Setting up fios for whole house internet
UNCMo96
Enthusiast - Level 1

I am at my in-laws place in MA and trying to help them with their internet set up in their newly built house. They subscribe to FIOS internet, TV and phone. They have almost every room in the house wired for ethernet with all the CAT-5 cables terminating in the basement (close to where the ONT is). Their electrician did not terminate the cables with RJ-45 ends on them. Whoever installed their FIOS has the router on the main floor of their house with COAX running to the COAX WAN port of the router. This is good for wireless, but the wired connections are not hooked up. They are not very tech savvy. I'm about as tech savvy as what you see in this email (somewhat, but not an expert). It seems to me there are 2 options:

1. Enable the ethernet jack on the ONT by calling FIOS, hook an ethernet hub to this, terminate all the cat 5 cables and hook in. If I do this will the wired network from the hub be contiguous with the wireless network from router?

2. Put the router in the basement. Hook up Coax to it and hook the a hub up to one of the LAN ports of the router to share the connection with the CAT 5 cables. Then I would probably need to install an access point on one of the upper floors to have wireless reach in the bedrooms.

I'd rather do 1 if I can. Thoughts?

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Re: Setting up fios for whole house internet
eljefe2
Master - Level 1

There are probably numerous ways to accomplish what you want to do, but I think the easiest might be this:

Plug the neartest Cat 5/6 cable to the router in to one of the LAN ports.   In the basement, where all the Ethernet lines come together, install a simple switch.  Use a switch with as many ports as there are Ethernet lines that need to be fed.

Done.  Except for putting connectors on the ends of all the Cat 5/6 runs, you have Internet and LAN in every room there's a Cat 5 run and you haven't changed the default Verizon configuration.

I'm sure you'll get other suggestions but that's what I'd do.

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Re: Setting up fios for whole house internet
eljefe2
Master - Level 1

There are probably numerous ways to accomplish what you want to do, but I think the easiest might be this:

Plug the neartest Cat 5/6 cable to the router in to one of the LAN ports.   In the basement, where all the Ethernet lines come together, install a simple switch.  Use a switch with as many ports as there are Ethernet lines that need to be fed.

Done.  Except for putting connectors on the ends of all the Cat 5/6 runs, you have Internet and LAN in every room there's a Cat 5 run and you haven't changed the default Verizon configuration.

I'm sure you'll get other suggestions but that's what I'd do.

Re: Setting up fios for whole house internet
Anti-Phish1
Master - Level 1

@UNCMo96 wrote:

1. Enable the ethernet jack on the ONT by calling FIOS, hook an ethernet hub to this, terminate all the cat 5 cables and hook in. If I do this will the wired network from the hub be contiguous with the wireless network from router?

2. Put the router in the basement. Hook up Coax to it and hook the a hub up to one of the LAN ports of the router to share the connection with the CAT 5 cables. Then I would probably need to install an access point on one of the upper floors to have wireless reach in the bedrooms.

I'd rather do 1 if I can. Thoughts?


Eljefe's suggestion is probably the easiest.  #2 would work also.

The problem with #1 is if you leave the router where it is, you would need two cat5 runs.  One WAN run from the ONT to the WAN port on the Actiontec and the second from the LAN side of the Actiontec back down to the switch where all the cat5 cables terminate.  By leaving the WAN connection on coax, you leave the router where it is and also eliminate the need for the second cat5 run, which is in fact Eljefe's suggestion.

Re: Setting up fios for whole house internet
viafax999
Community Leader
Community Leader

I'd do 1 too if I were you.

Negates the need for the splitters you'd need if you move the router and keep moca

Gets rid of the confusion of having cat5 down from the router to the switch, which I have.

VZ don't need to visit to switch ont to ethernet, you just need to place the order for it

When you come to terminate the ethernet cable runs check which punch down method they have use in the rj45 receptacles in the rooms - you need to ensure you use the same wiring scheme at the head ends, there are 2 different schemes, 568A and B - you want to connect them all as stright through using the correct scheme as dictated by the prewired jacks

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Re: Setting up fios for whole house internet
MoopMeep
Enthusiast - Level 3

I didn't see this mentioned but the router also connects to the cable boxes. If you disconnect the coax from the router then video on demand and the TV guide will no longer work on your boxes.

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Re: Setting up fios for whole house internet
Anti-Phish1
Master - Level 1

@MoopMeep wrote:

I didn't see this mentioned but the router also connects to the cable boxes. If you disconnect the coax from the router then video on demand and the TV guide will no longer work on your boxes.


You are correct, however no one said to disconnect the the router from the coax. 

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Re: Setting up fios for whole house internet
UNCMo96
Enthusiast - Level 1

Thanks for everyones suggestion. I'm going with the suggestion of running from LAN from the router to a switch in the basement. Hypothetically, if I went with my original option 1 (enable network jack on ONT, hook switch up to ONT via ethernet, and plug the all the wires into the switch, would devices networked via the switch connected to the ONT be able to see what is connected to the router via wifi or would there be 2 different networks?

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Re: Setting up fios for whole house internet
Anti-Phish1
Master - Level 1

@UNCMo96 wrote:

Hypothetically, if I went with my original option 1 (enable network jack on ONT, hook switch up to ONT via ethernet, and plug the all the wires into the switch, would devices networked via the switch connected to the ONT be able to see what is connected to the router via wifi or would there be 2 different networks?


You don't want to do that.  That would expose your private LAN to the outside.

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