FIOS help

[dk62]

Any experience on using the Actiontec router provided by Verizon? When I started using it, there were issues with long sustained downloads from a Mac mini, but not from an MDD. As of a few days ago, I could not do sustained downloads (movie trailer) or uploads (to Shutterfly) from wired MDD either. The router would just stop working as a router until switched off and on again (i.e., it would still work as a switch and I did not notice consequences for the MoCA-connected set top TV boxes). Windows computers do not seem to crash the router.

There are several (not many) reports of similar issues with this router on the Web, so I assume it is the router model. I have not really tried calling Verizon, as they will probably attribute the issue to the Mac OS.
Right now, I put the Actiontec behind a linksys router and everything seems to be working OK, but I would like to use Actiontec as the main router as I prefer its filtering abilities to linksys's, and I also do not know if Verizon needs to log into it for service reasons.

Is anyone familiar with these problems and found a solution?

[Donkey Hotay]

Visit http://www.dslreports.com/ use the tools (visit the 'tweaks' section) and consider the offered advice.
* MTU size may be an issue.
* DHCP lease renewal time may be an issue.
* Windows does not wait for an ACK for each packet sent, and uses other non-standard-conforming hacks to "perform better" (embrace/extend/extinguish)
* Router may need a firmware update

Ugh. Good luck.

[dk62]

Thanks for the reply.
-I have played some with MTUs without success.
-DHCP lease time is unlikely to be an issue because the same thing happens if I give the computer a static IP. WAN lease times are long and still active and LAN DHCP times seem to last forever (and are active and renewable during the "crash").
-I would not neither know how nor feel comfortable exploring this
-I performed the most recent firmware update

[mikebw]

I have no experience with their new hardware, yet. In the past I just setup my own router and it worked fine.

[mattkime]

Toss the crappy router. What filtering abilities are you looking for? You should be able to find a cheap, solid router that offers them.

[dk62]

The filtering I am looking for is mainly parental controls - machine-specific blocking of Web sites by keyword. Some routers cannot do it by keyword, some can designate only one machine as non-filtered, linksys that I have had major problems with overlapping rules and time periods of blocking. Actiontec can do all that I need and also has nice pull-down menu for machine- and time-specific blocking of protocols, which is much easier than trying to hunt down all the ports associated with a protocol. The filtering abilities of a router are sometimes difficult to evaluate from the description and sometimes even manual.