Router recommendation needed for FIOS internet

[appletvbob]

We are cutting the cord with Verizon... finally. Next month Cable tv and the landline go bye bye and we are switching to 400MB FIOS internet only. I need to buy my own router for the first time in over a decade and find myself flummoxed by the choices and conflicting reviews. I plan to use at least 3 ethernet ports for a mac, a pc, and an Apple TV 4K. We have multiple devices that will connect via wifi. The main concern is the best connection to stream content from the ATV, and we will likely settle on YouTube TV and Amazon Prime for that. We aren't heavy gamers so that isn't an issue.

I'm not sure how extensively the installer (it's a free visit BTW) will run ethernet for us when he swaps out the old equipment. I'm prepared to drop my own cash on newer cables, as my stash is all original Cat 5. No matter.

Am I overthinking this (per usual) and just go with any mid-level unit and ignore the internet-review noise? Most routers in my price range (sub-$200) advertise up to at least a gigabit. Too many choices...

 

[satinsilverem2]

Verizon provides customers with a router (g1100 or newer) with a rental fee. That said you can get your own router if you'd like. Any decent WIFI 5 or newer router would work fine with a 400mbps service. The cheaper ones while yes technically support gigabit ethernet or ISP speeds often suffer because of slower processors and so on. I can't say as to how much cabling they are willing to run as when I had mine installed over 15 years ago and my home was prewired with 2x cat5e in every room. I know at the bare minimum they will do a run from the ONT to the router location. In the past they used coax/MOCA but thats only for 100mbps and below. Verizon states (personal experience) that if you have issues with service and you aren't using their router then they can't help you but I find this to be largely untrue. Im currently using the latest (2013) gen Time Capsule with a 500mbps FiOS connection and its worked well over the years. wired I can get 500/500 no problem, wireless I can usually get 400-500 depending on how close I am to the router.

 

[Juicy Box]

I have a lot of experience dealing with FiOS, probably more than most. At least once a year, I switch back and forth between Comcast and FiOS for internet-only service.

I do this so I can always get the "new customer" rate, which is usually much cheaper than even their special deals that you can only get from their retention department.

The good news is that it is possible to use basically any router of your choosing by connecting to the ethernet port on the ONT.

The bad news is that if you are currently a FiOS customer, downgrading your service might make provisioning that ethernet port on the ONT harder.

As a new customer, like switching from Comcast to FiOS, having FiOS turn on the ethernet port on the ONT is much easier, in fact, I think it will turn on by it self when you set up your account. But, if you are currently renting a modem/router from them, it might take many calls to the tech support to provision the ethernet port.

Some advice about calling their tech support: call in the middle of the day. They have 24 hour tech support, but they outsource their tech support to India after hours. They seem to be a little clueless sometimes when it comes to using your own router.

I'm not sure how extensively the installer (it's a free visit BTW) will run ethernet for us

Maybe this might help you, but in my experience, the installers have no patience for personal equipment and will be quick to blame them if the ONT's ethernet port won't turn on.

Am I overthinking this (per usual) and just go with any mid-level unit and ignore the internet-review noise? Most routers in my price range (sub-$200) advertise up to at least a gigabit. Too many choices...

I recently installed this in my parents home to replace their aging AirPort network, and was really impressed with the speed, coverage, and ease to set up:

Best Buy: Linksys Velop AC1300 Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 5 System (3 Pack) White WHW0103

Shop Linksys Velop AC1300 Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 5 System (3 Pack) White at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee.

www.bestbuy.com

If you find you need more ethernet ports, you can always find any old router, and just turn off the Wifi, and use it as a switch. Or, just get a switch.

we are switching to 400MB FIOS internet only.

Based off of what you posted as your family's usage, this might be overkill. How much is this plan?

 

[appletvbob]

I have a lot of experience dealing with FiOS, probably more than most. At least once a year, I switch back and forth between Comcast and FiOS for internet-only service.

I do this so I can always get the "new customer" rate, which is usually much cheaper than even their special deals that you can only get from their retention department.

The good news is that it is possible to use basically any router of your choosing by connecting to the ethernet port on the ONT.

The bad news is that if you are currently a FiOS customer, downgrading your service might make provisioning that ethernet port on the ONT harder.

As a new customer, like switching from Comcast to FiOS, having FiOS turn on the ethernet port on the ONT is much easier, in fact, I think it will turn on by it self when you set up your account. But, if you are currently renting a modem/router from them, it might take many calls to the tech support to provision the ethernet port.

