FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router? in Verizon FIOS TV

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:26:39 EDT

said by anon :

I have the 7216 HD DVR and have remote DVR programming.
No multiroom and no home media.

Thanks for the reply. I have the message that "STB is not FoG enabled" on the DVR. Trying to put off calling support, but I've exhausted all other remedies.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:19:39 EDT

anon : I have the 7216 HD DVR and have remote DVR programming.
No multiroom and no home media.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:28:46 EDT

jhearn : Do you need the MR DVR function at $19.99 a month to enable remote DVR programming?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:04:49 EDT

KewlRobD2 : OK, I don't think I saw anyone post anything like this so I thought you all may be interested in it. I put recently put my actiontec into the Double Bridge mode. I then started working on getting the Remote DVR working. I read this thread and a few others. So far I made a port forward to the DVR for 61345. I also added the IP of the DVR to the DMZ which kind of makes the port forward moot but what the hay. I have a windows 2003 server running my DHCP and DNS. I created a reservation on my DHCP server and instructed it to give the DVR Verizion's DNS servers. All this and remote DVR was still not working.

I then decided to add an entry on my DNS server for www36.verizon.com to IP address 198.23.16.154. I had seen this posted in a few places. I then tried to use the Remote DVR and got a new message from the verizon site saying it detected some trouble connecting to my DVR and asked if I wanted to try and reconnect. I said yes and since then I have noticed some entries in the logs of my DGL-4500. Here is the entry

[INFO] Tue Nov 10 21:50:52 2009 Blocked outgoing ICMP packet (ICMP type 3) from 192.168.1.100 to 125.161.170.60

It is not always to the same IP address but some address do repeat. Does anyone with more know how then me know what this means? I assume I need to allow this traffic through my firewall but so far I can't figure out how.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:26:33 EDT

jmcging : Worlds dumbest question but if you have more than 1 dvr can all of them be accessed? I've asked the verizon tech but never get an answer. I have 3. Looking to know what is a reasonable expectation if this ever works.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:07:49 EDT

jmcging : Just to show that nothing is ever simple, I have been working with Verizon and in the interests of getting the remote DVR I took my DIR-655 out and put in the ActionTec. Reworked by home network, rebooted DVRs, router etc. Nothing.

Right now there is some issue with the AT talking to the remote DVR server. The tech sent some commands so it "should" force the BHR to talk in the remote server.

In addition, it seems I have a verizon.com ID I've never heard of as well as a verizon.net ID that I did use and the tech says this discrepancy can make a difference.

He cannot connect to the DVR's but reports that they have basic connectivity to his line tests which he said "is still annoying." He recommended a router and dvr reset and if that fails he'll a ticket to the Remote DVR dept for me.

If I do get this to work, I may rework the DIR-855 to mirror to the static IPs that have been set up with the AT and see if the dlink can replace the AT and keep the dvr connectivity.

But right now just the plain connectivity with the AT would be nice.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:22:52 EDT

ramell : Nope. Didn't have to do anything out of the ordinary. In my firewall I gave access to the outside world to the DVR and the other way around. No forwarding, etc...

I contacted support a while back to try to get this working (kept getting DNS error in dvr diagnostic scree but Listener 1 started) and the response I received was that I needed to have the VZ router connected. I didn't want to do that so just accepted the fact that I wouldn't have remote dvr.

One day, out of the blue, it started working (DNS error was gone; it's still all green in diagnostic screen).
--
Ricardo

"What does this button do?"
Me

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:52:11 EDT

jhearn :

said by ramell :

Dammit! I used to have remote DVR working with my 6416-1 and my non-Actiontec router. Solid too. DVR died and got a self-install 6416-2 replacement. No worky no more. Sad panda.

So ramell did you have to do anything special with your non-verizon router to get it all working, when it was working? If you did you don't have to detail it here, just say read the thread. Thanks

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:36:43 EDT

ramell : Dammit! I used to have remote DVR working with my 6416-1 and my non-Actiontec router. Solid too. DVR died and got a self-install 6416-2 replacement. No worky no more. Sad panda.
--
Ricardo

"What does this button do?"
Me

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:01:22 EDT

Rattler : It was back at about that time that I activated Remote DVR. Initially, it didn't like the fact that I did not have the Actiontec router in the loop and I got a message that it couldn't initialize because of that. I let it slide and about a week later, it worked.

However, until sometime in July or early Aug, functionality was very sporadic and it was down almost as frequently as it was up. Since then it's worked every time I've used it.

The funny thing is that my kid has FiOS and Remote DVR WITH the Actiontec installed as V* wants it. She still has problems accessing Remote DVR but has found that if she logs out of TV Central, after a failure, and then immediately logs back in, it usually responds. I've tried it for her and have found this to be the case as well.
--
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. -- Red Buttons

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:32:07 EDT

jhearn :

said by Rattler :

said by jhearn :

Looks like that may the answer. I just read a blog entry describing the same FoG message was due to not have the Home Media DVR. Now I wonder if that is why I can't get the Web Access function to work? I'll search around.

I have a "no frills" 6416 DVR, an older Linksys router and a NIM-100 and I can access the Remote DVR through FiOS TV Central (most of the time, see attached).

Initially, it was pretty shaky but for the past couple of months it's been quite solid.

In April Verizon opened up Web access and Remote DVR access to everyone, regardless if the DVR Home Media or not. I will have to accept the fact that a call to tech support is in my future.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:58:05 EDT

Rattler :

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:10:18 EDT

jhearn :

said by oiler_head :

I took a quick search and it looks like it may have to do with home media dvr versus "regular" dvr. Does that apply to you?

Looks like that may the answer. I just read a blog entry describing the same FoG message was due to not have the Home Media DVR. Now I wonder if that is why I can't get the Web Access function to work? I'll search around.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:40:29 EDT

oiler_head : I took a quick search and it looks like it may have to do with home media dvr versus "regular" dvr. Does that apply to you?

Is there anything drastically different between what you have setup and my configuration? Have you checked the self diagnostics?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:37:48 EDT

jhearn :

said by oiler_head :

Wish I could be more help but for all the non-networking geeks out there, there is hope. I think the problem that most people are having revolves around configuration. Perhaps the solutino is through everything at it including the kitchen sink (mobile access?).

I was hoping maybe the mobile access would get me working. But the DVR menu tells me that my STB does not support FoG. Anyone know what FoG is?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:39:30 EDT

oiler_head : I thought I, too would share my configuration as I just got TV Central to work.

STB: 192.168.1.100 connected to
Westfall FIOS Router: 192.168.1.49 connected to
Linksys Router (running tomatovpn): 192.168.1.1 connected to
ONT (Ethernet)

I followed the LAN-LAN (option4) process of setting up my stuff.

I read through this thread over the past couple of days and got to page 11 and things are now working. I have mostly followed everything in this thread and and can't say that any one thing put it over the top so it must be a combination of it all.

on my linksys:
forward TCP/UDP for 63145 and 4567 to the STB.
enable NAT-PNP (no particular reason)

On Westfall:
ensured that DNS points to Linksys (on linksys I am using opendns servers)

Verified through self diagnostics that all is well (Help->SelfDiagnostics)

I have confirmed that both remote dvr and mobile access works. No particular thing worked until I enable mobile access. I wonder if there is something that turned the listner on the stb.

Just in case this all dies, I saved out the configs for both routers.

Wish I could be more help but for all the non-networking geeks out there, there is hope. I think the problem that most people are having revolves around configuration. Perhaps the solutino is through everything at it including the kitchen sink (mobile access?).

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:29:02 EDT

jmcging :

said by jhearn :

said by Zero :

To be honest, I have not gone through this entire thread but I thought that I'd share my configuration and experience getting Remote DVR to work.

Like you I have been through this thread. My situation is different in that I have a non-verizon router as my primary router, and I use a NIM to provide guide data and VOD to my two HD-DVRs. My connection to the ONT is via ethernet. If I run the DVR diagnostics everything comes up green, and for remote DVR a message that "Listener 1 is started". My connection to Verizon is PPOE, I use Verizon's DNS servers. So I have a hard time understanding, 1. How does verizon know that I am using a non-verizon router? and 2. Why do they care?

I have read in comments in this thread that errors can occur in Verizon's "database" which when cleared up solves problems associated with the remote DVR function. Right now all I get is the email saying I am using a non Verzion router.

My next step will be to call Verizon tech support and ask about the "database" solution.

You describe me (except I have 3 DVRs) when you described yourself (I have a dlink dir-655) and I ask you to please keep us approsed of your findings, as I too have been puting off the phone call.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:05:18 EDT

jhearn :

said by John97 :

I'm sorry to hear it's still not working for you. I can't imagine why as you have a similar setup to me, and mine works.

It's got to be the database problem that's been referred to in this thread. I will be calling tech support, I haven't called because I dread Verizon tech support so much, but maybe it's changed since my last experience.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:18:23 EDT

John97 : I'm sorry to hear it's still not working for you. I can't imagine why as you have a similar setup to me, and mine works.
--
So put me on a highway, and show me a sign.
And take it to the limit one more time...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:26:42 EDT

jhearn :

said by Zero :

To be honest, I have not gone through this entire thread but I thought that I'd share my configuration and experience getting Remote DVR to work.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:24:37 EDT

Zero : To be honest, I have not gone through this entire thread but I thought that I'd share my configuration and experience getting Remote DVR to work.

I want to note that in the FiOS FAQ, my configuration is a combination of both networking configurations #6 and #7:

#6 ONT -> CAT6 -> WAN DGL-4500 -> WAN Actiontec Rev. D

#7 LAN DGL-4500 -> Switch -> LAN Actiontec

The Actiontec is in the DMZ behind the DGL-4500.

I think having both of them is probably excess however it gives the best of both worlds. The Internet light on the Actiontec is green and connected so to a normal user everything is green and looks healthy. The DGL-4500 is the main router so, on the Actiontec, DCHP is off and it's only acting as a Wireless AP (2.4GHz while the 4500 does 5GHz) MoCA bridge, and a Fast Ethernet switch with the leftover 3 ports.

Anyways, after initially activating the Remote DVR function I had gotten an email that it failed and to set the Actiontec as primary router and reset factory defaults then try again. I made no changes and didn't even request to try again but a few days later l got another email saying it was activated. Surely enough after testing it out on the site it works perfectly!

I'm not sure if Verizon changed something in the way that their activation works or if my setup is unique to allow communication between the site and the DVR. Inside the Actiontec it doesn't show any special Verizon port forwarding rule(s) as it does on another FiOS account that I manage where the Actiontec is the sole router.

I don't know what's the deal with things but I hope this info could help someone else out who's still having issues getting Remote DVR to work without the Actiontec as the main router.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:37:58 EDT

More Fiber :

said by gadgetboyj :

Where is that on Belkin or most routers?

Refer to your router documentation.

said by gadgetboyj :

Not sure what IGMP is.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IGMP
Also see this specific post earlier in this thread:
»Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:17:09 EDT

gadgetboyj :

said by More Fiber :

Also, make sure that your router is set to forward IGMP requests.

Where is that on Belkin or most routers? The Port Forwarding I Can do but not sure what IGMP is.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:45:14 EDT

More Fiber : Did you have the Actiontec as the primary router (not bridged) when you enabled the remote DVR?
Several posters have reported success once they did that.

Once the remote DVR is enabled and working with the Actiontec as primary, then try switching router roles.

I would recommend forwarding port 63145 in your router (as primary) to the IP of the MR-DVR.

[att=1]

Also, make sure that your router is set to forward IGMP requests.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:00:40 EDT

KewlRobD2 : Seems this thread went quiet for a while now. My Fios was installed this weekend and I have Coax to the actiontech which is in bridge mode to my DGL-4500. The installation was a nightmare and took two days to complete. They finally completed it on Saturday and Saturday evening I signed up for Remote DVR. Its been over the 48 hour period they say it takes to set it up but I guess given the holiday I should wait a little longer. I was just wondering if there has been any progress made on how to set this up or did the supposed changes Verizon made actually fix the issue. Not sure if the delay in setting up my Remote DVR is holiday related or configuration related.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:57:48 EDT

Squirrelly : Anyone using an Apple Airport with the Actiontec care to post there setup?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:25:01 EDT

jhearn :

said by John97 :

Here's my post detailing the steps:

»Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

BTW, just checked - everything still works.

Thanks! Looks easy enough. I haven't had a chance to do anymore troubleshooting since my last post, but it's on my list on things to do.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:18:10 EDT

John97 :

said by jhearn :

said by John97 :

I don't have any DNS entries in my router, the fields are blank. Somewhere in this thread I posted the exact steps I went through to make my setup work. I didn't add any entries for port-forwarding or anything like that.

I searched all your posts and nothing shows up, but that's okay, I should be able to get this setup working. I will give it another try next week.

Here's my post detailing the steps:

»Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

BTW, just checked - everything still works.
--
So put me on a highway, and show me a sign.
And take it to the limit one more time...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:06:05 EDT

anon : Thought I'd share with people my success getting the FIOS TV Central site working, including remote dvr, without having the Actiontec router out front.

Note that this involves some somewhat advanced linux iptables setup, so I'm not sure how useful it is to everyone, but it at least is a starting place.

My Setup:
•FIOS Business With 1 static IP and TV service
•Linux iptables firewall/router connected to ONT on eth0
•Linux firewall connected to my LAN on eth1
•Actiontec WAN port connected to my LAN
•Actiontec providing DHCP address to the STB

My internal network has 10.0.0.x addresses. The firewall's internal is 10.0.0.1, the Actiontec is assigned 10.0.0.251. The Actiontec is also (of course?) configured with the firewall as its default gateway, dns server (I have a dns cache running there), and ntp server (also have an ntp server running).

The firewall is configured to allow all outgoing connections from the LAN, with a standard NAT configuration.

Here's where it gets interesting/complicated. The basic idea is to reroute all incoming traffic from www36.verizon.net (the fios tv server, 198.23.16.154) to the Actiontec router, except for traffic that looks like responses to an http request from the LAN (i.e. me browsing the fios tv website from my LAN).

So, the iptables voodoo to achieve this (note that some things have gobbledygook names since I'm using fwbuilder to generate these rules). I've replaced my public static ip with 9.9.9.9 below.

Part 1: mark incoming packets, except those coming from port 80 (i.e. http return traffic)


itpables -N Cid3810X30282.0 -t mangle
itpables -t mangle -A PREROUTING  -i eth0  -s 198.23.16.154  -j Cid3810X30282.0
itpables -t mangle -A Cid3810X30282.0 -p tcp -m tcp  --sport 80  -j RETURN
itpables -N In_RULE_12_3 -t mangle
itpables -t mangle -A Cid3810X30282.0  -j In_RULE_12_3
itpables -t mangle -A In_RULE_12_3  -j LOG  --log-level info --log-prefix "DVR Mark "
itpables -t mangle -A In_RULE_12_3  -j MARK  --set-mark 1

Part 2: Perform DNAT on marked packets to redirect them to the Actiontec router


iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING   -s 198.23.16.154  -d 9.9.9.9 -m mark --mark 1 -j DNAT --to -destination 10.0.0.251

Part 3: make sure packets marked packets aren't dropped by other firewall rules/policies (not sure this is necessary)


iptables -N In_RULE_13
iptables -A INPUT  -i eth0 -m mark --mark 1  -j In_RULE_13
iptables -A FORWARD  -i eth0 -m mark --mark 1  -j In_RULE_13
iptables -A In_RULE_13  -j LOG  --log-level info --log-prefix "DVR Accept "
iptables -A In_RULE_13  -j ACCEPT

The log items in the rules above are mostly to help diagnose and monitor this stuff. I don't think the rules in part 3 are actually necessary, since the log entry for them never fires.

If you have a dynamic IP, you can probably avoid the "-d 9.9.9.9" bit by instead using "-i eth0", but I haven't tested that.

With these rules in place, I was able to activate and use the remote dvr through the website without having to call and cajole any tech support :)

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:23:18 EDT

Rattler : As the V* fates would have it, mine is, AGAIN, not working today. This time, both the website and the DVR say it should be. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to whether it will be working from one day to the next.

My daughter uses the Actionec router and hers always seems to work. I've had mixed results when I reinstall the A/T in my system. I'm beginning to think it may have something to do with goings-on in the CO that services me and not my configuration...

This also coincides with me not currently being able to poll or reset the DVR from the "My TV" page on the Verizon.com site.
--
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. -- Red Buttons

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:28:44 EDT

jhearn :

said by Rattler :

Jack:

You also have to make sure that Remote DVR service is enabled in the DVR or it will not respond. Occasionally, V* sends a specific sort of reset that seems to turn off Remote DVR in the STB so you have to check to make sure it's still enabled in the box.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to give this another try next week. I have replaced the Verizon Dlink router with a wireless N router from Phantom Technologies which does a great job of filtering the internet for the teens in my house. So I have learned a lot about double NATing, subnets, etc. I can't see any reason this router shouldn't work with remote DVR. I am using connection type DHCP to Verizon and was thinking maybe that was the problem since my original connection a few years back was PPPOE.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:12:01 EDT

jhearn :

said by John97 :

I searched all your posts and nothing shows up, but that's okay, I should be able to get this setup working. I will give it another try next week.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:52:27 EDT

Rattler : Jack:

FWIW, I am running a Linksys WRT54GS router, running Tomato firmware, with a NIM-100. I have static DNS servers set into the router (4.2.2.2 and 4.2.2.3) At first, Remote DVR would not initialize since V* seemed to detect that I did not have their router (an Actiontec, in my case) installed. However, several weeks after initializing Remote DVR, it started to work without any further input from me. I have no port forwarding or any other special services programmed in the router.

At the moment, my DVR still responds to commands and polling from FiOS TV Central - I can check free space, look at and delete recordings and set new scheduled recordings as well as remove others from the schedule.

A week or so ago, Remote DVR stopped working but then, after a few days, it came back on line. I don't know if this has anything to do with the fact that I am not using their router or that I have my own DNS servers keyed in.

You also have to make sure that Remote DVR service is enabled in the DVR or it will not respond. Occasionally, V* sends a specific sort of reset that seems to turn off Remote DVR in the STB so you have to check to make sure it's still enabled in the box.
--
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. -- Red Buttons

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:41:52 EDT

John97 :

said by jhearn :

John 97

I looked at your posts hoping to find the process you used to get remote DVR working using DLink router.

I have the original FIOS DI-624 connected by ethernet to the ONT and using a NIM from the DI-624 to provide guide data. Do I have to use the Verizon DNS addresses? And could you give me some clues on how to get this combination to work with remote DVR funtionality?

Thanks
Jack

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:58:01 EDT

jhearn : John 97

I looked at your posts hoping to find the process you used to get remote DVR working using DLink router.

I have the original FIOS DI-624 connected by ethernet to the ONT and using a NIM from the DI-624 to provide guide data. Do I have to use the Verizon DNS addresses? And could you give me some clues on how to get this combination to work with remote DVR funtionality?

Thanks
Jack

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:59:23 EDT

John97 :

said by Vamp9190 :

You have the Home Media DVR service in order to get Mobile functionaliity, right? By mobile you mean setting up recordnigs on a mobile phone, correct? (either a VZ phone, or other carrier -- but with other carriers you lose being able to delete shows from the phone I think)

BTW
I have read this entire thread and it is really fascinating with all the different configs. and trials/testing.

Yes. We have the Home Media DVR and have accessed it via my wife's Verizon mobile phone.
--
So put me on a highway, and show me a sign.
And take it to the limit one more time...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:47:44 EDT

Vamp9190 :

said by John97 :

I have none of that stuff setup and have full Remote and Mobile DVR functionality with a DIR-655/NIM100.

You have the Home Media DVR service in order to get Mobile functionaliity, right? By mobile you mean setting up recordnigs on a mobile phone, correct? (either a VZ phone, or other carrier -- but with other carriers you lose being able to delete shows from the phone I think)

BTW
I have read this entire thread and it is really fascinating with all the different configs. and trials/testing.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:34:22 EDT

John97 : Once you get your NIM100, you can get rid of all of that port-fowarding, etc. I have none of that stuff setup and have full Remote and Mobile DVR functionality with a DIR-655/NIM100.

UPDATE: I have discovered that if I turn off DNS Relay in the configuration of my DIR-655 - Remote DVR stops working.

I turned it off to address another issue only to find Remote DVR no longer worked a day later. So, I turned it back on, rebooted the router, now it works again.

--
So put me on a highway, and show me a sign.
And take it to the limit one more time...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:02:48 EDT

ps851112 : So, Working again...
Everything is the same except the DVR is not on the DMZ.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:00:44 EDT

ps851112 : Okay, took the DVR off the DMZ and right away, stopped working. After turning the DMZ back on, not responding.
I do see in the network activity that 192.168.1.100 is talking to the outside but its not talking to 198.23.16.154:3333 like it was doing before.

If you looked at the ports info excel I attached you will also see that the box was talking to 63145 on TCP and not UDP.

So I added a Virtual Server for public port 3333 to transfer to 63145 on both TCP and UDP, no response. Also tried 3333 to 3333 for both TCP and UDP, no response.

Just checked the Active Connections and now see
But it has now dissapeared and still not working.

Also I see this

Hope this helps a bit, I may see if I can play around with the ICMP, I think the box talks to the Verizon servers to let it know its alive and available for connection through ICMP or a few different protocols perhaps.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:00:13 EDT

ps851112 : Below is what I see when I'm accessing the DVR, this only appears when accessing the DVR. I haven't noticed it while inactive. I have attached the same info in a excel document to make it easier to look at (I recommend looking at the excel doc since the formatting is way off on the page and I don't want to take the time to re-format it). I will post the steps I went through on the Westell soon.
I'll take some photos and post those for physical reference if someone request for them.

Local Local Port Nat Port Internet Protocol State Dir Priority Time Out
192.168.1.100 42408 42408 96.6.32.181:443 TCP CL Out 128 230
192.168.1.100 58119 58119 96.6.32.181:443 TCP CL Out 128 229
192.168.1.100 33281 33281 68.238.96.12:53 UDP - Out 128 18
192.168.1.100 6346 6346 174.136.255.144:50689 TCP CL In 128 195
192.168.1.100 63145 63145 198.23.16.154:3333 TCP EST Out 128 7790

I have a Motorola NIM100 on its way and we will see what happens with that device.
After closer inspection, looks like it set the DVR to the DMZ, must have been when I was falling over in my chair from lack of sleep.
I will try removing it from the DMZ and see what happens.

I currently have the DHCP range set to 192.168.1.10 - 192.168.1.150
I also have my DVR MAC reserved to 192.168.1.100.

So just to remind my current setup is

ONT to DLINK DIR-655 via Ethernet. from DIR-655 LAN port to Westell LAN port. Westell setup to bridge mode, so it is acting as a network switch.


Ports Info.xls.zip 4,107 bytes NAT Info

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:52:08 EDT

ps851112 :

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:27:47 EDT

Rattler : Ditto! A couple of weeks of flawless operation with my Linksys and NIM, then blotto...

I just checked my daughter's Remote DVR and it is working fine - she uses the A/T router with an Ethernet feed.
--
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. -- Red Buttons

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 08:13:10 EDT

uspino : ps851112, could you provide a detailed account of your setup? My ONT-DLINK-Actiontec-Coax-DVR stopped working after a few week of flawless Remote DVR.

Thanks.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 03:42:39 EDT

ps851112 : Well.... Its working... I didn't do a dang thing either. Same setup as last time I replied.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:23:56 EDT

ps851112 : The DIR-655 is using the DNS verizon provides, Ive tried a few others but same result.

I have the westell turned into a bridge, basically a layer 2 switch, so there is not DNS server entries in the westell.

