upstairs, 1 downstairs. Given all that, is there anything I should watch for during the installation or ask for? I'm going to be keeping an eye to make sure they don't drill any unnecessary holes anywhere since I have coax outlets where I want the boxes installed.

 

[MotF Bane]

The modern FIOS network is run off coaxial, the router they will supply you takes a coaxial input and translates that into whatever the hell wireless routers use. As long as you have coaxial outlets everywhere you want things, including one for the router, you're all set, there shouldn't be any holes drilled.

Edit:
I had original FIOS on Ethernet, then got upgraded FIOS last year on coaxial. No DVR, two televisions.

 

[dabuddha]

Will I be able to use my own router for internet usage instead of theirs? I was told I should be able to (without being given any details). I'm assuming to do so, I'd have to plug my existing router into one of LAN ports on their router?

 

[MotF Bane]

Will I be able to use my own router for internet usage instead of theirs? I was told I should be able to (without being given any details). I'm assuming to do so, I'd have to plug my existing router into one of LAN ports on their router?

If your router you currently own has a coaxial input, then you can use it. Otherwise, no luck. I had to downgrade from a draft-N and gigabit setup because they only have one POS Actiontec in usage.

You could, of course, daisy-chain the routers to get around that, as you suggest.

 

[dabuddha]

If your router you currently own has a coaxial input, then you can use it. Otherwise, no luck. I had to downgrade from a draft-N and gigabit setup because they only have one POS Actiontec in usage.

You could, of course, daisy-chain the routers to get around that, as you suggest.

That's what I was thinking of doing. Apparently their router is a router/modem combo unit

 

[gorcorps]

If your router you currently own has a coaxial input, then you can use it. Otherwise, no luck. I had to downgrade from a draft-N and gigabit setup because they only have one POS Actiontec in usage.

You could, of course, daisy-chain the routers to get around that, as you suggest.

Not always true. I needed a special router thing to use U-verse but you could put it into a passthrough mode and use your own router after that.

 

[Brainonska511]

If your router you currently own has a coaxial input, then you can use it. Otherwise, no luck. I had to downgrade from a draft-N and gigabit setup because they only have one POS Actiontec in usage.

You could, of course, daisy-chain the routers to get around that, as you suggest.

You could still have used the draft-N/gigabit setup - just turn the wireless off on the Actiontec and use the draft-N router as a wireless access point (DHCP turned off on it).

 

[airdata]

Congrats on getting Fios. What speed internet are you getting ?

 

[dabuddha]

I went with the 15/5. My internet needs are minimal (surfing, vpn access to work, and some light gaming) I figure I can up the speed if I need to in the future.

 

[airdata]

Cool... FIOS is awesome. I dumped directv last year and added tv to my FIOS and they bumped my speed to 30/30

Wound up paying as much for internet + tv as I was paying for Directv alone.

 

[shortylickens]

just so you are aware, you HAVE to use their wifi router, cant use your own.

 

[dabuddha]

just so you are aware, you HAVE to use their wifi router, cant use your own.

For the multi room DVR I do (in order to stream the recordings?) but there should be a way I can bridge my router to theirs?

 

[shortylickens]

For the multi room DVR I do (in order to stream the recordings?) but there should be a way I can bridge my router to theirs?

Oh yeah sure, but it wont be a router then, it will be a hub or switch.
The connection to the interwebs has to be through their box. Actually its a decent router anyway so I wouldnt sweat it.

 

[dabuddha]

that should be ok I think. My concern is my whole network is using 802.11n now (all of my laptops and my desktop are connected wirelessly). I understand that 802.11g will be fast enough (my internet speed is not near 802.11g speeds) but I also have a NAS box that's connected to my router via one of the LAN ports. I'd like to be able to keep accessing it using 802.11n speeds vs g speeds (might not make a diff, I dunno but I did invest the money in the hardware lol)

 

[shortylickens]

Their router supports g/n.

