Can a second router plugged into my FiOS router cause a problem with basic connectivity and speed? archived

I am baffled by all sorts of speed test results today.

This seems to have helped me get better wifi coverage (second router plugged into FIOS router, so that second router is sending wifi and FIOS router's wifi is turned off, I think)

I have a second wireless router plugged into my fios supplied one, creating two wifi networks in my house.

After some research into why my speeds were low with the fios router, I learned that if you have an older 802.11 G (or B or A) device connected to the network, the entire network has to slow down to those speeds. With two networks, I have all my internet radios, which are older G devices, on one network and computers/smartphones/tablets on the other.

I bought a Medialink router from Amazon for $50. It's tiny and gets much better range and speed than the giant fios router.

doulamomma said:

This seems to have helped me get better wifi coverage (second router plugged into FIOS router, so that second router is sending wifi and FIOS router's wifi is turned off, I think)

This is the set up I have had for awhile now but suddenly something is VERY wrong. I just noticed that when I completely disconnect the second router my FiOS router seems to be much, much faster.

FWIW: My second router is almost new and has the latest technology.

This can cause a lot of issues in your network if you don't know how to configure the two properly. (Not sure what your level of expertise is here.)

Essentially, most routers are set up by default to be the primary router in your house. (They both try to hand out network addresses to all of the devices on the network, wired or wireless.) Getting the second router to play friendly with the first can be significantly more difficult than just the one.

I am throwing in the towel.

Having read some online reviews in forums etc. I believe that my fancy, expensive, only two-year old Linksys Smart WiFi EA6500 router has simply bit the dust. After working flawlessly for 18 months my system began to have frequent service outages. They now occur at least once daily and, in addition, the FiOS router now gets really slowed when the Linksys router is even just plugged in.

@z6p6tist6 can you direct me to some useful website that might outline how to get the two routers to "play nicely" once the new one arrives?

[I ordered the ASUS (RT-AC68) Wireless-AC1900 Dual-Band. Likely to be overkill but I like to look FAR ahead when I buy electronics!]

Check out these links for more info:

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-Internet/Connecting-another-router-to-the-FIOS-router-Actiontec-MI424WR/td-p/489051

http://www.verizon.com/Support/Residential/internet/highspeed/networking/setup/questionsone/123765.htm

Don't use the WAN port on the second router, just connect to the FiOS router using one of the LAN ports.

Thank you!!

I've been having FIOS connectivity problems the entire weekend. Just got off the phone with tech support who finally got me connected.

gj1 recommended the thing I would recommend. It might make all the difference you need. For good measure, unplug the power from the Linksys and wait a minute before plugging it back in.

One more question. I found this note on the FiOS router brochure:

"Important: Verizon FiOS TV subscribers MUST always connect a Coax cable to the
FiOS Router regardless of using a WAN Ethernet connection."

Why is this true? What does the coax going into the router in my basement have to do with the TV upstairs that has it's own separate coax?

My house is configured with Ethernet (cat6) between the ONT outside and the router. (in an incorrect attempt to deal with upload speed issues).

The main reason to continue to connect the Coax is the Verizon set top box (STB) uses MOCA (internet over coax) for schedule updates and on demand streaming. I think (haven't looked at the back of it lately) that the Verizon STB can use Ethernet as well, which could also be an option.

I can confirm that the STBs have an ethernet port, but from everything I can find online, connecting via ethernet (from the router to your STB) is not really helpful, since the coax connection handles internet connections for the STB. Maybe one daty we'll get all of our service via ethernet....

Also, here are some instructions (fairly old - not sure they work currently) for adding additional routers to bypass the less than awesome FiOS Actiontec router:

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/verizonfios/3.0_Networking#16077

kmk said:

One more question. I found this note on the FiOS router brochure:

"Important: Verizon FiOS TV subscribers MUST always connect a Coax cable to the
FiOS Router regardless of using a WAN Ethernet connection."

Why is this true? What does the coax going into the router in my basement have to do with the TV upstairs that has it's own separate coax?

I believe the router also acts as a cable "gateway." So any subscriptions or on-demand services (basically anything that requires confirmation of who you are) need access to the router to work.

dslreports was a great resource. Thank you @philAlban for suggesting it.
I ended up finding a slightly more recent article and configured my two routers this way:

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/15992


For an overview of all of the options see this chart:
http://www.dslreports.com/faq/16077

That's a really good article. It describes what I did, and it worked really well.

Also you should might switch to WPA2 security, When I upgraded to 20 to 40 mb, my fios router would not do more than 20 mb over wifi, reading few post on google, recommend to swith to WPA2