It appears that the issue is with any DNS server (absurd that verizon wouldn't get that fixed. A tier 1 tech from verizon knows about this then I'm sure the guys at the C/O would know).
Reason i say this, Ive been to several web sites that do some of the following tests using their DNS and not mine. Ive done ping, tracert, nslookup, etc from these sites and get similar problems.

The DNS settings is held locally in the Westell router when its acting as a router. So if I had the westell up with the DNS setting, if I did nslookup or ping from my computer i should always get the same result which is 198.23.16.154

I have not messed with much as I just got the service working on the verizon supplied router last night and probably wont do any testing tonight since I didn't get much sleep and need to catch up, ill try different configs Friday and maybe over the weekend.

my current setup which is working for Guide, Widgets, and VOD but not for remote DVR.
::ONT::--Cat5e--::DLINK::--::Westell Bridged Mode::--Coax--::VerizonDVR::

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:12:55 EDT

ps851112 : Oops, Double post...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:40:52 EDT

More Fiber :

said by ps851112 :

I think this has to do with the DNS, like i posted earlier the verizon tech I worked with on the phone manually input www36.verizon.com to refer to 198.23.16.154 in the westell.

Do you have the same DNS servers configured in both routers?
i.e. Obtain automatically vs. use OpenDNS or some some non-VZ DNS service?

In the LAN-to-LAN configuration, have you tried enabling DHCP on the Westell and disabling DHCP in the D-Link?

I'm assuming you have a cat5 connection to the ONT, and your objective is to run the D-Link as primary router.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:29:53 EDT

ps851112 : Okay, my setup is
DIR-655 connected from lan to lan on westell verizon router. Verizon westell router has been setup as a bridge.

The DIR-655 is running the latest firmware Version 1.31NA

My DIR-655 is on 192.168.1.x scheme. The DVR is using 192.168.1.100 which i setup in the DIR-655 DHCP tables. I have verified communication by pinging 192.168.1.100 and also by running a diag on the box.

I have setup my tcp and udp 63145 and 1659(saw 1659 in the log of the westell) to 192.168.1.100.

Currently no success with Remote DVR access. :uhh:
Guide, Widgets, and VOD work fine.

I think this has to do with the DNS, like i posted earlier the verizon tech I worked with on the phone manually input www36.verizon.com to refer to 198.23.16.154 in the westell.

If you type in 198.23.16.154/fiostv/web/ in your browser you'll get to the FiOS TV Central page.

I tried pinging www36.verizon.com from command prompt on my computer with my DIR-655 in place and get something completely different and cant do the same thing I did with the other address.

So with the results you take 96.6.32.181/fiostv/web/ into my web browser and get nothing.

This is the part that has me scratching my head
"Pinging e155.g.akamaiedge.net [96.6.32.181]"
refers to this page »www.akamai.com/

I have also watched the "internet sessions" link under "status" of my DIR-655 and can see that ip address 192.168.1.100 is trying to talk out bound with a bunch of different places. Some of the ip address appear to route to something similar to this Akamai.

So now I'm stuck, I'm not able to link this address www36.verizon.com to this ip address: 198.23.16.154 if someone know how to do this on a DLINK please let me know as I cannot figure out how. I have emailed DLINK support with this question but I am currently awaiting their response.

Tomorrow evening I'm going to try switching back to the Westell and try pinging www36.verizon.com and see what happens before adding in this different DNS route and after I add it.

I really wanna try now but I'm suppose to be getting up for work in 4 hours and have to roll out some new servers, so my phone will be ringing off the hook. Its gonna be a bad day tomorrow. :(

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:39:15 EDT

ps851112 : Just got off a 2 hour tech support call. I had to switch back to my actiontech for assistance and had the tech remotely configuring my router through my computer. I saw him add in DNS route which is.
www36.verizon.com to 198.23.16.154. After he did this everything on the westell started working. I have not configured my personal router yet but plan on it in the next few mins and will update on my result.

DNS screen info
Port Forward info

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:16:56 EDT

Onedollar : Mine still working... hopefully i dont jinx it like last time. Im thinking if nothing in the config has changed and it stops working, then its something on the vz side that is causing this.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:08:28 EDT

Rattler : Well, I just checked mine and there is one thing I can say for Verizon: They are consistent only in their inconsistency! :p

I can log on to FiOS TV Central and see the DVR but any attempt to communicate with it just hangs the app or I get the error message that the DVR is not responding. Happens with FireFox or IE. This is after having it work just fine for a couple of weeks...

I can poll and reset it from "My Account".
--
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. -- Red Buttons

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:21:22 EDT

John97 :

said by iskl :

followed john97 steps with my dlink 825 and dlink DXN-220 and seems to work now.

Nice! Glad to hear it.

I just checked, mine is still working too. I just scheduled a recording to make sure.
--
So put me on a highway, and show me a sign.
And take it to the limit one more time...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:25:55 EDT

uspino : Same thing here. It worked for a few days, but not anymore.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:49:02 EDT

eqshadimar : Nope I do not (and did not) have the ActionTec as the main router when I re-activated the Remote DVR function.

However I just tried to use the remote DVR function and it does not work again. Go figure. It worked for several days and I was even able to schedule and delete recordings.

Laters,
Jeff

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:48:55 EDT

Psyclone : Did you have your ActionTec as the main router to allow activation?

I disabled the remote dvr function a couple of days ago as you did and now when I go to the TV Central site I get the above message.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:13:00 EDT

iskl : followed john97 steps with my dlink 825 and dlink DXN-220 and seems to work now.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 29 May 2009 15:49:03 EDT

eqshadimar : Ok Verizon has definitely changed something on their end. The Remote DVR functions are now working for me as well. I had the Remote DVR working with the Actiontec when the option first came out. I then switched to the bridged router configuration to resolve UPNP and NAT issues I was having with the Actiontec and the Remote DVR stopped working.

Following the suggestions in this thread I went into the menu on the DVR and disabled the Remote DVR function last week. I then took down all of the current IP addresses of the stb's and reserved them in my router. The addresses are all over the map but they are all above .100 (the DVR is actually .194). I waited a couple of days and today I logged into the Verizon TV Central site and whoa it asked me if I wanted to activate the Remote DVR function. I clicked on yes and bam it is all working.

My main router is a Dlink DGL-4100. I did nothing else. I have not forwarded any ports, rebooted the routers, done any router firmware updates, unplugged the stb's etc. Go figure. Anyway mark me as a happy camper now.

Laters,
Jeff

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 26 May 2009 20:30:27 EDT

John97 : If the Trendnet unit is that similar, try duplicating my configuration and the steps I took and see what happens.

In a nutshell:

1) Set router to 192.168.1.1
2) Shut down everything. Power down PC's, router, NIM100, switches, Xbox/Wii stuff, and everything else you have with a network connection. Disconnect power cord from all STB's.
3) Power up router and one PC.
4) Log into router.
5) Plug in each STB one at a time. Check the router, when you see it connected, assign it a static IP. Start with 192.168.1.100. Repeat with each STB and use next IP addresss in succession.
5a) OPTIONAL: Do the same with all of your other equipment. I have IP's specified for everything. I have most non-STB equipment is at 192.168.1.2 through 192.168.1.11, except for my network printer at 192.168.1.50 and wireless AP at 192.168.1.51 just so I can remember the addresses.
6) After they are all assigned, shut EVERYTHING down again.
7) Power up your router.
8) Power up all of your other equipment.
9) Log into the router and make sure everything is on the IP's you assigned.
--
So put me on a highway, and show me a sign.
And take it to the limit one more time...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 26 May 2009 09:02:58 EDT

Redshirt 24 : Hmm. The router I'm using (a TRENDnet TEW-633GR) is more or less a clone of the DIR-655, and after two subnet changes I still can't get Remote DVR going with it and my old NIM. (At this point everything is on a 192.168.0.10x subnet with the router at 192.168.0.1.) I'm half tempted to swap in my ancient VDI-624 for a bit just to make sure it's not some external quirk...
--
The Young and the Restless: cheaper than having your own life.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 23 May 2009 14:20:16 EDT

John97 : I don't have that port 61345 rule in place. I did at one point but removed it when it didn't make a difference.

I set up my wife's cell phone today with the mobile dvr application. It works perfectly also.
--
So put me on a highway, and show me a sign.
And take it to the limit one more time...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 23 May 2009 11:59:32 EDT

uspino : It started working here too. My Fios router is behind a D-Link 655 connected to the outside box through Cat5. Fios router is connected to the D-Link through one of the four LAN connectors, not the WAN connector. Here's what I did.

a) Upgraded the Fios router's firmware to the latest version.
b) Turned off wireless on Fios router (I use D-Link's wireless).
c) Followed these instructions from »How-to: make ActionTec MI424-WR a network bridge - In the connection list, click on "Network (Home/Office)", then click on the "Settings" button. You will see a list of interfaces under "Bridge". Check the box next to the "Broadband Connection (Coax)", then check the box under the STP column. Click on "Apply" afterwards, then "Yew" (if there's a confirmation message), then "Apply" again.
d) In the D-Link router, assign IP's to DVR and set top boxes in the 192.168.0.10x range. Fios router is 192.168.0.111 in my network.
e) Also, and somebody said before, I had opened UDP port 61345 and I port forwarded that rule to the new .10x DVR address when I set it up. I have not tried removing that rule to confirm whether it is really required
f) Reset, restart, etc... and it all worked after months of trying.

I'm not sure step C is needed, but I'm not going to change anything at this point. Good Luck

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 22 May 2009 23:36:11 EDT
John97 :
said by Rattler :

John, it's just gotta be magic... :o

I guess so. I have no port-forwarding, DMZ, or additional firewall rules in place. It just works.
--
So put me on a highway, and show me a sign.
And take it to the limit one more time...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 22 May 2009 23:10:14 EDT
Rattler : John, it's just gotta be magic... :o

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 22 May 2009 21:07:00 EDT
John97 : I've got the Remote DVR working now with my DIR-655/NIM100 setup.

I shut down EVERYTHING today - router, NIM, switches, and PC's. I disconnected all STB's. I powered everything back up, logged into my router and reconnected each STB. I set DHCP reservations for the STB's in the 192.168.1.10x range.

Everything works flawlessly.
--
So put me on a highway, and show me a sign.
And take it to the limit one more time...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 19 May 2009 11:50:27 EDT
bbarrett : I have been watching this thread and fighting to get my setup (VZ supplied D-Link DI-624 w/ a NIM-100) working for weeks. Finally got it working yesterday, and thought I'd add two potentially useful data points.

1) There is value in patience. After making the final change that got it working, I still did not have immediate success accessing the DVR. It worked only when I went back and tried it again the next day.

2) For me what made the difference was moving the DVR from 192.168.0.5x to 192.168.0.10x. The D-Link as supplied by VZ was set to assign .5x to set-tops and .10x to all others. I created a static DHCP entry to put the DVR at .10x. So it seems that remove DVR may require the DVR at a .1xx address.

(Note that the only other change to the stock setup is the following: I had also opened UDP port 61345 and I moved that rule to the new .10x DVR address when I set it up. I have not tried removing that rule to confirm whether it is really required.)

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 18 May 2009 00:39:08 EDT
John97 : Thanks for the reply. I am going to do just that - leave it alone and check it out at some point down the road.
--
So put me on a highway, and show me a sign.
And take it to the limit one more time...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 17 May 2009 12:55:45 EDT
Onedollar : All functioning here again with NIM100 - no changes done...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 17 May 2009 12:19:54 EDT
Rattler :
said by John97 :

I could always reset my STB's remotely from Verizon's page but no dice with the Remote DVR. I was running my Actontec behind a DIR-655, but now I am just using a NIM100 in place of the Actiontec. The results are still the same.

John...

Not that this will make you feel any better but it, at least, says there is hope (particularly since we are out of the same VHO). And, tomorrow, it may not work... :p

I have an older Linksys WRT54GS (V4) with a NIM-100 (well actually, now, the Actiontec equivalent, not the A/T router) as my primary setup. I had difficulty setting up Remote DVR and when it finally activated, I could not get to the DVR - got the "DVR not responding" message. I could, as you mentioned, access my STBs from the "My TV" page on Verizon.com

I have done nothing on the Linksys to open or forward any ports. It is running Tomato firmware.

I just tried Remote DVR and it now responds to all commands. I've done nothing but leave it alone for a couple of weeks - go figger!
--
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. -- Red Buttons

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 16 May 2009 22:34:13 EDT
John97 : I could always reset my STB's remotely from Verizon's page but no dice with the Remote DVR. I was running my Actontec behind a DIR-655, but now I am just using a NIM100 in place of the Actiontec. The results are still the same.
--
So put me on a highway, and show me a sign.
And take it to the limit one more time...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 15 May 2009 18:42:41 EDT
WC_Gman : Success with Remote DVR and Apple Airport Extreme in front.

I am running a 2008 model Airport Extreme in the LAN->WAN FAQ configuration mode.

My Actiontec is running the 4.0.16.1.56.0.10.11.6 firmware. It is one of the early Actiontec routers. Not sure of exact revision. Actiontec hands out 192.168.1.10x IPs to STBs - other than that, main LAN is controlled by Airport Extreme. No special open ports. No lack of firewall, no DMZ. Fairly simple configuration.

Remote DVR was working with previous 7.3.2 Airport firmware. I could access my DVR scheduling and information from Verizon Central no problems.

When I upgraded the Airport Extreme to firmware 7.4.1 a couple months ago, Remote DVR stopped working. If I reverted the firmware back to 7.3.2 Remote DVR would work again.

I wanted to use the 7.4.1 updated firmware and chalked up the lack of Remote DVR to an open channel that Apple had closed as part of the security update.

About a week ago, after trying the website again and getting the 'remote dvr unavailable' message, I decided to turn off remote dvr on the DVR STB. I then waited until I remembered today. When I went to Verizon Central and logged in the site immediately prompted me to activate Remote DVR, and then proceeded to load all my DVR stuff in the web app. Success!

So again.

Airport Extreme Gigabit N - 2008 Model - Firmware 7.4.1
Actiontec Firmware 4.0.16.1.56.0.10.11.6
Actiontec connected in LAN->WAN to Airport
Remote DVR works.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 07 May 2009 18:05:35 EDT
Redshirt 24 : I'm currently running with a TRENDnet TEW-633GR router, one DVR and a three-year-old NIM, and I can't get Remote DVR activated. This is with both ports 4567 and 63145 wide open at the router...I'm assuming something internal is still being blocked, but I haven't a clue as to what.
--
The Young and the Restless: cheaper than having your own life.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:39:08 EDT
JohnA :
I logged onto TV Central Friday, and the first screen I got was an offer to activate Remote DVR access. Hadn't asked for it. Put the info in the screen to activate it. Got a confirm email on request in a few minutes, and another about an hour later saying it was activated. Tested it and it was working. Have a single DVR (Non-MR DVR), with just the Actiontec (only router) in place. There was no indication of how the checking was done, to know I didn't yet have it activated.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:41:13 EDT
anon : I was told the same thing from a tech about the Dlink and NIM. I received the Actiontec and it's been running just fine for several days but no remote DVR with NO changes to setup. I keep telling them that my initial activation failed and they need to set it up for REACTIVATION but no body seems to know how to do it. They tell me there should be a button on the screen to click for reactivation. I've also been told twice they were sending it to another tech team.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:15:51 EDT
scuba_steve :
said by Rattler :

scuba_steve...

It's been several days since the Remote DVR function became activated on mine (both the DVR and FiOS Central say it's up and running). I am running a WRT54GS w/ Tomato and a V* supplied NIM-100 (I also picked up Actiontec's version of the NIM-100, from Amazon for ~$70, incl shipping - it works just like the NIM-100). ALL IP functions of the DVR work, including being able to reset the box from the "My TV Services" account website.

Remote DVR functions, from FiOS Central, hang for about 15 seconds and then I get an error message that the box is not responding. The only thing I have not tried (and do not have the time right now to screw with it) is to reinstall the Rev. C A/T and see if it works through that.

It seems that Remote DVR functionality varies markedly throughout the FiOS system. Not really a complaint, just info.

Interesting. I just ran a test to be sure...and managed to schedule tonight's Sox game from my PC. Wish that I could provide more insight.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:36:07 EDT
Rattler : scuba_steve...

It's been several days since the Remote DVR function became activated on mine (both the DVR and FiOS Central say it's up and running). I am running a WRT54GS w/ Tomato and a V* supplied NIM-100 (I also picked up Actiontec's version of the NIM-100, from Amazon for ~$70, incl shipping - it works just like the NIM-100). ALL IP functions of the DVR work, including being able to reset the box from the "My TV Services" account website.

Remote DVR functions, from FiOS Central, hang for about 15 seconds and then I get an error message that the box is not responding. The only thing I have not tried (and do not have the time right now to screw with it) is to reinstall the Rev. C A/T and see if it works through that.

It seems that Remote DVR functionality varies markedly throughout the FiOS system. Not really a complaint, just info.
--
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. -- Red Buttons

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:54:13 EDT
scuba_steve : Not sure what the magic is. I have a Linksys WRT-54GL flashed with Tomato, which is connected to the ONT via Cat-5e. I have a NIM-100 off of one of the router's LAN ports. The only non-standard setting that I configured on the router for FIOS was port forwarding 63145 to my DVR STB...and some folks say that step is not even necessary.

Either way, remote DVR works for me...and I get firmware updates pushed just fine. 1.6.2 came recently. I can also rename the boxes on FIOS TV Central.

I know people bash NIMs and claim that they are old tech, more expensive than an AT on eBay, and not necessary since an AT can be configured the same way...but I must say that I love them. I just plugged my first NIM in and it worked. Zero config. As importantly, all remote services worked...and continue to work. I got that NIM for free from VZ last October and loved it so much that I bought another one on eBay just to have a backup...and I swapped it out to test it and it also passed all usage tests with flying colors.

Just saying. At the end of the day, my time is worth more than trying to prove that something could (or should) be equivalent to a simple MOCA bridge,

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:33:17 EDT
Silver_2000 : verizon sent me an actiontec after telling me that the 5 year old dlink 604 didnt support remote dvr

Even with the actiontec its been 10 days and no remote DVR

Seems that only a very few Verizon employees have access to reset the DVR activation..

Ive spoken to countless tech people - now they are calling me - they all do excatly the same thing with the same result - nothing - they say - Ill have to assign this to another team - how many other teams are their ?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 07:49:56 EDT
Thespis :
said by WileEC :

If putting them behind a non-vz router keeps them from being updated, that could be a major issue.

I use a (VZ supplied) DLink and a NIM. I got the "non VZ router" email when I tried to activate remote DVR, but I got the latest STB upgrade just fine.
VZ gave me the router before I got TV and I found the NIM in a drawer when we bought our house, so VZ didn't do this particular set up, but it is all VZ equipment and they can't recognize it. I understand that it won't work, but they should have a message for those of us with non-Actiontec set ups that were supplied by VZ.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:29:43 EDT
More Fiber :
said by WileEC :

i want to know how the STBs receive their fw updates.
Sorry. I misread your question.
Not certain how the STBs are updated.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:25:01 EDT
WileEC :
said by More Fiber :

Originally, the Rev. A through D Actiontecs would "phone home" and check for updates on a periodic basis. The two most recent updates have been pushed by VZ.

yeah, but that's what the router does for the router's firmware, correct? i want to know how the STBs receive their fw updates. If putting them behind a non-vz router keeps them from being updated, that could be a major issue.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:08:09 EDT
More Fiber : Originally, the Rev. A through D Actiontecs would "phone home" and check for updates on a periodic basis. The two most recent updates have been pushed by VZ.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 01:48:26 EDT
WileEC : I've had my fios internet service for four years now. I just got my tv service today and I was planning to bridge my router to the MI424WR Rev.E that they supplied to me to supply network to the stbs. I've read though this thread multiple times and the faq, but I have a question though... if I do this, even if it is successful in allowing the stbs to communicate to vz for the guide and widgets and whatever else outbound, will other things such as firmware updates to the stbs still work? Does vz push those or do the stbs poll and then pull them down? Does anyone know?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:11:29 EDT
anon : I have a apple airport router, the newest model that came out. I have ethernet from the ont to the Apple Airport then the actiontec behind it. Everything is working except remote DVR. I believe we have not found a fix for this yet....I just want to confirm that there is no fix yet.

Thank you

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:41:54 EDT
notarysojac : Thank you, MF & martyg. I thought I had read this whole thread, but my eyes must have glazed over at some point.
We have the regular DVR, not a Multi-Room model (we have a single TV, much to the installers' shock, and the MR's media features are only available to Windows users) but I'll give it a try and see what happens.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:53:12 EDT
anon :
said by martyg :

I have A Buffalo G54 w/ dd-wrt and a NIM100
Buffalo has MAC address cloned to that of original VZ DL-624.
Everything on LAN (incl. NIM100) is DHCP 192.168.0.0/24
To follow up on my earlier posts, Remote DVR works fine on the above setup once you get through the activation hurdle.

I did have to swing my network back to the DI-624 while VZ worked my request through the system. Also had to open a trouble ticket to move things along. Your guess is as good as mine regarding what these guys are checking.

Once I was online, I just swung back to my dd-wrt Buffalo rig and everything still works fine.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:29:32 EDT
More Fiber : VZ could have be using the TR-069 session to ensure your router (Actiontec/Westell) has the most recent firmware as part of the activation process.

In the past, firmware updates were handled by having the router "phone home" periodically and on reboot. With the most recent updates, VZ now pushes firmware updates via the TR-069 interface.

There were changes in the Actiontec 4.0.16.1.56.0.10.11.6 update which added an IGMP proxy interface to the Actiontec.

As I posted early in this thread and jumpin68 recently confirmed, packet captures show that the MR-DVR sends out an IGMP request to join a multicast group.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:48:10 EDT
notarysojac : MF- I realize NIM-100s are not being made any longer, but our building's FiOS was put in less than a year ago and the installers had them on hand and between the three of them knew how to hook us up without killing our router.

whew - more broadband tech than I can follow right now. I'll make sure forwarding on 4567 and IGMP (?) is not blocked. I'll have to reconfigure our whole network, so it'll have to be a weekend gig.

Thanks!

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:22:40 EDT
More Fiber :
said by notarysojac :

My suspicion about the tech's statement is that the NIMs are currently only used when customer (ie: us) insists on using their own network equipment, so NIM = non-Verizon router.
NIM-100s are no longer manufactured. Most techs no longer even have them on their truck.
said by notarysojac :

I could believe they were using a bit of firmware in their official units to identify then as such and screen out unsupported hardware, but the folks here that have Remote DVR working reliably with their own routers & NIMs puts the lie to the tech's assertion, and especially those for whom it worked with no changes.
Don't forget this is a moving target. The email and "Can't activate non-VZ router" web page message are new. It's also clear from some earlier posts, that something changed with the IMG 1.6.2 release.

As for "a bit of firmware in their official units", jumpin68 noted a few posts back, that when you attempt to activate, an SSL encrypted session is opened to the router. This encrypted session utilizes TR-069 to communicate with the router. They can use this interface to push firmware updates and to make configuration changes.
At one point, there were VZ specific versions of the D-Links router. Whether these supported TR-069, I do not know.

Suggestion: Try putting the Actiontec (rather than the MR-DVR) in the DMZ and make sure that port 4567 and IGMP forwarding is not blocked in your router.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:22:55 EDT
notarysojac : I was geting lots of log entries on my non-Verizon router similar to:

- Blocked incoming TCP packet from 72.246.32.181:80 to ###.###.###.###:##### as SYN:ACK received but there is no active connection

Where the source IP resolves to a host at deploy.akamaitechnologies.com and the port it was hitting changed within the 5#### range.

Once I put our Verizon PVR in the router's DMZ these disappeared, but Remote DVR still dd not get activated. In fact I just got an email from Verizon saying:
Remote DVR service works only with the Verizon supplied routers and with no changes to the original setup. Since you are using your own router and/or firewall setup we cannot enable Remote DVR on your account. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for choosing FiOS TV.
Looks like I may not have moved it to the DMZ soon enough...

