Ever since I got Verizon FIOS service I have been extremely happy with it. Currently my internet connection is running at 45Mbs down and 30 Mbs up and it really is amazing how fast you get used to having that speed, and how many services it opens up to you. However there is a down side to the service, the cheap ass POS router that Verizon gives you.

When they were installing it I did not think there would be a problem, I figured I would just plug my own router in when they left and be able to do whatever I wanted. For some reason, that eludes me, they ran a COAX cable from the FIOS box outside to the router in the house. So for me to throw out the Verizon router I either have to call Verizon out again, suffer them running dirt all through the house and probably paying a fee, or figure something else out.

Well it turns out that it just adding a new router was not nearly as hard as I though it would be. You can nearly just plug it in and go.

Basically all I did was make two networks a 192.168.1.0 and 192.168.0.0 network. 192.168.1.0 is my old network running on the Verizon router, and 192.168.0.0 is my new network. Nearly everything on my Verizon router stays the same, and I still use it for all the Verizon equipment to connect to, except that I setup a DMZ for the new router.

Basic Map of my nework.

So my new router has the 192.168.1.2 address on my old network and is in it’s own DMZ so hopefully the Verizon router leaves all the packets going there alone. Then it has the 192.168.0.1 address on my new network.

Then all I had to do was physically plug my computers into the new router, and point any wireless devices to the new router and they all used the new DHCP server and acted as normal. The fact that the FiOS devices are on the old network is of no concern to me, because I am not trying to run any media manager software to talk with them directly, they just need internet access to get the channel guides.

With the new router in place I am have already noticed that several glitches in my network are gone, like computer not being able to see my home server or the networked printer attached to it. Also it opens up a lot more power user options like configuring a VPN etc.

This was a very quick description of what I did just to let you know that it is possible to do this. I am not sure if there are any side effects I will run into later, but I will post about them if I come across any.