Need help understanding my FIOS ONT, battery back up and router.
leosantare1
Enthusiast - Level 2

I have been a FIOS internet only customer for the past 4 years. I'm looking into switching my FIOS internet connection from coax to Ethernet. However, my original FIOS installation does not make sense to me and don't know where to start. 

How my FIOS system is currently setup,

I have a FIOS ONT that is mounted to the side of my house. When I open the ONT cover I see two available connections, a cable out and an ethernet. Currently, the the cable out connection is being used and the ethernet is not. A cable runs from this cable out to the FIOS battery back up unit which is mounted inside my crawl space. This battery back up is plugged into an electrical outlet that is inside my crawl space.

I also have another cable leaving my ONT that is mounted to the side of my house. This cable is not accesable when opening the ONT cover. I would need a socket wrench to open another cover to access it. This cable goes from my ONT to a small coax splitter inside my crawl space. From the splitter it goes up to a coax wall jack inside one of my bedrooms. From the coax wall jack it goes to the FIOS MI424WR, rev I router.

I currently use the router for a wireless connection to my blu-ray player. My blu-ray player is in the same bedroom as the FIOS router. I use this wireless connection to watch/stream youtube and it works great. I also use the router for a wireless connection to my desktop PC in another room. This wireless connection does not work good at all and is almost unusable. The router must stay in the room it's in and want to have a wired connection to my desktop PC. 

My questions,

Why is the cable coming from the ONT's cable out port, going to the FIOS battery back up and not the coax splitter, (router)?

Why is the other cable coming from the ONT's (I don't have access to this port)  going to the coax splitter, (router) and not the battery back up? 

What is the point of the battery back up unit? If the power goes out I lose the router which connects my two devices? Plus my two devices need to have power in the first place in order to work?

If I want to use the ethernet port from the ONT to both of my wired devices, what is the pont of the router?

Should I just run an ethernet cable from the ONT to an ethernet spitter and then to two ethernet wall jacks? I would have one ethernet jack in the room for my blu-ray player and another ethernet jack in the room for my desktop PC.

Last,

I'm also having trouble understanding how all this can effect a possible TV connection in the future. I know I want to change over to ethernet for my internet connection for future speeds.

Thanks

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Correct answers
Re: Need help understanding my FIOS ONT, battery back up and router.
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Router has to have a solo connection from ONT to WAN port.

Then any other devices will connect to lan ports of the router.

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Re: Need help understanding my FIOS ONT, battery back up and router.
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Are you saying there is a coax connection from ont to bbu?

if you don't have Verizon stbs, you can switch internet from coax to ethernet.

you can then use your own router.

you have to connect a router to ont as it will only supply IP address to one device.

Re: Need help understanding my FIOS ONT, battery back up and router.
TomH121
Community Leader
Community Leader

With this set up I have great wireless all over the house.

Doesn't answer all of your questions ... but suggest you do a layout of what you have 

a pix helps all of us to help you in the future .

https://forums.verizon.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/16784?lightbox-my-images=17602i7BCA617493...

Re: Need help understanding my FIOS ONT, battery back up and router.
leosantare1
Enthusiast - Level 2

imageONTimageBBUimageCurrent Layout

Re: Need help understanding my FIOS ONT, battery back up and router.
leosantare1
Enthusiast - Level 2

This is a picture of the same ONT that I have. The only difference is that I dont have a cable on the far right. I believe this picture is the same BBU unit that I have. It looks just like it but may not be exactly the same one I have. I also drew a quick layout of my current wiring. Green cable represents what verison did, so I can't confirm the type of cable. Red cable represents coax which I ran myself to the to coax wall jacks.

I guess it's a coax cable going from the cable out port on the ONT to the BBU. It centainly appears to be on the ONT end. I dont' have access to the connection on the BBU end. The cable goes inside the BBU and don't know how to get to it. I can't say for sure what type of cable this is since I didn't wire it myself. Shouldn't the cable going from the cable out port on the ONT go to the router and not the BBU?

What is the point of a BBU? What would be an example were it would serve a purpose? If I don't think I will ever need it, I want to remove it.