My suspicion about the tech's statement is that the NIMs are currently only used when customer (ie: us) insists on using their own network equipment, so NIM = non-Verizon router. The tech may not have been aware of the original installations several years ago that used D-Link routers and NIMs.

I could believe they were using a bit of firmware in their official units to identify then as such and screen out unsupported hardware, but the folks here that have Remote DVR working reliably with their own routers & NIMs puts the lie to the tech's assertion, and especially those for whom it worked with no changes.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:33:19 EDT
anon : OK, Verizon tech has told me that remote DVR does not work with a setup using the NIM. I know some of you have it working using a NIM since I've read this thread from the beginning. There must be a certain setting that allows it to work. What is that "special" key? Could someone that has it working with a NIM please post the router settings so we can try to match it? I am using a Dlink 655 as my router with the NIM attached to it and I am using PPPoE. Also, since I am getting the message at TV Central that my setup has failed due to a non Verizon router, how do I get it to try activation again?

Thanks for your help. There is a lot of network intelligence on this board then there are people like me.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:26:47 EDT
rocky01 : They should really fix this. Noone want's them to support non-VZ equipment per se. Just allow full function of any a/b/g/n router in conjuction with the ActionTec handling STBs so that there are no VOD and remote DVR snafus. Lot's of reasons for VZ customers to want to use 11a and 11n bands. A senior tech should be able to solve the issues in short order. For the life of me I don't see why ActionTec weaknesses and issues aren't addressed now going on well over 18 months. I wish their braintrust didn't spend so much time by the water cooler.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:57:15 EDT
notarysojac : Different router, but I'm at the same point topologically and Remote DVR-ly (?). Got the email saying "reset your Verizon router to its defaults and you can not make any changes." Bugger that.

Most annoyingly, before I had come here I was live-chatting with a Verizon tech who (eventually) understood what I was asking and how our network was set up. He pointed me to this discussion and he was saying I should put my NIM in the router's DMZ and suddenly the chat was disconnected. I tried to get back to him but none of the chat-drones could (or would) do so and when I posed the same initial question to them got the same boilerplate "Verizon does not support non-verizon products... you can sign up for our Expert Care or contact your manufacture." Guess I had lucked into s savvy tech that first time because he pointed me here.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:49:08 EDT
anon : I guess the main question is

Have all of you who have this working had to (temporarily) swing back to the original router to get this turned on?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:29:36 EDT
anon : Any updates on this?

I have A Buffalo G54 w/ dd-wrt and a NIM100
Buffalo has MAC address cloned to that of original VZ DL-624.
Everything on LAN (incl. NIM100) is DHCP 192.168.0.0/24

and VZ wants me to "factory reset" my router to continue activation. Of course this won't do any good.

What is best way to proceed, short of ripping apart my IP network?

Thanks!

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:21:07 EDT
anon : I placed the Actiontec router as the Primary Internet router and placed a hub on the Internet connection so I can sniff the traffic. The only thing connected is the STB's.

I then rebooted the Actiontec router and watched what occurs. It looks like a request to a CPE....@verizon site then an SSL connection is established. I also saw some multicast IGMP requests.

If you look download the Actiontec configuration (text file) you will see a reference to this site.

I then placed my own router connected to the Internet with the Actiontec Bridged. The SSL connection did not appear. I then placed the Actiontec as routed (plugged between my router and the WAN port of the Actiontec).

I saw the SSL traffic but could not access the remote DVR and the TV said not-enabled.

So at this point the actiontec is the primary and I will review the various sniffer traces to see what I can do next.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:57:50 EDT
Psyclone : I'd be interested to see what you find out. I haven't yet swapped mine back to the primary router, I may give it a go over the weekend.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:37:31 EDT
anon : So I decided to place the Actiontec router as the first router, connected directly to the Internet. Once I did this I ran system diag and the remote DVR says "Lister 1 Started" but hasn't moved off this. I called VZ and had me reboot everything and still hasn't changed to enabled. They escalated this to the remote DVR folks. Hopefully they will call me and I can ask them how this works, maybe get some insight into the remote DVR functionality with a different router.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:33:39 EDT
jackal7 : Well for what is worth, mine stopped working (it worked for about 2 months). I'm still on 1.6.0 and I live in Tampa. I have a Wrt310N as primary and the Actiontec bridged behind (I followed the Verizon FAQ 3.1 part:4. Don't know exactly when, but I noticed today.

Now, when I login to VZ Fios TV Central, I get the following error:
[att=1]
Any ideas. I haven't had a chance to dig into it, but like I said, it was working like a champ for about two months.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:33:01 EDT
danclan :
said by More Fiber :

Something did change with 1.6.2. Access started working for folks that were not able to get access before. Although still not working for everyone.

while my setup with nim has been working for a while now its very frustrating that they just dont use a set standard and publish it. It may be that whatever security they are using was still being developed and is now finalized with 1.6.2 or if nothing else more standard compliant...but until they actually publish..if ever we might never know....grrr

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 09:16:58 EDT
More Fiber : Something did change with 1.6.2. Access started working for folks that were not able to get access before. Although still not working for everyone.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 09:10:17 EDT
ramell : Yeah, they did change something b/c I have not changed any settings since trying to get Remote DVR functionality working with my RV082 FW/VPN (I'm an early adopter and don't have an ActionTec. My original setup was NIM + DLink). Now it just, magically, started working.

I can see DVR info online and set up a recording. Is there a lag when deleting shows from the DVR? Setting up a show to record happened pretty quick but waiting for the DVR to delete a show I deleted online.

UPDATE: Never mind. It did delete.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 09:08:40 EDT
More Fiber :
said by jumpin68 :

What is the nim-100?
A Motorola NIM-100 is a layer 2 bridge between MOCA (coax) and cat5. It allows ethernet frames to pass between the STBs on the coax and devices on a cat5 LAN.

It was initially used by VZ with D-Link routers before a MOCA router (Actiontec) was available. The NIM-100 is no longer being manufactured. They can sometimes be found on eBay.

Alternatives:
•A second Actiontec can also be used as a MOCA bridge. Used Actiontec can be found on the net for less than $20.
•D-Link DXN-221 MOCA bridge is only available to ISPs.
The Netgear MCAB1001 includes 2 bridges for $190.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 08:29:43 EDT
anon : What is the nim-100? I guess I could google search it but thought that for those that are new to this someone could explain what that device is.

Thanks
Jim

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:48:15 EDT
vho6 : Hi,

As previously noted, I was finally prompted for activation on the »www.verizon.com/fiostvcentral site and it could properly see and manage both of my HD DVRs (QIP6416-2), with a Linksys WRT150N as my my primary router.

Although there are glitches from time to time with the Remote DVR functionality (e.g. reboot DVRs/ActionTec, can't rename DVRs on website), the functionality does work.

In my case, the following configuration worked fine for Remote DVR access, but only after the 1.6.2 upgrade [VHO6 - Burlington MA]:

ONT [Cat 5] -> [WAN - Cat 5] Linksys WRT150N (w/DDWRT v24-sp2) -> [LAN - Cat5] Linksys WRT150N (w/DDWRT v24-sp2) -> [LAN - Cat5] ActionTec - ONT [Coax]

The Linksys WRT150N is the primary router, with the ActionTec behind it.

Everything is on the 192.168.0.x subnet, including 2 HD DVRs, 3 STBs and several PCs. The Media Manager, VOD and Remote DVR functions all work fine without any special configuration (e.g. no DMZ or port forwarding).

In addition, to simplify the install I cloned the original ActionTec Mac Address to my Linksys WRT150N.

-vho6

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:26:19 EDT
scuba_steve : My apologies. I did not mean to respond to Psyclone. I meant to respond to jumpin68, but I hit the wrong button. I agree, there is something up here, but I didn't want the following statements to sit on the most current page of this thread and potentially confuse a new person dropping in on this issue:

1) there is something within the ActionTec router to allow this "proprietary" communication to occur

2) no matter what anyone does we can't get the remote DVR service operational with our own router

As they stand, they are just not accurate. Perhaps an AT functioning as a MOCA bridge does not route some traffic that a NIM does...but many folks do have this working with non-AT routers. Are all those folks using NIMs? I haven't been keeping up on this thread.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:13:47 EDT
flashcore :
said by More Fiber :

said by danclan :

The NIM isnt a secondary router its a MOCA bridge.
I'm well aware of what the NIM-100 is.

The question at hand is why does remote access work for those using a non-VZ router with a NIM-100, but does not seem to work in other configurations, such as using the Actiontec as a MOCA bridge.

Just to make things more difficult, using a NIM-100 with a non-VZ router is hit or miss. I used 4 different non-VZ routers and NONE would work, 1 DLink, 1 Linksys, 1 Netgear and a custom built pfsence router. I even had Gustavo try to send a signal to force it to communicate and it would not. Now I am stuck with the ActionCrap router again and I am sadly looking at moving to DirecTV for service once my contract is up just to be able to use remote DVR with a decent router.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:55:49 EDT
More Fiber :
said by danclan :

The NIM isnt a secondary router its a MOCA bridge.
I'm well aware of what the NIM-100 is.

The question at hand is why does remote access work for those using a non-VZ router with a NIM-100, but does not seem to work in other configurations, such as using the Actiontec as a MOCA bridge.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:26:49 EDT
danclan : The NIM isnt a secondary router its a MOCA bridge. There are only one way your stbs can talk and that is with a MOCA bridge of some sort. That bridging is either done by the Actiontec, Westel or NIM.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 21:46:03 EDT
More Fiber :
said by Psyclone :

It seems that those are successful are using a NIM rather than the AT as their secondary 'router'.
said by scuba_steve :

Your statement is incorrect. There are many reports on this board (and even in this thread) of folks (myself included) using remote DVR with a non-AT router.

I bridge to MOCA with a NIM-100. My AT is in a cardboard box.
As Psyclone stated, it seems to work for those using a non-AT router with a NIM-100, which is exactly what you are doing. How is Psyclone 's statement incorrect?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 21:16:18 EDT
scuba_steve : Your statement is incorrect. There are many reports on this board (and even in this thread) of folks (myself included) using remote DVR with a non-AT router. I am using a Linksys WRT54GL flashed with Tomato...and it works just fine.

I bridge to MOCA with a NIM-100. My AT is in a cardboard box.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:06:06 EDT
anon : I got through to technical Support at VZ and asked them about the remote DVR service.

This person actually knew what we all want to achieve and said that there is something within the ActionTec router to allow this "proprietary" communication to occur. At this current time its not a matter of enabling ports on a router. It has all to do with something going on within the Actiontec router that apparently VZ is not willing to share at this time. Because of the number of requests this may change but for now the only way this is supported is via the actiontec router connected directly on the internet connection.

I know this doesn't answer or address anything but it seems no matter what anyone does we can't get the remote DVR service operational with our own router.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:08:26 EDT
Psyclone :
said by jumpin68 :

Is VZ tech support the only one that can clear the old router MAC address in order to swap the actiontec into place?

No, you can release the IP of the primary router and then do the swap w/o having to wait for the lease to cycle at VZ's end.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:49:00 EDT
anon : Ok so maybe I will put the Actiontec router to be the first router then get the remote DVR service activated then try to test afterward.

Is VZ tech support the only one that can clear the old router MAC address in order to swap the actiontec into place?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:15:55 EDT
Psyclone : I am still not able to access my DVR's on VZ Central with my 3rd party router as the primary router, even with IMG 1.6.2, I still get 'Set Top Box - is not responding.' It seems that those are successful are using a NIM rather than the AT as their secondary 'router'

I have not tried to 'reset' things by temporarily swapping the AT back out to the primary router to see if that will cause it to start working again after I swap it back to the secondary router. I'm hopeful that some future IMG upgrade will allow this to work without so much effort.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 11:54:19 EDT
anon : So its now Apr 4th and I wanted to see if anyone has been successful with the remote DVR with the ActionTEC router not connected to the Internet side but rather a 3rd party router performing all router functionality. If so what did you do?

Thanks, Jim

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:13:55 EDT
vho6 : As yet another point of reference, Remote DVR now works in 1.6.2 [VHO6 - Burlington MA] with my non-ActionTec router (Linksys WRT150N w/DDWRT) as the primary router without any special configuration.

After the the 1.6.2 upgrade I was finally prompted for activation on the »www.verizon.com/fiostvcentral site and it could properly see and manage both of my HD DVRs (QIP6416-2).

-vho6

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:14:17 EDT
ando1 :
said by danclan :

Well just so you know you dont need to forward any ports given that I am not and have nim setup as well and WRT350 with dd-wrt.

Its working because verizon made a change somewhere...

that said....its not working now again

this is just stupid....wtf verizon

I think I am missing something here danclan. If you are not using a VZ provided router in your config, how are you getting an outside connection to your STB's

Ando

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:54:20 EDT
flashcore : Ok so I finally had some time to mess around with trying to get the FIOS TV Central website working however I have run into a problem. Does anyone have a clue how to fix this...

Mar 11 08:38:50 2009 Inbound Traffic Blocked - Default policy TCP 69.192.16.181:443->192.168.1.40:47664 on ixp0

192.168.1.40 is the Actiontec
192.168.2.X is the subnet used behind the actiontec for the STB's which are 192.168.2.100-105 with 100 being the MRDVR
192.168.1.1 is my primary router
192.168.1.X is the subnet used for all PCs and can not be changed.

The 69.192.16.181 IP resolves to a69-192-16-181.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com which I am assuming is part of the Remote DVR setup process. When I run the Web Access setup through the MR DVR it sends the requests out and then the traffic coming back from that akami IP is passed through my primary router to the actiontec where it is then blocked and I can not find a reason why. As far as I can tell my primary router is not blocking anything related to the MRDVR and the proper ports are open (TCP:4567 and UDP:63145) and being forwarded to the actiontec.

Does anyone have a clue what I need to do to fix this POS actiontec to make it work properly and stop blocking IPs, I have set the actiontec firewall to low and disabled it on the WAN port in an attempt to fix it but still it blocks that IP.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:55:50 EDT
dcohn : I posted a week or so ago about using my Netscreen with FIOS Trip Play. This is my story.....

I see some have claimed success using other than the Verizon Standard IPs of 192.168.1.X as the DHCP scope for the STBs but they have also stated that it fails repeatedly. My local systems cannot use 192.168.1.X because I have a critical client that I create site to site VPN to that uses 192.168.1.X. That leaves me with needing another network and in my experience and reading here it does not work. Please if there is a single doc that shows that can be done point me (HAHAHAHA).

I am not interested in a setup that fails repeatedly to be 100% honest.

To save the time involved in troubleshooting since I actually have billable work I can do instead (Yes luckily) I canceled my FIOS Internet from my Triple play and saved $30 per month. I lost none of the freebees doing this. I then bought a new service from Verizon 20/5 for $57 per month for Internet only. Yes this will cost me $300+ per year but at least I have a perfect trouble free installation. I GOT A SECOND ONT of course and you must use a different billing name to make this happen.

Very friggin annoying and I cannot afford it but it is less than the alternatives and better as well. FIOS is my secondary line currently. I recently canceled a Verizon T1 that I contracted for $300 a month and after install was told it is $575 because they made an error. I never sighed a new contract and after 18 months they contacted me because I had not paid a full invoice for 10 months. Well long story short I got a billing person that was very experienced and saw what went on with my account. She got me a $4000 refund that I was due based on original contract and I canceled this friggin T1.

Before cancelling I obtained an Optimum Business with Boost and Static IP account as a backup and made it my new primary in place of the T1 which is OK but bounces too much. I ordered Speakeasy Business DSL with Static IP and had it installed for $130. 8 non routable IPs included. This was to be my new primary supposedly as it had a true SLA which I hoped would give me a more reliable service.

After 3 weeks of them doing everything wrong I had them change the installed package down to save money and make it a secondary connection. The grief they put me through with incorrect prices etc. caused me to tell them to take the whole install OUT and cancel service (Allowed within 30 days). DONE and gone. More emails asking for money and you must login to respond but I have no login anymore (such idiots). Finally a phone call settles that.

THEN FIOS is available and the above mess ensued.

So maybe you can relate why I see the extra expenditure as a blessing. I work from home after all and business pays for the lines.....

Ah yes. I almost forget. Internet disabled from TRIPLE PLAY as requested to Verizon. BUT still works exactly the same way. Seems that Internet cannot be disabled if you have TV. So order Triple play and cancel internet and you still get Internet. Very very weird.....

I had to post. It seemed a story that was worthwhile. If I am wrong tell me to delete and I will oblige.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:58:20 EDT
Kyusaku : Can anyone tell me the IP range is for "Verizon FIOS Service" is? My router firmware can set a similar rule where I can assign a range of IPs for the port forwarding.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:18:04 EDT
John97 :
said by twilleyj :

Extra tidbit: If you have PPPOe setup with CAT5, you can plug run it to a fast switch, and plug MULTIPLE PPPOe devices into it an receive multiple external IP addresses! I had my Buffalo router and Vonage V-Portal setup with 2 separate external IP addresses. The problem was that my little Linksys switch limited my Router speeds to 10 MBs for some reason (10/100 switch) I needed a FASTER switch.
I wonder what Verizon's position is on doing something like that. I've got a CAT5 PPPOE install. I also have a a couple fast switches (gigabit). Theoretically, I could connect a switch and plug up the Actiontec and let it do its thing for the video side, and plug in my DIR-655 to handle everything on the data side.
--
So put me on a highway, and show me a sign.
And take it to the limit one more time...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:25:05 EDT
twilleyj : I 2nd that opinion...

I'm using the following with my 20/5 FIOS service:

- Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 w/Tomato 1.23 firmware
- NIM-100

1 STB & 2 DVRs all have static leases in the 192.168.1.100-103 range.

Everything is working fine...except one of the DVRs is not available via FIOS TV Central's website. The other works just fine. After I realized how lame the FIOS Remote DVR feature actually is... I was sad I bothered troubleshooting it for a few days!!

Extra tidbit: If you have PPPOe setup with CAT5, you can plug run it to a fast switch, and plug MULTIPLE PPPOe devices into it an receive multiple external IP addresses! I had my Buffalo router and Vonage V-Portal setup with 2 separate external IP addresses. The problem was that my little Linksys switch limited my Router speeds to 10 MBs for some reason (10/100 switch) I needed a FASTER switch.

I went back to placing the vonage device behind my Buffalo.
My network is SMOKIN' fast, my wireless range is exceptional, and my NAT tables are large.

Life is good.

John
--
......

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:28:07 EDT
danclan : Well just so you know you dont need to forward any ports given that I am not and have nim setup as well and WRT350 with dd-wrt.

Its working because verizon made a change somewhere...

that said....its not working now again

this is just stupid....wtf verizon

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:25:13 EDT
scuba_steve : I have it working with a third-party router. Here is my setup:

Router: LinkSys WRT-54GL flashed with Tomato 1.23

MOCA Bridge: NIM-100

Router Config:

• Standard DHCP range is 192.168.1.10-50

• Tomato's "Static DHCP" function configured to ensure that the router issues 192.168.1.150 to the MAC address that belongs to my DVR

• Port forwarding inbound UDP packets on port 63145 to the DVR

Things didn't work initially...but started to work some time later...several hours perhaps. Thanks to everyone who posted in here. Much appreciated.

- Steve

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:11:35 EDT
danclan : Still working now 4 days with no special configuration or Verizon provided router.....

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:57:50 EDT
Shady Bimmer : The STBs and DVRs will include DHCP option 60 in their requests. The purpose of this option (Vendor Class Identifier) is to allow the DHCP server to respond differently based on the "type" of device making the query.

In this case the DHCP server in the Actiontec router includes two different scopes, one of which is for standard DHCP queries (from PCs, etc) and the other is for verizon STBs and DVRs (IP-STB) that specifically identify themselves using DHCP Option 60. As a result, there are two different IP ranges used (two different "scopes" with different options), but the IPs themselves have nothing to do with the service or capabilities. Rather, the Actiontec responds to queries from vendor class 'IP-STB' with a dhcp offer that includes option 125 (Vendor Information). This option in this case is primarily for the Actiontec to identify itself as CPE management gateway for the STB.

In the case of the Actiontec it appears that it may also apply a QoS policy to IPs in this range, or possibly tag traffic from this IP range for QoS policies upstream. However it should be noted that if the Acitiontec is not the only router then this may not have any affect at all: If the Actiontec is behind another router (one of the bridged configurations) then that router must support QoS similarly.

It also appears that packets in an inbound VOD stream are already tagged with dscp priority 4 so it is not clear on what is the purpose of this QoS policy on the Actiontec. Again, if there is another router between the ONT and the Actiontec that router too would need to apply the proper QoS policy to traffic tagged this way.

I am actually still trying to research this further, but purely for educational purposes. My thoughts are that if you are using the Actiontec in a bridged configuration then QoS becomes irrelevant unless your primary router similarly can apply QoS policies.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:23:10 EDT
danclan : Dont need any of that when its working correctly. I have no triggering of any sort or port forwarding of any sort enabled to currently use it with out the actiontec router installed.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:43:27 EDT
prisaz : Has anyone considered the port triggering that is enabled on the Actiontec?

L2TP Triggering - Layer Two Tunneling Protocol
UDP Any -> 1701 UDP Any -> Same as Initiating

TFTP Triggering - Trivial File Transfer Protocol
UDP 1024-65535 -> 69 UDP Any -> Same as Initiating

Also port forwarding.

localhost localhost Verizon FiOS Service – TCP Any -> 4567 All Broadband Devices Active

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:17:29 EDT
danclan : Ok its working again....all the boxes in our region were reset....wonder if that had anything to do with it...but so far its still a mystery....

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:48:33 EDT
danclan : Course, now i go to try to use it, no joy.

So I dont know what it is but its not anyones router. I'm of the belief now that its an issue with the DVR and the web site that is preventing the use of non actiontec routers on a regular basis and im leaning more towards the firmware on the DVR.

I was able to use it for the better part of a week and as stated earlier i made no allowances for it nor tweaked anything.

I just ran the self diagnostics and all passed but DNS (fails). My router passes 71.252.0.14 and 242.0.14 dns addresses only to dhcp clients.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:42:17 EDT
Maestr0 : By the way...went back to the westell, and the TV Central site still cannot find my box! So basically:

1) Was not working with the DIR-655 and NIM
2) Was working after using Westell and DIR-655 is just AP
3) Was not working when I back to NIM setup after getting it to work.
4) Went back to Westell and still is not working!

So I have a dreaded call to VZ tech support in my future!

For the record, I have love my DIR-655. HATED the actiontec. But so far my limited experience with the westell has shown it to be a pretty solid unit.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:13:13 EDT
danclan : I would do a factory reset of your Actiontec. Start with a clean slate as there should be no need to set up any special port forwarding that isnt preset already by the factory or in this case verizons firmware.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:43:09 EDT
More Fiber : No clue why it's in red. It does appear that it is added automatically like the forward of port 4567 and can't be deleted.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:29:53 EDT
JUG831 : I have tried forwarding 63145 with no luck.

Fiber, do you know the signifigance of the Verizon FIOS Service text in red in the Network Address column?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:49:41 EDT
More Fiber : The need to forward port 63145 was identified earlier in this thread.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:46:08 EDT
Maestr0 : OK. Put the Westell back on and TV Central still cannot see my DVR..lol..

Anyways, I noticed a port fowarding that was added and the forwarded included the serial # of my STB that has the Remote DVR. (The blacked out part)...I don't know a ton about port forwarding but maybe this brings us a step closer?
BTW 192.168.1.100 is the IP for the STB...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:09:48 EDT
Maestr0 : I went through an absolute nightmare getting my box activated. I originally had a NIM setup and after hours on the phone could not get it working. Then I hung a new westell on my line and still another hour on the phone and no go. The tech on the phone had no clue what Remote DVR was. He ended up in a chat session or something with someone who he kept saying was in Washington and and after about 30 minutes back and forth with that guy I was able to get the entire Remote DVR functionality working with the Westell.

