Abandon Airport Extreme for Cable Router?

@Hrothgar You can use the AirPort with the Verizon "gateway". Simply set the Verizon gateway to bridge mode and disable the wireless or use the AirPort in bridge mode.

 

For the best possible speed and low latency use an Ethernet Cat 6a cable:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_6_cable#Category_6A

...not WiFi/WLAN. I know that 2011+ Macs use 3 antennas (450 MBit/s+) and 5 GHz, but nothing beats Ethernet, if you have a glass fiber connection. 802.11ac does not beat Ethernet.

 

As Altemose said, you can still use the Airport with the Verizon modem/router equipment.

 

The router that Verizon supplies has poor wi-fi range and speeds. I had it one when I had FiOS.
I suggest you get a nice new router like the Asus AC66 or AC68.
I invested on an Asus AC68P router 6 months ago and I am glad I did. It was pricey ($170) but it was worth it to me.

 

No need to get a new modem. The one supplied by Verizon should be good enough.

 

@Hrothgar I am not sure if Verizon allows you to use your own modem. We have Comcast and they have an approved list of modems you can use on the network. I recommend calling Verizon and asking if they have a list as well.

 

I'm surprised you're not going to use your AEBS as the primary router. Why are you using FiOS device instead? I've been a Verizon FiOS customer for 12 years and using an Airport Extreme directly connecting to their ONT for about 10 of those 12 years. I'm currently looking into whether there are issues pertaining to SIP through the Gen 6 AEBS but I would not use Verizon's "modem" for anything.

DO NOT talk to Verizon sales as they don't have a clue and will absolutely sell you a router. Tell them you want to talk to technical support, preferably level 2 or 3 so you get someone who asks whether your modem is plugged into the wall or not.

When you talk to the tech, tell them you have connected the WAN port of your AEBS directly to the Ethernet port of their ONT and that you'd like them to clear the MAC address from the ONT and refresh it. Once they've reset the ONT, it will latch onto the MAC address of your AEBS and assign an IP address. From that point forward, your AEBS will be the only router you need. If necessary, you may need to add an 8-port (or more) Gig-E hub to the AEBS in order to provide IP addresses to devices like your set-top boxes for FiOS or other peripherals but from this point, consider it done.

If you want to see a network scan utility, try "iNet" from the App Store, it will scan all devices on your network and help you manage whats connected by providing visibility because AEBS doesn't.

Hope this helps...

 

That Optical Network Terminal (ONT) is the fiber/copper interface point for the building. The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a communications protocol for signaling and controlling multimedia communication sessions.

HTH...

(hope this helps)