Verizon FiOS and an Apple Airport Extreme Network Working Together

[Editor's Note: This blog post is one of our most popular and it has prompted many excellent questions from interested readers. Please take the time to read through the comments at the end of this posting as the additional information may be very useful in your own efforts.]


Patience does have its rewards. After waiting years for Verizon's FiOS ("Fiber Optic Service") to become available in our area, we have recently been able to finally rid ourselves of various combinations of DSL ("Digital Subscriber Line"), cable, and satellite television services. Our FiOS service has been installed for several weeks; long enough for me to declare it a far superior television and Internet service than anything we have used in the past.


Internet speeds have been amazingly fast and rock-solid, especially when compared to the time-of-day variability we experienced with cable. We subscribe to Verizon's 25/15 Internet service, which is supposed to provide approximately 25 Mbps download and 15 Mbps upload speeds. According to the results from Speedtest.net, our actual speeds over the past few months have been closer to 25.94 Mbps download and 14.16 Mbps upload. That's close enough to advertised for me, and incredibly faster than what was supposed to be provided by the Comcast Blast service previously installed (16 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload advertised speeds... but rarely, if ever, achieved).

The FiOS 25/15 service includes the use of an Actiontec MI424WR wireless broadband router. The use of this router is not optional. This device is the fiber modem (actually, coax cable from the fiber interface outside of the house to the modem inside of the house) and it is required to manage the distribution of the FiOS television signal to the set-top boxes at your location. The router has four (4) Ethernet outputs as well as Wi-Fi capability. However, the wireless function of the router is not needed if you prefer to use another device to provide a Wi-Fi access point.

We use an Apple Airport Extreme base station in our home to provide wireless Internet access for notebook computers and other devices (i.e. Nintendo Wii, iPod Touch, iPhone and AppleTV). The Apple wireless network is extended throughout the house and is also used for wireless access to physically distributed printers via a WDS ("Wireless Distribution System") configuration using a pair of Apple Airport Express devices.

With no desire to give-up the Apple wireless network, we chose to ignore the wireless capability of the FiOS router. That can be done simply enough by just connecting the Ethernet input of the Airport Extreme to one of the MI424WR's Ethernet outputs. That by itself will have you up and running as soon as the FiOS service has been activated, although it does not address the potential wireless interference between the Airport Extreme and the MI424WR or the assignment of your network's IP ("Internet Protocol") addresses to the 192.168.1.xxx range used by the MI424WR by default.

We found that deactivating the MI424WR's wireless capability and reassigning the network IP addresses to Apple's familiar 10.0.1.xxx range was easy enough, but admittedly a bit confusing if you are not familiar with changing router attributes. With the following instructions, anyone should be able to complete this task in just a few minutes time. It's as simple as 1-2-3.

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1) Log-in to the MI424WR router as the administrator.

Using a computer that is connected to the local network, direct your web browser to the MI424WR's default administrator log-on screen at http://192.168.1.1

The default User Name is admin and the Password is typically either password or password1 (depending upon the Verizon technician that set-up the device).

This will bring you to the overview screen. Don't be overwhelmed by all of the information that is displayed. You do not need to be concerned with it to make the following changes.

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2) Deactivate the MI424WR's Wi-Fi radio.

Click on the Wireless Settings icon in the banner menu, then click on Basic Security Settings from the vertical menu on the left-hand side of the page. This will display the Basic Security Settings dialog.

In the first section of the Basic Security Settings dialog, you have the choice of turning the wireless radio on or off. Click on the Off button and scroll to the bottom of the page and select Apply.

This will disable the wireless access point and prevent the MI424WR's Wi-Fi radio from interfering with the Apple Airport Extreme's signal.

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3) Change the network's IP addresses to the 10.0.1.xxx range.

Click on the My Network icon in the banner menu, then click on Network Connections from the vertical menu on the left-hand side of the page. This will display the Network Connections dialog.

Click the active hyperlink for Network (Home/Office) at the top of the table in the Network Connections dialog. This will display the Network (Home/Office) Properties dialog. Click on the Settings button at the bottom on this dialog. This will display a more detailed Network (Home/Office) dialog.

Change the IP Address of the router to your choice (e.g. 10.0.1.1), and change the Start IP Address and End IP Address to your choices (e.g. 10.0.1.2 and 10.0.1.254 respectively). Do not change any other entries in this dialog. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Apply.

Click on Logout from the vertical menu on the left-hand side of the page to exit the router administration session.

If you ever need to access the router's administrator application again, you will need to use the router address you assigned in the steps above (e.g. http://10.0.1.1).

After you have finished making these changes and logged-out of the administrator session, you will need to reboot all of the devices connected to your Apple wireless network and to the MI424WR, including the set-top boxes. This step is required to make certain that the correct IP addresses are assigned to each of the devices.

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That's it! After following these steps, your Verizon FiOS service will work flawlessly with your Apple wireless network; there will be no wireless interference from the MI424WR Wi-Fi access point and your network IP addresses will be reassigned to the familiar 10.0.1.xxx range.

Airplane Passenger Etiquette - Top Ten List

Airplane Passenger Etiquette.

I believe that these words create an oxymoron.

I consider myself a patient traveler. Which is a good thing, because most everyone else traveling by air these days seems to have a real issue.

I'm not quite certain what the problem is. Are that many air travelers 'first-time' visitors to the airport, or has our culture created a simply rude public.

Regardless of which group they fall into, here are some rules of the road (or should that be air?) that can make life easier for ALL of us who must travel by air.

1. Get to the airport on time and schedule connecting flights with adequeate time between flights. Here's the deal folks; traveling by plane takes time. Assume that your day will be shot making the trip by air. Once you accept that, it's a lot easier to schedule your time correctly. You have to expect the worse: A lack of parking spaces at the airport; Broken ticket terminals at the check-in area; Long lines at security; Delayed incoming planes; Gate changes. Having to wait an hour for a flight is much easier on your nerves than running late to catch the plane.
2. Pack bags to meet airline rules. Know the weight and size limits; then follow the rules for checked and carry-on bags. There are no exceptions.
3. Listen to the TSA staff at security. These poor folks repeat the same message over and over (and over) again. "Take your computers out of your bag... No liquids, gels or lotions... Hold on to your boarding passes... ", yet again and again (and again), people don't listen. It's not that tough. Geesz!
4. Flight delays due to weather are for your protection. How entertaining to hear travelers complain about the airline delaying or canceling flights because of weather conditions. Do you mean that you would rather be up in the air flying THROUGH that thunderstorm? Yeah. Okay.
5. Board the plane when your row or group is called. Again. Not too tough folks. If you are there at the gate, the plane is not going to leave without you. Sit your anxious self down and wait your turn. Stop running up to the agent or crowding the line for those of us who may be boarding before you. We will all get on the plane. I promise. Just relax.
   
6. Be patient getting through the jetway / plane aisle. The other passengers can only get in the plane and sit down so fast. Again... We will all get on the plane. Relax.
7. Don't try to cram a too-big bag in the too-small overhead space. Look. If you are going to pack THAT much stuff, please check your bag. If it looks too big to fit in the overhead, it is probably too big to fit in the overhead.
8. Respect the privacy of fellow passengers. It's always nice to greet your seat mates. However, if they are not obviously interested in having a conversation for the duration of the trip, then please let then travel in peace. They may be tired, stressed, or just not in the mood to hear about your problems.
9. Keep your carry-on food to yourself. With the lack of airline food, many travelers like to bring their own meal on-board. That's great. Unless you are sitting next to someone with a smelly or sloppy meal. Understand that the whole plane does not want to smell your double garlic, onions and peppers sandwich. And that pork barbecue sandwich is fine, but not when it get's splattered on my suit.
10. Depart the plane in an orderly manner. I've saved my biggest pet peave for last. What makes people think that they are going anywhere as soon as the plane stops at the jetway. So many passengers jump up, grab their carry-on bags and wait to sprint off the plane. One catch. The door's still closed and there are a bunch of people in front of them. Here is where true etiquette is lacking. Why not demonstrate some humanity and depart the plane row by row, taking turns instead of rushing ahead of everyone else and pushing granny out of the way to get off the plane before her.

Traveling by air does not need to be stressful. Do yourself and the rest of us a favor and relax... slow down... and please follow these ten air travel tips to improve airplane passenger etiquette.