Now when I go home tonight I am going to try and hook the NIM up again and remove the westell (using a DIR-655). Perhaps once the STB has been located it will work regardless of my setup...Anyways, I will post an update tonight.

UPDATE: Went back to the NIM-100 and DIR-655 and no luck. The TV Central site still shows my box as activated but I cannot access the HD on the STB...will try a few settings and let you know..

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:06:45 EDT
jws74 :
said by JUG831 :

I am wondering if the VZ site can send info but what it is requesting from the STB is not going out to VZ?

seems to me that when I enabled through the DVR it took another 24 hours or so before I had the illusion of being able to activate on the fiostvcentral homepage. Of course, I had other issues going on, too; whatever change occurred last week that enabled a lot of folks helped my situation too, I think.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:50:07 EDT
JUG831 : Cat 5 from ONT to Linksys WRT54G running Tomato 1.23 as primary, Actiontec set to bridge via Fios FAQ option 4 (lan to lan). All services work as advertised (VOD, widgets, etc) with exception of Remote DVR.

Something interesting...I enabled the service a few days ago. Under HELP in the STB menu, in System Information the instructions were there on how to enable, and it stated my RDVR was not enabled. So I followed and went to the VZ Central site and enabled the box. Now in the System Info screen on the DVR it says enabled, so some kind of communication reached the box.

I am wondering if the VZ site can send info but what it is requesting from the STB is not going out to VZ?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:02:16 EDT
More Fiber :
said by JUG831 :

There must be a way to get this to work with the AT!

If it's working with third party routers as primary, there isn't any reason it shouldn't work using the Actiontec as a MOCA bridge.

JUG831 , how are your Actiontec and router connected?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:51:40 EDT
JUG831 : Papa: Thx for the info.

Danclan: Thank you as well. You can run the self diagnosis on your DVR using the remote control and going to Menu>Help>Self Diagnosis.

I was curious if all those who have it working have the DVR IP as 192.168.1.100. So far PapaGrande confirms.

Also, all those that have it working, am I correct in that you are not using the AT, but rather a NIM100?

There must be a way to get this to work with the AT!

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:07:19 EDT
danclan : i am able to connect successfully to the remote dvr feature with out using any Verizon provided router. I have a WRT350 and wrt310 in a WDS setup and use a 10.x network. All works now successfully with no changes to the router configuration.

I also didnt run any self diagnostics's, not even sure where it is you do that...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 08:42:06 EDT
PapaGrande :
said by JUG831 :

For those who have the remote DVR feature working without the Actiontec as the primary, could you please post what the IP is for your STB? You can check this by pressing (on the remote) MENU>HELP>SELF DIAGNOSTICS.

You can also see this is SYSTEM INFORMATION but I am also curious to see if the DNS field in self diagnostics will pass for those who have it working...

Thx.

IP ADDRESS: 192.168.1.100-103 [DHCP Reservation]
(3) HD STB's - (1) HD DVR
DNS still fails in the Self-Diag

Grande'

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:14:33 EDT
Psyclone :
said by danclan :

Ok they have definitely changed something as I am now able to access WITHOUT Actiontec router.

I did NOTHING differently. and have NOTHING enabled differently from my past posts, No UPnP no port forwarding, nothing and its working flawlessly.

I didnt do any self diganostic etc....

So KUDOS to Verizon for making whatever change they did to allow any router to now work in the remote dvr environment.

Congrats, are you running a NIM or an ActionTec along with your DD-WRT router?

I am still having no luck with my Internet->Buffalo WHR-G54s(DD-WRT V. 24SP1)->ActionTec configuration. Maybe I'll try flipping the ActionTec back out to the primary router and 'trigger' it to connect on the site then re-set them back up to the custom config and see if it retains the connectivity to TV Central.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:03:35 EDT
anon : For those who have the remote DVR feature working without the Actiontec as the primary, could you please post what the IP is for your STB? You can check this by pressing (on the remote) MENU>HELP>SELF DIAGNOSTICS.

You can also see this is SYSTEM INFORMATION but I am also curious to see if the DNS field in self diagnostics will pass for those who have it working...

Thx.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:55:15 EDT
MediocreFred :
said by PapaGrande :

I mean I never had an Actiontec Router at all... Always used my Linksys WRT300n...

Grande'

OK. I went back and read through this thread again... you guys are using a NIM100. I have the new Westell 9100EM behind my router (a box running PFSense). Have followed the LAN-LAN faq as well as all the other possible tips suggested in this forum. Can get to FIOSTV Central. My Remote DVR appears to be activated. Both my STBs (one is a DVR) are listed However, I cannot get any thing to go to or from the DVR - I cannot see what's on the DVR or schedule any new recording from the web page.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:18:23 EDT
PapaGrande :
said by MediocreFred :

said by danclan :

Ok they have definitely changed something as I am now able to access WITHOUT Actiontec router.

By "without Actiontec router", do you mean that you've disconnected/powerred down the Actiontec, or, do you mean with Actiontec behind your other router in a LAN-LAN configuration?

But, don't you need the Actiontec for VOD and Guide?

I mean I never had an Actiontec Router at all... Always used my Linksys WRT300n...

Grande'

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:12:12 EDT
MediocreFred :
said by danclan :

Ok they have definitely changed something as I am now able to access WITHOUT Actiontec router.

By "without Actiontec router", do you mean that you've disconnected/powerred down the Actiontec, or, do you mean with Actiontec behind your other router in a LAN-LAN configuration?

But, don't you need the Actiontec for VOD and Guide?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:57:08 EDT
danclan : Ok they have definitely changed something as I am now able to access WITHOUT Actiontec router.

I did NOTHING differently. and have NOTHING enabled differently from my past posts, No UPnP no port forwarding, nothing and its working flawlessly.

I didnt do any self diganostic etc....

So KUDOS to Verizon for making whatever change they did to allow any router to now work in the remote dvr environment.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:47:10 EDT
PapaGrande :
said by PapaGrande :

Not sure if any of this helps...I'm currently have the Linksys WRT300n with the NIM100.

I noticed that when I run the Self Diag on my STB's, everything passes except the DNS. Is it possible for the people who have their's working to perform a Self Diag and see what comes up...

Taking a stab in the dark...

Grande'

Not sure if the self-diag helped or something else happened, but I'm able to view and record WITHOUT an Actiontec Router...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:23:52 EDT
Rattler :
said by Belspur :

Hello All,

I can now access my DVR from the FIOS TV Central...

However under my MY TV Equipment under my Verizon.Com login I still get the message Your STB Record Cannot Be Found.

At least one thing is working.

The verizon.com STB listing/access problem seems to be widespread but sporadic. I get one of two error messages when I go to that page... 1) Record cannot be found or 2) STB is unavailable.

I am running a Linksys WRT54GS and and NIM-100. However, if I install the Actiontec, as it is supposed to be, I still do not have STB access from My Account, so that is not the issue. I believe it is a V* database access problem on the website.

The boxes are all listed on the FiOS TV Central website but I do not have MR-DVR activated, so I can do nothing with them from there.
--
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. -- Red Buttons

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:41:08 EDT
MediocreFred : Good for you!

Sadly, Remote DVR functionality continues to elude me.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:24:34 EDT
Belspur : Hello MediocreFred

I just logged in and it worked. I am going to check the firmware on the actiontec later tonight.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:14:28 EDT
MediocreFred :
said by Belspur :

Hello All,

I can now access my DVR from the FIOS TV Central.

What did you have to change or do differently to get it to work?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:52:58 EDT
Belspur : Hello All,

I can now access my DVR from the FIOS TV Central.

I am using a D-Link DGL-4500 with the Actiontec wired Lan to Lan.

I can now see my recordings and I just scheduled a recording.

I can see all my STB'S 1 HD MRDVR and 3 SD STB'S

However under my MY TV Equipment under my Verizon.Com login I still get the message Your STB Record Cannot Be Found.

At least one thing is working.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:06:19 EDT
PapaGrande : Not sure if any of this helps...I'm currently have the Linksys WRT300n with the NIM100.

I noticed that when I run the Self Diag on my STB's, everything passes except the DNS. Is it possible for the people who have their's working to perform a Self Diag and see what comes up...

Taking a stab in the dark...

Grande'

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:12:25 EDT
MrMaestro : I am in the same boat as a lot of you here. I am using a NIM-100 with a DIR-655 and couldn't be happier. Except of course no access to TV Central. A FIOS tech came out and gave me a new Westell Router. I have yet to hook that up and give it a whir. Anyone have experience with the Westell? If it improves upon the Actiontec I will be happy to hang it on my network in place of the DIR if it means TV Central..

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:18:34 EDT
More Fiber :
Do you mean have the Actiontec pull the WAN ip from Verizon, but have the Linksys distribute the network ips?
That's exactly what I mean.

Each router has two DHCP components.

•A DHCP client that is responsible for obtaining a DHCP lease on the WAN port. You would leave this enabled on the Actiontec to pull your WAN IP address from VZ. The DHCP client would not be used on the Linksys since the Linksys WAN port is not connected.

•A DHCP server that is responsible passing out IP addresses on the LAN side of the router. You would disable the DHCP server on the Actiontec. The DHCP server on the Linksys would be configured with the LAN IP address of the Actiontec (e.g. 192.168.1.1) as the default gateway address. Subnet mask and DNS addresses would be as they are in the Actiontec WAN configuration.

For illustration, I'm assuming that the Actiontec has a static LAN IP address of 192.168.1.1 and that the Linksys has a static LAN address of 192.168.1.2.

You should be able to configure DHCP this way. It's common to have DHCP servers running on a different box in larger environments. The only caveat is that to simplify configuration, a few SOHO routers do assume that they are the both the gateway and the DHCP server, but that depends on the firmware in the specific router.

The LAN-to-LAN connection will bridge the Linksys LAN ports, the Linksys wireless, the Actiontec LAN ports, the STBs, and Actiontec wireless (if enabled) into a common LAN segment.

This should solve your double subnet issue. What I do not know is if this will break the remote DVR access.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:30:53 EDT
cadillacluvr : i'm a little confused on that one. Do you mean have the Actiontec pull the WAN ip from Verizon, but have the Linksys distribute the network ips? How would that work? Doesn't the router that pulls the WAN ip have to be the one that assigns local ip's as well?

Thanks for your willingness to help and explain stuff.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:13:48 EDT
More Fiber : You could try the LAN-to-LAN connection with the Linksys handing out DHCP, specifying the Actiontec as the default gateway.

Fixing the single subnet issue would involve a significant change to both STBs and the Media Manager software as the design relies on the use of UDP with 169.254.x.x non-routable addresses.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:34:27 EDT
cadillacluvr : Yea, I don't want the actiontec handing out IPs to my computer systems. I'd rather use the routing functionality of my other router. I've got Cat5 coming from my ONT.

There's some kind of port or some functionality built into the Verizon router that enables the Remote DVR which I couldn't replicate. I even tried mirroring all the port forwards that the Actiontec has, but no luck.

What would actually work best is if Verizon revised the Media Manager function to not be limited to one subnet, where you could specify what ip you wanted material streamed from.

In any case, after all this, I don't use the Media Manager that much anyway.

Thanks for the suggestion More Fiber.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:39:31 EDT
More Fiber : Why not connect LAN-to-LAN between the Actiontec and the Linksys per option 3 in this FAQ:
»Verizon Online FiOS FAQ »What are the tradeoffs between the various router configurations

I forget whether you have a cat5 or coax connection to the ONT. Although option 3 is listed under the coax options, it should work equally well for either coax or cat5 connection to the ONT and keep Home Media DVR features working since it avoids a second subnet.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:18:27 EDT
cadillacluvr : Just to wrap up here, I have officially given up on my quest to get Remote DVR over my linksys. I am now running back with my linksys daisy chained to the Actiontec acting as the Fios gateway. My Remote DVR works now, but I killed the Home Media DVR features because of the two subnets. In hindsight, maybe this is fine, as If I want to network my music and pictures, I'll just get a nice media extender or a squeezebox.

Anywho, just thought I'd give some personal closure to this thread.

Take it easy y'all

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:17:43 EDT
triplesec :
said by Cwmson :

Yea, I tried everything suggested here and like you everything worked except the remote dvr. I was having this problem before I changed out the router's so I switched back to the Actiontec and called Verizon tech support and they went through some stuff and finally sent out a tech to my house. He checked some stuff and finally when all else fails......start changing equipment with new equipment, and thats what we did. First the Actiontec router was changed and remote dvr still would not work. Then he changed the dvr box to a new one and lord and behold it worked. I switched routers back to my WRT-150N as the main router and set everything back up as before and everything worked....except Remote DVR.
Switched back everything again and got everything working as should including remote dvr and went into the Actiontec to see what different changes there were.
The only change was in the Port Forwarding section for the Actiontec. It seems that Verizon Fios knows and automatically opens a port for the remote dvr to work. Heres what it said:
Port Forwarding-
Network Computer/Device > 192.168.1.100 (DVR)
Network Address > 192.168.1.100
Remote Host IP Address > Verizon Fios Service
Protocols > Application - UDP - Any > 63145
WAN Connection Type > WANPPOE
Status > Active

Don't know if anyone has posted about this before but this is the only difference in my router's setup, the Actiontec, that I could see.
Maybe this can help.
Cwmson

Wouldn't this only work if you are using the Actiontec? The way I have it setup the Actiontec is only providing internet to my 3rd party router and then my 3rd party router is providing internet to the Actiontec so that widgets etc work. All DHCP is handled by my 3rd party router. So I don't forward any ports in the Actiontec as I am bypassing it completely. I have that port forwarded in my 3rd party router and it doesn't work. If I set it up any other way the 3rd party router ends up Double NAT'd.

I really hate using the Actiontec. I tried using it for about a week and it would randomly drop the wireless connection. My other computer in the other room which is connected through wireless would only reach about 12 Mbps out of the 20 that I am paying for. After bypassing the Actiontec the other computer runs at around 18-19 Mbps/20 which is pretty good for wireless G. I wish Verizon didn't force us to use this router. :( In that respect I kind of miss Comcast.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:12:28 EDT
danclan :
quote:
The interesting item here is the Remote Host IP Address. "Verizon Fios Service" has apparently been added as a locally defined DNS name. For those creating port forwards on other routers, you have a choice of either specifying ANY for the source IP address, which would open the DVR to packets from anywhere on port 63145, or specifying the equivalent IP address to allow incoming packets on port 63145 only from that IP address.

Well I dont think that matters as even when placed into the DMZ there is no response from the website from the dvr. But it would be nice to limit who needs to see what of course.

I do wish they would just publish what needs to be open and be done with it and make sure it uses SSL or some encryption.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:05:25 EDT
More Fiber :
said by Cwmson :

Then he changed the dvr box to a new one and lord and behold it worked.

Don't know if anyone has posted about this before but this is the only difference in my router's setup, the Actiontec, that I could see.
Interesting that swapping out the DVR fixed the problem. What model of DVR did you have, and is the new DVR the same model?

The need to forward UDP port 63145 has been noted already in this thread.

Just a note to others, WAN CONNECTION TYPE will be specific to whether you have ethernet or coax to the router and whether you have a DHCP or PPPOE connection type.

The interesting item here is the Remote Host IP Address. "Verizon Fios Service" has apparently been added as a locally defined DNS name. For those creating port forwards on other routers, you have a choice of either specifying ANY for the source IP address, which would open the DVR to packets from anywhere on port 63145, or specifying the equivalent IP address to allow incoming packets on port 63145 only from that IP address.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:08:28 EDT
Cwmson : Yea, I tried everything suggested here and like you everything worked except the remote dvr. I was having this problem before I changed out the router's so I switched back to the Actiontec and called Verizon tech support and they went through some stuff and finally sent out a tech to my house. He checked some stuff and finally when all else fails......start changing equipment with new equipment, and thats what we did. First the Actiontec router was changed and remote dvr still would not work. Then he changed the dvr box to a new one and lord and behold it worked. I switched routers back to my WRT-150N as the main router and set everything back up as before and everything worked....except Remote DVR.
Switched back everything again and got everything working as should including remote dvr and went into the Actiontec to see what different changes there were.
The only change was in the Port Forwarding section for the Actiontec. It seems that Verizon Fios knows and automatically opens a port for the remote dvr to work. Heres what it said:
Port Forwarding-
Network Computer/Device > 192.168.1.100 (DVR)
Network Address > 192.168.1.100
Remote Host IP Address > Verizon Fios Service
Protocols > Application - UDP - Any > 63145
WAN Connection Type > WANPPOE
Status > Active

Don't know if anyone has posted about this before but this is the only difference in my router's setup, the Actiontec, that I could see.
Maybe this can help.
Cwmson
--
"Why is it when we know better and we go ahead anyway, we almost always prove ourselves right"?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:06:26 EDT
triplesec : I DMZ'd my HMDvr and it didn't work for me. I have it setup using the directions in this post: »Make your actiontec a bridge with VOD working with REV D

Everything works for me, VOD, Guide, Home Media DVR functions, I just can't get the Remote DVR to work. I tried to forward the 63145 port to my DVR in my Netgear router and it didn't work. It was working fine when I had a double NAT setup going on, but this new setup Remote DVR doesn't work.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:11:56 EDT
danclan : i run dd-wrt and thats not the fix. You need a verizon supplied router to allow it to work.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:59:36 EDT
cadillacluvr : after trying all these different ideas and getting nowhere, i think it's gotta be my linksys router. it just won't pass the remote dvr signals, even tho it seems like it should. Maybe the trick for rbf351 is that his router has dd-wrt installed. I am considering doing the same thing for my wrt600n, i'm just afraid it will be in vain.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:42:12 EDT
danclan : Placing the DVR in the DMZ has been tried with no luck by those of us who have never had an actiontec.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 12:31:08 EDT
rbf351 :
said by uspino2 :

When you say "i then DMZ'd 192.168.1.100 which is my DVR box", do you mean you DMZ'd the ActioTec router address in you Linksys router?

Thanks

i didn't DMZ the ActioTec I DMZ'd the DVR box, the address of the ActioTec is 192.168.1.254, and 192.168.1.100 is the DVR box

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:52:13 EDT
anon : When you say "i then DMZ'd 192.168.1.100 which is my DVR box", do you mean you DMZ'd the ActioTec router address in you Linksys router?

Thanks

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:01:12 EDT
Rattler :
said by rbf351 :

the way i have it configured the Actiontec is not the primary(it's just a bridge), and remote DVR works

A mix-up in reading your post on my part... I really meant that the A/T was not needed as the MoCA bridge for "normal" STB functionality but was needed to use the remote DVR feature, as this thread has so abundantly noted. :)

I do not have remote DVR activated and use a Linksys WRT54GS and a NIM-100 in my system and the STBs get all the data they're supposed to (as noted in another thread in the Fiber Optics forum).
--
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. -- Red Buttons

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:43:01 EDT
rbf351 :
said by Rattler :

said by rbf351 :

to have VOD and your guide you do. i don't removing the verizon router was ever an option for anyone.

There are other options, that do not require the V* supplied Actiontec to be installed, that still allow you full "normal" STB functionality (Guide, VOD and Widgets - at least at this time there are) but to use remote DVR, it appears that the A/T has to be there as the primary router.

the way i have it configured the Actiontec is not the primary(it's just a bridge), and remote DVR works

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:39:50 EDT
Rattler :
said by rbf351 :

to have VOD and your guide you do. i don't removing the verizon router was ever an option for anyone.

There are other options, that do not require the V* supplied Actiontec to be installed, that still allow you full "normal" STB functionality (Guide, VOD and Widgets - at least at this time there are) but to use remote DVR, it appears that the A/T has to be there as the primary router.
--
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. -- Red Buttons

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:33:09 EDT
rbf351 :
said by danclan :

again it still requires the use of a verizon provided router...

to have VOD and your guide you do. i don't removing the verizon router was ever an option for anyone.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:25:51 EDT
danclan : again it still requires the use of a verizon provided router...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:25:21 EDT
rbf351 : i've been trying to get this working myself with my WRT54G for a while, finally last night i got it on.

what i did was put back the original ActionTec, called verizon, and had them activate the remote DVR since some reason my never activated. then logged into the site, and setup it up. played with it for a few minutes, and made sure it worked. i then released the IP from the ActionTec, and pulled the CAT5 from the ONT. Went into the settings, and changed the ActionTec to 192.168.1.254, shut down the DHCP and other options not used anymore. I then plugged in my DD-WRT loaded WRT54G router, and made sure my internet connection was up and running. i then DMZ'd 192.168.1.100 which is my DVR box. then hooked the lan port of the ActionTec to the lan port of the WRT54G.

went out for dinner last night, and using my cell i was able to program the DVR, and delete shows. i tried it again this morning from the site, and my cell, and it's still working.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:18:39 EDT
RAH : Here is my update - (it's a long story): I had a Linsys router with a NIM and could not get the remote DVR feature to work. FIOS tech support told me it should work with the Linksys router and would have someone from Verizon's "video" group call me. They did call and told me the issue was that I had 2 DVRs and the wrong DVR was being referenced in their Verizon servers that handle this application. As a result when I went to update my DVR the Verizon system tried to get the info from the other DVR in the house. Since the Verizon system could not get the info, the update process timed out. Well, when Verizon went to change the DVR reference in their server, they messed up and instead changed my home media DVR from one DVR to the other. This had nothing to do with my problem, just an aggravation in this whole deal. Once we got that straightened out, another tech support person said this feature would only work with the Actiontech router. I said OK - and they came out and installed it. Guess what? - still could not access the remote feature. When i told them about the wrong DVR being referenced in their server for this application, they said I was incorrect. But why then doesn't this feature work? Tech support admitted they had no clue at this point and would have someone from their "video" group call me again. While waiting for them to call (several days later), Verizon activated remote access for all DVRs. When they did, my second DVR did have remote access, but still no remote access with my first DVR. When tech support called, we agreed to change out the DVR box. The tech came and did that. And, after waiting for all the proper deactivation codes for the old box to go through the system, remote access works for the new DVR box! So, was the problem really the DVR box or did it take the deactivation process to strip the old box's serial number off all the Verizon servers to solve the problem? I'll never know. But that is how my issue was resolved. So, if you have two DVRs and you have a reomte access issue, my suggestion is to examine the serial numbers referenced in ALL the Verizon servers. That is, if you can find a tech support person that can do that.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:01:25 EDT
cadillacluvr : another quick question?

I just tried again to change the routing rule to make the subnet mask of my linksys and actiontec the same, but it won't work. If I change the mask to anything but 255.255.255.255, it won't allow me to use the ip address of my dvr 192.168.1.100. It changes it to 192.168.1.0. What the hell is going on here. I think I might be missing something on how subnet masks work.

Also, in the routing rule page, there is box for metric? should i change the default value of 0 to something? I'm not sure what that's for.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:33:24 EDT
cadillacluvr : Well, here's my progress, but it's not very much.

After talking to local Verizon tech support, it worked in the standard config with the actiontec as the gateway. The minute I went back to my linksys as the gateway, remote dvr died. After talking again to tech support, I think I got someone knowledgeable and he said the remote dvr signals should pass through any router. He said there are no special protocols or hardware in the actiontec preventing it working in bridge mode.

