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iPhone 3G-S not working on Verizon Fios wi-fi (actiontec router)

A

a1kim

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 6, 2007
68
11
I was wondering if anyone else had this problem or if it's something in my specific configuration. I'm able to connect my 3G-S to the Verizon Fios wi-fi router fine. It's an actiontec router. I verify that the connection to the router is working fine because I can reach the admin tools for the router via 192.168.1.1 in Safari.

However, I can't access the internet. Usually what happens is that right after I've connected to wi-fi, I can load maybe half a page in Safari and then the connection hangs. From that point on, almost nothing will load (more on this later).

I have a ping app on my phone, so I was able to do some light diagnostics. At one point I was able to ping yahoo.com (and load the site), but no other sites I tried could be pinged or loaded. From that I assumed it was a DNS problem, but when I tried using the actual IP address for google, that did not resolve the issue.

Then I did a traceroute. The phone is definitely getting past the router because I get about 8 hops before timing out on an external node (e.g., 12.122.134.153).

The strangest part about all of this is that my old iPhone 3G is able to connect to the router and internet just fine. No problems at all.

Am I alone in this, or is anyone else having issues with wi-fi on their 3G-S? I should mention that my wife's 3G-S is also having the same problem, so I don't think it's my particular phone.
 
I had a ton of issues with the FiOS wifi router with both my iPhone and MacBook Pro. It would drop connections, sometimes wouldn't be found in the list and often wouldn't connect or would take forever. I turned the wifi off and switched back to using my old Airport Extreme and haven't had an issue since. It's a well known fact that the actiontec router is a piece of junk.
 
The ActionTec router is a POS, but if anything I've noticed that my GS pulls and maintains a connection with it far, far faster than the 1st gen iPod touch I was using before.
 
Turn off and unplug the router, wait 30 seconds, then plug it back in and turn it on. Should clear up the problem. I have to do this about once a month for the same router.
 
Still not working

Hi, all. Thanks for your replies and advice. I have tried rebooting the router multiple times, including leaving it unplugged for over 30 seconds. Problem still remains.

I tried changing my router configuration, but nothing helped. I tried:
- disabling wireless security just to see if it was a WPA2 problem
- turning CTS Protection back on
- changing my beacon interval back to the default setting

The strangest part about all of this is that my two laptops and my old 3G phone have no problems while our two new 3G-Ss have problems.

Again, on initial connection to the router, I can load "half a page". For example, I can load pretty much all of engadget.com, but then it hangs.

Pinging returns "no response", and traceroute stops after around 8 hops.

Oh well. I guess I'll go check out the Apple forums to see if someone else has reported this problem there. If I find something, I'll post the followup here.
 
That's very strange. All I had to do was enter my network password and my new 3GS was online. My 3G and 3GS were both online side by side with no problems.

Have you tried powering off all of the connected devices in your house, then rebooting the router, then turning on only 1 of the new iPhones? That way it is the only device getting an IP from the router?

What firmware version is your router using? I am using 4.0.16.1.56.0.10.11.6.
 
I'm using a iPhone 3G S with an actiontec fios router -- it's working, however, the signal fluctuates much more than with the 3G. I would have steady 5 bars on the 3G (the router is only one room away, 10 ft, through a wall) but with the 3G S I've noticed it bouncing between 1-5 bars even if it's just sitting on my desk.

Something screwy going on there, but i've never had the issue of not being able to reach a web site.
 
Good, a Verizon thread! I don't know if this is my problem or not.

My iTouch with 3.0 for over a month was fine on the Actiontec router. The new 3GS isn't. I've posted the story in other threads, but here is it again:

Speed is fine (speed tests show 13/1.5), but performance is so bad that the cell network is better. App Store, Sirius, etc. fail totally but work on the AT&T net.

I also have a MBP 17 that is fine (well, except for the issues added by 10.5.7...), so it's not the router totally.

I've reset the network info (as recommended elsewhere) and also rebooted (the 3GS). Also rebooted the Actiontec as mentioned here without any change.

So, unless this issue is a 3GS incompatibility with the actual router (and it gets a good connection/signal and speed), what can it be?

I was about to start looking into a new wireless router (since no one sells access points any more.. :) ), but want to be sure that will fix it.

I can't really find anything about this issue at apple.com or elsewhere; I know this router has issues (DHCP, other things), but if I get a good connection and good speed, what is going on to wreck the actual performance?
 
Screw the actiontec router! I tried to make this work to no avail, and I'm a certified network professional. In my home I use the actiontec router solely to connect the various verizon components, with the wireless transmitter turned off. Then I use a time capsule (you can use any other third party router of your choice) in bridge mode. So all of my components, macs, iphones, apple tvs, airport expresses, etc. all connect to the time capsule's wireless network. Therefore bypassing the actiontec.
 
kenbrinkman said:
Screw the actiontec router! I tried to make this work to no avail, and I'm a certified network professional. In my home I use the actiontec router solely to connect the various verizon components, with the wireless transmitter turned off. Then I use a time capsule (you can use any other third party router of your choice) in bridge mode. So all of my components, macs, iphones, apple tvs, airport expresses, etc. all connect to the time capsule's wireless network. Therefore bypassing the actiontec.
Click to expand...


