Help deciphering our Actiontec MI424WR

[darkhelmet]

We left Time Warner for Verizon and now have an Actiontec MI424WR. It is nice but with TW we used our own Netgear WNDR3700 that by default showed 1000 mbps in our QNAP TS-509 - now with FIOS we only get 100 mbps.

I am confused because according to Actiontec (http://www.actiontec.com/products/product.php?pid=214) their router is gigabyte by default or am I missing something?

 

[Andre.R]

Most Actiontec Mi424wr only have 10/100 ethernet ports. Only the latest version has gigabit ports.

Which version do you have? Do you also have FIOS tv?

 

[darkhelmet]

DARN! Can I connect my previous router, the Netgear to the Actiontec and use its gigabyte ports. Will this solve the bandwidth issue the Actiontec creates on its own?

 

[thiggins]

You can convert the WNDR3700 to an access point and use its wireless and switch ports, yes.

 

[darkhelmet]

Not trying to be an idiot just want to make sure after the last part of your instructions is understood - when all is complete am I now connecting the AP to the LAN router (in this case my FIOS Actiontec) and then using the AP to connect the rest of the home network?

So the FIOS router is first, the AP connected to the FIOS router and the rest of the computers connected to the AP. Is this correct?

 

[thiggins]

So the FIOS router is first, the AP connected to the FIOS router and the rest of the computers connected to the AP. Is this correct?

That is correct. See How To Add an Access Point to a Wireless Router

 

[darkhelmet]

I wanted to thank you for the very informative guides, but I give up. I rolled up my sleeves yesterday and believe it or not, spent almost 3 hours trying to access the Netgear router - not even close to making it an access point.

I got in initially using the old credentials via a laptop not connected to the existing network. Made the changes outlined in your guide (thank you). As soon as I connected the Netgear to the Actiontec everything went south. While the Actiontec showed the Netgear as part of the network it listed as "Inactive"??? Okay, so I unplugged the Netgear from the Actiontect and plugged my laptop back into the Netgear - no network connection. After 30 minutes of watching the WIN 7 network icon 'spin' (search) I reset the Netgear using the depressed button on the backside. From that point on I could not access the Netgear. Not via Ethernet cable, wireless or using the supplied CD. So after about 3 hours of cursing and tossing stuff around the room I boxed the Netgear hoping to sell it on eBay.

I would rather wait until Verizon offers a gigabyte version of their router instead of wasting another morning.

 

[darkhelmet]

Got it working, finally. Plugged CAT 6 into another port on the Netgear and everything worked per thiggins instructions.

Thanks!

 

[Stargzer]

MI424WR Router

Actiontec makes the MI424WR for Verizon. I just visited their site ((www.actiontec.com) and they have all the docs and info you'll need for understanding their router. They are more up-to-date than the ones on the Verizon site (why does this not surprise me? The pdf on Verizon didn't show the USB port on the back!).

I haven't had any connectivity or other problems with it. Verizon set up the router with my PC with no problems, but they only set it up with WEP so I did have to go through the setup for WPA2 myself. Some comments I've seen here and in the review here indicate it doesn't do WPA2 but it does, as well as WPS. There was no problem running a VPN through it to connect to the network at our office.

There's a separate version of the MI424WR that has Gigabit Ethernet.

The docs say that the USB port only supplies 5V DC to charge a cell phone at the moment, but future firmware upgrades may address cameras or external storeage. It'd be nice to have an external hard drive hooked for backing up multiple computers and and maybe have a print server without having to keep a separate system running just to share them on the home network. I have an ancient router with a print server on it but it has the old DB-25S plug and all the new printers have USB only. Ah well, at least they're faster these days!

 

[GregN]

Actiontec makes the MI424WR for Verizon. I just visited their site ((www.actiontec.com) and they have all the docs and info you'll need for understanding their router. They are more up-to-date than the ones on the Verizon site (why does this not surprise me? The pdf on Verizon didn't show the USB port on the back!).

I had this very model of Actiontec when living in Virginia, you can just swap it out. I replaced it with a D-Link Gaming router, this would of been a couple years ago, at that time the Actiontecs were state table limited. Made them bad routers for bit torrent or heavy multi-node usage. Anyone confirm if this has been fixed?