So, with my actiontec as a bridge, I followed a previous poster and added a dns entry for my linksys router in the actiontec's dns table and i also created a routing rule for my dvr box in the actiontec pointing it to my linksys router. When I did this, my dvr showed up in the actiontec main page and it states that it has "inacive" status and remote access is "enabled." This gave me much hope, but still nothing works on fiostvcentral. One thing I had trouble with was the subnet mask and I wonder if that may be the issue. My linksys router defaults to a subnet mask of 255.255.225.0 while the actiontec seems to like 255.255.255.255. When I created the routing rule, I tried using the address ending in 0, but it wouldn't let me use the dvr's address of 192.168.1.100. When I used the mask ending in 255, it then allowed my dvr's ip. So the routing rule in the actiontec and subnet mask of the linksys are different, and i think that can screw it up right? In my linksys, it only gives me a few subnet mask options and one ending in 255 is not one of them.

Any thoughts? Also, I have my actiontec set up as 192.168.1.1 and the linksys as 192.168.1.2 which I think should work.

On a side note, in talking with vz tech, he said that the remote dvr system updates it's link information every 30 minutes. If you refresh you wan ip for some reason, the system takes 30 minutes to bind the ip address to the mac address of your gateway router. I asked and he said the mac of the router doesn't matter so again you should be able to use any router and there should be no need to spoof the actiontec's mac.

Anyone else have any luck or breakthroughs?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:04:34 EDT
danclan : Any progress by anyone.....anyone....bueller...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:15:22 EDT
cadillacluvr : Thanks so much for your explanation MoreFiber, you really did a great job of laying it out. I understand now, so I guess I did it right with both being the same number to my dvr's ip.

Here's hoping I can maybe get it to work.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:59:24 EDT
More Fiber :
said by cadillacluvr :

The single port forwarding asks for the external and internal port. are they the same when I set up the rule for 63145? the rule in the Actiontec states "application UDP any - 63145" and i don't really understand it.
Thanks for the update.

As for your port forwarding question, there are really three ports involved:
•The outgoing port on the remote host. This is usually a random port, sometimes called an ephemeral port. Each concurrent outgoing connection from the host requires a different port.
•The incoming or "external" port on your router. If the router has a port forwarding rule for external port 63145, then the port forward will only apply to incoming connections received on that port.
•The actual port number ("internal") on your server or STB that is receiving the connection from the remote host.

So, the rule in the Actiontec (UDP any - 63145) means forward any UDP connections received on port 63145 from ANYephemeral port on the remote host to port 63145 on your STB. In the case of 63145, we want the external and internal port numbers to be the same.

One situation where one would want to make them different is if you are running a web server. VZ blocks inbound port 80, so we configure a different external port on the router (e.g. 8080) and forward it to port 80 on the webserver on our LAN.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:56:51 EDT
cadillacluvr : amen dan, god forbid they make it easy and user friendly

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:22:20 EDT
danclan :
said by cadillacluvr :

by the way, verizon suggested that my old version of the actiontec might be the problem and they were going to send me a new hardware revision, i have A.

would be nicer if they just said you need port X open to the stb's with udp and we call it a day.... :(

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:55:43 EDT
cadillacluvr : an update

with the system set up to defaults with the Actiontec as the wan gateway, it finally worked for a brief moment. I tried going back to my Linksys 600n as the wan, and that killed it as expected. it took a few days for the site to see my box with it set up with defaults, so i'll see if something changes today or tomorrow.

i have what might be dumb question about port forwarding. in my linksys, the single port forwarding asks for the external and internal port. are they the same when I set up the rule for 63145? the rule in the actiontec states "application udp any - 63145" and i don't really understand it.

if i get it working, i'll keep you updated. i appreciate any help in advance.

by the way, verizon suggested that my old version of the actiontec might be the problem and they were going to send me a new hardware revision, i have A.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:09:17 EDT
anon : after your setup with AT as default, power cycle your DVR to make it work or give a day or two to have it working...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:39:14 EDT
cadillacluvr : I too am still having no luck getting remote dvr to work. After keeping an eye on this forum, I have tried forwarding the suggested ports and given everything a try, but as danclan says, no joy!

I'm starting to wonder if maybe it isn't my end, as I got fed up and reset my actiontec to factory defaults and set it up as the fios gateway. To my surprise, Remote DVR still did not function. So, I think I'm gonna give support a call with my actiontec on defaults and see if they can work some magic. I'll keep you guys updated on any new findings.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:32:37 EDT
danclan : have enabled IPv6 along with forwarding ports and still no joy.... :(

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:32:00 EDT
AWEInCA : ok, its working again. From what I can tell the AT needs a DNS Server entry for the Network/Home node.

My DNS Server IP is static so I also added a routing rule (its on the same page...I believe you have select advanced in the dropdown) for each pointing it to my DIR-655 as the gateway. This may have been overkill.

Would someone give this a try?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:59:30 EDT
AWEInCA : Well, I should have let well enough alone.

In my attempt to figure out what ports were being used, I did something that has broke the TV Central site for my DVR.

ug

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:57:22 EDT
AndrewNewton : There are posts in dslreports going back to Nov of 2007 where users notice that port 4567/tcp is configured on the ActionTec when it is delivered new, and presumably used for V's monitoring and control. Here's a quote from someone who emailed ActionTec about it:

You wrote to Actiontec:
What is the reason port 4567 is open to the world, and how can we close it?
I have read that several other people are also asking this question on forums.
Thank You for any help with this.

The reply from Actiontec:
Its really not open to the "world", its connected to a secure server maintained by VERIZON to automatically upgrade your routers firmware when its connected to the FIOS network. The MOTIVE server requires a connection on port 4567 to constantly monitor your routers firmware and check for upgrades. To my knowledge it cannot be exploited, but I honestly have not tested it having no access directly to the FIOS network to try.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:11:09 EDT
AWEInCA : gotcha, I remember that now from an earlier post.

I am just wondering why I haven't had to add the port. There are no manual added port forwards on my DIR-655. Maybe it has "hidden" port forwards it adds automatically. I have been unable to find or view them if it does. I'll send DLink an email to see if this is the case. My router must be forwarding it somehow/somewhere.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:39:13 EDT
anon : I believe this port forward on the ActionTec was created when I had my ActionTec on the WAN port when I had originally set up the Remote DVR.

Since moving the ActionTec behind the Linksys it is now no longer using the WAN port on the ActionTec as its LAN-LAN and I copied the port forward to the Linksys which made Remote DVR start working again.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:12:34 EDT
AWEInCA : Karthu,

It looks like you are using your WAN port on the ActionTech indicated by the WAN connection Type column value of "Broadband Connection (Ethernet)"

My action tech does not have this port forward entry. Maybe this port forward is only necessary for the WAN port.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:16:20 EDT
More Fiber : I don't know if it possible to tell or not. User defined port forwards have a check box to enable or disable them. The VZ predefined port forward for 4567 has no checkbox and can not be disabled. Not sure how UPNP ports show up.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:57:23 EDT
anon : Is it possible to tell from this pic whether the port forward on my ActionTec was created by UPnP or otherwise?

ActionTec port forwards

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:32:43 EDT
More Fiber :
said by Karthu :

So it seems the only necessary part of my configuration is to static DHCP the MR-DVR box and use that IP address to UDP port forward 63145.
There is a post here on a different subject regarding the new Westell router that caught my attention. The second entry on the port forward list is for a port forward from an IPv6 host to a STB over UDP port 63145. It appears to be pre-configured port forward (as is port 4567).

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:35:00 EDT
mwangen : Well this blows. My firewall won't route IGMP without some major surgery. There seems to be a way to do it using an IGMP proxy and recompiled kernel that allows multicast, but that might just be too much effort for very little gain.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:44:05 EDT
More Fiber :
said by danclan :

Yes it is a layer 2 but it still broadcasts out all day long o n the 169.x.x.x
It is the STBs sending out the broadcasts using link local addresses, not the NIM. The NIM is simply providing the bridge for the broadcasts to reach the ethernet LAN.

In the extract of the line trace a few posts up, I excluded the broadcasts from the STBs since they had no bearing on the VZ TV Central issue. However, the broadcast packets have the MAC address of the HM-DVR, so there is no question the packets are indeed coming from the STB and not generated by the NIM.

Here's an excerpt of the config broadcast from the HM-DVR:
<HmaNetConfig> <MsgFmtRev>2</MsgFmtRev> <MsgContRev>8</MsgContRev> <NetStatus>0</NetStatus> <HmaDevice> <DevStatus>0</DevStatus> <MACAddr>xxxxxxxxxxxx</MACAddr> <IPAddr>169.254.1.165</IPAddr> <UnitAddr>yyyyyyyyyy</UnitAddr> <NetworkMaster>Master</NetworkMaster> <DeviceType>1</DeviceType> <SettopNodeID>1</SettopNodeID> <NetConnectType>1</NetConnectType> <MocaNodeID>1</MocaNodeID> <MocaVersion>02.69</MocaVersion> <HmaAuth>Yes</HmaAuth> <HmaContSupport>SDorHD</HmaContSupport> <NumContSes>3</NumContSes> </HmaDevice>...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:27:44 EDT
danclan :
said by More Fiber :

said by danclan :

Would be nice actually if the NIMs received IP via dchp then i could dump it on the dmz and try that...
The NIM is a level 2 bridge. It is not a router, it does not modify the ethernet packets flowing through it in any way. While the NIM does have an IP address, it is only used to access the admin GUI on the NIM. DHCP would have no affect.

If you want to try DMZ, use the IP address of the HM-DVR.

Yes it is a layer 2 but it still broadcasts out all day long o n the 169.x.x.x

first thing i tried was stb in dmz and no joy.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:13:45 EDT
More Fiber :
said by danclan :

Would be nice actually if the NIMs received IP via dchp then i could dump it on the dmz and try that...
The NIM is a level 2 bridge. It is not a router, it does not modify the ethernet packets flowing through it in any way. While the NIM does have an IP address, it is only used to access the admin GUI on the NIM. DHCP would have no affect.

If you want to try DMZ, use the IP address of the HM-DVR.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:57:57 EDT
anon :
said by danclan :

We need to have it work with out any actiontec involved.

I could not agree more!

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:23:37 EDT
danclan :
said by Karthu :

said by danclan :

FTI there is no SP2 yet for DDWRT v24..if there is its beta

I am using svn 10923 of DDWRT, so its beta yea. It's possible to grab this from the downloads but you do so at your own risk of course.

yeah but i doubt thats making a difference. I still think having the actiontec and having it enabled at one point is the difference.

We need to have it work with out any actiontec involved.

Would be nice actually if the NIMs received IP via dchp then i could dump it on the dmz and try that...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:17:17 EDT
anon :
said by danclan :

FTI there is no SP2 yet for DDWRT v24..if there is its beta

I am using svn 10923 of DDWRT, so its beta yea. It's possible to grab this from the downloads but you do so at your own risk of course.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:51:00 EDT
danclan : Having no actiontec at all I did the following:

DD-WRT v24 SP1 (WRT350N) Wan to Lan to NIM configuration - No actiontec

LAN Network is 10.200.1.0/255.255.255.0

1. enabled UPnP
2. Set STB to static DHCP in my case 10.200.1.104
3. Under security: Block Wan Requests: Unchecked all except Ident (113)
4. Enabled rule to foward 63100 to 64555 - gave it giant range... to the STB thats statically defined

and still no joy.

FTI there is no SP2 yet for DDWRT v24..if there is its beta

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:33:31 EDT
More Fiber :
said by Karthu :

I wonder what would happen if I were to lose my WAN IP and get a new one...they must have some code to talk to the HM-DVR each time to ask it to confirm its WAN-IP I guess?
Based on what I've seen in the trace I've looked at so far, if your WAN IP changes, the IGMP protocol exchange would need to be repeated. That is what informs the VZ TV Central (actually Akamai) of your WAN IP address.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:09:02 EDT
anon :
said by AWEInCA :

I have not forwarded any ports. Does it still work if you remove the reservation?

One thing I think we have in common is that we all have put the AT router infront of our primary routers at some point. When it was returned to the LAN-to-LAN configuration the TV Central site worked.

When I first registered Remote DVR on the website I had the ActionTec in front. When I swapped them back it would not initially work. I then found the port forward on the list of port forwards on the ActionTec to 63145 as stated above. I assume this route must have been set up by UPNP on the ActionTec while it was in front, so, by replicating this port forward on my Linksys I was able to replicate this hole that was punched through to the DVR on my Linksys.

I'm assuming in some Verizon database they store information about the WAN IP and open port that is associated with my HM-DVR so any requests I make will always take this route in future. I wonder what would happen if I were to lose my WAN IP and get a new one...they must have some code to talk to the HM-DVR each time to ask it to confirm its WAN-IP I guess?

As a side note, I specifically confirmed it was this hole that allowed the Remote DVR to work on the website. I simply disabled the port forward and it no longer was able to retrieve any information. As soon as I enabled it again it was able to get hard disk space, program information etc.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:53:03 EDT
Psyclone : Not working for me with the port forwarded

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:42:38 EDT
More Fiber : Edit to replace previous note with initial analysis.
AWEInCA captured some traces on the WAN side of the Actiontec (as primary router). Initial analysis shows the use of Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) multicast addresses. 96.6.224.181 is akamaitechnologies.com (a content provider).

From To Protocol Info
Actiontec 224.0.0.1 (All Hosts) IGMP V2 Membership Query, general
Actiontec 239.255.255.250 IGMP V2 Membership Report / Join group 239.255.2 55.250
HM-DVR 224.0.0.251 IGMP V2 Membership Report / Join group 224. 0.0.251
WAN.IP 96.6.224.181 TCP TCP segment of a reassembled PDU
WAN.IP 96.6.224.181 HTTP GET /fiostv/web/members/MySetTop Box es.aspx HTTP/1.1
Actiontec 239.255.255.250 HTTP NOTIFY SERVER: OpenRG/4.0.16.1.56.0.10.7 UPnP/1. 0 A ctiontec/RG_VERSION
LOCATION: »192.168.0.2:2555/upnp/xxxxxxxx-x···desc.xml

The implication for using a third party router as primary is that it will need to forward IGMP protocol to the LAN side, where the Actiontec (or NIM-100) is connected as an ethernet to MOCA bridge. Some home routers may not support forwarding IGMP traffic.

Also note the last line where the Actiontec sends a HTTP NOTIFY broadcast with the Actiontec firmware version string and a link to a UPNP XML document.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:37:17 EDT
AWEInCA : Yes UPNP is enabled.

I was using DHCP. When it started working, I reserved them. My DVR is 192.168.0.196

I have not forwarded any ports. Does it still work if you remove the reservation?

One thing I think we have in common is that we all have put the AT router infront of our primary routers at some point. When it was returned to the LAN-to-LAN configuration the TV Central site worked.

Fiber, Have you had a chance to look at the logs I sent? One of them throws a HTTP 303 error object moved. Maybe during the time it is infront of the primary, the VZ servers "resolve" and figure out where the DVR is.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:31:20 EDT
mwangen : In essence I am running the same configuration as karthu and AWEInCA, but it's not working for me. Here's my current configuration:

IPCop main router running on 192.168.1.1
DHCP running on IPCop
DHCP on AT disabled
Port forward UDP 63145 from anything to HM-DVR IP
AT is connected via LAN-to-LAN as per FAQ
AT is running as 192.168.1.25
Static DHCP reservation on IPCop for HM-DVR
HM-DVR runs on 192.168.1.100

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:18:49 EDT
anon :
said by More Fiber :

•karthu and AWEInCA , I'd appreciate it if you would check your routers to see if you have UPNP enabled, or disabled.
I have UPNP enabled on "Firmware: DD-WRT v24-sp2 (11/14/08) mega" running on a WRT350N. I have "Clear port forwards at startup" and "Send presentation URL" enabled for this also if this makes any difference.

As a side note, the static 63415 port forward does NOT also appear in the UPNP list of port forwards (i.e. the HM-DVR did not create also create UPNP forward).

said by More Fiber :

•karthu, I was also looking for you to confirm that you have IMG version 6.89 running in the HM-DVR.
I am running build 06.89 yes.

Let me know if you would like any more information.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:08:03 EDT
More Fiber : I believe three users have gotten this working.
• AWEInCA »Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?
• Hosehead »Re: [DVR] Remote DVR and Bridged Actiontec, although he has not posted back with his configuration.
•And you. »Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

To try and identify why this is working for each of you and not for others, I have a few questions:
•You and AWEInCA are both using FAQ part4 LAN-to-LAN configuration.
•You and AWEInCA are using different routers (Linksys/DD-WRT and D-Link DIR-655, respectively), which I guess is a good sign.
•karthu and AWEInCA , I'd appreciate it if you would check your routers to see if you have UPNP enabled, or disabled.
•karthu, I was also looking for you to confirm that you have IMG version 6.89 running in the HM-DVR.
• AWEInCA , Are you using DHCP addresses or "static DHCP reservations" for the HM-DVR?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:00:45 EDT
anon : Understood, thanks for clarifying.

Has anyone tried this yet and confirmed it as working or otherwise?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:25:55 EDT
More Fiber : I understood what you meant. My response wasn't as clear as it could have been.

In the LAN-to-LAN configuration, the Actiontec is only a switch and a MOCA bridge. The Actiontec is not being used as a router, so delivering inbound traffic to the Actiontec LAN port won't do anything that's not already being done by the Linksys.

The only purpose the LAN side address of the Actiontec (192.168.1.1) at this point is to provide access to the administrative interface (GUI).

In other words, the patch cable from Linksys LAN port to the Actiontec LAN port does the same thing.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:32:06 EDT
anon :
said by More Fiber :

As you discovered, setting DMZ in this configuration has no effect, since the DMZ applies to incoming traffic on the WAN port of the Actiontec, which is not in use (assuming you used LAN-to-LAN/part4 of the FAQ).

Actually, I had meant that the ActionTec IP (192.168.1.1) was on the DMZ of the Linksys - hence forwarding all WAN packets on the Linksys to the LAN port of ActionTec - right?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:27:15 EDT
anon : ActionTec is LAN-LAN.
Linksys is the DHCP server.

So it seems the only necessary part of my configuration is to static DHCP the MR-DVR box and use that IP address to UDP port forward 63145.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:11:11 EDT
More Fiber : Two things are not clear from your post.
•How is the Actiontec connected to the Linksys? LAN-LAN or LAN-to-WAN?
•Is the Linksys your DHCP server?

•The respective IP addresses should not matter as long as you DHCP server is returning the correct gateway address.
•As you discovered, setting DMZ in this configuration has no effect, since the DMZ applies to incoming traffic on the WAN port of the Actiontec, which is not in use (assuming you used LAN-to-LAN/part4 of the FAQ).

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:45:27 EDT
anon : A quick update to this, I removed the ActionTec from the DMZ and it is still functioning.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:03:29 EDT
anon : I have managed to get it working by adding a static port forward on my DDWRT box to the MR-DVR set top box from 63145 to 63145 over UDP. I had chosen to do this because in the ActionTec port forwarding it had this.

Note that I am statically DHCP'ing the STBs to be 192.168.1.101-103 (I have 3) and 101 is my MR-DVR so in the static port forward I assign the IP address to be 192.168.1.101.

A difference in configuration of note from the FAQ is that my Linksys DDWRT router has a LAN address of 192.168.1.3 and my ActionTec is 192.168.1.1 so the gateway router is 192.168.1.3 for all devices. In addition I have my ActionTec in the DMZ of DDWRT. I'm not sure if this is relevant though to getting the Remote DVR feature working.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:34:02 EDT
AWEInCA : Still trying to help. If there is anything else I can do, let me know.

I found this thread looking for dropped packets being logged in my DIR-655.
»[net] FiOS tv hardware: Broadcast storms
Maybe this is part of the puzzle too?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:52:22 EDT
Psyclone :
said by JohnA :

Have any of you tried putting the AT first, and putting your router on a DMZ port on the AT

I'm sure this will work as the AT is still the outermost router. This defeats the purpose of the modified network config which is to bypass/replace the AT with a more capable piece of hardware.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:50:28 EDT
AWEInCA :
said by Psyclone :

said by AWEInCA :

Good news! I am able to use the Remote TV functions on the website. Can anyone else?

I changed nothing on my network. It just started working.

Interesting. Is your ActionTec in the DMZ of the Linksys? I have the same basic config as you as I stated in the OP:

no. It is set up exactly as described in the LAN-to-LAN guide.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:21:59 EDT
JohnA :
Have any of you tried putting the AT first, and putting your router on a DMZ port on the AT

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:46:34 EDT
Psyclone :
said by AWEInCA :

Good news! I am able to use the Remote TV functions on the website. Can anyone else?

I changed nothing on my network. It just started working.

Interesting. Is your ActionTec in the DMZ of the Linksys? I have the same basic config as you as I stated in the OP:

The World->Buffalo WHR-G54s(DD-WRT V24SP1)->ActionTec->STB's. All DHCP addresses come from the Buffalo, DHCP server is disabled on the ActionTec.

I am unable to access my DVR on the FIOS TV Central site.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:09:10 EDT
AWEInCA : Hi mikemrossi,

I would guess those port numbers are used for NAT.

But I'm definitely no expert.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:07:30 EDT
AWEInCA : My stb system information says:

Release: 1.6.0
Build Number: 06.89
Data Object Version Number: 06.89

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:10:01 EDT
danclan :
said by More Fiber :

mikemrossi , you could try to set up an inbound port forward rule to allow all ports from 71.245.255.44.

The following instructions will very depending on your specific router, but should be along the lines of:
•Select Port Forwarding
•Device Address = IP Address of MR-DVR
•From IP address 71.245.255.44
•Protocol = TCP
•Port range = ANY
•To port = same as incoming

so why not just put the stb in the dmz.... as that didnt work yesterday when i set it up to accept anything from anyone....

i will turn on logging and reporting on my wan side router to see what i can capture anyways in hopes that i can see the same thing he is..

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:27:18 EDT
More Fiber : mikemrossi , you could try to set up an inbound port forward rule to allow all ports from 71.245.255.44.

The following instructions will very depending on your specific router, but should be along the lines of:
•Select Port Forwarding
•Device Address = IP Address of MR-DVR
•From IP address 71.245.255.44
•Protocol = TCP
•Port range = ANY
•To port = same as incoming

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:18:28 EDT
More Fiber : mikemrossi and AWEInCA , could you each please check the version of the IMG software on your MR-DVR. It should be on the STB dignostic screen.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:06:10 EDT
mikemrossi : My LAN to LAN config still does not work with remote DVR.

My router log is showing me various TCP connections with the destination to my STBs that are dropped.

They come from: 71.245.255.44 which name is: mercuryipg.NYCQNYNJD03.fiostv.verizon.net

It is all different port numbers. Some include:

TCP Port: 46189
TCP Port: 38677
TCP Port: 63353
TCP Port: 34061
TCP Port: 48989
TCP Port: 48296
TCP Port: 40830
TCP Port: 59002
TCP Port: 62100
TCP Port: 51164
TCP Port: 55372
TCP Port: 38252
TCP Port: 45217

Does this help anyone?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:44:51 EDT
AWEInCA :
Yes. That is my configuration.

•cat5 from ONT to D-Link DIR-655.
•LAN-to-LAN connection from D-Link to Actiontec per »Verizon Online FiOS FAQ »Replacing the Actiontec (part 4): LAN-to-LAN keeps MediaShare DVR
•Using DHCP server in D-Link.
•DHCP server disabled in Actiontec

I just double checked my configuration to be sure.
I also made sure I could use the Remote TV DVR features on the website again.

Everything seems to be working fine. I can add programs to record and delete programs that have already been recorded.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:54:00 EDT
More Fiber :
said by AWEInCA :

Good news! I am able to use the Remote TV functions on the website. It just started working.