Some advice about calling their tech support: call in the middle of the day. They have 24 hour tech support, but they outsource their tech support to India after hours. They seem to be a little clueless sometimes when it comes to using your own router.


Maybe this might help you, but in my experience, the installers have no patience for personal equipment and will be quick to blame them if the ONT's ethernet port won't turn on.




I recently installed this in my parents home to replace their aging AirPort network, and was really impressed with the speed, coverage, and ease to set up:

Best Buy: Linksys Velop AC1300 Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 5 System (3 Pack) White WHW0103

Shop Linksys Velop AC1300 Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 5 System (3 Pack) White at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee.

www.bestbuy.com

If you find you need more ethernet ports, you can always find any old router, and just turn off the Wifi, and use it as a switch. Or, just get a switch.


Based off of what you posted as your family's usage, this might be overkill. How much is this plan?

They offered us $59.99 with autopay. We currently have 75/75, TV, and a landline that only annoys us with robocalls. When they jacked it up to $198 and refused to bargain with me over getting rid of the landline I decided I had enough with the bundle world. (not to mention the backup battery for the phone line that beeps every few weeks because it is mostly dead) When first installed the "triple play" was around $150, and the landline was actually useful. Thanks for the helpful information.

 

[Airforcekid]

Get something that supports Wifi 6 and WPA3. I recently purchased https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wifi...=sr_1_3?keywords=wifi+6&qid=1582224133&sr=8-3 and have been happy with it. As a warning it ships with UPNP enabled so I had to disable that but that's a fault of most routers.

 

[Beelzbub]

I have had good luck with Asus routers and use one in my home. I have 100 x 100 fiber connection and all our devices are wireless (Apple TV's, Roku's, PS4, Laptop's, iPhone's, iPad's, etc.. you get the picture). I get excellent coverage all over my property, zero slow downs. I can have 4 TV's all going at once, with 3 YouTube TV streams and a Netflix stream. Not one hiccup, zero lag, all while people are using their other devices for other things like regular YouTube, surfing the web, etc... The holidays are a big test in my home as I always have family in visiting from out of town, and everyone is using WiFi to some degree.

They can be kind of pricey, but man they perform (at least in my experience).

 

[Juicy Box]

They offered us $59.99 with autopay.

These prices are usually relative to location, but that seems like a pretty nice deal. I bet a contract was required for the deal?

One thing that I dislike about FiOS compared to Comcast is their contract terms.

Often times, FiOS had a decent deal that requires a 2 year contract, but the rate goes up after a year, usually by $10-$20 a month, and then again of course once the contract is fulfilled.

I personally have not been under a contract with an ISP since 2011. I opt for the contract-free option, which is pretty easy for Comcast, but FiOS usually has a lot less contract-free plans.

I also have not paid more than $39.99 a month for my internet service in about 8 years. It has rarely been more than 100Mbps download speeds, but before I was using 4K, anything above 25Mbps would have hardly been utilized. Since updating my main TV to 4K, I probably wouldn't want anything less than 50Mbps.

Luckily that isn't issue where I live, as the cheapest internet-only plans for both Comcast and FiOS are 100 Mbps download.

I am actually switching back to Comcast this week, contract-free 100Mbps download for $39.99 a month for 12 months. I only plan on keeping them for a month to become a new customer for FiOS, as Comcast's upload speed of their cheapest plan will not meet my needs. I think it is only 5 or 10 Mbps for their 100Mbps download speeds.
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(not to mention the backup battery for the phone line that beeps every few weeks because it is mostly dead)

You can remove the battery, the beeping will stop and your service will still work fine. At least until the power goes out.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Good advice above.

If you're moving your landline to another service have you made a decision on that yet?

 

[chscag]

You can remove the battery, the beeping will stop and your service will still work fine. At least until the power goes out.

Have you tested this? I ask because removing the battery does not stop the beeping here. And as long as you're not using their VOIP service for phone, the battery backup is not needed anyway. You can stop the beeping by removing power from the ONT, but then you lose your internet.

 

[appletvbob]

Have you tested this? I ask because removing the battery does not stop the beeping here. And as long as you're not using their VOIP service for phone, the battery backup is not needed anyway. You can stop the beeping by removing power from the ONT, but then you lose your internet.

