LAN to Wireless

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

Sgtrockchronik

Honorable
Dec 4, 2013
3
0
10,510
I need to connect a home-based LAN to my existing Wi-Fi network ( FIOS).

the LAN is in the basement and the Wi-Fi router is in the office two floors above.

Can I simply use an access point to accomplish the connection?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
spdragoo

spdragoo

Expert
Ambassador
Oct 17, 2011
3,166
8
24,965
As a Verizon FiOS customer, the installation should have included one of their home routers, which has both 4 Ethernet ports & wireless capability. So, connecting any of your home devices should just involve connecting to the wireless ID broadcast from that router (wireless) or plugging their existing CAT5/6 cables into the back of the router (wired). In either case, FiOS tech support can help you with that.

If you mean that you wired up your rooms for Ethernet, then a) hopefully you had the technician install the FiOS connection near where your previous provider let you have your old router so that you can connect the existing hardwired connections into it, or b) you'll need to hire a contractor to come out & string new CAT5/6 cables from the old connection site to the new location of your FiOS router. In this case, don't call FiOS tech support; it's not considered a "technical issue", since they expected you to tell the install tech if the initial site wasn't going to work for the router (especially since they usually end up stringing a line from the FiOS box to the router anyway), & good luck getting them to set up a technician to come out even if you swear to a supervisor that you aren't worried about being charged for the site visit.

If you're talking about hooking a 2nd router to the FiOS router so that a) you can have more than 4 hardwired devices connected, or b) for whatever reason you can't use wireless on the other devices, then check the 2nd router's manual about connecting its WAN jack to another router's Ethernet jack to extend the Internet connection. Be advised, however, that FiOS tech support will NOT help you troubleshoot if you run into issues: their tech support, per the Terms of Service, is limited to FiOS-provided equipment only, & they don't support a) using a non-FiOS router in place of the FiOS router or b) hooking other routers up to the FiOS router for additional connections.

And in case you're wondering, I spent just over 2 years working for a 3rd-party company that provided over 90% of the Verizon FiOS technical support agents, which means I'm very familiar with the technical support steps (including the dreaded "unplug the Power Supply for your FiOS box, wait 30 seconds, then plug it back in") & what they will & won't troubleshoot.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,317
17,829
184,590


I've also heard they won't generally troubleshoot WiFi issues unless the two devices are in line of sight. Basically in the same room. True?

I'm in the process of wiring a house with Cat5e, to be in place long before the FiOS guy shows up. House already had FiOS at one time...this is a redo.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
spdragoo

spdragoo

Expert
Ambassador
Oct 17, 2011
3,166
8
24,965
Not necessarily. Some of the routers are, quite simply, cheap POS's (especially the old D-Links they used to have), but usually any signal iterference issues (especially with being on a different floor from the router) could be handled by changing the wireless channel. Of course, the usual combination of "customer didn't think to ask where the tech was putting the router" and "tech was too lazy to string Ethernet cable so he put the router in the garage/basement with the FiOS box" usually left customers up the creek.

Now, when it comes to wireless, I don't think they've expanded their coverage beyond desktops & laptops -- granted, it's been a few years, but we were never allowed to provide tech assistance for the early tablets or smartphones, let alone game consoles or Rokus -- so the first step was "all devices" vs. "only 1 device not connecting": all devices (wireless or hardwired) usually meant a router issue (either requiring a reset or a brand-new router being shipped) or possibly issues with the FiOS connection itself (i.e. "Is the phone working" -- not necessarily a stupid question, since a lot of the customers never actually used the home phone service -- or "Are your TV boxes working"), & could mean the main box had an issue (either requiring the dreaded "reboot", or even a site visit); Trouble on only 1 device usually meant an issue on the device. If only wireless connections were affected (or only the 1 device on wireless), 2nd step was to hardwire it to the router: Internet working usually pointed to an issue with the wireless connection (wrong SSID/password, 3rd-party software in use instead of the Windows wireless connection, or even a bad wireless adapter), & we could usually troubleshoot it with GoTo Assist (remote access software); Internet still not working usually meant a problem on the device itself (disabled/broken hardware, virus/bad software, etc.), usually meaning we'd RTV (Refer To Vendor) since the FiOS connection would be working.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,317
17,829
184,590
I've had good and bad experiences with FiOS techs. The last guy, in my current house, was absolutely clueless. After the install, plugged his laptop into the router "OK, everything works!" And left.

Didn't bother to tell me he changed the router password, or verify that MY laptops worked wireless, or left it on WEP after I told him 'no...WPA'. I fixed everything myself in short order, but damn!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom