# Linux and FiOS

## Kenji Miyamoto

I would like to set up FiOS with a router I built myself that runs Linux, but most of the online information includes their wireless router, which is entirely unnecessary in my setup.  Does anyone know a way to omit that and plug a Linux machine directly into the modem?

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## timeBandit

There is no "modem" per se in a FiOS setup so I assume you mean the ONT (optical network terminal), the white box they hung on the side of your house. I pored over enough online guides, pre-installation, to give myself several headaches but in the end, found it easiest to just leave their router, disable its WAP and daisy-chain to my superior WAP/router.

If you ordered FiOS TV services as well as internet (I did), you must keep the supplied router in the system or you lose video-on-demand and on-screen program guides. It can sit behind your Linux router but it is needed, to connect the coax LAN used by the set-top boxes to your Ethernet LAN.

If you don't have TV service you can replace the FiOS router entirely, with a little help from Verizon's end if the router is connected to the ONT by coaxial cable. The ONT must be (re-)configured to transmit your service over Ethernet (Cat5 or better), after which replacing the router is straightforward.

There is a wealth of information available from the Verizon Online FiOS FAQ at dslreports.com. In particular, section 3.1 Actiontec has step-by-step procedures for replacing the router, based on the services you require.

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## cyrillic

I have FIOS internet (without FIOS TV), and I am running a homemade router instead of the one Verizon provides.  Everything was straightforward because I am connected to the ONT with a CAT5 cable, not a coaxial cable.

I am curious if it is possible to run a regular (DOCSIS compatible) cable modem on the coaxial connection ?

... or if it is possible to run the supplied Actiontec router in straight-through mode, so that the router is bypassed ?

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## timeBandit

 *cyrillic wrote:*   

> I am curious if it is possible to run a regular (DOCSIS compatible) cable modem on the coaxial connection ?
> 
> ... or if it is possible to run the supplied Actiontec router in straight-through mode, so that the router is bypassed ?

 Devices on the FiOS coax LAN must be MoCA-compatible, I don't know if that automatically implies DOCSIS compatibility. Assuming it does and the cable modem can connect to the WAN as a DHCP client (as the Actiontec does), then probably yes. (How's that for confidence?  :Smile: )

As to bridging or turning off NAT on the Actiontec: no way, at least that I could find. That's exactly what I wanted to do, as I rather liked my old SMC router and wanted the Actiontec to handle the STBs only. In the end it was for the best; it is a rather nice router and all I lost from my old gadget was a built-in print server, which I hardly used anyway.

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## Kenji Miyamoto

 *cyrillic wrote:*   

> I have FIOS internet (without FIOS TV), and I am running a homemade router instead of the one Verizon provides.  Everything was straightforward because I am connected to the ONT with a CAT5 cable, not a coaxial cable.
> 
> I am curious if it is possible to run a regular (DOCSIS compatible) cable modem on the coaxial connection ?
> 
> ... or if it is possible to run the supplied Actiontec router in straight-through mode, so that the router is bypassed ?

 Do you use DHCP or PPPoE?

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## cyrillic

It is DHCP at my house.  I think Verizon uses PPPoE for DSL customers.

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