That is correct: the beeping does not stop by simply unplugging it.. You have to unplug the battery, wait and then plug it back again. Mine is only for the phone line, it has no effect upon the internet. Believe me, I've done it a few dozen times over the past couple of years. Verizon doesn't replace the battery for free.

It's moot as I'm ditching the landline completely to answer another question.

 

[chscag]

Yeah, I found out how much that battery costs when I went to a battery shop to replace it. I changed my mind when they told me it was like $35.00. I don't have their phone line but apparently the system is inter-connected with the ONC which is why powering it off loses the internet connection. The only other choice we have around here is Spectrum (formerly Charter) and I don't trust them as I have had bad dealings with them in the past.

 

[Juicy Box]

Have you tested this? I ask because removing the battery does not stop the beeping here. And as long as you're not using their VOIP service for phone, the battery backup is not needed anyway. You can stop the beeping by removing power from the ONT, but then you lose your internet.

Yes, I tested this on three different ONTs.

Of course things can change or maybe it is different equipment, it removing the battery worked for the ONT at my old address and at my parents home. My current home never had a battery installed, and it doesn't do the annoying "replace battery" chirp.

 

[upandown]

Amplifi Alien. By far the best and closest AirPort Extreme AC replacement. Easy to use, great speeds, great range, very reliable.

 

[HDFan]

I need to buy my own router for the first time in over a decade and find myself flummoxed by the choices and conflicting reviews. I plan to use at least 3 ethernet ports for a mac, a pc, and an Apple TV 4K. We have multiple devices that will connect via wifi. The main concern is the best connection to stream content from the ATV, and we will likely settle on YouTube TV and Amazon Prime for that.

There are a lot of factors involved in choosing a router.

1. What is the maximum distance that you want a WiFi signal? What square footage do you want to cover?
2. What kind of construction do you have? Concrete, wood, multistory ... ?
3. Are you in an area with a lot of WiFi networks? On a Mac if you open Wifi diagnostics in the menu bar (hold down the alt key) you can see all of the networks in your vicinity. In my case I see 58 networks.
3. How many devices will be connecting via Wifi?
4. for future proofing
a. do you want 10 Gbps ports? 10Ge is starting to appear on Apple products. Even if you don't have a 10 Gbps internet connection, having 10 Gbps capabilities on your internal network allows for very fast file transfers.
b. Do you want WiFi 6? Costs are dropping.

There are a ton of options. Powerline, mesh, ac, ax ... A great source for information is:

Home - SmallNetBuilder

SmallNetBuilder provides networking and IT news, reviews, help and information for professional and prosumer home, SOHO and small business users.

www.smallnetbuilder.com

 

[winstars]

Amplifi Alien. By far the best and closest AirPort Extreme AC replacement. Easy to use, great speeds, great range, very reliable.

Its so good its been out of stock everywhere for a month...

People are selling them on Ebay for $599...

Retail is/was $379

 

[upandown]

Its so good its been out of stock everywhere for a month...

People are selling them on Ebay for $599...

Retail is/was $379

Yup. I just hope they add 160MHz channel which supposedly is possible. I’d also like it if it had WP3 as well but that’s not a deal breaker for me as it hasn’t been seen as useful yet. But if it did have those 2 features added I’d say it’s the best on the market if it’s not already. At least for my needs.

 

[appletvbob]

Here’s a follow up: I purchased from Costco.com the Netgear Nighthawk X6S AC3600. Put into service a couple days ago it works great, whether WiFi or Ethernet. We’re paying for 400/400 and Ethernet speed tests show 500/500 on average and Wifi wanders between 200 and 400mbs.

 

[winstars]

Yup. I just hope they add 160MHz channel which supposedly is possible. I’d also like it if it had WP3 as well but that’s not a deal breaker for me as it hasn’t been seen as useful yet. But if it did have those 2 features added I’d say it’s the best on the market if it’s not already. At least for my needs.

Well Amplifi had some Alien's for sale on their website last week for about an hour. I scored one before they were sold out again. The setup using the app couldn't be easier. I have been using Airport Extreme for years and this Alien has a WAY stronger signal. I now get the same speeds downstairs as I do in the room where the router is located... Before it was about a third as fast...

I don't currently have any devices that use WiFi 6 but I know I will soon, so I am actually not using it to its full ability.

In their forums, they say they are working on getting the 160MHz channel authorized, we'll see...

My AirPort Extreme served me very, very well and I wish Apple had not gotten out of the router biz. But its time to move on...

