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Forum Discussion
Nighthawk routers unable to connect to FiOS Internet
We use Verizon FiOS for our business Internet and have static IP addresses. Our current router is the R6700. We want to upgrade to a newer router. Short story is after trying TWO different Netge...
For the ONT, are you using one of the Alcatel-Lucent 7342 style ONTs from Verizon?
If so, try using the same WAN port MAC address as the R6700 router and see if it allows you to connect. if it does, then it means that your model is also having one of the annoying behaviors where if you swap to a different router, it refuses to allow you to connect to the internet unless you use the same MAC address unless you literally power the ONT off for a few minutes.
I am unsure if their other models experience this, but I know a few users who experienced it after they moved from older BPON units to the GPON ones where a number of years ago, was the Alcatel-Lucent units.
I am not positive, but I can check when I am back at the location. I do specifically remember the box that is inside the location has a bunch of batteries in the box for power outages. I asked the agents if I should unplug the box we use. Both agents said it wasn't necessary because the one we use could be reset on their end (their words, not mine).
Both Verizon agents claimed that the MAC address did not matter to them. I do remember entering the MAC address of the R6700 into the RAX45 (the one I returned) and it did not make any difference. I can try it with the RAX48 when I am back.
Razor512 The ONT on the outside of our building appears to be an Alcatel-Lucent O-821 M-E. I am 95% certain this was the original hardware installed back in the early 2010s when FiOS was first available for our location. I did a quick Google search on this model and saw some hits from dslreports about other FiOS customers getting this replaced for one reason or another, but nothing specifically said with my exact issue (or at least from what I could understand). I saw some users comment about Ethernet 1 and Ethernet 2 ports on the A-L hardware. The cable is only plugged into Ethernet 1 on our box. I don't know if this makes a difference.
So from what I understand, this specific ONT must not like newer routers?
One possibility is that the Gigabit Ethernet link is not coming up between the ONT and the router. for a test, try adding a low cost non-managed GbE in the data path.
The other possibility is that the routers don't like static addressses configured on the WAN/Internet port. In my experience, the ISP do assign the fixed IP address by DHCP anyway.
If they are assigning a static IP via DHCP, try releasng the DHCP lease (on the connection status page in the advanced tab) on the old router. While it may not seem like much, on the older Alcatel units it allows for a swapping of a router without powercycling the ONT.
Whie the Fios network overall doesn't care about the MAC address, some of the ONTs they used many years ago had weird issues like that, especialy the ones with multiple WAN interfaces such as the MoCA and Ethernet, or dual Ethernet port ones. It is overall a strange issue with some of the units.
Wanted to also add that while I have a slightly different model of ONT, for the first 2 or so years of service after I had my unit switched over from MoCA to Ethernet as the actiontec router that Verizon provided was horrible (ping times gradually increased with uptime until you restarted the router.
After the switchover, I hav to release the DHCP each time I wanted to swap routers otherwise the new one while it would achieve a 1000Mbps PHY rate, it would never get an IP addressafter some time, it eventually stopped that behavior (I guess verizon likely pushed out a firmware update to fix that)
Though some of my friends with the service still have the issue and they simply release the DHCP or unplug the ONT (disconnecting the battery as well) when they are getting ready to upgrade to a new router, and the only thing I noticed in common is the 7342 series of the ones still having the issue.