Agreed. The actiontec is obviously horrible. However, it somehow gets better range than my other two wi-fi routers (an old Airport Extreme and some Linksys from my wife's workplace). I'd like to stick with my setup because it's successfully getting good speeds for both of our laptops and my Xbox 360, and streamng to the Airport Express works almost without fail, which I couldn't say for either the Airport Extreme or Linksys.

Basically, I'm trying to avoid spending any money on a new wireless router, and really I just can't figure out what the difference could be between the 3G and the 3GS in this circumstance... especially since my traceroutes are getting past the router.

I'm hoping someone who understands packet sizing, packet headers, and that sort of thing might have an idea about what's going on.
 
kenbrinkman said:
Screw the actiontec router! I tried to make this work to no avail, and I'm a certified network professional. In my home I use the actiontec router solely to connect the various verizon components, with the wireless transmitter turned off. Then I use a time capsule (you can use any other third party router of your choice) in bridge mode. So all of my components, macs, iphones, apple tvs, airport expresses, etc. all connect to the time capsule's wireless network. Therefore bypassing the actiontec.
Click to expand...

I used to do this too. then I read a guide on DSL Reports that tells you how to bridge the Actiontec router and basically use it like a cable modem. Now my Time Capsule is my main router and handles all my entire network.
 
All of that is fine, and I'll probably get an Airport EBS tomorrow, but it's just weird how the iTouch on 3.0 was perfect, and the 3GS is *just* enough different somewhere to break it for this router.

I do know the router sucks, but that's one heck of a small difference. :)
 
I am also having the same issues with my actiontec. I've also had similar issues with a nintendo ds once that was cured by a firmware upgrade on the actiontec, so I dont want to blame the 3gs, but more the actiontec. I have a tomatoed wrt-54g and time capsule as well (both work fine on the 3gs), but the actiontec gave me the best range in the house :( Looks like I'll have to move the wrt to a better location -- frustrating. :mad:
 
Gave up

Oh well. I gave up and just reconfigured my whole home network to use our old Linksys WT54G as the wireless router. Surprisingly, I get faster connection and better range than the Actiontec provided, and that was the whole reason I was using the Actiontec in the first place. So I guess I'm glad I ran into this problem. :)

Thanks everyone for providing your feedback on this issue. It sounds like some people with the same router had the same problem, and others didn't. Weird.

Anyway, I'm moving on...
 
leesweet said:
All of that is fine, and I'll probably get an Airport EBS tomorrow, but it's just weird how the iTouch on 3.0 was perfect, and the 3GS is *just* enough different somewhere to break it for this router.

I do know the router sucks, but that's one heck of a small difference. :)
Click to expand...
Just to sort of close this out, I got an Airport (AEBS) last Monday, shut down the wifi on the Actiontec, and set the AEBS up. Now, the iTouch, the iPhone, my MBP (n), and my Dell all work perfectly.

The Genius Bar guy didn't know anything about this, but seemed happy to learn an answer for any other disgruntled FiOS users.

I still can't see what 'g' changes were made that the Actiontec couldn't handle, but it is a POS. (Have had many DHCP issues with it, also, with DirecTV hardware.)
 
Internet does not work, except for Google and Yahoo

I'm having a similar problem. My two new iPhone 3GS connect to FiOS' ActionTec router, however there are problems with the internet connection. I also tried changing the network security from WPA2 to WEP, and also with no security at all. The internet connection doesn't work in any security setting and the error message that appears on the iPhone is "Cannot Open Page: Safari could not open the page because the server stopped responding." The two iPhones connect to the WiFi but the internet doesn't work. Thus all applications that depend on the internet don't work, like Weather and Stocks. However, email works fine and the websites of Google and Yahoo also work fine. All other websites don't work, like www.apple.com, www.cnn.com, and any other that I've tried. On my iPhone 2G I did not have such an issue. My MacBook Pro connects with its wireless network/internet without a problem, and my Dell PC also connects with the wireless network without a problem. I look forward to the solution to this problem and I thank you in advance.
 
Zebra2009 said:
I'm having a similar problem. My two new iPhone 3GS connect to FiOS' ActionTec router, however there are problems with the internet connection. I also tried changing the network security from WPA2 to WEP, and also with no security at all. The internet connection doesn't work in any security setting and the error message that appears on the iPhone is "Cannot Open Page: Safari could not open the page because the server stopped responding." The two iPhones connect to the WiFi but the internet doesn't work. Thus all applications that depend on the internet don't work, like Weather and Stocks. However, email works fine and the websites of Google and Yahoo also work fine. All other websites don't work, like www.apple.com, www.cnn.com, and any other that I've tried. On my iPhone 2G I did not have such an issue. My MacBook Pro connects with its wireless network/internet without a problem, and my Dell PC also connects with the wireless network without a problem. I look forward to the solution to this problem and I thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

The solution to the problem is already posted above. You get a good wifi router and bridge it to actiontec.
 
i have a fios westell router and its garbage, i went and got an airport extreme plugged it into that and put it in bridge mode.
 
If you ONLY have FIOS INTERNET (no TV) you can just have Verizon activate the ethernet connection in the ONT and use any router you want in place of the Actiontec. You can do it even if you have TV but it becomes more difficult. That being said, my 3GS works flawlessly with the Actiontec. Make sure you have the most current firmware for the Actiontec.http://www2.verizon.net/micro/fios_router_update/Default.asp?router=mi424wr&




Moi un Mouton said:
The solution to the problem is already posted above. You get a good wifi router and bridge it to actiontec.
Click to expand...
 
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