 

[cynics]

My AirPort Extreme served me very, very well and I wish Apple had not gotten out of the router biz. But its time to move on...

This. The AirPort Extreme is the only router I've ever owned that has only needed a power cycle once or twice in 5 5-6 years.

I'm going to keep using it for as long as I can or until it effects my workflow due to poor performance. Currently I dont have a task that maxes out WLAN bandwidth and its range easily covers my entire house.

 

[winstars]

This. The AirPort Extreme is the only router I've ever owned that has only needed a power cycle once or twice in 5 5-6 years.

I'm going to keep using it for as long as I can or until it effects my workflow due to poor performance. Currently I dont have a task that maxes out WLAN bandwidth and its range easily covers my entire house.

Tell me about it. I loved my AirPort Extreme. If I could run an ethernet cable downstairs without making lot of holes in dry way etc, I would use the spare Extreme I bought when they announced Apple's exit from the router biz for coverage down there...

 

[phrehdd]

If you are inclined to do a bit of reading, you might find SMALLNETBUILDER

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/

to be a great starting point. They cover topics and do real world testing on various routers.

The latest trend is to go with "mesh" or similar for wifi services. That too is explained over there.

While I tend to go with Netgear's line of products, there are several other that perform similarly.
They'll be on that site as well.

Last - some routers comes with bells and whistles. I think a couple that are of interest are those that
allow drives to be attached and those that have an easy means to shape the traffic ( via QoS) so that
media streams or gaming get priority to avoid stuttering and more. If you opt to attach a drive, you
may have to wake it first before accessing it (depending on the router/maker).
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[nph]

If you want an advanced router with great signal strength and ton of features I recommend the Synology AC2600 router. Their safe access product is fantastic if you have kids or teenagers for its filtering and rules possibilities.

 

[Consultant]

I got a 100MB FIOS plan recently. There are two pieces of Verizon equipment:

1) ONT, where the fiber cable gets connected.

2) Verizon router, connected with coaxial cable to ONT. The Verizon router is under $30 used (or $10? per month rental).

I went this way because my ONT is 2 floors away and there’s already a coaxial cable, but no ethernet cable installed. The verizon tech offered to install ONT on my floor but that will penetration through the wall which I prefer not to.

I disable the wifi on the verizon router, and plug in my own router.

You can ask for Ethernet connection on the ONT (no need for Verizon router), but you will need ethernet from the location of ONT.

Faster than 100MB FIOS will also require you to have ethernet access from the ONT.

If difficult to install hardwired ethernet, you can likely get a mesh network, or a strong router. I use thewirecutter for reviews of these equipment.

We are cutting the cord with Verizon... finally. Next month Cable tv and the landline go bye bye and we are switching to 400MB FIOS internet only. I need to buy my own router for the first time in over a decade and find myself flummoxed by the choices and conflicting reviews. I plan to use at least 3 ethernet ports for a mac, a pc, and an Apple TV 4K. We have multiple devices that will connect via wifi. The main concern is the best connection to stream content from the ATV, and we will likely settle on YouTube TV and Amazon Prime for that. We aren't heavy gamers so that isn't an issue.

I'm not sure how extensively the installer (it's a free visit BTW) will run ethernet for us when he swaps out the old equipment. I'm prepared to drop my own cash on newer cables, as my stash is all original Cat 5. No matter.

Am I overthinking this (per usual) and just go with any mid-level unit and ignore the internet-review noise? Most routers in my price range (sub-$200) advertise up to at least a gigabit. Too many choices...

 

[satcomer]

I got a 100MB FIOS plan recently. There are two pieces of Verizon equipment:

1) ONT, where the fiber cable gets connected.

2) Verizon router, connected with coaxial cable to ONT. The Verizon router is under $30 used (or $10? per month rental).

I went this way because my ONT is 2 floors away and there’s already a coaxial cable, but no ethernet cable installed. The verizon tech offered to install ONT on my floor but that will penetration through the wall which I prefer not to.

I disable the wifi on the verizon router, and plug in my own router.

You can ask for Ethernet connection on the ONT (no need for Verizon router), but you will need ethernet from the location of ONT.

Faster than 100MB FIOS will also require you to have ethernet access from the ONT.

If difficult to install hardwired ethernet, you can likely get a mesh network, or a strong router. I use thewirecutter for reviews of these equipment.

Just behind the main router that’ doing NAT (Network Address Translation) you must turn of NAT to any router after that main router doing NAT!