There was also a post in the other thread by Hosehead about getting it working. Not clear about what his configuration is, or what he did to get it working. »Re: [DVR] Remote DVR and Bridged Actiontec

AWEInCA ,
Could you please confirm your configuration?
•cat5 from ONT to D-Link DIR-655.
•LAN-to-LAN connection from D-Link to Actiontec per »Verizon Online FiOS FAQ »Replacing the Actiontec (part 4): LAN-to-LAN keeps MediaShare DVR
•Using DHCP server in D-Link.
•DHCP server disabled in Actiontec

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:00:37 EDT
AWEInCA : There is also a new option on the website.

"Mobile Remote DVR" Pretty cool. Unfortunately I don't have one of the supported phones.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:49:30 EDT
AWEInCA :
Good news! I am able to use the Remote TV functions on the website. Can anyone else?

I changed nothing on my network. It just started working.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:07:08 EDT
RAH : I will let you know the outcome. Yes, I am on an ethernet connection from the ONT to the Linksys router. As far as using the Linksys router that was my original setup several years ago when FIOS installed my TV service. Since I had the Linksys router the installing tech said I had no need to replace it with the AT router; so he hooked up the NIM to the Linksys router.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:28:33 EDT
More Fiber :
said by AWEInCA :

Fiber, If your interested, I can send you the logs? or maybe you could give me an idea of what I should be looking for. How will 60 show up?
I sent you a private email regarding the traces.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:24:13 EDT
More Fiber :
said by RAH :

I have a Linksys router with a Verizon NIM-100.
Please post back regarding the outcome.

I'm a little surprised you got anywhere with Tech Support with a Linksys router. When I first read your post, I was thinking you had the VZ supplied D-Link 614/624.

There was a post a month or two ago from someone that did have a VZ supplied D-Link and NIM-100. He was going to contact VZ support, but never posted back.

•I'm assuming you on an ethernet connection from the ONT to the Linksys. Correct?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:08:32 EDT
AWEInCA : Stanky,

»Verizon Online FiOS FAQ »Replacing the Actiontec (part 4): LAN-to-LAN keeps MediaShare DVR

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:52:30 EDT
anon : I know this is a little off topic as well, and if there is another thread that discusses it or it's just not possible please let me know, but I have an original d-link/NIM setup connecting to a pix VPN router and my MR-DVR can't see my PC (running Media Manager) connected to the pix.

I know everything I've read states that your PC and MR-DVR need to be on the same subnet to communicate with each other and it can't work over VPN, but has anyone found a way to work around this limitation? Thanks for your input.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:15:52 EDT
AWEInCA :
In the logs, I see an HTTP/1.1 303 object moved.

Could this be it?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:16:42 EDT
AWEInCA : I've got the hub all set up and have collected some logs, but I have no idea what I am look for.

Fiber,
If your interested, I can send you the logs? or maybe you could give me an idea of what I should be looking for. How will 60 show up?

a e v e r e t t
atatat
hotmale (spell it the correct way, not this way)
d0t
c0m

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:24:45 EDT
RAH : I have been unable to use the Remote DVR feature. After "activation" I have been unable to "update"; I get an error stating to "try back later". I called FIOS tech support and we tried about everything. I have a Linksys router with a Verizon NIM. We recycled the router, NIM and cable box. Checked my IP addresses to be sure the cable box was allowed - it was. Tech support checked with a Verizon network technician and said it is not the Linksys/NIM combo. As a result Verizon issued a ticket to have their network people investigate. Any suggestions?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:34:17 EDT
Psyclone :
said by darcilicious :

said by danclan :

I am unfortunately unable to test as i am not a part of the pilot program.

There is no pilot program for remote dvr access over the web. It's being rolled out (slowly) to customers now. However, I believe you must have the multi-room dvr / media manager and software.

Just a bit of a clarification here, the Media Manager software is not a factor with RemoteDVR. The software strictly provides the ability to stream music/pics from your PC on your local network.

The Home Media DVR 'service' is required to stream DVR content to other non DVR STB's in the home.

Being able to use the RemoteDVR feature(Programming/Scheduling, Viewing HD Usage/deleting recordings on your DVR) from the FIOS TV Central Website) requires that you are a Home Media DVR 'service' subscriber and that you have the ActionTec as your primary outside router. AND you have to be in a rollout area where this functionality has been deployed as not all areas have this enabled, yet.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:06:58 EDT
danclan : One would hope too that some sort of encryption is being used between the DVR and the verizon mothership...... nothing like having an open port to your dvr that anyone can hit and attempt to hijack to program or just create mischief.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:37:50 EDT
AndrewNewton : MoreFiber,

True, but I, e.g., use the DHCP from ActionTec even though I have a Linksys router so the DHCP code 60 is being supplied yet I still don't get connectivity.

Overall, agreed that we need some actual data traces here.

S.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:54:48 EDT
More Fiber : While I don't disagree with your analysis of the flow, if it were that simple, tricks such as disabling the firewall or placing the MR-DVR in the DMZ would have worked. There is more going on here that we won't understand until someone can analyze some traces.

A couple of possibilities you overlooked:
•The STBs send DHCP option code 60, which most home routers ignore.
•The Actiontec supports TR-069 for CPE management. VZ could very well be using that to communicate with the STBS.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:40:00 EDT
AndrewNewton : I agree with Mike...this is not some arcane mystery here.

Some services are initiated by the set top box outbound to Verizon (guide info etc.). These requests pass outbound through a firewall and, if you have your firewall defaulted to allow connexions to be completed automatically if they are initiated from inside (most do or default that way or can't be configged any other way), then the set top box gets its information.

However the remote control DVR flowpath is initiated (at time of starting a request) at the Verizon end..this is outside the firewall so any IP stream has to hit the firewall. This presumes Verizon will know the public IP number assigned to your router/home and the port that the set top box listens on. The latter can be defined by Verizon in the code running on the router; the former they have to have some dynamic way of picking up on as the external IP address obviously can change: call this info piece number one that V. needs.

Now packets coming into the router/firewall are by default ignored unless the router sees them as returning paths of already est. outbound communication (cf above), the host is in the DMZ (lets assume it's not for now), or there is a port forwarding rule in place to "listen" on that port number. Unless this is hardwired into the router, the mechanism for this is most commonly UPnP as was referenced earlier: the set top box "tells" via UPnP to open a port and forward it back to the internal network address used by the set top box. Loads of devices do this and it's not cutting edge any longer.

So I would posit we have transport in place for the set top box to update the router with a port and local Ip address such that the router sets up the port forwarding on that port (probably udp, possibly tcp or both) back to the box.

That leaves us back with how V. knows to correlate the _current_ external IP number used by the house (most commonly only one IP number is assigned per residential account) and to link it with the multi-media DVR enabled set top box. We could posit V. keeps a constantly updating database of all users' current IP entries mapped to set top box serial numbers but IMHO this implies a level of complexity (re: keeping it current) and management that isn't cost effective...much easier to have the set top box obtain the external IP number used via UPnP, then send at regular defined intervals its serial number and this IP off to Verizon, thus letting the remote equipment do the work rather than making V's servers go out and figure out all that info.

That being said, we posit that when the set top box is switched on for remote DVR, a listening port is set up, the V. router is informed via UPnP of a port and local address to forward to, and the periodic messages to V begin of packets containing current external IP address and serial number info (possibly port number if this isn't hard wired).

When remote DVR use is initated on the V website by a user, the V computer checks the latest info from the user's login to the user's mapped set top box serial number (from their database--which may or may not have correct info as was referenced elsewhere in the thread), then looks for the latest update to obtain the public IP address used by the residence (and, again, possibly the port number). It sends off the stream: the router, already listening on that port takes the info and port forwards back to the set top box. Communication achieved.

Now, figger in that the V. router is not there, or is not the actual firewall router but is behind it. The actual front line router has to be able to get the port forwarding info for this all to work. We can assume the set top box outward's communication is ok (the guide works, e.g.) but getting in from outside through the firewall is crucial. Either the "real" router gets the info from the set top box's UPnP, or it would have to be manually configged.

If it were the workplace, I'd say hang a sniffer on the wire, make sure the set top box is "switched on" for remote DVR, then start looking at what is going on.

Someone referenced MoCa, but I'd posit it has no place or need to be involved in the remote DVR communication..that this is just IPIP between Verizon and the set top box.

Anyway, sorry for rambling but was kinda thinking outloud on how I'd set it up after realizing in reading the thread to-date, there didn't seem to be any hard network-data based information being provided by anyone..just one user referenced an udp port in the 31000+ range...I'd like to see people follow that up.

Cheers,
Andrew

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:56:29 EDT
mikemrossi : I have my setup via the LAN to LAN.

I was just able to activate the remote DVR. It times out when looking for the dvr data.

I assume all we need to do is some port forwarding, but not sure which port.

mike

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:57:12 EDT
danclan : Finally was able to authenticate.

No joy on my setup though i can see the requests going in and out...

placed the stb in the dmz and - no joy
attempted UPnP enable and rebooted all devices - no joy

i dont have winpcap installed for me to capture via wire shark...as i usually dont have a need to do traces on my home network....i can load but since i dont have a hub or switch i will have to wait for captures by others

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:49:55 EDT
More Fiber : That's correct. You should get a 169.254.x.x IP address when you connect your PC to the hub. i.e. You won't be able to get a DHCP address, but that won't matter. Wireshark will put the NIC in "promiscuous" mode, so it will see all traffic on the hub.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:24:03 EDT
AWEInCA : Ok...I don't have a hub. I'll have to borrow one from work tomorrow.

Just so I understand: I connect ONT, AT, and PC to the hub....THEN connect the hub to the DIR-655 WAN port for NAT, DHCP, ext ?

I'll set it up and reply back tomorrow.

Thanks!

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:31:54 EDT
More Fiber : No, the DIR-655 will not work as a hub. The traffic needs to be captured between the the ONT and the router (DIR-655) WAN port. That's the reason for the "dumb hub".

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:03:32 EDT
AWEInCA : Will my DIR-655 work as the hub? Or do I need a "dumb-hub"?

My network is set up according to the LAN-to-LAN guide.

I have a static IP address

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:56:42 EDT
More Fiber : What is needed is to install a hub (or managed switch with port mirroring) in front of the Actiontec. Connect the ONT, Actiontec and a PC running Wireshark to the hub.

A few things to try and capture:
•Schedule a program to be recorded. See if there is any WAN traffic from the STB (I suspect not).
•Log in to VZ TV Central, access the MR-DVR. I expect there should be WAN traffic from VZ Central TO the MR-DVR (and a response from the MR-DVR).
•Reboot the MR-DVR. Capture the DHCP request and any communication with VZ TV Central during bootup. This will generate a LOT of traffic as the guide data will be downloaded.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:37:44 EDT
AWEInCA : Gotcha. By the way, I know you said you would have to wait to find out what/how the DVR sent and received it's info through through the router...I'm all set up in regards to being activated. Is there anything I can do like run some software and send the logs to you?

Just wondering if there is anything I can do to help and maybe learn something along the way?

Thanks again!
Aaron

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:23:44 EDT
More Fiber : I was trying to keep the discussion about "I can't login", "I can't activate", "VZ TV Central is not up", and "When is it going to be available" in the other thread. Those issues have nothing to do with the router.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:57:51 EDT
AWEInCA : I thought that's what we are talking about? Don't we need to access the site to tell whether the router is working?

I'm not trying to sound like a smart-ass..just curious as why this is not on topic?

By the way. I was able to activate my account, but my DVR Remote TV info is not being transfered to the website.

Soooo, the fact that I have a Windows Home Server doesn't change anything reguarding WHS router settings.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:15:30 EDT
More Fiber : Could we stay on topic, please. This thread is for router issues related to TV Central. There are other threads for discussing VZ central web site and rollout issues.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:34:12 EDT
danclan : allegedly...i didnt think you would have the option in your dvr to enable it if you werent from what ive read and i received message a month ago saying it was available but never really looked for it till today

apparently from another thread...after you get said code it takes 24-48hrs or more before the web knows it can activate you....ok call me stupid but they couldnt make this more complicated could they?

once im activated i will see i can get it all working via my networking setup...i have no actiontec and never have...had crappy dlink that ironically...never worked correctly but my dd-wrt routers have always worked with fios and use a completely different subnet as well...10.x.x.x non routable with no issues over the past 3 years

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:32:04 EDT
darcilicious : Has the remote dvr feature even been rolled out to your area yet? Many customers still do not have this feature available even though they "qualify" and will get it eventually...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:29:14 EDT
danclan : any clue on where i can enter my authentication code...i have never received a pop up asking for it nor do i see anywhere to enter it ...and i got the code from my mrdvr...so i should be go to go...i would hope...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:21:36 EDT
Rattler :
said by danclan :

and i can see them listed on TV central...but ironically enough, not currently on my account page on verizon.com....the place i need to be listed so that i can reboot them occasionally....they have dropped off the map here lately.

This seems to be a V* system wide problem. I (and others) have been getting error messages when logging in to "My Account" for about a week now. Reboots have regressed to the ol' "jackass" power method of actually having to get up from the recliner and pulling the STB plug(s). :p

I asked a CSR what was up the other day and got the "Duh, I dunno, haven't heard about it." canned response. At least the error message changed from "STB record cannot be found" to "STB is currently unavailable, try back later". Somewhat more encouraging, I guess.
--
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. -- Red Buttons

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:50:36 EDT
danclan :
said by darcilicious :

said by danclan :

I am unfortunately unable to test as i am not a part of the pilot program.

There is no pilot program for remote dvr access over the web. It's being rolled out (slowly) to customers now. However, I believe you must have the multi-room dvr / media manager and software.

I have that and every other feature they offer..i am a verizon 's salesmans dream customer.... course it might help if i turned on the media manager software though..huh...

also would be nice if the software didnt burp and die every 5 minutes...

EDIT: Ok now im just being tormented as my dvr gave me code to authenticate yet i have no link or am blind to it to enter it on the fiostvcentral page...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:48:07 EDT
darcilicious :
said by danclan :

I am unfortunately unable to test as i am not a part of the pilot program.

There is no pilot program for remote dvr access over the web. It's being rolled out (slowly) to customers now. However, I believe you must have the multi-room dvr / media manager and software.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:43:59 EDT
danclan : and i can see them listed on TV central...but ironically enough, not currently on my account page on verizon.com....the place i need to be listed so that i can reboot them occasionally....they have dropped off the map here lately.

I have pppoe, and two wds routers running dd-wrt v24sp1, and a nim. I have always been able to access vod and widgets as well as stream media via media manager. Having never had an actiontec i think locking in folks to it for dvrod would be foolish.

There really should be no real technical reason why verizon cannot allow you to use any router to access dvr on demand. I am unfortunately unable to test as i am not a part of the pilot program.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 06:45:59 EDT
Johny H : I also DCT-700 showing under my STBs, even though it has never been out of the box that it was shipped in!

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:49:09 EDT
Rattler : When the STB lists are showing, I do not think that there is any communication required between V's servers and the boxes in order for them to be listed. I'm fairly sure that V* maintains a separate database that has the serial numbers of the boxes tied to individual accounts.

For instance, I have not had one of my DCT-700s connected to its coax for about a month now (redoing a room). That box's serial number shows up on the list of my STBs on Verizon central and (when it is up) on "My Account" on verizon.com.

Further, you cannot poll or issue a reset to the DCT-700s from the application on the "My Account" site. Verizon can issue commands to them since they must have to activate them.
--
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. -- Red Buttons

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:36:07 EDT
AWEInCA : ok. I wasn't sure if anyone could see there STBs on Central website.

I PM'd TheSanchez as described in links posted by More Fibers.

When TheSanchez replies, I'll post again.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:30:14 EDT
darcilicious :
said by AWEInCA :

Hi,

I'm able to see my STBs on TV Central website. I think this means that my DVRs are talking to the TV Central servers?

Until you have the Remote DVR feature enabled, you can't say for certain you will be able to control them from TV Central...

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:22:45 EDT
AWEInCA : Hi,

I'm able to see my STBs on TV Central website. I think this means that my DVRs are talking to the TV Central servers?

If this is the case, the only thing I haven't seen mention on this thread is Windows Home Server.

My Windows Home Server configured my DIR-655 automatically to allow for it's features to work. Maybe one or more of the ports WHS opened is this the one Central webserver needs.

Could this be the case?

Aaron

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:58:32 EDT
mikemrossi : Does anyone know the IP address of the Verizon servers that will access the STBs?

I was thinking of pointing any traffic From those IP addresses to the Actiontec Router.

I currently have the Actiontec wan hooked up to the DMZ on My primary router.

thanks

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:35:41 EDT
More Fiber : It's not an issue of the STB's reaching the internet as with VOD and guide data, where the request originates with the STB.

The problem is that the request originates from VZ TV Central servers and can not reach the DVR. So far, no one has identified the protocol or ports that are not making it to the DVR.

Some users in VHO8 (Philly) where I am have reported remote access to DVR has been turned on, but not all users can access it, so it appears it's being turned on on a CO by CO basis. Until it's turned on for me, I can't run a trace of the WAN traffic to see what is not getting through.
»[DVR] Remote DVR Live in DE

edit: It also seems the service is not stable yet:
»Remote DVR in New York

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:27:12 EDT
tgreaves :
said by mikemrossi :

Has anyone tried putting the Actiontec WAN on a DMZ of a router and then assign it a different subnet.

Or even not putting on the DMZ, just connecting
the Actiontec WAN to the LAN with the actiontec on a different subnet i.e. (primary router 168.192.0.1 and Actiontec 192.168.1.1) and then enable the DHCP on the actiontec to give the IP to the STB.

Well what about this(long day at work so this might not make sense at all)..

Connecting the wan port on actiontec to linksys router and also connecting lan port on actiontec to linksys router???

Leave the dhcp turned off on the actiontec so the stb's will get their dhcp info from the linksys by means of the actiontec's LAN port..

If there is some special "thing" that the actiontec router does then it will do its "thing" through the wan port which will still make it to the internet.. Maybe even set the dmz address on the linksys to be the WAN ip of the actiontec.. Thoughts, comments?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:44:03 EDT
AWEInCA : It seems this problem has been ongoing for a while. Thank you to all who are working on solving this problem. Hopefully a solution will be found.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:57:50 EDT
mikemrossi : i hooked it to the DMZ and still no access from the fios website.

One note, in all the configurations, I can do a health check from the myverizon site.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:36:46 EDT
mikemrossi : I hooked it up like in WAN to LAN FAQ and I get all the VOD data, but as others noted, since the aactiontec is not the primary router, i cannot see if from the central site.

I have not tried hooking it to the DMZ of the primary router but will give that a try.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:49:57 EDT
More Fiber : And what would the point of that be?

There is no question that the DVR can be accessed remotely from Verizon TV Central, if the Actiontec is the primary router.

The purpose of this thread is to try and find a way to do so if the Actiontec is NOT the primary router.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:06:46 EDT
anon : does any one tried to see if Actiontec needs factory reset to make the fios tv central read my recordings?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:19:18 EDT
More Fiber :
said by mikemrossi :

With that in mind, if the STBs are all on their own subnet different that the pcs, shouldn't the STBs work fine then?
If you have no intention of using the PC based MediaManager software, then yes, as long as the STBs can obtain DHCP addresses and have a path through the primary router, VOD and guide data will work.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:11:50 EDT
mikemrossi : I only want to use my media share DVR so two other regular HD boxes can view the recorded programs. I do not plan on using it to see pictures on a pc.

With that in mind, if the STBs are all on their own subnet different that the pcs, shouldn't the STBs work fine then?

thanks,

Mike

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 11:33:01 EDT
More Fiber :
said by mikemrossi :

What will it allow you to do if you use the VZ router as the primary? What am I giving up by using my own router?
Media sharing, VOD, guide data and widgets should all work with your own router by following the Part4 FAQ.
The only thing that is known not to work is remote (web) access to the DVR from VZ TV Central.
said by mikemrossi :

Has anyone tried putting the Actiontec WAN on a DMZ of a router and then assign it a different subnet.
Putting the Actiontec on a different subnet will break the media sharing function.
Media sharing relies on non-routable UDP broadcast packets.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 05:09:45 EDT
mikemrossi : Has anyone tried putting the Actiontec WAN on a DMZ of a router and then assign it a different subnet.

Or even not putting on the DMZ, just connecting
the Actiontec WAN to the LAN with the actiontec on a different subnet i.e. (primary router 168.192.0.1 and Actiontec 192.168.1.1) and then enable the DHCP on the actiontec to give the IP to the STB.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:23:04 EDT
mikemrossi : What will it allow you to do if you use the vz touter as the primary? What am I giving up by using my own router?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:08:54 EDT
More Fiber :
said by mikemrossi :

on the tv central, I can see my STBs, but cannot do anything with them there.
Should you be able to? Yes.
Can you, with a 3rd non-VZ router as primary? No.

There is a note in the FAQs, that remote access to the HM-DVR does not work without the Actiontec as primary router.
The exact cause has not been determined.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:17:38 EDT
mikemrossi : I just got my services installed and did the lan to lan setup using my own router connected to the ont and the actionetec on the lan to lan.

on the tv central, I can see my STBs, but cannot do anything with them there.

Under my programming, if I click on that, I get "Sorry, your request could not be processed. please tray again later."

Am I suppose to be able to do something here?

thanks,

Mike

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:33:06 EDT
tyrius : I do have UPNP enabled, but I've had it enabled for a while: I'd think the port mapping would have been defined before today.

Besides, the entries added by MSN Messenger can be modified where this new entry cannot.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:52:11 EDT
More Fiber : Interesting.

It could possibly have been done through the CPE WAN interface, or it also might have been done through UPNP from the DVR. I have UPNP turned off on my Actiontec, and I'm not able to see my DVRs from VZ TV Central.

I will PM you for the config details. Could you let me know if you have UPNP enabled (ADVANCED->UPNP). I'm assuming the Actiontec is your primary router and you can see your DVRs from VZ TV central.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:25:00 EDT
tyrius : I just noticed a new entry in the port forwarding rules of my A/T:
UDP port 63145 is being forwarded to my HM-DVR. Is it possible than when you enable remote DVR functionality Verizon uses CPE WAN Management to add this port forwarding rule to the A/T? Mind you, I supposedly enabled the remote functionality a week ago and just today saw the port forwarding rule.

The forwarding rule is kind of weird and I'm not sure what to make of it (i.e. how you would do this on a Linksys or D-Link router): the network device reads 192.168.1.100 (the IP of my DVR) and the network address reads 192.168.1.100:63145. The Public IP field is blank, but the Remote Host IP field reads 'Verizon FiOS Service.' I dumped the A/T configuration and saw the configuration entry for this rule, but its long enough that I won't add it here. If somebody is interested let me know and I can PM a screen shot of the pertinent parts of the port forwarding table (HTML) and/or the chuck of data from my A/T configuration.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:22:44 EDT
mwangen :
said by imt :

I do wish someone would test out what I had proposed by using the actiontec's wan port to see if this solves the issue.
I hear what you're saying imt and you may be right that this issue is caused by some proprietary stuff in the actiontec that handles special traffic to only go out over the wan. However, running with double nat will disable media manager functionality. At least for me being able to use media manager is more important than being able to remotely program my dvr. I'd like to do both, but if I have to choose between the two I'd rather be able to stream video to my TV than being able to remotely program my dvr. I might just try your suggestion over the weekend for grins, but even if the remote programming works in that configuration I will not be running double nat.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:10:24 EDT
anon :
said by Psyclone :

All,

said by tgreaves :

said by mwangen :

I might be wrong, but I don't think this is a firewall issue. I port forwarded ALL TCP and UDP ports on my firewall to the DVR and it still didn't work. I monitored my firewall for discarded packets and there weren't any.

Hmm, very strange.. It would have to be a port somewhere that allows the website to talk to the dvr.. Maybe the actiontec talkes to the dvr and the website talks to the actiontec... Might want to try forwarding all ports to the actiontec, that should work since thats what the standard install of FiOS is doing..

