Need advice... (long, apologies!)

[Cur]

Hi all, complete noob to networking, but been a PC builder for a long time. I'm a RF/Wireless EE in the infrastructure tx / rx signal chain, so I'm pretty good at following directions. Every time I've undertaken a networking upgrade however, it's never gone very well, as it just vexes me.

My goal: better wi-fi coverage of my house

My "setup": My standard Verizon FIoS Actiontec router sits in the "basement" level of my house, in the back left corner floor level, as you are facing the front of the house. It's the sole wi-fi signal for our home. The living room, is on the "1st floor" one level up, and on the complete opposite side of the house (typical sized home, 2k sq ft). Our bedroom is directly above the living on the "2nd floor".

I have small WHS2011 PC we use as a NAS that is hard wired into the Actiontec, as is another PC, and a WD HD Live TV Plus box for the family room (on the "basement" level). The last LAN port on the Actiontec is to a TP Link Ethernet over Powerline Adapter, that has "mates" in the living room, our bedroom, and another room on the "1st floor" (all mated to WD HD TV Live Plus boxes / TV's for video streaming). Running new cables isn't an option, sadly.

"A guy at work" said that the first thing I should do is call Verizon and have them ship me a new router, as I have a first-gen one (when they first pushed FIoS through our neighborhood 7-8 years ago) and get the newest version, and then buy an Asus AC66U. I'm to turn off the wi-fi on the Actiontec, use it as just a router, then plug the AC66U into the TP Link box in the living room, and have the wi-fi there, and plug the WD box in the living room, into the Asus, thereby switching the floor and side of the house that the wi-fi signal is on, covering the living room / bedroom much better than where it sits now.

Is this how I should go about it? Is there a better way?

I should say our wi-fi load consists of mainly iPad's, Android tablets, a couple laptops, and several phones.

Any thoughts are appreciated, TIA.

 

[Trip]

The guidance your friend offered you is generally pretty good. That said, you might not notice that much difference from moving to the latest FiOS modem/router -- a lot would depend on how compatible your current one is with the present line speed and technology. Then again, even if it isn't a bottleneck, it may just be a good move to update hardware if you can get Verizon to replace it for free.

For the new router/AP, in a central location of a 2K square-foot house, a single strong all-in-one should provide enough coverage and convenience. Do keep in mind that you'll have to decide which unit (the FiOS modem/router or the new router/AP) you want to handle routing/NAT/DHCP/etc. If I were you, I'd put the FiOS modem/router into "bridge mode" (or equivalent) so it effectively just plays the role of a modem and passes the connection to the new router/AP.

As far as the AC66U goes, it appears favorable in most reviews. A small percentage knock it's 2.4Ghz performance compared to previous N-only alternatives, but in your case the location change alone should make such a positive difference that I think you're overall experience will be good regardless. Stability over the long haul is a whole other ball of wax, but even if you only get several months to a year out of the thing, at $10-15/month averaged out over that time, in my opinion you will still have come out well ahead.

 

[Cur]

The guidance your friend offered you is generally pretty good. That said, you might not notice that much difference from moving to the latest FiOS modem/router -- a lot would depend on how compatible your current one is with the present line speed and technology. Then again, even if it isn't a bottleneck, it may just be a good move to update hardware if you can get Verizon to replace it for free.

For the new router/AP, in a central location of a 2K square-foot house, a single strong all-in-one should provide enough coverage and convenience. Do keep in mind that you'll have to decide which unit (the FiOS modem/router or the new router/AP) you want to handle routing/NAT/DHCP/etc. If I were you, I'd put the FiOS modem/router into "bridge mode" (or equivalent) so it effectively just plays the role of a modem and passes the connection to the new router/AP.

As far as the AC66U goes, it appears favorable in most reviews. A small percentage knock it's 2.4Ghz performance compared to previous N-only alternatives, but in your case the location change alone should make such a positive difference that I think you're overall experience will be good regardless. Stability over the long haul is a whole other ball of wax, but even if you only get several months to a year out of the thing, at $10-15/month averaged out over that time, in my opinion you will still have come out well ahead.

Please educate me if I'm wrong, but if I put the FIoS router into bridge mode (pass-thru?), and still have 2 computers, and 1 WD HD TV Live Plus box connected to it, won't that make them unable to connect to the internet / LAN / each other because they won't get an IP from the router?

 

[abailey]

Please educate me if I'm wrong, but if I put the FIoS router into bridge mode (pass-thru?), and still have 2 computers, and 1 WD HD TV Live Plus box connected to it, won't that make them unable to connect to the internet / LAN / each other because they won't get an IP from the router?

That is correct. If you want to keep anything still plugged into the Fios router (besides the new wireless router) then you need to not put it in bridge mode. The thing to do would be to use your new wireless router in AP mode. To do this make sure the new router has its DHCP server turned off and plug it into the FIOS from a LAN port on the FIOS to a LAN port on the new wireless router. You would not use the WAN port on the new router in this scenario.