I didn't know I have to have a router. Thanks, this was helpful. I thought I could just run ethernet from the ONT's ethernet port to multiple ethernet wall jacks. I quess I would need to run ethernet from the ONT to my router's WAN port. Then, run additional ethernet cables from the routers LAN ports to other ethernet wall jacks. Is this correct?

I am aware that by swicting over to ethernet I could get a non Verizon router, but I don't think I would do so. The MI424WR seems to be working fine and maybe I will get the new gateway someday. The router itself is not important to me right now. I'm just trying to figure out my setup and how I want it.

I think it's inevitable that we all will switch over to ethernet for 100+/100+ internet speeds. Right now Verizon offers 1000/1000 internet speeds. I currently have 50/50 which is the slowest they offer as of now. I know when the price drops for 100/100, I would want to have it and will need ethernet.

If I switch over to ethernet, can I still get Fios TV in the future? I may never get Fios TV, but need to know to help me decide.

Shou

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Re: Need help understanding my FIOS ONT, battery back up and router.
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

BBU has two purposes.

One is that it is the power transformer for the ONT.

Second is that it provides backup power for phone service in the event of a power outage. You can take the battery out of the unit if you wish.

If you don't have phone service, you won't have the cable shown on the far right.

I think you have two cables mixed up. The cable on the left can't go to splitter as it is a cable that has individual wires.

As I said before, you have to have a router. That's ebcause the ONT is configured to only supply one IP address. If you have multiple devices, then they all coudn't work.

Router will take the one IP address and then supply individual addresses to each device.

Re: Need help understanding my FIOS ONT, battery back up and router.
leosantare1
Enthusiast - Level 2

I triple checked again today and sure enough, the cables criss cross each other coming into my crawl space. Therefore, the cable out from the ONT goes to the coax splitter, (router) and the other cable goes to the BBU. This makes much more sense to me now. I didn't know the BBU powers the ONT and therefore is needed. This is very helpful and thanks!

I called Verizon today and spoke with a tech about TV service with Internet service. He said as of now, all the STB's need a coax connection. He also said that I can switch over my internet connection to ethernet and still use the cable out (coax) connection from the ONT for a STB, (TV service) at the same time. He also said that by next year all STB's will be wifi with an ethernet connection. No more coax. He also said in next year or so the slowest internet speed offered will be 100/100.

My conclusion is I am going to switch over to ethernet now and get it out of the way. I won't be adding TV service within the next year. That being said, if I ever decide to add TV service the STB will be wifi/ethernet and want to remove the coax cables I currently have.

My last question before I begin running ethernet cables,

Can I run an ethernet cable from the ONT to an ethernet splitter? From one output of the ethernet splitter to an ethernet wall jack in the room for my router, (using the WAN port.) Also, from another output of the ethernet splitter to an ethernet wall jack in the the room for my desktop PC?

OR

Do I need to run an ethernet cable from the ONT directly to the ethernet wall jack in the room for the router, using the WAN port. Then, use a LAN port from the router to an ethernet wall jack in the room for my PC?

Thank you

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Re: Need help understanding my FIOS ONT, battery back up and router.
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Router has to have a solo connection from ONT to WAN port.

Then any other devices will connect to lan ports of the router.

Re: Need help understanding my FIOS ONT, battery back up and router.
leosantare1
Enthusiast - Level 2

Got it, thank you!

Re: Need help understanding my FIOS ONT, battery back up and router.
undivide
Enthusiast - Level 2

in case anyone is curious, this is how verizon is doing their FIOS installs now.

prior to this I had an older ONT with the BBU unit feeding power to it.  The tech did ethernet as the default connection for my new hardware.  I purchased the 100mb internet only package and he showed up anticipating a hardware replacement which took about an hour or so.

Everything worked on the first try after going through the initial verizon login page on my wired desktop PC that "activated" the service and allowed my router to takeover and start serving internet to the rest of my devices.

imageNEW ONT ModelFor some reason the picture is sideways.  the power adapter is on the bottom and the ONT housing is mounted so all the ports on the ONT point down toward the floor.  ONT has one port for the optical cable which I believe is the same used for high end servers and switches in data center applications. One RJ45 gigabit ethernet port. One coaxial port for RG6 connector.  and Two RJ11 phone line ports.

Notice how small and slim the ONT is.  It is more like a modern switch/router than the old dinosaur it replaced ! Sorry I don't have any pictures of the old unit