I'm not sure how port forwarding all ports to the actiontec would make a difference. The actiontec is only used as a bridge to go from coax to Ethernet. The DVR gets it's IP from the third party router. It's not possible to my knowledge to run this like the regular FiOS install. There isn't a way to have the DVR DCHP an IP from the actiontec and have it use the third party routers gateway. So the only configuration you can run is with it double natted and have the actiontec be on it's own subnet. In this configuration however you will not be able to use media manager. So I don't see this as a viable solution.

As stated mwangen and what I was saying in my posts is that port forwarding has no affect here. If IGMP or multicasting is being used the logs might not pickup that type of traffic.

What I am trying to state in my previous post is that the STB itself may send out certain traffic. In a normal hookup that traffic flows over the coax LAN and out through the WAN. Now there may be software built into the coax bridge that talks to the cable box on the lan and send out info through the wan. Now maybe verizon sends traffic but not destined to a particular IP address or port. Maybe it just goes to the router. There could be software built into the actiontec so that when this traffic is sent to the WAN port it knows that this "traffic" is forwarded to the coax bridge and to the STB's. Again this traffic could be multicasting messages. This is my guess.

I do wish someone would test out what I had proposed by using the actiontec's wan port to see if this solves the issue.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:46:27 EDT
tgreaves :
said by mwangen :

I'm not sure how port forwarding all ports to the actiontec would make a difference. The actiontec is only used as a bridge to go from coax to Ethernet. The DVR gets it's IP from the third party router. It's not possible to my knowledge to run this like the regular FiOS install. There isn't a way to have the DVR DCHP an IP from the actiontec and have it use the third party routers gateway. So the only configuration you can run is with it double natted and have the actiontec be on it's own subnet. In this configuration however you will not be able to use media manager. So I don't see this as a viable solution.

Well there has to be some way the Verizon talks to the dvr.. I guess we just need to find out how this is done before we can come up with a solution..

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:17:58 EDT
mwangen :
said by tgreaves :

said by mwangen :

I might be wrong, but I don't think this is a firewall issue. I port forwarded ALL TCP and UDP ports on my firewall to the DVR and it still didn't work. I monitored my firewall for discarded packets and there weren't any.

Hmm, very strange.. It would have to be a port somewhere that allows the website to talk to the dvr.. Maybe the actiontec talkes to the dvr and the website talks to the actiontec... Might want to try forwarding all ports to the actiontec, that should work since thats what the standard install of FiOS is doing..

I'm not sure how port forwarding all ports to the actiontec would make a difference. The actiontec is only used as a bridge to go from coax to Ethernet. The DVR gets it's IP from the third party router. It's not possible to my knowledge to run this like the regular FiOS install. There isn't a way to have the DVR DCHP an IP from the actiontec and have it use the third party routers gateway. So the only configuration you can run is with it double natted and have the actiontec be on it's own subnet. In this configuration however you will not be able to use media manager. So I don't see this as a viable solution.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:02:24 EDT
tgreaves :
said by mwangen :

I might be wrong, but I don't think this is a firewall issue. I port forwarded ALL TCP and UDP ports on my firewall to the DVR and it still didn't work. I monitored my firewall for discarded packets and there weren't any.

Hmm, very strange.. It would have to be a port somewhere that allows the website to talk to the dvr.. Maybe the actiontec talkes to the dvr and the website talks to the actiontec... Might want to try forwarding all ports to the actiontec, that should work since thats what the standard install of FiOS is doing..

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:51:14 EDT
mwangen : I might be wrong, but I don't think this is a firewall issue. I port forwarded ALL TCP and UDP ports on my firewall to the DVR and it still didn't work. I monitored my firewall for discarded packets and there weren't any.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:49:55 EDT
tgreaves :
said by flashcore :

I suspect this problem has more to do with some feature on the Actiontec that allows certain traffic or specific verizon IP's to bypass the firewall completely to communicate with the box's (I have not confirmed this yet but I suspect that is what is going on). I have not had time to mess with it yet however I plan on mirroring the switch port I have my NIM hooked to and using wireshark to try and find out exactly where the box's are connecting to for the guide and vod data. Maybe with that information I can narrow down exactly what rules need to be on a 3rd party router to enable the website features.

This is exactly what I was thinking also.. Im running a windows server 2003 machine as my firewall.. Tonight im going to go to verizons site and try to "see" my dvr box and then check the log to see what port it was trying to use.. After I find that then hopefully I can just forward that port on to the dvr to make it work..

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:14:26 EDT
anon : Question is are these really proprietary version of the router or did verizon just add a V to the item. The Dlink is the same number without the V. also, all of the firmware upgrades are direct from D-link. This is even acknowledged when downloading from verizons site.

While this is forum is for users using non-standard installation, it would be good to know if this works under the D-link/ Motorolla config. If this this does then technically this should also work utilizing the actiontec as well. If Verizon then required users to change to an actiontec to get this info it then may mean that the only way one can program the DVR via the website is to have the actiontec as the primary device.

The actiontec basically merged the two devices together to have one device and a simpler install for the tec's. When you look at the motorolla cat5-coax bridge. The motorolla is acting as a router for all of the cable boxes in the home and passing it to the cat5 port to the homes router (dlink in this case). Would be also good to know if users who use their own router with the Motorolla coax bridge can program their DVR's. If so then the Dlink then really has nothing special and there really should be a way to make the actiontec work.

As I mentioned in a previous post, in the standard install the actiontec is the primary device on the network and all internet traffic passes from the coax network, via the bridge out the WAN port or vice versa. In order to then use the actiontec like the motorolla, since you are using your own router, it then seems to make sense to hookup as if this was just the coax brindge and not a "router". Thus remove the lan ports from the equation and you are left with a coax port and a WAN cat5e port.

If you had the home media option, you are supposed to be able to pull photos and music off of your computers on your lan via the settop box. Don't know if with the typical install mentioned in this forum if this works as well.

It may be that the actiontec has hardcoded router rules that prevent certain traffic from passing via the cat5 lan ports to the coax port. i.e. to prevent hacking via the home network.

Again these rules may be built into the actiontec to allow this traffic to pass from the wan to the lan. Its possible that the STB's use multicasting or something like it to talk to verizon with the status of the boxes. You wouldn't typically want this traffic constantly flowing over your lan so this again maybe restricted to only go through the wan.

I hope someone would test what I had mentioned about using the wan port to connect to your home router vs the lan ports. This may be the key here.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:47:26 EDT
More Fiber :
said by IMT :

I believe the Dlink was one that was avail off the shelf and not just made for verizon , like the Actiontec model.
I believe a few of the very early internet only installs may have been vanilla D-Links, but when FIOS-TV was introduced, the VDI-604 and VDI-624 proprietary versions were deployed.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:43:26 EDT
More Fiber :
said by Silver_2000 :

Don't forget that many people - Like me don't have Actiontec routers - we were given old D-Link POS and a separate box for VOD connection
The VZ supplied D-Link + Nim-100 is a VZ supported configuration. If it does not provide remote access to the DVRs, then you should raise the issue directly with VZ.

This thread is for users that are using non-VZ supported routers and have issues with VZ TV Central not reaching their DVRs through their own routers.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 19:43:18 EDT
anon : When I made the last post I was going to mention this was well to see if anyone using the dlink routers have the most recent IMG and can access the DVR via the web site. I believe the Dlink was one that was avail off the shelf and not just made for verizon , like the actiontec model.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 15:48:52 EDT
Silver_2000 : Dont forget that many people - Like me dont have actiontec routers - we were given old dlink POS and a sep box for VOD connection

Wonder if that will impact the use of online programming

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:07:25 EDT
anon : I have read the issues regarding programming the DVR from Verizon Central. At this point I do not have that option since we are not on that version of the IMG. But I had thought of some other things that someone can test that I didn't see listed here.

I did see that someone had mentioned that they first hooked up the actiontec direct to the ONT, like a normal install, and they were able to program the DVR from verizon central, and then they hooked back up their router and it still worked for about an hr. Then someone else mentioned that they even tried opening all UDP and TCP ports I believe, on their own router, and still can't program the DVR.

So out of all of the things that people have tried there is one I see missing. The answer might lie in the actiontec software and possibly only sends out this data or allows the connection through the WAN port on the actiontec.

Going back to the person that hooked back up the actiontec and then was able to program the dvr and then went back to their own router and still could see the dvr for about an hour, were you able to still program or make programming changes on the DVR for that hr before it stopped working? If so then this could be a ping that is sent from the STB's or a release of data approx every hr, via the actiontec software that is sent to verizon central telling the site that you or the STB's are "on line". As I said, maybe this is part of the actiontec software to send this signal at predetermined intervals but only through the wan port because this is how the signal would pass in a normal config. Remember that data goes from the cox on the data side through the wan port (coax or cat5e) to the ONT. With the setup described here you are only using the lan port on the actiontec.

What would happen if you did the following:

Test1

1) On your own router. Make sure that you have an open static address for the lan side.

2) On the actiontec, set the Wan IP address to one of the free addresses in the static range from your own routers lan. Subnet should be the same 255.255.255.0 and the DHCP set to your own routers gateway address. Or the other option is to set the actiontec to automatically get the address and it will just pull from your own routers pool of DHCP addresses. (However, this would affect you trying the second option if this doesn't work).

3) Set the lan network to use a different address range. I would suggest using a lan address of 192.168.x.1, where x is something other than 1 (i.e like your house number). Then enable DHCP on the actiontec again. This will then assign addresses to the STB's, which will still be the only things connected to this router.

4) Unplug the cat5e from the lan port on the back of the actiontec and put it in the wan port instead.

Yes, I believe this will double nat the addresses but only for the stuff connected to the actiontec.

I cannot test this myself since as I said we don't have the home media DVR and aren't on the latest version of IMG yet anyway.

If this doesn't help then the next thing to try would be to enable the DMZ on your own router, assuming you have that option, and set it to the static address of the router that you would have done in step #2 above. This then will pass any and all traffic to the actiontec that is not destined for a computer on your own routers lan.

I'm thinking that maybe this may be the ticket. Please though don't just go right to the second option for testing. Would be good to know if one could do this without the need to open the DMZ on your own router since other may want to use that option for some other purpose on their lan.

Anyone want to test this out?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:22:43 EDT
Silver_2000 : Its news tome that you can see the DVRs on the website

Ive had TV for 3 years or more - im ppoe
Im using a Wrt54g running ddwrt and I can see the dvrs I just dont have any options on the website to do anything with them .. In reading the site you have to be a home media customer ... I dont use the home media function its way tooo buggy - i just have 2 dvrs

Is there anyway I can program the DVrs over the internet without it ?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:43:00 EDT
tyrius : At least I'm not the only one having problems with this. I actually spoke with the FSC and the only response was, "That feature is still in BETA so there's not a lot I can do."

I was OK with the ActionTec until the latest firmware release crippled static addresses via DHCP. At that point I turned on DHCP and DNS on a Linux box I had laying around. I tried using FiOS TV Central after I re-enabled this configuration.

One interesting thing to note: if you look at "My Network" on the ActionTec do your STBs show as STBs or as computers? My HD STB shows as an STB, but the HM-DVR doesn't. I'm not sure if its a red herring or not, but I thought I'd throw it out there. The host name for the STB is "IP-STB2", but the host name for the DVR is "StaticIP Client." I've got my DHCP server set up to send the host-name back to the client but this doesn't appear to have done much good.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:07:57 EDT
mwangen : Any news? Has anyone had the chance to monitor the WAN DHCP traffic between VZ and the AT?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:33:20 EDT
More Fiber :
said by mattcurf8 :

When I put the Actiontec router in, TV Central works. If I then substitute the Actiontec out with my router without releasing the DHCP lease (I use MAC cloning in my router), TV Central still works for an hour or so.
Good discovery. That certainly seems to imply that STB specific information is being exchanged with the VZ DHCP server during DHCP lease negotiation.

The "hour or so" would be when the Actiontec's original DHCP lease expires and your router attempts to renew the lease, but does not send the STB specific information.

I've run Wireshark on the LAN side, but have yet looked at the WAN side DHCP lease negotiation.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:08:18 EDT
mattcurf8 : Has anybody taken a look at the DHCP transaction between the Actiontec router and Verizon FIOS DHCP server? Perhaps there is some additional DHCP information there that configures the Verizon back-end to work correctly with FIOS TV Central?

I've looked through a lot of traffic from Verizon to my non-AT router, and I don't see any indication that anything is sent to my router when I log into the TV Central website from another network. When I put the Actiontec router in, TV Central works. If I then substitute the Actiontec out with my router without releasing the DHCP lease (I use MAC cloning in my router), TV Central still works for an hour or so.

-Matt

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:45:01 EDT
mwangen :
said by More Fiber :

An now back to our regularly scheduled programming (discussion):

Normally, you can't just bring up two DHCP servers on the same subnet and expect predictable results, unless you've configured them very carefully. Both will offer a DHCP lease to any client that broadcasts a DHCP-DISCOVER packet, and which DHCP lease is accepted by the client is determined by the client. Which is precisely the reason I wanted you to try this with only one DHCP server (the Actiontec).

As I was reminded from mwangen 's post, the Actiontec's DHCP server assumes that the Actiontec is always the gateway and uses it's own LAN address in the gateway address information returned to the client. There was a post about this in another thread. I believe there is a way around and am testing my idea now. I'll post back as soon as I can find a way for the Actiontec DHCP server to return a gateway address other than it's own.

Post back if you find a way to accomplish this and I'll be more than happy to give it a whirl.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:53:01 EDT
More Fiber : An now back to our regularly scheduled programming (discussion):

Normally, you can't just bring up two DHCP servers on the same subnet and expect predictable results, unless you've configured them very carefully. Both will offer a DHCP lease to any client that broadcasts a DHCP-DISCOVER packet, and which DHCP lease is accepted by the client is determined by the client. Which is precisely the reason I wanted you to try this with only one DHCP server (the Actiontec).

As I was reminded from mwangen 's post, the Actiontec's DHCP server assumes that the Actiontec is always the gateway and uses it's own LAN address in the gateway address information returned to the client. There was a post about this in another thread. I believe there is a way around and am testing my idea now. I'll post back as soon as I can find a way for the Actiontec DHCP server to return a gateway address other than it's own.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:30:43 EDT
JohnA :
I want to say @ July 06, though I'm not positive, is when FIOS went to DHCP. All connections prior to that were PPPoE, which was switched to open PPPoE, without regard to area. Verizon has never been willing to switch those to DHCP, even though they continually promised they would. We are easily exposed when we run tracerts, as that 10.x.x.x hop shows up when we hit the edge router.

Tracing route to www.dslreports.com [209.123.109.175]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.1.1
2 5 ms 4 ms 4 ms 10.7.30.1
3 5 ms 4 ms 4 ms P2-3.LCR-02.PITBPA.verizon-gni.net [130.81.32.194]

There was even a time on DSL when they intended to switch Ex-GTE to PPPoE. May have occurred during your new employment absence. Only lasted under 2 months, for new Ex-GTE sing ups in about 5 states before it was abandoned, so they are few, and very far between. Just saw one of those over there a couple weeks ago.

It's still Verizon, YMMV, and all rules have exceptions.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 10:37:20 EDT
darcilicious : All right, all right! I give up! :D :D

This was pretty much the conventional wisdom from the DSL days when I was an MVM from the Vz DSL forum but never mind! Obviously it was wrong and so am I :)

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 09:20:54 EDT
Teasip : And to think that I'm still PPPoE in ex-GTE area.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:01:50 EDT
cdru :
said by darcilicious :

said by mwangen :

Psyclone a little off topic here, but I find it interesting that you are running PPoE. I'm in Beaverton and I'm getting my IP from Verizon via DHCP.

Verizon has never deployed PPoE for exGTE areas (that I'm aware of), and definitely never in Oregon -- not for DSL and not for FiOS.

Don't tell that to my setup. I was one of the first adopters in my area and all subscribers at that time were PPPoE. New installs are DHCP, but older ones around here were never migrated. And I'm most definitely a ex-GTE area.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:57:18 EDT
cdru :
said by joe01880 :

Using other routers buffalo's or whatever the hell they are when the router supplied from Verizon does a fine job.
The ActionTec, while a decent router, has a very small NAT table, a crappy interface, and is buggy. Try setting a static DHCP lease with the current version. You have a 50/50 chance of getting it to work, and then that only happens 10% of the time.

I have a very similar setup to Psyclone except I use an original WRT54GS router with DD-WRT loaded. It's interface is SO much better and It Just Works™. I also use VoIP so reliability is a key factor for me.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:01:53 EDT
Psyclone :
said by More Fiber :

said by Psyclone :

I tried your last suggestion(2 DHCP servers with Actiontec serving only STB) last night and it didn't work. Do you know how I would obtain the Vendor Class ID info? DD-WRT does have a place to enter this information. I'd like to try it and see if it helps.

I regret having mentioned the possibility of configuring two DHCP servers. That is not what I asked you to try.

While I understand you are anxious to get this working, the steps I asked you to try were intended to try one specific thing in a controlled manner. Since I don't know the details of how you configured the two DHCP servers, or what devices pulled what IP addresses, your post was not helpful.

Sorry I guess I should have clarified. My config:

Buffalo:

Router IP : 192.168.1.25
DHCP Server : Enabled - IP Range 192.168.1.2-192.168.1.24

ActionTec :
Router IP : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server : Enabled - IP Range 192.168.1.100-192.168.1.101

And I lied about everything working ok. In this configuration the ActionTec will lease an IP to the MR-DVR but not to the SD STB. Not sure why. VOD/Guide work on the MR-DVR but the SD STB obviously has zero connectivity.

When I swap the Router IP's then everything works again.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:30:51 EDT
More Fiber : My first reaction was oh s**t since that changes both the gateway address sent to the DHCP clients and the LAN IP address of the Actiontec. Sometimes I absolutely hate the Actiontec GUI.

I'm certain there is a way to do this, but I'm going to have to think about it when I'm fresh in the morning.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:50:14 EDT
mwangen :
said by More Fiber :

Go MY NETWORK->NETWORK CONNECTIONS->NETWORK (H/O); about 8 lines down
•Internet Protocol = Use The Following IP Address
•IP Address = 192.168.1.1
•APPLY

But I can't use both routers on the same IP can I? My IPCop machine already runs on 192.168.1.1. Are you suggesting to run the ActionTec and the IPCop on the same ip?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:35:01 EDT
More Fiber :
said by mwangen :

However, the DVR now uses the Actiontec ip (192.168.1.25) as it's gateway. How do I configure the Actiontec DHCP server to hand out the true gateway (192.168.1.1)?
Thanks for trying it as suggested. You need to set the correct gateway address in the DHCP server settings in the Actiontec.

Go MY NETWORK->NETWORK CONNECTIONS->NETWORK (H/O); about 8 lines down
•Internet Protocol = Use The Following IP Address
•IP Address = 192.168.1.1
•APPLY

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:06:52 EDT
mwangen : MoreFiber,

So I've tried your suggestion and turned off the DHCP server on my IPCop and turned on the ActionTec DHCP server. I unplugged my DVR and plugged it back in and it got an ip address from the ActionTec. However, the DVR now uses the ActionTec ip (192.168.1.25) as it's gateway. How do I configure the ActionTec DHCP server to hand out the true
gateway (192.168.1.1)? In this configuration nothing that needs internet works. No guide, no VOD etc.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:03:10 EDT
More Fiber :
said by Psyclone :

I tried your last suggestion(2 DHCP servers with Actiontec serving only STB) last night and it didn't work. Do you know how I would obtain the Vendor Class ID info? DD-WRT does have a place to enter this information. I'd like to try it and see if it helps.

I regret having mentioned the possibility of configuring two DHCP servers. That is not what I asked you to try.

While I understand you are anxious to get this working, the steps I asked you to try were intended to try one specific thing in a controlled manner. Since I don't know the details of how you configured the two DHCP servers, or what devices pulled what IP addresses, your post was not helpful.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:50:50 EDT
mwangen :
said by Hooper :

My guess is that there is some code in the Actiontec that registers your STB's with the Verizon Central website. Same way when you call in and the FSC reps can see the boxes. If you are using your own router or even their DLink, they can't see them. I hate to break the news, but Verizon Central will probably never work without the actiontec as the lead router.

I'm not saying you're wrong here, but I certainly didn't see anything of that sort when I monitored my network traffic using Wireshark.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:24:46 EDT
Hooper :
said by Psyclone :

I think the Vendor Class ID needs to be set to IP-STB, this according to page 46 of the ActionTec manual. I also found info alluding to this on another BBR post here

That DHCP option is for QoS and nothing else. Forget it even exists.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:49:36 EDT
Psyclone : I think the Vendor Class ID needs to be set to IP-STB, this according to page 46 of the ActionTec manual. I also found info alluding to this on another BBR post here

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:51:50 EDT
Hooper : My guess is that there is some code in the Actiontec that registers your STB's with the Verizon Central website. Same way when you call in and the FSC reps can see the boxes. If you are using your own router or even their DLink, they can't see them. I hate to break the news, but Verizon Central will probably never work without the actiontec as the lead router.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:24:49 EDT
darcilicious :
said by Psyclone :

said by darcilicious :

said by mwangen :

Psyclone a little off topic here, but I find it interesting that you are running PPoE. I'm in Beaverton and I'm getting my IP from Verizon via DHCP.

Verizon has never deployed PPoE for exGTE areas (that I'm aware of), and definitely never in Oregon -- not for DSL and not for FiOS.

*shrug* I have been a Verizon customer for 6-7 years now. I started with 3rd party DSL leasing a line from Verizon. It was PPoE then and has never been changed. I am not sure why I'm not on DHCP.

Wow, that really is odd. I was using GTE/ISDN before it became Verizon -- perhaps there was a sliver of time when they configured some COs with PPPoE for some customers. The vast majority of folks in exGTE don't have it, that's for sure.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:22:28 EDT
Psyclone :
said by darcilicious :

said by mwangen :

Psyclone a little off topic here, but I find it interesting that you are running PPoE. I'm in Beaverton and I'm getting my IP from Verizon via DHCP.

Verizon has never deployed PPoE for exGTE areas (that I'm aware of), and definitely never in Oregon -- not for DSL and not for FiOS.

*shrug* I have been a Verizon customer for 7-8 years now. I started with 3rd party DSL leasing a line from Verizon. It was PPoE then. After about 2 years I made the switch to Verizon as my ISP to a full Verizon DSL package. Subsequently I upgraded to FIOS Internet and most recently FIOS TV. I am not sure why I'm not on DHCP.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:53:40 EDT
mwangen : Well I'm glad we have this thread going. I spent a few hours trying to get the Remote DVR feature working a few weekends back and basically gave up after running Wireshark and not being able to see anything that would cause this not to work with a 3rd party router. I figured sooner or later someone would start a thread and ppl that are much smarter than me in the network arena would figure this out =) So come on guys what's the problem ;)

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:43:11 EDT
darcilicious :
said by mwangen :

Psyclone a little off topic here, but I find it interesting that you are running PPoE. I'm in Beaverton and I'm getting my IP from Verizon via DHCP.

Verizon has never deployed PPoE for exGTE areas (that I'm aware of), and definitely never in Oregon -- not for DSL and not for FiOS.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:37:49 EDT
mwangen : Psyclone a little off topic here, but I find it interesting that you are running PPoE. I'm in Beaverton and I'm getting my IP from Verizon via DHCP.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:34:51 EDT
mwangen :
said by More Fiber :

Most home routers do not have the ability to specify option code 60 information to be returned to the client. As I explained in an earlier post in this thread, the STBs and the Actiontec do indeed exchange option code 60 information.
IPCop does support DHCP Option 60. What info needs to be provided here?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:23:07 EDT
Psyclone :
said by More Fiber :

said by Psyclone :

everything works in this configuration. I also want to point out the requirement for the devices to be in the .1.* subnet for VOD and Guide data to work. This is NOT true. I have successfully used the above configuration with everything being in the 0.* subnet and everything(except the VZ Central site) worked.
You're correct, any subnet will work, as long as all media sharing devices are on that subnet. I don't believe the FAQ states that use of the 1.x subnet is required. We had to pick a subnet to use as an example, and that was as good as any.

