This is a short description of my recent 100/100Mbps internet-only FIOS install (Nov. 2018), using my own router, in the Northern Virginia area, for those who might have questions about a typical install.
- Tech arrived at my house at about 8:30am for a scheduled 8am-9am arrival time. He had called me at about 8am to let me know that he was on his way.
- After introducing himself, he asked me where I would like the ONT to be installed. This surprised me a little, as I had read on these forums that it's fairly common for the tech to declare where the ONT will be located. I was ready for a battle to get the ONT installed inside, but that was not necessary.
- The tech mounted a model I-211M-L ONT and a small power supply on a 2'x4' piece of plywood I had attached on the wall of my unfinished laundry/utility room.
- He installed a weather-tight grey junction box on the back of the house. In this box he connected a 50ft pre-terminated thin fiber optic extension cable to the larger outdoor fiber that had been run to the back of my house a few days earlier.
- The thin fiber optic cable was run into the house thru the same hole that the lineset for my heat pump passes thru.
- Inside the house, he coiled up the excess 20 feet or so of the fiber optic extension cable and connected the end to the ONT.
- He was not able to activate my FIOS service due to "no light" coming thru the fiber. This was due to some issue about 1/4 mile from my house where there is a fiber hub of some sort. The problem was resolved by the next day, as I noticed that the red "FAIL" light had turned off, and the green "NTWK" light came on.
- I was able to activate the FIOS service over the phone with FIOS tech support. They asked me to provide the serial number of the ONT, which I did. A short time later the green MGMT light came on. I connected my notebook computer to the ONT with an ethernet cable. It picked up an IP address, DNS and gateway addresses. However, I could not browse to a website.
- Tech support had me go to activate.verizon.com. I put in my Verizon user ID and password and logged in. I put in my FIOS order number and clicked "activate". Boom -- and Bob's your uncle -- I was on the internet.
- I disconnected the ethernet cable from my computer and connected it to the WAN port of my router. Restarted the router, and then I was able to connect via wifi. Did a speed test -- showed 100Mbps down and 120Mbps up.
Some forum myths busted:
- Tech installed the ONTwhere I wanted it.
- He easily extended the outside cable to the ONT inside using an extension cable.
- An official Verizon router was not required to activate the ONT & FIOS service. I did it with my computer connected directly to the ONT.
- I didn't need to release the DHCP lease before connecting my router. It picked up a new address as soon as it was restarted.
- The ethernet port on the ONT was automatically activated. I didn't need to put in a special request for that.