 

[dabuddha]

Their router supports g/n.

ahhh didn't know that! they told me it was a G router.

 

[zerocool84]

Their router supports g/n.

Which router are you talking about? I thought they're all G?

Edit: Oh newer ones came out that are N so I guess if you're getting a recent install it's going to be N. Lucky you.

 

[Pardus]

This might belong in the networking subforum and if so, I apologize in advance!

Verizon's coming out tomorrow (between 8am and 5pm in fact!) to install FIOS in my house. I went with the triple play with the multi room dvr. Main DVR will be placed on the ground floor, 1 tv upstairs, 1 downstairs. Given all that, is there anything I should watch for during the installation or ask for? I'm going to be keeping an eye to make sure they don't drill any unnecessary holes anywhere since I have coax outlets where I want the boxes installed.

Get ready for FIOS techs to walk though your house with mud on there shoes, makes holes in the walls and not fix them. Then prepare for there lousy customer service and hiddn fee billing games.

Welcome to Fios

 

[Gibson486]

You can actually request that they have ethernet run to your router and just use the cheap actiontec router for the TV. That is what lots of people in my last condo complex did.

 

[lupi]

For those knowledgable in FIOS, I have been pondering switching over but have questions about how they woulld install it.

I currently have cable with a main line routed to the house but goes through a 4 line splitter outside the house and then routed into the house at 4 different points (a couple of those lines are again split once inside).

How would the FiOS box work with this preexisting setup.

 

[Gibson486]

For those knowledgable in FIOS, I have been pondering switching over but have questions about how they woulld install it.

I currently have cable with a main line routed to the house but goes through a 4 line splitter outside the house and then routed into the house at 4 different points (a couple of those lines are again split once inside).

How would the FiOS box work with this preexisting setup.

well, the fiber from the outside goes to this box in your house (make sure there is an outlet nearby). From that box, they use coax cable. So, you would essentially have to have the main splitter terminate to that box.

 

[jtvang125]

Had the g only model when I still had fios. Surprisingly it was a damn good router. Was a bit bulky but consistently maintained the speed and rarely did I have to reboot it. The $120 linksys I recently got needs to be rebooted every other week.

 

[TXHokie]

Had this done two months ago for Internet only. The only part that sucked was that they said between 9am-5pm and the tech didn't show up til 4pm. Kinda killed my Saturday. I tossed out TimeWarner cable for FIOS. The tech said he was running late and would take a couple hours for the setup. Seriously??? I took the FIOS router box from him and told him to just get me the FIOS up thru the same coax that TimeWarner used and I'll take care of the rest. First thing was configure their crappy router and disable the wireless and set up DHCP so it would assign my existing wireless router an IP. I already have a wireless N router with hacked DD-WRT doing all kinds of fileshare/printer share and torrent built-in and did not want to change any of it. Thankfully didn't have to muck with any of my existing network setup since I have some 20+ devices accessing my wireless network. Once he got the FIOS signal into their router, I was already up and running. He didn't even have to set foot inside the house. The tech was in and out in 45 minutes and was very happy. Said it was the fastest install he's ever done.

 

[RedCOMET]

My FIOS install took about 2-ish or so hours to do, and I had an ONT installed for my apt from the previous tenant.
The tech verified the ONT serial information, signal strength of every coax cable in the apartment, and then did the DVR box install. Then we did the High speed cable internet install.

SO it can take a bit of time if the tech is thorough.

 

[RockinZ28]

Which router are you talking about? I thought they're all G?

Edit: Oh newer ones came out that are N so I guess if you're getting a recent install it's going to be N. Lucky you.

How long ago did the N routers start rolling out?

Not too knowledgeable on wifi, but i assume mine is a G. Most of my devices have N, but all of them max out around 17mbps up/down. Does that sound right for their G router? Wired connection gets 31/26 and now that i have a bunch of shit streaming, the extra wifi bw would help.