To Psyclone , flashcore , and mwangen

While I understand that you would prefer to use the DHCP server in your respective primary routers, I would like to ask you to try the following as a test:
•Disable the DHCP server in your primary router.
•Enable the DHCP server in the Actiontec.
•Reboot the STBs (disconnect & reconnect AC)
•Check if you can access the STBs from VZ TV Central.

If this works, we should be able to configure both DHCP servers to be active, each with it's own IP address range, with the Actiontec serving only the STBs.

I tried your last suggestion(2 dhcp servers with ActionTec serving only STB) last night and it didn't work. Do you know how I would obtain the Vendor Class ID info? DD-WRT does have a place to enter this information. I'd like to try it and see if it helps.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:40:08 EDT
More Fiber :
said by mwangen :

I'm not sure why this would help. An IP address is an IP address. Why should it matter where it's coming from?
It's not as simple as just an IP address. DHCP is an entire protocol where the client can request specific information and the server can return specific information. For an overview of the DHCP protocol, see this link:
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DHCP

There are lots of options. See this link regarding option code 60.
»www.cisco.com/warp/public/109/cn···l#topic1

Most home routers do not have the ability to specify option code 60 information to be returned to the client. As I explained in an earlier post in this thread, the STBs and the Actiontec do indeed exchange option code 60 information.

From what I've seen in the router and in Wireshark, URL information is sent, along with setting QOS in the router.
This may indeed not make any difference, however, IMO, it is worth a try.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:26:03 EDT
mwangen :
said by More Fiber :

While I understand that you would prefer to use the DHCP server in your respective primary routers, I would like to ask you to try the following as a test:
•Disable the DHCP server in your primary router.
•Enable the DHCP server in the Actiontec.
•Reboot the STBs (disconnect & reconnect AC)
•Check if you can access the STBs from VZ TV Central.

If this works, we should be able to configure both DHCP servers to be active, each with it's own IP address range, with the Actiontec serving only the STBs.

I'll give this a try tomorrow though I'm not sure why this would help. An IP address is an IP address. Why should it matter where it's coming from? Especially when both routers give out the same IP of 192.168.1.100

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:29:31 EDT
More Fiber :
said by Psyclone :

everything works in this configuration. I also want to point out the requirement for the devices to be in the .1.* subnet for VOD and Guide data to work. This is NOT true. I have successfully used the above configuration with everything being in the 0.* subnet and everything(except the VZ Central site) worked.
You're correct, any subnet will work, as long as all media sharing devices are on that subnet. I don't believe the FAQ states that use of the 1.x subnet is required. We had to pick a subnet to use as an example, and that was as good as any.

To Psyclone , flashcore , and mwangen

While I understand that you would prefer to use the DHCP server in your respective primary routers, I would like to ask you to try the following as a test:
•Disable the DHCP server in your primary router.
•Enable the DHCP server in the Actiontec.
•Reboot the STBs (disconnect & reconnect AC)
•Check if you can access the STBs from VZ TV Central.

If this works, we should be able to configure both DHCP servers to be active, each with it's own IP address range, with the Actiontec serving only the STBs.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:35:22 EDT
mwangen : Let me chime in here. I'm having the same problem as flashcore and psyclone. I'm running an IPCop linux firewall as my main router getting an IP from Verizon via DHCP. The ActionTech is connected LAN-LAN and in the same subnet. Like flashcore I'm using static IPs for the STBs so they always get IPs in the 192.168.1.100 and up range. Like flashcore my IPCop uses a cloned MAC address from the ActionTech. Everything works fine (VOD, Guide, streaming in-between STBs, Media Manager streaming from PC to DVR etc.) but the darn Remote DVR function. For a short time I hooked everything up to the ActionTech forgetting about running my own router as I wanted to know if the Remote DVR function even works. If the ActionTech is the one and only router the Remote DVR functionality works fine. I used Wireshark to monitor the traffic going through the AcionTech, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I put my IPCop router back in the mix and the Remote DVR function no longer works. I even went as far as port forwarding EVERY port UDP and TCP on my IPCop to the DVR and still the Remote DVR feature doesn't work. If any of you guys find out how to make this work with a 3rd party router please let us know.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:57:03 EDT
Psyclone :
said by flashcore :

I just figured I would debunk a lot of the theories in here.

First I am having the exact same problem as Psyclone, I am using a DLink DGL-4500 along with a NIM instead of the Actiontec and the website can not see my box's DVR data. The guide, streaming to other STB's and VOD work fine, in fact the VOD actually works better then with the actiontec.

I am using the cloned MAC address from my original Actiontec so Verizon would not know my router is not the Actiontec.

All of my STB's are in the 192.168.1.100-192.168.1.150 range set from my windows 2008 DHCP server using static lease's so they always get the same IP's, the Multiroom DVR gets 192.168.1.100 every time.

I suspect this problem has more to do with some feature on the Actiontec that allows certain traffic or specific verizon IP's to bypass the firewall completely to communicate with the box's (I have not confirmed this yet but I suspect that is what is going on). I have not had time to mess with it yet however I plan on mirroring the switch port I have my NIM hooked to and using wireshark to try and find out exactly where the box's are connecting to for the guide and vod data. Maybe with that information I can narrow down exactly what rules need to be on a 3rd party router to enable the website features.

So I'm not crazy :) Thanks for taking up the cause flashcore. Like you I found that VOD performance is better on the non ActionTec router. The FF, the initial startup, etc. was noticeably quicker for me. At any rate, whatever you could find out about what's needed to get this all working that'd be great. I'll be willing to help test out configurations, etc., whatver is needed to nail this thing down.

I am going to play with my config a bit more by setting the ActionTec up as the 192.168.1.1 device and see if that helps. That's one thing I haven't tried yet.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:49:46 EDT
Psyclone :
said by More Fiber :

said by Psyclone :

I don't know who authored the FAQ but it seems that it needs some tweaking. Step 12 for example says to 'Set your new router gateway address to 192.168.1.1'

I assume this to mean to set your non Actiontec router's gateway to this ip address. I did this and it caused me to not be able to pull an IP address from the WAN.
The FAQ was authored by birdfeedr . I reviewed and edited the FAQ. There is a feedback link on the FAQ page.

Step 12 as currently written:
12. Log in to your new router to verify and change any settings. Make sure you change your router password off the default value. Set your new router gateway address to 192.168.1.1, subnet 255.255.255.0. Also set it to distribute DHCP addresses in the range from 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.199. You can use the lower addresses for static IPs. Reboot router and PC if you made any changes.

I've revised the wording as follows to clarify:
In your your new router DHCP Server settings set the gateway address to 192.168.1.1, subnet 255.255.255.0.
which means that you need to set the gateway IP address and subnet that the Buffalo will distribute to it's clients. This does not mean the Buffalo's WAN IP address. Clients that request DHCP addresses from the Buffalo need to receive back that gateway address and subnet mask. If the wording needs to be further clarified, I'm sure birdfeedr would be glad to do so.

said by Psyclone :

It really doesn't make sense, particularly when previous steps direct you change the Actiontec from it's default of 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.2 with no step to change it back to the .1 range.
Step 6 instructs you to set the IP address of the Actiontec to 192.168.1.2. This ensures that the IP address of the Actiontec does not conflict with the Buffalo. The Actiontec is still on the 192.168.1.x range. Your statement "no step to change it back to the .1 range" implies that you moved the Actiontec to a different subnet. The Actiontec must be on the same subnet as the Buffalo for MediaShare to work. At no point did the Part 4 FAQ instructions refer to moving the Actiontec

If the Buffalo can not pull a WAN IP address, then you have a configuration error or a WAN DHCP lease issue. I recommend doing a hard reset on both routers; follow the instructions from the beginning as written; and verify that everything works before trying to incorporate any customizations.

Thanks for clarifying this should help future folks in getting their configuration to work, it's clearer now. As you can tell I thought this was referring to the WAN side of things which is why I stated this didn't make any sense since the WAN gateway would be auto configured
as part of the DHCP process for the Buffalo. At any rate to clarify, I am getting a DHCP(Actually PPOE in my case - semantics :)) address and am not having any issues with connectivity as it pertains to VOD, guide data, or Internet access from any device on my LAN. I do in fact have all devices on the same subnet. Again to clarify:

Buffalo:

WAN config : PPOE - pulling from VZ servers
LAN IP : 192.168.1.1
DHCP server ip range : 192.168.1.2-192.168.1.28

ActionTec:

LAN config : DHCP - pulling IP from Buffalo (statically set at the Buffalo to 192.168.1.26)
DHCP Server : disabled - Not leasing IP's to any networked device

STB's receive IP addresses from the Buffalo, which assigns them 192.168.1.27 and 192.168.1.28

Again, everything works in this configuration. I also want to point out the requirement for the devices to be in the .1.* subnet for VOD and Guide data to work. This is NOT true. I have successfully used the above configuration with everything being in the 0.* subnet and everything(except the VZ Central site) worked.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:20:24 EDT
More Fiber : On VZ TV Central, I can see my boxes that have been activated, but nothing else, however, I'm not on IMG 1.6 yet.

The Actiontec returns specific information to the STBs as part of their DHCP lease information (DHCP option code 60), whether this is related to the web access to the DVR, I haven't positively confirmed yet.

My last post to Psyclone ] was to help get his configuration working as intended, since he stated he was not pulling a WAN DHCP address on the Buffalo. I have not said that would fix the problem seeing the DVR data from VZ TV Central.

Any insight you have to the problem is welcome.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:50:03 EDT
flashcore : I just figured I would debunk a lot of the theories in here.

First I am having the exact same problem as Psyclone, I am using a DLink DGL-4500 along with a NIM instead of the Actiontec and the website can not see my box's DVR data. The guide, streaming to other STB's and VOD work fine, in fact the VOD actually works better then with the actiontec.

I am using the cloned MAC address from my original Actiontec so Verizon would not know my router is not the Actiontec.

All of my STB's are in the 192.168.1.100-192.168.1.150 range set from my windows 2008 DHCP server using static lease's so they always get the same IP's, the Multiroom DVR gets 192.168.1.100 every time.

I suspect this problem has more to do with some feature on the Actiontec that allows certain traffic or specific verizon IP's to bypass the firewall completely to communicate with the box's (I have not confirmed this yet but I suspect that is what is going on). I have not had time to mess with it yet however I plan on mirroring the switch port I have my NIM hooked to and using wireshark to try and find out exactly where the box's are connecting to for the guide and vod data. Maybe with that information I can narrow down exactly what rules need to be on a 3rd party router to enable the website features.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:44:15 EDT
jwdv22 :
said by Psyclone :

By following the FAQ that I linked

Can you link again, so I can follow it. I can't seem to find your link. Thank you.
***EDIT NEVERMIND*****

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:56:51 EDT
More Fiber :
said by joe01880 :

Only to avoid the rental from Verizon? That can be negotiated.
The Actiontec router is not rented. It is included "free" as part of the service with either internet and/or TV.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:26:32 EDT
More Fiber :
said by Psyclone :

I don't know who authored the FAQ but it seems that it needs some tweaking. Step 12 for example says to 'Set your new router gateway address to 192.168.1.1'

I assume this to mean to set your non Actiontec router's gateway to this ip address. I did this and it caused me to not be able to pull an IP address from the WAN.
The FAQ was authored by birdfeedr . I reviewed and edited the FAQ. There is a feedback link on the FAQ page.

Step 12 as currently written:
12. Log in to your new router to verify and change any settings. Make sure you change your router password off the default value. Set your new router gateway address to 192.168.1.1, subnet 255.255.255.0. Also set it to distribute DHCP addresses in the range from 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.199. You can use the lower addresses for static IPs. Reboot router and PC if you made any changes.

I've revised the wording as follows to clarify:
In your your new router DHCP Server settings set the gateway address to 192.168.1.1, subnet 255.255.255.0.
which means that you need to set the gateway IP address and subnet that the Buffalo will distribute to it's clients. This does not mean the Buffalo's WAN IP address. Clients that request DHCP addresses from the Buffalo need to receive back that gateway address and subnet mask. If the wording needs to be further clarified, I'm sure birdfeedr would be glad to do so.

said by Psyclone :

It really doesn't make sense, particularly when previous steps direct you change the Actiontec from it's default of 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.2 with no step to change it back to the .1 range.
Step 6 instructs you to set the IP address of the Actiontec to 192.168.1.2. This ensures that the IP address of the Actiontec does not conflict with the Buffalo. The Actiontec is still on the 192.168.1.x range. Your statement "no step to change it back to the .1 range" implies that you moved the Actiontec to a different subnet. The Actiontec must be on the same subnet as the Buffalo for MediaShare to work. At no point did the Part 4 FAQ instructions refer to moving the Actiontec

If the Buffalo can not pull a WAN IP address, then you have a configuration error or a WAN DHCP lease issue. I recommend doing a hard reset on both routers; follow the instructions from the beginning as written; and verify that everything works before trying to incorporate any customizations.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:34:38 EDT
Psyclone :
said by jwdv22 :

Also I think I heard somewhere that the STB need to be in the .100 range. I might have read this in the 1.6 IMG thread, but can't remember. I think it cause problems when the STB were not in that range.

**EDIT*** also how many DVR's do you have? One MR-DVR and a few other DVR's? Does streaming within the network still work? Really curious because I was planning on doing the same thing but didn't want to lose my MR-DVR functionality. THanks again

I did also read something about the .100 range requirement, however I thought this was 'required' just to get the VOD/guide data to even work in this configuration. If that's the case then I've already proven this statement to be untrue. I will try this and see if it resolves my issue.

To answer your question, I only have the MR-DVR at the moment and a second SD STB. By following the FAQ that I linked, it's supposed to retain the streaming feature, I presume both streaming features. Keep in mind that with the MR-DVR it does 2 kinds of streaming; music and pictures from a networked PC to the MR-DVR and recordings on the MR-DVR to other STB's in the house.

I honestly haven't tested streaming from the MR-DVR to the STB since I set this up. I did however test PC to MR-DVR streaming and it does work. I presume the former would work as well.

I have read, and in my exercise, proven that in order for the PC streaming to work that it has to be on the same subnet as the MR-DVR.

I assumed putting the ActionTec in the DMZ of the Buffalo would allow the STB's to be seen from the FIOS TV Central site but it appears that is not the case. I am going to play around with the IP addressing a bit more to see if I can't resolve the issue.

I don't know who authored the FAQ but it seems that it needs some tweaking. Step 12 for example says to 'Set your new router gateway address to 192.168.1.1' I assume this to mean to set your non ActionTec router's gateway to this ip address. I did this and it caused me to not be able to pull an IP address from the WAN. It really doesn't make sense, particularly when previous steps direct you change the ActionTec from it's default of 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.2 with no step to change it back to the .1.* range.

If I get this to work, I will help to update the existing FAQ to eliminate any ambiguities and inconsistencies.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:18:43 EDT
Psyclone :
said by Lee GWB :

Hi,
I can "SEE" my boxes via Verizon.com. It that what you are inquiring about?
Lee

I can "SEE" my STB's also, just as I have been able to since I set up my account on the site, but I cannot interact with them as I should be able to. The FIOS TV Central site, for those of you not in the know, allows a FIOS Home Media DVR subscriber to access their DVR's from the Web site. This allows you to see how much space you have used, see(and delete) the current recordings, and schedule stuff to record that you don't have a timer set for.

Like darcilicious said, it's nice to be able to do this remotely. I don't know about the rest of you but I've often gone on vacation, or otherwise been away from the house and forgot to set a timer for something I really wanted to see. This provides the ability to do that from a remote location.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:14:22 EDT
Psyclone :
said by darcilicious :

said by joe01880 :

Using other routers buffalo's or whatever the hell they are when the router supplied from Verizon does a fine job.

Actually, for a notable number of people, the Actiontec does NOT work well. Some game server requests (eg STEAM) for example, often bring the AT to its knees (because of its small NAT tabel). So do some torrent clients.

So folks bridge the AT to keep the TV/MoCA functionality and use their own, more robust router for Internet access.

Yeah, what she said.

Thank you darcilicious for answering for me :)

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:48:42 EDT
jwdv22 : Because there are other things that Buffalo router with DD-WRT can do that ActionTec can't. Search Wikipedia for DD-WRT, I wanted to do this so I can setup a VPN. Then my laptop can access my Slingbox through the VPN, hence tricking the Slingbox to giving me the full upload, not just 1.5(which is locked down my the slingbox)

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:41:31 EDT
jwdv22 : Also I think I heard somewhere that the STB need to be in the .100 range. I might have read this in the 1.6 IMG thread, but can't remember. I think it cause problems when the STB were not in that range.

**EDIT*** also how many DVR's do you have? One MR-DVR and a few other DVR's? Does streaming within the network still work? Really curious because I was planning on doing the same thing but didn't want to lose my MR-DVR functionality. THanks again

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:39:59 EDT
darcilicious :
said by joe01880 :

Using other routers buffalo's or whatever the hell they are when the router supplied from Verizon does a fine job.

Actually, for a notable number of people, the Actiontec does NOT work well. Some game server requests (eg STEAM) for example, often bring the AT to its knees (because of its small NAT tabel). So do some torrent clients.

So folks bridge the AT to keep the TV/MoCA functionality and use their own, more robust router for Internet access.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:36:15 EDT
joe01880 : No, my question was not about what you wrote ProFios, it was in reference to phyclones orginal post.

Using other routers buffalo's or whatever the hell they are when the router supplied from Verizon does a fine job.

Only to avoid the rental from Verizon? That can be negotiated. To mask your ip address perhaps?

I do not understand the desire or necessity to have to go through all that to watch TV?????

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:34:56 EDT
darcilicious : Better yet you're out of town; see a commercial on the hotel TV and want to record it.

I'm able to do this now with Vista Media Center via the MSN tv guide. It kinda rocks :)

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:30:39 EDT
ProFiOSDude : Someone at work tells you about this great show, but you won't get back home in time to set the DVR to record. Now you can.

Things like that...I don't see myself doing it, but there are people...

PFD

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:28:41 EDT
ProFiOSDude : No. Interaction between the STB and Verizon would probably have to go through the Actiontec. Don't think they would bother coding for every possible router.

PFD

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:27:41 EDT
joe01880 : Why would someone want to go to all that trouble?

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:24:13 EDT
Lee GWB : Hi,
I can "SEE" my boxes via Verizon.com. It that what you are inquiring about?
Lee

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:14:22 EDT
ProFiOSDude : Probably because Verizon sees the MAC address of your Linksys and knows it's not an Actiontec. There might be a pre-linkup where Verizon checks the status of your STBs, but since the the Linksys cannot communicate with the STB's in the same manner as the Actiontec, it doesn't allow it. IMHO.

PFD

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:05:10 EDT
Psyclone : Ok to answer your questions. Here is the connection diagram:

ONT->cat5->[WAN Port-Buffalo-LAN Port]->Cat5->[Lan Port- ActionTec]

So they are connected Lan to Lan as you suggested. The IP configuration on the ActionTec is that it acquires it's IP Address via DHCP from the Buffalo. The internal DHCP server of the ActionTec which serves the COAX and Ethernet Lan ports is disabled. All IP's in the network are given out by the Buffalo, this inludes the ActionTec and the STB's.

Like I stated, this configuration does 'work' however I'm missing the ability to use the FIOS Central site to see my DVR's.

I have tried enabling the DHCP server on the ActionTec so that it gives the STB's their IP Addresses but they still seemed to get their IP's from the Buffalo. I may have to tweak with this config more. I'm not sure how much it matters what router the STB's get their IP's from.

I hope that clarifies things.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:24:02 EDT
More Fiber :
said by darcilicious :

said by More Fiber :

Interesting. I'm not aware of anyone that has tried to access the STBs from VZ Central.

It's how the remote DVR feature works in IMG 1.6 to schedule programming, set up favorites, etc via the web.

My statement was specifically in reference to the various bridging configurations.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:53:40 EDT
darcilicious :
said by More Fiber :

Interesting. I'm not aware of anyone that has tried to access the STBs from VZ Central.

It's how the remote DVR feature works in IMG 1.6 to schedule programming, set up favorites, etc via the web.

Re: FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:40:38 EDT
More Fiber : Interesting. I'm not aware of anyone that has tried to access the STBs from VZ Central.

I understand you've changed the configuration somewhat, but there are some things that aren't clear in your post.

•How are the routers connected? LAN-to-LAN or LAN-to-WAN?

Part 4 of the FAQ relies on a LAN-to-LAN connection, however, you state:
I have configured the Actiontec to retrieve it's IP address via DHCP.
That would imply that you are using a LAN-to-WAN connection, since only the Actiontec WAN interface pulls a DHCP address.

If the Actiontec is connected LAN-to-WAN, this would also imply the STBs are double NAT'ed which would explain issues with VZ Central.

OTOH, you say the STBs are pulling the correct IP addresses and DHCP server is disabled in the Actiontec, which would imply the LAN-to-LAN connection is working.

There should NOT be a need to create a DMZ in the Buffalo. In the Part 4 FAQ, the Actiontec is acting ONLY as a switch and MOCA bridge. It is not functioning as a router.

Please post more specific information about your configuration.

FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:56:36 EDT
Psyclone : All,

After finally having enough with the undersized NAT table in the ActionTec, this weekend I decided to undertake the task of configuring my personal router as the outside router and setting up the ActionTec internal to my network. I was pretty successful for the most part. There's still a couple things that I am having issues with and also need some clarification as to the steps in the FAQ.

First a bit about my setup. I was an early FIOS Internet(Pre TV) adopter and at that time, they were wiring ONT's to be ethernet from the ONT to the router so that was not a hurdle/extra step that I had to deal with thankfully. I had since replaced the inadequate D-Link that was given to me with a Buffalo WHR-G54s router and have configured it with DD-WRT.

I am also a subscriber to the Home Media DVR service so I wanted to retain that functionality as well. Keeping this in mind, I looked up the FAQ to retain the Streaming functionality here and began the process to tame this configuration. I followed it step by step but did take some independent directin along the way due to what appeared to be some gaps in the faq and also to accomodate my existing network configuration.

At any rate, I ended up with the Buffalo as the outermost router directly connected(via PPOE, as we;re not on DHCP in my neck of the woods) and the ActionTec connected to the LAN port. I have configured the ActionTec to retrieve it's IP address via DHCP and disabled the DHCP server in the ActionTec so the Buffalo is leasing IP's to it and to the COAX network(STB's). The Buffalo is configured at 192.168.1.1 with a DHCP pool of 192.168.1.2-192.168.1.27 of which it only dynamically assigns *.26 and *.27 to the STB's due to the fact I mac assigned static IP's for the remaining devices on my network. I've also put the ActionTec in the DMZ of the Buffalo as suggested by another FAQ on this configuration. This covers all of my networked devices.

Everything seems to be working, I'm getting VOD and Guide data, the STB shows the proper IP addresses based on the IP pool configured on the Buffalo. And I am able to avoid the convoluted port forwarding interface of the ActionTec instead using the DD-WRT UI on the Buffalo. This is all good, however the one thing that I seem to have lost in this configuration is the ability to see my DVR's from the FIOS TV Central web site.

Prior to the change, I could see/delete recordings, schedule new ones, and view the HD usage data. Now when I go to the site, I just get a 'refreshing...' graphic and it never seems to be able to connect to the DVR's.

Does anyone have any experience with this non standard config and successfully using it with the FIOS TV Central web site? Any idea what settings I can/need to change to get this to work?