 

[Cur]

That is correct. If you want to keep anything still plugged into the Fios router (besides the new wireless router) then you need to not put it in bridge mode. The thing to do would be to use your new wireless router in AP mode. To do this make sure the new router has its DHCP server turned off and plug it into the FIOS from a LAN port on the FIOS to a LAN port on the new wireless router. You would not use the WAN port on the new router in this scenario.

Ok thank you.

Another question: Can I plug something into another LAN port on the "new router", and still have full access speed to the internet? Are there any special settings, precautions, other than turning DHCP off, that I would need to set to do this?

 

[Trip]

Please educate me if I'm wrong, but if I put the FIoS router into bridge mode (pass-thru?), and still have 2 computers, and 1 WD HD TV Live Plus box connected to it, won't that make them unable to connect to the internet / LAN / each other because they won't get an IP from the router?

Oops, overlooked that, my apologies. Yes, in order to alter as little as possible, you'd go with abailey's suggestions. That said, I find generally that the ISP-supplied stuff is best at just being a modem/connection device, left free of any additional cpu load of routing, firewalling, etc. Quite often those capabilities are neutered, flaky or both, so why not delegate to a device which is more purpose-built for the job, such as the AC66U you'd be buying? That point made, I do realize than many ISPs cry bloody murder these days when they realize an end-user is attempting to bridge or pass through a connection on their device, and I've heard decent things about the FiOS routers, so perhaps it would be good enough as it stands. Totally understandable if you want to leave things more status-quo.

 

[Cur]

Oops, overlooked that, my apologies. Yes, in order to alter as little as possible, you'd go with abailey's suggestions. That said, I find generally that the ISP-supplied stuff is best at just being a modem/connection device, left free of any additional cpu load of routing, firewalling, etc. Quite often those capabilities are neutered, flaky or both, so why not delegate to a device which is more purpose-built for the job, such as the AC66U you'd be buying? That point made, I do realize than many ISPs cry bloody murder these days when they realize an end-user is attempting to bridge or pass through a connection on their device, and I've heard decent things about the FiOS routers, so perhaps it would be good enough as it stands. Totally understandable if you want to leave things more status-quo.

In my case it's "location, location, location" related.

My PC, NAS, and WD box are all in the "basement level" and where I want to put the new router is upstairs, on the other side of the house, so it'd be out of the question to try and run all those ethernet lines up through the floor / walls to get them over there to achieve that with the FIoS router.

Also not realizable is getting the FIoS router cabling somehow to go upstairs, which was my first option, but was quickly shut down due to the cost of having someone try and fish lines through the walls / floors. I spent $100 on it, and apparently the same guy who wired my house did the walls (the runs are, for lack of a better term, impossible to figure out, like the wiring)

 

[abailey]

Ok thank you.

Another question: Can I plug something into another LAN port on the "new router", and still have full access speed to the internet? Are there any special settings, precautions, other than turning DHCP off, that I would need to set to do this?

Yes it will still have full access speeds as if you plugged your device directly into the powerline adapter.

 

[CaptainSTX]

With the FIOS routers the methodology can be a little bit different.

First the current generation (and probably some prior generation Actiontec routers ) are MOCA ready.

The simplest way to improve your WiFi is to purchase a single MOCA adapter from either Verizon or e-Bay. Then you simply connect the single adapter you purchased to any coaxial cable location in your home. They are plug and play coaxial cable goes in Ethernet cable comes out. To extend your WiFi just plug another router repurposed as an AP into the Ethernet jack.

To make it even simpler Verizon even sells a combination MOCA adapter/dual band WiFi AP.

Also you could consider relocating your current router to a more central location. It can be moved to any location in your home where you have CATV.

MOCA is the way to go unless you have an Ethernet cable connecting your current router's location to where you want to add an AP.

 

[fistv]

Ok thank you.

Another question: Can I plug something into another LAN port on the "new router", and still have full access speed to the internet? Are there any special settings, precautions, other than turning DHCP off, that I would need to set to do this?

When you turn the new router into an access point with it's router functions basically turned off now you can think of it as an access point with a 3 port switch.
On another note I've not done RT to AP more than twice on a couple older E model linksys/ciscos but don't some of the routers turn the wan port into the connector port when you put it in AP mode thereby giving you 4 lan ports ? I've read that a couple of times here.

 

[abailey]

When you turn the new router into an access point with it's router functions basically turned off now you can think of it as an access point with a 3 port switch.
On another note I've not done RT to AP more than twice on a couple older E model linksys/ciscos but don't some of the routers turn the wan port into the connector port when you put it in AP mode thereby giving you 4 lan ports ? I've read that a couple of times here.

If your router has a setting for AP then it usually does turn the WAN port into a usable LAN port. Be aware though, that this port is not hardware accelerated like the switched LAN ports on the back. It is being bridged with software but for most things you probably would not notice the speed difference.